Susanne Hambrusch (CS) and colleagues in CS and Physics 1 RET experience in “Science Education in Computational Thinking”

What we built on … 2 1. Design of a CS course for science majors Teach computational thinking and problem solving 2. The Physics Department offers a course based on the Matter&Interaction Curriculum Uses Python in the lab for simulation and understanding physical principles

RET Teachers 3 Craig Smiley Teaches three levels of physics (I, II, AP) Programming experience: intro programming course and Python in the M&I physics course David Wright Teaches various science courses Coach of the high school’s Robotics team Good understanding of computation

What the HS teachers wanted 4 Use computation to better understand physics to blend calculus and physics Write programs to model, simulate, analyze and visualize physical systems Willing to allocate 3+ weeks (15+ classes) to learning basic Python and VPython AP course (students had Physics I)

What we were hoping for 5 Interest high school students in computation and computer science Teach computational thinking through abstraction translating physical properties into computational processes problem solving Use visualization and allow for creativity

Software 6 Use Python 2.5 or 2.6 and VPython 3.2 Science Lab did not have Python installed CS Lab had Python, but not VPython installed Software installation is a nightmare Use Portable Python installed on a memory stick Worked well; students liked having their own stick RET supplement pad for them

Preparation during the summer (1) 7 Teachers suggested topics Vectors, collision, projectile motion, gravitational force Worked out programming concepts and tools Basic Python, visualization with VPython, graphing, numerical issues Problem driven approach Are for-loops needed? How much to cover on lists? What can be understood by seeing/using an example?

Preparation during the summer (2) 8 Prepared a sequence of simple programs related to the physics tasks Teachers would write some and work with CS students to generate better code CS students (re)-implemented all of it Prepared labs for students to work through Added “exploration” problems students could choose from

Feedback from students (1) 9 AP Course Responses of 18 students to a survey after Python module; 25% females 2 students had prior programming experience: Scale from 1 to 5 (strongly disagree to strongly agree) Comfortable using computers: 4 Enjoyed writing programs: 4 Comfortable writing more programs: 3 Consider taking a programming class: 3.95

Feedback from students (2) 10 What students liked Creating and moving VPython objects Bouncing balls off the wall, moving blocks on a track Anything visual What students found hard varied considerably What a few students did not like Did not see what programming had to do with physics Does not prepare me for the AP exam

Challenges 11 Keeping in touch with the teachers during the school year Planned all-year effort was scaled back to first semester Understanding what teachers feel comfortable with Understanding where students struggle How to incorporate computation into tests Current budget situation in school system results in uncertainty for next year

What we learned 12 Have undergraduates helping out in school Has benefits beyond understanding the material Have almost all material prepared in the summer HS teachers have few free cycles Meet with teachers informally during the year They may not quite know how to interact with you (they live in a much more formal world)