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CS 10K:Why is Computing Different?

Jeff ForbesProgram Director

NSF CISE/CNS Education & Workforce ClusterAugust 6, 2012

Computing is everywhere. It’s transforming our lives.

Computing will continue to transform all aspects of our lives. It is the new literacy.

… the ability to make digital technology do whatever, within the possible one wants it to do -- to bend digital technology to one's needs, purposes, and will, just as in the present we bend words and images.

—Marc Prensky, Edutopia, 1/13/2008

The computing community in the U.S. faces three significant and interrelated challenges in maintaining a robust IT workforce.

1. Underproduction 2. Underrepresentation3. Lack of a presence in K-12

education

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Computing is significantly under producing postsecondary degrees

Data: BLS and NCES; Slide: NCWIT

Minnesota is also expected to experience a shortfall.

Data: BLS and NEC; Slide: NCWIT

And they’re good jobs going unfilled.

Slide: CNN Money

• US economy is $2T larger because of the IT revolution since 1985

• IT is a job generator: IT jobs have grown 4x faster than non-IT jobs, and on average these jobs pay 75% more

IT generates jobs.

CS & CE Majors

—CRA Taulbee Survey, 2011

Computing has a long standing, significant underrepresentation of women at the high school level.

AP: Statistics Calculus CS Biology

—Credits: Top NCWIT, Bottom College Board

That underrepresentation of females carries over to incoming college freshman.

The underrepresentation of women in computing continues throughout college.

And computing has a long standing underrepresentation of minorities.

URMs receive just:10.6% of undergrad,

4.8% of master’s, and 3.6% of Ph.D.s

degrees in computing.—Taulbee Data, 2011

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Why does this matter?

Computing not drawing top math achievers

Data source: HERI, Slide: NCWIT

That underrepresentation of females carries over to incoming college first-year students.

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The underrepresentation of women in computing continues throughout college.

—Credits: Top NCWIT

Doctoral Degrees, 2000 and 2009

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And computing has a long standing underrepresentation of minorities.

URMs receive just:10.6% of undergrad,

4.8% of master’s, and 3.6% of Ph.D.s

degrees in computing.—Taulbee Data, 2011

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We lose them in college

Black first-year undergraduate students are more likely than other groups to intend to major in computer science

—HERI Data, 2008

Male Female

Black 4.4% 1.0%

Hispanic 2.2% 0.3%

White 2.8% 0.3%

Asian 3.6% 0.5%

First-Year Intended CS Major

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Why does this matter?

—2009 NAEP High School Transcript Study

Computing does not have a presence in K-12.

The percentage of U.S. high school students taking STEM courses has increased over the last 20 years across all STEM disciplines except computer science where it dropped from 25% to 19%.

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Computing does not have a presence in K-12.

• NCAA doesn’t count CS courses in eligibility for college sports

• No state requires a CS course for graduation. • Only 14 states use a reasonable number of CSTA’s

K-12 standards• Just 9 states count CS a math or a science • Among the graduating class of 2011, only 17,413

students took the AP CS test, 267,772 took calculus, 144,984 took biology, 142,910 took statistics

• AP CS A has the worst gender balance of any of the AP tests

The CS AP test has sustained the lowest participation in comparison with other STEM disciplines.

—Data: College Board, 2010 Slide: CSTA

In 2010:340,551 AP Calculus 250,003 AP Biology142,910 AP Statistics 22,176 AP CS A

AP AP Test Taking in STEM, 1997-2010

—College Board

We are not doing a good job in high school.

Source: CSTA, Running on Empty

The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology believes the need for better computing education particularly in high schools is “urgent.”

Computer-related courses should aim not just for … a deeper understanding of the essential concepts, methods and wide-ranging applications of CS. Students should gain hands-on exposure to the process of algorithmic thinking and its realization in … a computer program, to the use of computational techniques for real-world problem solving, and to … pervasive computational themes as modeling and abstraction, modularity and reusability, computational efficiency, testing and debugging, and the management of complexity.

High school is key.

The CS 10K Project aims to transform computing in high school.

10,000 teachers 10,000 schools

2016

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The CS 10K Project is centered on two new courses: Exploring Computer Science (ECS) and a new Advanced Placement course, called CS Principles (CSP).

Why AP?• Often the only CS course that carries college prep

credit• Attractive to students & schools• 2,000 CB-audited teachers• Single point of national leverage• Fidelity of replication

Why ECS?• Non-AP (seen by some as less intimidating)• Broad Ideas• College prep & CTE credit

The computing community supports the development of the CS Principles course, and has moved it past milestones.

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2009-2010✔Course framework

2010-11✔Pilot I: Five colleges✔College Survey✔College attestation/support

2011-12 ✔ Pilot II: ~20 colleges, ~40 high schools

2012-Train 500 teachers, Summer

NSF has made six ~$1M Awards for PD and will make another round of Awards upcoming

CS Principles Big Ideas

• Creativity• Abstraction• Data• Algorithms• Programming• Internet• Impact

CS Principles is focused on the fundamental concepts of computing; it is rigorous but engaging, accessible, and inspiring and focuses on problem-solving.

“Seriously, why doesn’t everybody take computer science??”—CS Principles Student

—Word cloud taken from a HS student blog about the course.

Some schools will want a more introductory course such as Exploring Computer Science (ECS), which was developed for LA high schools.

• Piloted ECS 2008/2009• This past school year in ~25 LAUSD schools

• 2000 students, 40% female, 81% URMs• Complete, detailed curriculum & lessons plans at www.exploringcs.org• College prep & CTE credit• Also San Jose, Oakland, Chicago, and more• 2012 School Year – requirement in Chicago

CTE schools with over 4000 students

NSF can catalyze the CS 10K Project but the project as a whole is outside of NSF’s mission and resources.

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Within NSF’s mission and resources, develop• Additional course curricula, materials,

models • Standards & assessments• Teacher preparation• Pilots

Beyond NSF’s mission and resources• Scale teacher preparation to 10,000• Entrée into 10,000 schools

To be successful, we’ll need much beyond the teacher training.

• New CS Standards• Changes in teacher certification• Changes in the crediting of CS courses• CSTA Chapters• Pre- and in-service teacher

professional development• Ongoing teacher support: Coaching,

mentoring, communities of practice

We’ll need the entire community to get involved.

• High school teachers• Academic departments at

universities and community colleges

• Individuals: students, faculty, professionals

• Companies and Foundations

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What You Can Do

• Join CSTA• Link up with Piloters / Early Adopters to learn

more about CS Principles• Contact your local University / College CS

Department• Participate in CS Ed Week• Use CS Bits & Bytes in your Classroom!

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Links of Interest

• CS Principles: www.csprinciples.org• Exploring Computer Science:

www.exploringcs.org• College Board:

http://www.collegeboard.com/html/computerscience/index.html

• CS Education Week: www.csedweek.org

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Thanks!Jeff Forbes

jforbes@nsf.gov