Getting Experience in Computer Science Education - Guide to Teaching Computer Science: An Activity-Based Approach - page 234

13

Getting Experience in Computer Science
Education

Abstract

This chapter deals with the teaching experience that the students enrolled in the
Methods of Teaching Computer Science (MTCS) course gain before becoming
computer science (CS) teachers. Three frameworks in which the prospective CS
teachers gain their first teaching experience are presented: (1) The practicum,
which takes place in high school, after one or two semesters of learning the
MTCS course; (2) CS teacher training within the Professional Development
School (PDS) collaboration framework; and (3) a tutoring framework that can
be integrated in the MTCS course. We also present activities that can be facili-
tated in the MTCS course, in which the students deal with and analyze teaching
scenarios taken from the practicum of other prospective CS teachers.

13.1 Introduction

This chapter deals with the teaching experiences that the students gain before
becoming CS teachers, in which they implement what they have learned in the
Methods of Teaching Computer Science (MTCS) course. The importance of these
first teaching experiences stems from the recognition that one significant way to
acquire pedagogical-disciplinary knowledge involves activities performed in actual
teaching situations. These activities provide opportunities and guide the teacher to-
ward reflective processes that address learners' thinking (Wilson and Berne 1999 ;
Putnam and Borko 2000 ).
We present three frameworks in which the students gain this first teaching expe-
rience: The practicum, which takes place in high school, after one or two semesters
of learning the MTCS course; a practicum model within a collaborative framework
defined as Professional Development School (PDS); and a tutoring framework that
can be integrated in the MTCS course. In addition, we present activities that can be