Eric RobertsDepartment of Computer Science

Stanford University

CSIT SymposiumNorfolk, Virginia

March 6, 2004

Educating the Next Generationof Computer Scientists:

The Critical Role of High School Teachers

Outline

Why high-school computer science is important1.

The challenges that high schools face2.

How can universities and professional societies help3.

A success story4.

Outline

Why high-school computer science is important1.

The challenges that high schools face2.

How can universities and professional societies help3.

A success story4.

• The economy still needs people with CS/IT skills Why high-school computer science is important1.

• Students with more preparation can go farther in college• High schools are essential to promoting diversity

The Incredible Shrinking Pipeline

MEN

WOMEN

HS(49%)

BS(31%)

MS(28%)

PhD(11%)

Asst(13%) (8%) (4%)

Assoc Full

Joe O’Rourke“Mentor Project Targets Female Undergrads”Computing Research News, 1993

—

BS Degrees in Computer Science

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

35000

40000

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%Men

Women

% Women

SOURCES: Susan T. Hill, Science and Engineering Degrees: 1966-96. Report number NSF 99-330.National Center for Education Statistics, Digest of Education Statistics, March 2002.

BS Degrees in Computer Science

SOURCES: Susan T. Hill, Science and Engineering Degrees: 1966-96. Report number NSF 99-330.National Center for Education Statistics, Digest of Education Statistics, March 2002.

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

35000

40000 Men

Women

% Women

Complete invention.

Useful Resources

Outline

Why high-school computer science is important1.

The challenges that high schools face2.

How can universities and professional societies help3.

A success story4.

• The economics of teaching computer scienceThe challenges that high schools face2.

• “The God that Failed” reaction to the high-tech bubble• PowerPoint and IT seem more exciting to administrators • Lack of materials and support• The complexity and instability of modern programming

• Complexity. The number of programming details that students must master has grown much faster than the corresponding number of high-level concepts.

• Instability. The languages, libraries, and tools on which introductory computer science education depends are changing more rapidly than they have in the past.

Problems in Modern Programming Languages

More background on these problems and the sources from which they arise can be found in the background paper in the SIGCSE proceedings:

Eric Roberts. The Dream of a Common Language: The Search for Simplicity and Stability in Computer Science Education. SIGCSE 2004.

The March of Progress

266 pages 274 pages911 pages

1536 pages

An Even More Sobering Thought

SIGCSE Proceedings—

There are more public methods in the java and javax package hierarchies than there are words in Jensen and Wirth. The amount of text once deemed sufficient to teach the standard introductory programming language is thus no longer sufficient for a full index of the operations available today.

Outline

Why high-school computer science is important1.

The challenges that high schools face2.

How can universities and professional societies help3.

A success story4. • Partner with high schools to share resourcesHow can universities and professional societies help3.

• Recognize and promote the value of high-school education• Help convince society of the continued importance of CS/IT• Offer professional development in new tools and technology• Develop and disseminate effective teaching materials

Employment Patterns by Discipline

Life Sciences Chemical and Physical Sciences

Mathematics Engineering Computer andInfo Sciences

Fraction of professionals with degrees in that discipline:

Fraction of disciplinary graduates employed in that profession:

Life Sciences Chemical and Physical Sciences

Mathematics Engineering Computer andInfo Sciences

SOURCE: National Science Foundation/Division of Science Resources Statistics, SESTAT (Scientists and Engineers Statistical Data System), 1999, as presented by Caroline Wardle at Snowbird 2002

Fred Terman: Honoring High School Teachers

Fred Terman with Packardand Hewlett

As part of his legacy, former Stanford Dean and Provost Fred Terman established a fund to honor the top 5% of each graduating class in the School of Engineering. Those students come to a celebratory lunch to which they invite: • Their most important mentor at

Stanford• The high school teacher who

influenced them the most

The ACM Java Task ForceIn October 2003, the ACM Education Board approved the formation of a new task force with the following charter:

To review the Java language, APIs, and tools from the perspective of introductory computing education and to develop a stable collection of pedagogical resources that will make it easier to teach Java to first-year computing students without having those students overwhelmed by its complexity.

The Java Task Force held its first meeting at the end of January 2004. It proposes to issue its final report in June 2005, in time for use in the following fall.

DeliverablesA definition of a subset of the standard Java APIs appropriate for first-year computer science

1.

A public web site containing an updated javadoc reference manual for the approved Java subset

2.

A collection of pedagogically oriented APIs that have been evaluated and approved by the task force

3.

A survey of existing noncommercial materials and tools for teaching Java

4.

A proposal for sustaining the activity begun by this task force

5.

Relationship to AP Computer Science

• AP Java subset– “The AP Java subset is intended to outline the

features of Java that may appear on AP Computer Science Examinations. The AP Java subset is not intended as an overall prescription for computer science courses—the subset itself will need to be supplemented in order to cover a typical introductory curriculum.”

AP CS Course Description(as provided by Fran Trees)

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Outline

Why high-school computer science is important1.

The challenges that high schools face2.

How can universities and professional societies help3.

A success story4.

The Bermuda ProjectIn 1997, Stanford initiated a project to design a new CS curriculum for Bermuda’s public secondary schools. We now have three courses in place, the first of which is taken by all students.

More information on the Bermuda Project is available from the project web site:

http://bermuda.stanford.edu

About Bermuda• British overseas territory lying

600 miles east of North Carolina• Local parliament with Labor

majority since 1998• Land area just over 20 square

miles (one-third the size of Washington DC)

• Total population of 62,000 (roughly the size of Palo Alto)

• Two public high schools (Berkeley and CedarBridge), in which over 90% of the students are black

• Considerable national wealth from tourism and companies relocating to Bermuda as a tax haven

The End