

Developing Computer Science Pedagogical Content Knowledge through On-the-Job Learning
Effective Years: 2014-2019
WestEd proposes to study the Technical Education and Literacy in Schools (TEALS) program. TEALS, a pioneering work-place intervention of the non-profit Microsoft YouthSpark program, provides multi-year, on-the-job computer science education professional development to high school teachers. The project will identify an effective learning model to prepare in-service teachers to teach computer science. To ensure the model meets workplace requirements, all research will take place in an authentic high school learning context. In addition, the project will synthesize existing research on computer science education, integrate research with practice, and contribute to the development of theory around computer science pedagogy.
This project addresses a major barrier to increasing the number of qualified K-12 computer science teachers in the U.S. Few avenues currently exist for pre-service and in-service teachers to train in computer science pedagogy and become certified to teach computer science. As computer science is becoming increasingly important for many kinds of careers, improving teaching in this area is in the national interest.