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International experience in informatics curriculum development Mart Laanpere, PhD, senior researcher in the Institute of Informatics, Tallinn University II project on Informatics curriculum development :: Chisinau, July
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International experience in informatics curriculum development

Oct 19, 2014

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Presentation made at CEED 2 workshop in Chisinau, Moldova
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Page 1: International experience in informatics curriculum development

International experience in informatics curriculum developmentMart Laanpere, PhD, senior researcher in the Institute of Informatics, Tallinn University

Moldova CEED II project on Informatics curriculum development :: Chisinau, July 23-24 2014

Page 2: International experience in informatics curriculum development

Estonia: facts & figures

Population: 1,29 million

NATO (2003), EU (2004), Schengenzone (2007), EURO currency (2011)

520 K-12 schools, 14 000 teachers

Strong ICT sector: 13% of yearly national export 4% of employees Highest average salary across sectors Skype, Playtech, Nortal, Regio, TransferWise

Page 3: International experience in informatics curriculum development

IT in schools:Estonian Juku

computers

PCs for schools,Informatics = programming

1986

Tiger Leap Foundation, 1st strategy

1993

Internet arrives Estonia

1st national curriculum

19971989

Graduated teachers’ college, teacher of maths

School principal, informatics

curriculum team

MSc in Holland,teaching in university

Pers

onal

timel

ine

Nati

onal

stra

tegi

esBa

ck-

grou

nd

Page 4: International experience in informatics curriculum development

Teachers portal

2nd strategy: TigerLeap +

Intel TTF

1998

E-university, IT Foundation

2002

2nd national curriculum,

no informatics

Boom in Estonian IT

industry

20042001

Teaching IT in teacher ed, MA

Educ. multimedia

Chairman of informatics

curriculum team

Researcher, international

projects

ECDLarrives Estonia

Page 5: International experience in informatics curriculum development

3rd strategy: Learning Tiger

TLF strategy, SITES, PISA

2006

Strategy of lifelong

learning 2020

2010

EstWin project

3rd national curriculum

20132008

International research projects

Koolielu portal, MA EdTech, OER,

Dippler

PhD, informatics projects in Serbia

ITL, ICT cluster

Page 6: International experience in informatics curriculum development

Curriculum: key concepts

Bobbitt (1918): curriculum is the range of experiences (directed and undirected), concerned with unfolding of the abilities of learners

Curriculum: plans made for guiding the learning (in the form of documents), together with their actualisation in classrooms, as experienced by learners and seen by observers

Not everything that is written in curriculum document is supported by resources (time, teachers, textbooks), taught, assessed and, eventually, learned

Page 7: International experience in informatics curriculum development

The types of curriculum

Written curriculum

Supported curriculum

Taught curriculum

Tested curriculum

Intended curriculumRecommended

curriculum

Learned curriculum

Hidden curriculum

Page 8: International experience in informatics curriculum development

Curriculum rationales

Rational-linear rationale (Tyler, Taba 1949): experts are setting goals, selecting and sequencing learning experiences, planning assessment

Naturalistic-deliberative rationale (Schwab, Walker): dialogical and iterative process of moving towards consensus involving various stakeholders and alternative proposals

Artistic rationale (Eisner): curriculum is never finalised, the best curriculum is born after teaching, teacher is a creative professional

Artis

t P

oliti

cian

Eng

inee

r

Page 9: International experience in informatics curriculum development

Discussion

Define curriculum in the context of current CEED II project

Should we try to achieve the perfect match between written and taught curriculum? Why?

What is the ultimate impact of the changes in the informatics curriculum in case of the most optimistic scenario?

Page 10: International experience in informatics curriculum development

Becoming a school subject

Goodson describes traditional view: dominant (economic or academic) groups exercise control over presumably subordinate groups in the definition of school knowledge

Examples from Estonia: mathematics exam, driving schools

Some school subjects reflect academic disciplines, some have preceded their parent disciplines (Layton: the case of science as a subject in UK, Goodson: the case of geography)

The most powerful academic and professional communities are medical and juridical: no such school subjects

Informatics is not a separate school subject in many countries

Page 11: International experience in informatics curriculum development

Informatics as a separate subject

ICT is integrated into other subjects

Both

Curriculum does not target any computing/ICT competencies

Data is missing

Source: Eurydice 2004

Informatics in K-9 school curricula Informatics in upper-secondary curricula

Page 12: International experience in informatics curriculum development

Discussion

What could be the reasoning behind excluding informatics subject form school curricula in so many countries?

How could it affect the economy and higher education in these countries?

