Tapestry Workshops: Helping High School Teachers Grow and Diversify Computing

The Tapestry Workshop series helps high school Computer Science teachers inspire diverse students to learn computer science. The workshops are offered to high school educators who want to initiate, expand, or improve Computer Science instruction in their schools. Eight colleges and universities have already organized workshops and three more will do so in summer 2013. Ongoing evaluations show that these workshops are highly effective in increasing the enrollment and diversity of the participating educator’s computer science classes. We discuss motivations for the workshops; how they are organized; necessary content; the nationwide partnerships for offering workshops; and results from the ongoing evaluation of the workshops. A different type of professional development The Tapestry Workshop series promotes high school computer science by helping teachers inspire diverse students to learn computer science. Each workshop runs for two and a half days in the summer. Participants are high school computer science teachers and other educators (e.g., principals and math teachers) who want to initiate or expand computer science instruction in their schools. Built on a successful model developed at the University of Virginia, Tapestry Workshops have been offered at seven additional colleges and universities in 2011 and 2012 and three more schools are slated for 2013. Unlike other many other high school teacher computer science workshops, the Tapestry Workshops do not teach computer science; rather they focus on computer science education and broadening participation. Attendees learn effective pedagogical practices for teaching computer science to all students. In addition to pedagogy, attendees are introduced to recruiting strategies that encourage students in general and women and minorities in particular to take computer science classes. Evaluation shows that participants both value the experience and make successful use of what they learned in the workshop. All but two of 223 participants from the 2011 and 2012 workshops indicated that they would recommend the workshop to colleagues. Individual sessions provided credible and useful information according to immediate post-workshop surveys. Moreover, there is evidence that the workshops increased the number and diversity of high school students studying computer science in the participants’ schools. In the following we discuss the importance and structure of the Tapestry Workshops. We discuss how workshops are organized; the content presented in typical workshops; the nationwide college and university partnerships for offering Tapestry Workshops; and results from the ongoing evaluation of the Tapestry Workshop series. We begin with our motivation in offering the workshops: high school computer science education is foundering. P ge 23132.2 Motivation: High school is a leverage point for the crisis in computing High school is a critical intervention point in student selection of discipline and career. Nationally, however, we do a poor job of promoting student, especially girls’, interest in computing. In 2011, the Advanced Placement Computer Science (AP CS) exam was offered in fewer than three thousand high schools. From those schools, only 23,000 students took the AP CS exam that year. This number is less than 8% of the 340,000 students taking an AP Calculus exam. Except for one advanced-topics Physics exam, the AP CS exam has the least number of takers of any science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) AP exam. In addition, the AP CS exam has the worst gender balance of any AP exam given by the College Board (CB) ― women comprise less than 20% of test takers. The current situation inhibits late-comers at the college level by decreasing the likelihood they will succeed. College introductory courses typically assume that students have some programming experience – many do. The range of experience levels creates a situation where able students can feel intimidated by those who appear to be more talented in computing by virtue of their experience. This situation particularly disadvantages the women and minority students, who are more likely to be true novices. In addition, or perhaps partially because of this intimidation, experienced students get better grades in introductory computer science courses. 3,12,13 It is also the case that students with AP computer science credit are more likely than other students to major in computer science. 18 Thirty-two percent of CS AB test-takers major in computing, compared with only three percent of students who never took AP Computer Science in high school. Furthermore, unpublished data collected by Sonnert and Sadler show that high school is an important time for developing education and career goals. The majority of students majoring in science, technology, engineering, or math made that decision during high school. 17 Many high schools contribute to the low numbers and gender imbalance through non-existent CS courses or by mislabeled non-CS offerings, such as keyboarding, with the CS label. High schools also often lack teachers trained in the CS subject area, are unaware of the gender issues in computing, and engage in minimal efforts to recruit students into CS. Numerous calls for improvement point to a need for: ● Access to high quality computing experiences, ● Public understanding of what computing really is, ● Course content, ● Teacher training, ● Education policies, ● Feeling of belonging for members of underrepresented groups. High school teachers cannot take responsibility for these changes, however, without adequate training and supportive policies. Teachers need training in the theory and practice of both P ge 23132.3 computing and computing education, but they also need to understand computing’s gender issues and methods for mitigating those issues. The Tapestry Workshops are an attempt to change that landscape. Workshop principles and organization Defining features of Tapestry Workshops include: ● All organizers are committed to improving high school computer science education. ● All organizers are prepared and given resources necessary to run a successful workshop. ● Only evaluated or research-based practices that work with diverse students are presented. Evidence of effectiveness is provided for all recommended practices. ● Presented examples and resources are easily used and adapted without ongoing support or instruction. ● Inclusion of success stories by energetic high school teachers (local if possible) using recommended practices. ● Active learning components; e.g., group problem solving to facilitate workshop ice breaker activities. ● Sessions including: ○ Current conditions and need for computing in high school. ○ CS1-type course(s) that promotes more and diverse computing majors. ○ Recruiting techniques for more and diverse computing majors. ○ Pedagogical best practices that result in more and diverse computing majors (e.g., pair programming). ○ Teacher success stories. ● Time every day to reflect, plan for action, and share thoughts and experiences. ● Physical movement, especially as the end of the day approaches. ● Both at-workshop and follow-up evaluation of workshop efficacy and follow-up evaluation of participant outcomes, ● Participant compensation out of respect for their interest in improving high school computer science education and recognition of the value of their time. Each of these principles is addressed in the following sections. Organizer recruitment, selection, and preparation The authors recruit and train organizers of individual workshops. Potential organizers are often recruited via personal contacts, mainly established through NCWIT interactions (e.g., the Extension Services community and the Academic Alliance) and through other professional networks and conference meetings. Those interested complete online applications 21 during the fall and are notified of acceptance before the end of the year. The selected organizers demonstrate prior commitment to computer science diversity and are part of institutions that can provide the support and infrastructure needed for a successful workshop. P ge 23132.4 To prepare for hosting a workshop, organizers come to a weekend training meeting and are given assistance throughout the winter and spring in planning their own workshop. In the training meeting new organizers meet previous organizers and potential session leaders; are introduced to workshop elements, philosophy, and practices; and the established workshop infrastructure and available resources (e.g., application system, calendar and session templates, procedures, and funding) are detailed. In the following months we help review plans, answer questions, and provide general guidance as needed. New organizers also attend the summer’s first Tapestry Workshop, which takes place at University of Virginia, so they can observe a correctlyfunctioning event. All this preparation helps organizers plan successful workshops. In training we make sure to indicate potentially serious pitfalls that might reduce the effectiveness of the workshops. For example, we caution against: ● Presenters who lack respect for high school educators or diversity issues, or who cannot convey ideas in a clear and engaging manner. ● Repetition of the same information in more than one session. ● CS1 content that does not primarily focus on how to more effectively teach diverse students. ● Sessions devoted to activities outside mainstream curriculum and pedagogy, e.g., camps or after school programs. This list, as all of our training material, is informed by personal experience running workshops as well as the findings of educational researchers. Typical workshop content The bulk of time in each workshop is spent on presentations and discussions ranging from 45–90 minutes in length. The session leaders are the Tapestry Workshops initiators, local workshop organizers and faculty, previous high school teacher workshop at