Where is the “CS” in STEM?
From Courtney Heppner, Heather King and Sarah Rand
To many people, STEM is defined simply as four subjects: science, technology, engineering and math. To others, STEM is a mind-set, a way of thinking and doing that is not limited to four subjects, but is incorporated into both teaching and learning. STEM is critical thinking, it is problem-based learning. STEM is collaboration. STEM is learning skills for the 21st century workplace. Despite the range of definitions, it may surprise some of you to know that computer science – a discipline crucial to our increasingly technological world – is not often included in STEM.

Most critically, there is no shared understanding of what computer science is, within the field of computer science, within the field of computer science education, or even within the field of education. For the past year and a half we have worked on a project under the direction of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and in partnership with the Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA), Google, Microsoft, the National Center for Woman and Information Technology (NCWIT), and the National Science Foundation (NSF) called “Building an Operating System for Computer Science” (OS4CS). This project sought to describe the current landscape of high school computer science in the United States, including that of teacher professional development, the current teaching population, the supports and barriers they experience, and the context in which they teach. For this project, we interviewed both computer science teachers and school administrators, who confirmed this lack of agreement. Some view computer science as computer applications (ie. Microsoft Word or Photoshop); others consider it programming; and still others describe it as logic, modeling, and problem-solving. Many people assume that computer science is included in the “T” in STEM, usually in the form of computer literacy. Tell this to a computer science teacher and they will usually say that knowing how to use an application is not the same as knowing how to build an application. Knowing how to build it – that is computer science. Perhaps as a result of this issue, or perhaps compounding the issue even further, is the fact that there are few quality instructional materials (i.e. curricula) available to computer science teachers. Comprehensive instructional materials will lead to more coherence within the computer science education community.

Second, unlike science, technology, engineering and math, there is little incentive for schools and districts to include computer science courses. There are no requirements at the college level, few state requirements, and the basic course materials (computers) are expensive to purchase and maintain. The decision to include computer science courses often falls to individuals at the school or district level. Many schools might claim they do computer science because they have one-to-one laptops, or because they did a lesson where they used Scratch. While experiences of this kind can certainly be valuable to students, they don’t encompass the range of concepts and skills that will prepare them for either postsecondary computer science courses or careers. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, approximately half (52%) of STEM job openings will be in computing by 2020. There is a significant mismatch between the priority given to computer science courses in K-12 education and the demand for computer scientists.

These issues taken together present a Catch-22. Computer science courses are not prioritized, nor does the computer science education community agree upon what constitutes quality computer science education. As a result, there are few resources available to current computer science teachers, computer science teachers are scarce, and those that exist tend to feel isolated. However, to remedy the lack of computer science teachers, and the lack of resources available to them, computer science courses must be prioritized and there must be a consensus on quality computer science education. But, it will be difficult to accomplish this with so few computer science teachers and resources. This cycle must be broken for progress to be made.

The good news is that computer science is rapidly becoming more prominent in the public consciousness. Organizations such as Code.org are making headway in raising awareness of the power and importance of computer science. Hopefully, these efforts will allow stakeholders to bring computer science education into the present and future. We hope that our report can be a resource in this endeavor.

Courtney Heppner, Heather King, and Sarah Rand are Associate Project Directors at Outlier Research and Evaluation, Center for Elementary Mathematics and Science Education at the University of Chicago.

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