Page 13: International experience in informatics curriculum development

Body of knowledge in school informatics

Three alternative sources/communities/vocabularies: Computer science: academic discipline in university

(programming, algorithms, data structures, networks, architectures, and computational thinking skills)

ICT skills/Digital Literacy: universal ICT application skills at the future workplace (ECDL: office software, internet)

E-learning: ICT as a pedagogical tool for teaching and learning different subjects (presentations, Web publishing, digital creativity, online collaboration)

Each of these have both advantages and disadvantages – could you name some?

Page 14: International experience in informatics curriculum development

Computing in UK schools

Until 2012: ICT as an optional subject and cross-curricular theme, programming only extra-curricular (600 Coding Clubs)

Computing at School initiative (2013) with central thesis: Computer science is a proper, rigorous school subject discipline, on a par with mathematics or chemistry, that every child should learn from primary school onwards.

GCSE in computing piloted 2010-2012, now available for all

2013: CS included in English Baccalaureate

2014: CS included in the new national curriculum, see http://www.computingatschool.org.uk

Page 15: International experience in informatics curriculum development

School informatics in France

Until 2001, most of the schools taught ICT skills as integrated into other subjects; the Ministry introduced B2i (Informatics & Internet Certificate) that states required competences for each grade level

2012: the new course for Grade 12, “Informatique et Sciences du Numerique” (ISN), which is one of the four choices in the Science strand (students in Technology strand can also take it)

ISN concept in 4 thematic areas: data representation, algorithms, languages and programming, and computer architecture

Programming: no specific language requirements (has to be free), most schools use Python or Java (through Java’s Cool)

Project-based learning, projects are assessed as a part of national exam

Page 16: International experience in informatics curriculum development

School informatics in Italy

Most of the schools teach only ICT application skills (ECDL), as there is shortage of qualified teachers and no interest among students & parents towards computer science

Informatics is a compulsory course only in the Scientific Lyceum, focused on Applied Sciences (32000 pupils learn it 2 hours per week for 5 years).

In addition, Mathematics course in all the Lyceum schools in the first two years should also include “Elements of informatics”: concept of algorithm and algorithmic strategies to solve simple problems, concepts of computable function, decidability.

Page 17: International experience in informatics curriculum development

Germany

Informatics is an optional subject in upper-secondary schools, which can be taken in addition (not as substitution) of other Science subject; 20% of students in Grade10 and 10% in Grades 11-12 take this course

Contents: Object Oriented Modelling (including programming), Entity-Relationship-Modelling, Automata, Algorithmic Modelling, Functional Modelling (optional), Rule-Based Modelling (optional), Formal Languages, Computer-Human-Interaction, Privacy, Security, Computer Architecture, Computability, (Practical) Efficiency, and Societal Issues.

Recent initiative: GI computer science standards for Grades 5-9

Page 18: International experience in informatics curriculum development

Computer Science in schools of USA

High level of heterogeneity, most schools teach digital literacy integrated to other subjects, instead of CS as a separate subject

CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards (2011), based on ACM Model

AP course “Computer Science” focuses narrowly on Java programming (until 1999: Pascal, 1999-2003: C++), 31 000 students passed this course in 2013

New AP course “Computer Science: Principles” (launches in 2016) has a broader focus on computational thinking rather than merely on programming (see http://www.csprinciples.org); built on 6 Computational Thinking Practices: Analyzing the Effects of Computation, Creating Computational Artifacts, Using Abstractions & Models, Analyzing Problems & Artifacts, Communicating Processes and Results, Working Effectively In Teams

Page 19: International experience in informatics curriculum development

School informatics in Russia

Federal Education Standard: http://www.standart.edu.ru

Page 20: International experience in informatics curriculum development

Computing in Swedish schools

Grades 1 – 9 curriculum includes digital literacy topics such as “the flow of information”, how to use digital technology, and to develop critical thinking about the information available on the Internet

In upper secondary school computing courses (incl courses on programming) are elective for all students.

IT-related courses are mandatory in few of the 18 programmes offered by upper secondary schools: the Technology Programme has one orientation “Information and media

technology”, which offers courses in computer communication, programming, digital media, web development, and computers and ICT;

the Electricity and Energy Programme has one orientation “Computers and ICT”, with no requirements of programming

Page 21: International experience in informatics curriculum development

Conclusions

Computer science is confused with media literacy and ICT

Too much change: pendulum moved from computer science to ICT, now it is heading back – schools are resisting change

Insufficient quantity and quality of teachers

Many constraints from national curriculum framework, which makes good examples hard to transfer to other country

Students do not like traditional/theoretical approach

Next: how school informatics in three Baltic countries went completely different directions after 1991

Page 22: International experience in informatics curriculum development

Some Rights Reserved

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 3.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/.

The photo on the title slide comes from Flickr.com user Michael Surran