Teaching computing in school: is K-12 research reaching classroom practice?

Abstract

If we believe that every child has a right to, or will benefit from, learning about computing in school, then this leads to a responsibility for education policy makers to implement a computing curriculum and to make it available for all. This is the change that we have seen over the last decade, with computing increasingly becoming part of the school curriculum in countries around the world [12]. At the same time, there is a need for research to inform schools and teachers on effective ways of teaching computing concepts and skills to young people [10]. Consequently, the number of research papers and projects focusing on K-12 computing education has grown significantly over the last decade. But is that research reaching the classroom? If not, what are the mechanisms that we can use to ensure that it does? And what are the complexities that influence the relationship and flow of knowledge between computing education research, teaching practice and education policy. In this talk, I highlight ways in which research findings can be implemented in school education and the influence that research can have on educational policy. Although this talk focuses on K-12 education, much of the discussion is equally relevant to higher education.