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Activity 109: Prospective Teacher's Conception about Computer Science Teach-
ing in an Informal Framework
This activity focuses on CS education in an informal framework, that is, not
in school settings and not necessary to young learners.
The students are asked to locate an informal teaching framework in which
CS is taught, to visit one lesson in this framework and to teach one lesson.
Based on this experience they are asked to reflect on similarities and dif-
ferences between this framework and that of teaching CS in the schools.
Second, when teaching a class, the prospective teachers usually have concerns
about the degree of cooperation they will receive from the learners as well as other
problems involving class management and discipline. These concerns do not usu-
ally enable the students to experience two essential pedagogical concepts: one,
follow-up on each learner's learning processes of the knowledge domain and, two,
the impact of their teaching methods on each learner. Needless to say that sensitive
prospective teachers may pay attention to each learner's progress, and further, effec-
tive guidance of the in-school mentor and the university mentor should address pu-
pils' learning processes and problem-solving processes. These learning processes,
however, are more transparent in a one-on-one mentoring process.
Finally, one clear difference between the practicum and the mentoring model is
the easiness of their facilitation. That is, the mentoring model can be facilitated in
the university, without the need to coordinate it with the high school administration
and with a high school teacher. Therefore, when practicum in the high school is not
an available framework, it is recommended to let the students enrolled in the MTCS
course gain some teaching experience in the framework of a mentoring process.
References
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