How to build an outstanding computer science curriculum MARK DORLING MATTHEW WALKER

Calling all teachers… What does curriculum mean to you? What does creativity mean to you? What is your vision of a creative curriculum? CAS CONFERENCE 2013

Outcomes Develop a department vision, overcoming challenges Demonstrate progression through the key stages and effectively scaffold learning Creative computing lessons from example schemes of work CAS CONFERENCE 2013

Challenges Curriculum that is inclusive – no child left behind Curriculum that is creative but thorough Confidence in aligning and interpreting the Computing curriculum Understanding the technicalities of the curriculum Showing progression How to integrate CS, IT and DL into a single scheme of work Developing a vision for your curriculum CAS CONFERENCE 2013

Correctly interpreting the curriculum Digital literacy National ICT Curriculum Statuary document National ICT Curriculum Statuary document CS IT Subject Association Teacher guides Non- statuary document Subject Association Teacher guides Non- statuary document Information Technology Computer Science Digital literacy A School’s curriculum planning CAS CONFERENCE 2013

Interpreting the KS1 curriculum CAS CONFERENCE 2013

Computing is non- linear ‘Dorling Curriculum Map of Computing’ available September 2013 CAS CONFERENCE 2013

Options for September 2013 To do nothing… that is an option! To integrate one or two lesson of Computer Science into existing Digital Literacy (DL) and Information Technology (IT) schemes of work. To plan a half term or term CS SoW for year 7 and then roll out a SoW to each year group year on year. To plan a half term or term CS SoW for each year group. To (initially) plan a term or two term curriculum that integrates DL with CS year 7 only. Complete restructuring of all schemes of work CAS CONFERENCE 2013

Mark’s model for September 2012 Why are we focusing on KS2 CS in September? Resources SSAT Hack resources CS Unplugged CAS Online CS4FN Greenfoot/Alice Curriculum KS 2/3/4 Term 1 Basic functional IT Skills Term 2 & 3 Advanced functional IT embedded into a creative curriculum underpinned by computing KS2 DSH Curriculum Curriculum Y8/9 GCSE IT KS3 Extra curricular clubs KS4 Y10/11 GCSE Computing Enrichment After GCSE Scratch Ed Kodu EPL AppShed Academy Code Academy Industry collaborations KS4 Y10/11 AS Level ICT National Curriculum DfE CAS CONFERENCE 2013

Matthew’s model for September 2012 Enquiry-based KS3 curriculum (all a combination of DL, IT and CS) Leads to KS4 Option in GCSE Computer Science All students have one lesson a week IT in year 10. Year 7 Why is Facebook successful? How do computers think? How can I make an unbreakable code? Can I teach a machine to think? Year 8 Why are video games fun? How can I make pigs fly? How does Google work? Year 9 What can my pet robot do? Who owns my information? How can I make a mobile app? Will computers take over the world? KS4 GCSE Computer Science (option) Year 10 IT (mandatory, one lesson per week) CAS CONFERENCE 2013 Department ‘vision’ School curriculum policy Student consultation

Strategies Have strategies for managing the transition Engage other staff, network managers, SLT, students, parents Know considerations when making decisions like choosing programming languages Have ideas for raising the profile of computing in your school Know where to get help with clubs Know where to get affordable and quality CPD CAS CONFERENCE 2013

Subject Knowledge Challenges Computer Science is more than just programming What is computational thinking? How do I develop in my staff and students a rich understanding of how the principals and concepts all link together? How do I teach programming and coding? How do I assess programming code? CAS CONFERENCE 2013

Bridging IT and CS IT & DL (Driving the car) Computer Science (Engineering the car) Computational Thinking (Adapting the car for a given circuit) Social need tools Concepts Realizing & applying Problems Solutions CAS CONFERENCE 2013

Algorithms & Programming We want to make models of the world to: ◦understand it ◦ask ‘what if’ questions and predict the way it will change How do we make models? ◦solving problems ◦by characterising a problem ◦mapping the abstractions of a conceptual model ◦choosing appropriate technology How do we turn models into programs? ◦write programs by programming ◦programming bridges models and computers Are they separate or inextricably linked? Model Program Predictions CAS CONFERENCE 2013

Every year and at every level CAS CONFERENCE 2013

Implications of the double hump (achievement bimodality) Many students (and staff) think the subject is too hard Progression is seriously hindered Lesson planning and seeing through schemes of work become a major headache Measurable underachievement at KS3, GCSE and A-Level Success is enjoyable CAS CONFERENCE 2013

One voice from university “Why is it that some software engineers and computer scientists are able to produce clear, elegant designs and programs, while others cannot? Is it possible to improve these skills through education and training?” Kramer, 2007 CAS CONFERENCE 2013

What are we asking students to do? 1.Abstract the problem from its description 2.Generate subproblems 3.Transform subproblems into subsolutions 4.Recompose 5.Evaluate and iterate This represents the most abstract level of Piagetian abstraction – formal operational reasoning CAS CONFERENCE 2013

Neo- Piagetian levels of abstraction Highest Formal Operational form links between abstract properties infer hypotheses with limited or missing data rely on chunked long-term memory High Concrete Operation abstractions restricted to familiar, real situationsno hypothetical reasoning Low Preoperational direct manipulation of the environment little thought about relationships between objects focus on one abstract property at a time working knowledge is overwhelmed Lowest Sensorimotor inconsistent results CAS CONFERENCE 2013

