Bringing Algorithms to Flemish Classrooms

Computer science (CS) is currently not yet part of the official cur-riculum imposed by the Flemish government for secondary edu-cation. However, an increasing number of schools offer the topic,or elements of it, in a “free” course, especially in grades 7 and 8,and also in scientific and/or technical profiles in grades 9 to 12. Theteachers who develop and teach these courses usually do so withgreat effort and enthusiasm, but a limited background in CS. Theuniversities of Leuven, Gent and Hasselt, are organising severalseries of workshops in which teachers’ skills and knowledge onPhysical Computing and Algorithms are enhanced during in-servicetraining. The approach taken is presented, as well as the results ofa small scale teaching experiment on algorithmics in grade 12, andplans for future activities and research in this area.status: publishe