Guide to Teaching Computer Science

The dynamic evolution of the field of computer science also poses educational and pedagogical challenges, such as issues of computer science (CS) teacher recruitment, pre-service teacher preparation, support for teachers' ongoing professional development, and the design of teaching and learning material.This unique Guide to Teaching Computer Science presents both a conceptual framework and detailed implementation guidelines for general CS teaching. The content is clearly written and structured to be applicable to all levels of CS education and for any teaching organization, without limiting its focus to instruction for any specific curriculum, programming language or paradigm.Topics and features: presents an overview of curriculum topics in computer science, and of research in CS education; examines strategies for teaching problem-solving, evaluating pupils, and for dealing with pupils' misunderstandings; provides learning activities throughout the book, consistently supported by chapter references; proposes active-learning-based classroom teaching methods, as well as methods specifically for lab-based teaching; discusses various types of questions that a CS instructor, tutor, or trainer can use for a range of different teaching situations; investigates thoroughly issues of lesson planning and course design; describes frameworks by which prospective CS teachers gain their first teaching experience.Drawing on the authors' experience of more than two decades of teaching and research in computer science education, this concise, thorough and easy-to-follow book is eminently suitable for use as either a teaching guide or as a textbook for computer science teacher training programs.