Neo- Piagetian levels of abstraction Highest Formal Operational decompositioncreating solutionsdebugging High Concrete Operation can ‘reverse’ solutions conserve meaning when program specification is changed Low Preoperational can manually execute code and determine values in variables when execution is finished research indicates >50% accuracy in this skill needed before students can begin to understand how to code Lowest Sensorimotor can trace code with <50% accuracy application to programming skills CAS CONFERENCE 2013

Sensorimot or stage and magic “Without the ability to reliably produce consistent results via tracing, novices at the sensorimotor stage see code as somewhat magical. That is, they do not experience an executing program as a deterministic machine.” Ahadi et al, 2012 CAS CONFERENCE 2013

Abstraction informing learning “…students who tend to reason preoperationally about code will gain little from being forced to write large quantities of code. Such students can only write code by quasi-random mutation. For students who are predominantly reasoning at the preoperational level… we need to develop new types of learning experiences that develop their abstract reasoning without requiring them to write a lot of code.” Lister, 2011 Computational Thinking Teach in a way that encourages students to develop their ability to reason under abstractions CAS CONFERENCE 2013

Reducing abstraction “…students, when facing the need to cope meaningfully with concepts that are too abstract for them, tend to reduce the level of abstraction in order to make these abstract concepts meaningful and mentally accessible… by dealing with specific examples instead of with a whole set defined in general terms.” Hazzan, 2008 Students reframe abstractions in concrete form CAS CONFERENCE 2013

Develop the ability to make design decisions Directed learning Autonomous learning Little choice Lots of choice Designing AND making Making WITHOUT designing Designing WITHOUT making The balance is dependent on a number of factors: The SKUAE of the pupils The SKUAE of your staff SKUA = Skills, Knowledge, Understanding, Attitudes and experience Diagram Source: David Bartlex, Roehampton University CAS CONFERENCE 2013

Make it less abstract! Why use real life problems AND use a graphical programming tool? Easier to create meaningful questions for assessment Easier for students to create drawings that represent the execution of a program Simpler for students to investigate models Simpler for students to adapt, reason and create models Data is not hidden so inspection is simpler Avoid simulations in Scratch – this can make it more abstract rather than less! CAS CONFERENCE 2013

Assessing Programming Code Does it appear to work? Does it really work? ◦rigour of testing, range of data/input Originality of code ◦has a student artfully/skilfully reworked known examples or created something less impressive but original (levels of abstraction)? Features versus bugs Looking at the code ◦layout, comments, structure, logical errors, genuine understanding Meeting the specification CAS CONFERENCE 2013

Looking at programming code BY JOHN Turnham Green and Acton Town Where Air Raid huddles laid them down. Neasden, Willesden, Dollis Hill, Tottenham Hale and Hearty, still. Thank you London Underground. And all your staff, who get me round. I still find it astounding how deep you are. When you are off, we’re off on rants We cram the bus And as we crawl like ants upon the surface… then we know The rich resource that’s down below. BY MAX I sat down on the tube. It was noisy and dirty. I wanted to get home. Tea was at Mum would be waiting Always asking questions. The tube was my time. For making up destinations. I like the tube cus it is cool. I don't like poems. CAS CONFERENCE 2013

Which programming language & environment Scaffold the learning of computational thinking Allow for inspection of variables and data structures Consider skills and experience of staff Languages currently in vogue: ◦Python ◦TNGLogo ◦Small Basic ◦PHP ◦Scratch/BYOB/Panther ◦VB ◦Greenfoot (Java) CAS CONFERENCE 2013

Balanced curriculum summary Programming isn’t hard when you know how to solve a problem! Some languages’ syntax and tools are more impenetrable than others Obsession of “which language” often gets in the way of problem solving Focus on designing without making… but this isn’t to say that you shouldn’t use programming model solutions along side problem solving Ensure, whatever language you choose, you have a plan for progression (that is more than a tick sheet of language features) You can never create problems that are scalable enough for children to solve CAS CONFERENCE 2013

Vision vs reality Does our reality of a creative curriculum look different to your vision for a Creative Curriculum? Honest reflection: To what extent do you think the following affects how we (as teachers) design our curriculums? ◦My preferred learning styles… ◦My areas of expertise, e.g. subject specialism… ◦My life experiences… If you were to teach someone else curriculum would it still be creative? CAS CONFERENCE 2013

Sample lessons taken from our schemes of work CAS CONFERENCE 2013

Dinosaurs day out… CAS CONFERENCE 2013

Police, Camera and Action! Car chase on streets of French town BREAKING NEWS: CAS CONFERENCE 2013

The binary behind algorithms (10) (00) (11) Efficiency of algorithms: Opt 1: 01,11,11,01,11 = 10 Bits Opt 2: 10,01,11,11 = 8 Bits CAS CONFERENCE 2013

Can I teach a machine to think? CAS CONFERENCE 2013

A class of code breakers CAS CONFERENCE 2013

Drawing Fractals CAS CONFERENCE 2013

Beautiful numbers CAS CONFERENCE 2013 How do these grab you? ? ? Can you spot the pattern? 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21 “Wow… Improves proportion In art and teaches recursion!”

Why is Facebook successful? CAS CONFERENCE 2013

Get with the algo-rhythm CAS CONFERENCE 2013

How can I make pigs fly? CAS CONFERENCE 2013

Scratch to mobile CAS CONFERENCE 2013

Questions CAS CONFERENCE 2013