Reconceptualizing Computer Science Education: Integrating Student's Prior Knowledge into Pedagogy

许多研究人员和教育工作者认为，先天天赋解释了学生在编程入门课程中取得成功的范围。相反，这个项目调查学生是否带着非编程知识进入计算机科学课堂，这些知识可以用来学习编程。第一阶段包括找出学生在与计算机科学高级选修考试的成功相关的问题上使用的有效的非编程策略。来自一所主要公立大学、社区学院和当地一所高中的学生将参与这项研究。第二阶段包括一项实验，以评估旨在利用这些学生策略的教学方法的有效性。课程材料在第三阶段反复改进并在课堂上使用。整个项目中都有一个外部咨询委员会参与，以评估方法的可靠性和结果的有效性。材料和最终结果将在项目第四阶段分发。预计结果将包括完善的课程，以支持更多样化的学生群体的成功。

Many researchers and educators assume that innate aptitude explains the range of student success in introductory programming courses. In contrast, this project investigates whether students enter computer science classrooms with non-programming knowledge that can be leveraged in learning to program. Phase 1 includes identifying students' productive non-programming strategies used on questions that are correlated with success on the Advanced Placement Computer Science exam. Students from a major public university, community college and a local high school will participate in the study. Phase 2 includes an experiment to assess the effectiveness of teaching methods designed to leverage these student strategies. Curricular materials are iteratively refined and used in the classroom during phase 3. An external advisory board is involved throughout the project to assess the reliability of methods and the validity of results. Materials and final results are disseminated in phase 4 of the project. Outcomes are expected to include a refined curriculum that can support the success of a more diverse student population.