Computing Education for Primary Schooling: Developing Teacher Knowledge

Abstract

The push for computer science education to primary schooling requires training teachers and developing their knowledge to teach computing. However, computing goals within primary schooling need to move away from teaching coding to curricular and pedagogical goals teachers have. In this talk, Dr. Aman Yadav will discuss how to support teachers to see the relevance of computing to their core curriculum and how teachers take advantage of computation to support their core instruction. Using classroom examples from his work with elementary teachers, he will share evidence-based ways to develop teachers’ competencies and skills to integrate computational thinking in their classrooms. Dr. Yadav will also discuss how teachers use computational thinking as a way to explicitly teach metacognitive strategies to their students and improve their core learning outcomes.