Overview of the Discipline of Computer Science - Guide to Teaching Computer Science: An Activity-Based Approach - page 44

formally, and additionally, it is not sufficient to present students with only the defi-
nition of the said concept. In other words, soft ideas cannot be carried out simply by
applying rigid rules; in order to understand and apply a soft idea, one must sense it.
Second, in some cases, soft ideas are not connected exclusively to a specific
topic; rather, they are expressed throughout the curriculum and, therefore, can be
illustrated and applied in the context of different topics.
Third, since soft ideas are never applied out of context, their application requires
awareness. More specifically, since soft ideas are usually expressed when some
other topic is at the focus of the discussion, soft ideas are actually accompanying,
yet important, notions that serve and support the thinking that is dedicated to the
other concept. Thus, when trying to illustrate a soft idea, another topic must be
taught at the same time, there must be awareness of the way in which the soft idea
is thought about, and its use must be demonstrated in situations in which it can be
helpful. Clearly, this is not a simple pedagogical task.
Accordingly, the motivation to include the discussion of teaching computer sci-
ence soft ideas in the MTCS course results from the awareness to these difficulties
together with the acknowledgment that computer science soft ideas should be ad-
dressed, at least on a basic level, in high school computer science classes.
It is appropriate to dedicate a lesson about the teaching of computer science soft
ideas toward the end of the first semester of the MTCS course (either when the
course extends for one or two semesters). At this stage of the course, it is reason-
able to assume that the students have already heard the notion of soft ideas (as is
explained below) and have enough knowledge, related to the teaching of computer
science, based on which they will be able to discuss meaningfully the teaching of
computer science soft ideas.
Having said that, it is recommended to highlight the notion of computer science
soft ideas and the importance of introducing it to high school computer science pu-
pils from the very first lessons of the MTCS course, and then, as mentioned above,
to dedicate a full lesson to the teaching of computer science soft ideas toward the
end of the first semester of the course. For example, in the MTCS lesson about
evaluation, it makes sense that the notion of soft ideas comes up, for example, with
respect to how to evaluate students' understanding of soft ideas. In such cases, it
would be appropriate to mention to the students the notion of computer science soft
ideas, and to specifically indicate that one of the future lessons of the course will be
dedicated to their teaching. Thus, when the lesson on computer science soft ideas
is taught, the prospective computer science teachers will have a basis on which to
go on constructing their knowledge related to the teaching of computer science soft
ideas.
From this perspective, similar to other topics, such as students' difficulties and
reflection, soft ideas can be viewed as a meta-idea (or meta-theme/thread) that is
intertwined in the MTCS course with respect to different topics.
Activities 16-22, to be facilitated in the MTCS course, are dedicated to com-
puter science soft ideas. Activities 16, 17, and 18 address the notion of soft ideas in
general; Activities 19-22 focus on abstraction as an example for a computer science
soft idea.