Facts at a Glance
Exploring Computer Science (ECS) is designed to introduce students to the breadth of the field of computer science through an exploration of engaging and accessible topics. Rather than focusing the entire course on learning particular software tools or programming languages, the course is designed to focus on the conceptual ideas of computing and help students understand why certain tools or languages might be utilized to solve particular problems. The goal of Exploring Computer Science is to develop in students the computational practices of algorithm development, problem solving and programming within the context of problems that are relevant to the lives of today’s students. Students will also be introduced to topics such as interface design, limits of computers, and societal and ethical issues. During the first month of the course, the students learn about computers. They touch upon a wide breadth of topics, including dismantling and rebuilding a computer and being able to name the major components and explain what each did. The second part of the course is more about process. They participate in many activities that helped them understand how a coder thinks. This includes a tremendous amount of problem solving, reflection and more problem solving. In the 3rd portion of the class, students create websites with HTML code. Eventually, the students spend about a month using block coding to write programs and create games. They then get some experience developing surveys, collecting data and making sense out of the data. Finally, the students write code that directs the actions of robots.
ECS is the first class or step offered to students pursuing the Software and Systems Development CTE Pathway. One class is offered at the middle school and two classes are offered at the high school. After fininshing this course, students can move onto the next level which is Computer Science Principles. This course dives deeper into compter science principles and in particular coding skills. It can be how many students have graduated, what pathway you prepare students for, why they should take your course. The great things that happen in your course.
Currently, sixty students each year are enrolled in the ECS classes. All of the students in this pathway have graduated and all of the students in the last two graduating classes that responded to a questionaire report that they all had jobs following graduation. Many of these jobs were not directly tech jobs, but they all say that the companies that have hired them have been tapping into their tech skills.