Getting Experience in Computer Science Education - Guide to Teaching Computer Science: An Activity-Based Approach - page 238

they do mutually contribute to each other. Accordingly, from the MTCS course's
perspective, the practicum bridges a gap between theory and reality .
As we can see in Activities 106-108, the presentations of scenarios that took
place during the practicum in the MTCS course may help bridge the gap between
the theory that is taught in the MTCS course and reality —what actually goes on in
schools. For example, based on a real lesson taught by a prospective CS teacher
during the practicum, a detailed description of the lesson can be presented to the
students participating in the MTCS course. The students are asked to analyze the
lesson, to point out good teaching behavior, to suggest alternative actions for spe-
cific teaching behaviors, to analyze pupils' answers, etc. The fact that the descrip-
tion is based on an actual lesson taught by a prospective CS teacher, who has similar
teaching experience to that of the students in the MTCS course, is important since
it may serve the students as a kind of self-examination of their own actions. 2 Such
real case studies can be collected by the university mentor or taken from research
done by other scholars in the field (see Chap. 4).
From a broader perspective, the MTCS course should not be based solely on
theory. Had the MTCS course been based only on theory and hypothetical case stud-
ies, the gap described in the previous section from the students' prospective would
have been further widened and, consequently, their entry into the practicum would
have been even a more mysterious and difficult process.

13.2.2.3 University Mentor's Perspective:
Bridging the Gap Between Theory and the Field
This section discusses the gap that exists between the university environment (in
which the university mentor is active) and the high school environment (in which
CS is taught), that when examined from the university mentor's perspective, may be
bridged by the practicum. By discussing the bridging of this gap, we actually also
explain why it is important that a university mentor be part of the practicum.
First, since in some cases the university mentor teaches the MTCS course, his or
her involvement in the practicum can create continuity between the MTCS course and
the practicum. Specifically, ideas that are presented and discussed in the MTCS course
can be referred to first, in the ongoing guidance that the university mentor gives the
prospective teachers during the practicum, and second, in the reflection meetings that
take place after lessons observed by the university mentor. We highlight that one of
the main aims of the reflective meetings is to educate the students to become a reflec-
tive practitioner (Sch￶n 1983 , 1987 ; see also Chap. 5). Further, by eliciting reflective
processes in these meetings, the university mentor can actually help the prospective
CS teachers bridge the gap between theory and practice (discussed above).
Second, university mentors do not usually teach in a school, yet they prepare
their students to become CS teachers. Thus, their involvement in the practicum
provides them with an opportunity to be involved in the field that is the subject of
the MTCS course and to avoid the well-known gap between the academia and the
high school system. Thus, the gap between the academia and the school is bridged.

2 We note that the analysis of teaching situations taken from lessons taught by experienced teach-
ers is important for other purposes.