Computing Curriculum in Middle Schools: An Experience Report

Abstract

This paper explores the results of a piloting and field-testing of Alice in the Middle East (Alice ME), a computing curriculum for students in Middle Schools in Qatar. Alice ME is a project aimed at designing and delivering a Qatari context appropriate computing curriculum using Alice software. Curricular materials and professional development were created to help participating teachers deliver the course. An evaluation of the effectiveness of the implementation was carried out during all stages of the project. Results show that students who studied computing through Alice ME showed an improvement in their critical thinking and problem solving skills. Moreover, students and teachers became more motivated to learn programing as a result. This paper suggests best practices in teacher training and CS teaching in K-12 schools in Qatar in addition to sharing lessons learned from the process.