Getting Experience in Computer Science Education - Guide to Teaching Computer Science: An Activity-Based Approach - page 246

Tutoring Pupils Student-teachers tutor pupils in their problem-solving processes,
guide them and help them overcome their obstacles.
Student-teachers' schedules are flexible so that they have the opportunity to
practice the various activities throughout the entire year. Table 13.1 presents an ex-
ample of a student-teacher's practicum schedule at the beginning of the school year.
In addition to the presented various activities, the student are also responsible
for leading special initiatives in the school. Such initiatives are usually not direct-
ly related to CS, but school officials consider the CS students teachers and their
pedagogical supervisor as part of the professional information and communication
technologies (ICT) community. For example, student teachers may lead an Online
Day in which all students stay at home and participate in online activities in various
disciplines. The CS student teachers help the school teachers develop the online ac-
tivities and help them activate the activities throughout the Online Day. Another ex-
ample of an ICT school activity is running a simulation program for computerized
elections, which student teachers can develop during a national election year and
which the school can use on Election Day to simulate an election process.

13.3.3 The Practice of Teaching Within the PDS

When a student teaches a lesson, all the other students in the course are invited to
observe it. A feedback discussion is conducted at the end of each lesson, led by the
academic pedagogical supervisor. The mentor-teacher and the other CS prospec-
tive teachers, who observed the lesson, participate in this discussion. The feedback
session starts with the student who taught the lesson; he or she addresses his or her
feelings during the lesson, and reflects on the lesson plan compared with its imple-
mentation as well as on what in his or her opinion was done properly and what can
be improved. The student-teacher leads and directs the discussion to issues he or
she deems important.
In addition to the individual practicum days, the annual practicum plan includes
two full weeks of practice at the school, one in each of the two semesters, dur-
ing which there are no lectures at the academic institution and the student-teachers
spend the entire week at the schools. This is a unique opportunity to experience the
continuity of teacher's work. Such a full week of practicum enriches all PDS part-
ners. In particular, during this week, the CS prospective teachers teach in different
classes, something they cannot experience during a single practicum day, enabling
them to become acquainted with and experience various learning methods. They
also have the opportunity to participate in homeroom classes and in other school
events and activities.
More specifically, the goals of the week-long practicum (as opposed to single
days) are: (a) to expand the students opportunities for acquaintance with the school
system, including all of its strata and activity settings, which they were unable to
experience during their 1-day-a-week practicum; (b) to enable the students to teach
a sequence of lessons; (c) to give students an opportunity to authentically experi-
ence the teacher's work during an entire week, which helps them understand the