UC San Diego Develops Sustainable Computer Science Courses for K-12

The San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) at the University of California, San Diego is launching a three-year initiative to help three school districts in the region keep their computer science courses up-to-date with rapid changes in technology.

The initiative, called Computer Science — Creating a Village for Educators (CS-CaVE), has received a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation to address the disparity between rates of change in the technology industry and K-12 computer science curricula. States conduct major revisions of their curriculum standards approximately once each decade, whereas advances in the computer science industry occur every few months or years. To address this challenge, UC San Diego will work with Sweetwater Union High School District, Vista Unified School District and San Diego Unified School District to "develop model 'villages' for introducing and sustaining up-to-date computer science courses in their curriculum," according to information from the university.

Through the program, UC San Diego will provide the districts with timely updates to course content and work with master teachers in the districts, who can then share the information with other teachers in the district. According to the university, CS-CaVE will use nationally proven curriculum, including one developed through UC San Diego Computer Science Principles (CSP) pilot program and activities from other proven programs, such as the "Hour of Code." The program will also provide master teachers with in-person and virtual peer support.

The CS-CaVE program builds on UC San Diego's Computing Principles for All Student's Success (ComPASS) program, which supported teachers who wanted to teach computer science principles in their schools.

Further information about CS-CaVE can be found on the program's site.

About the Author

Leila Meyer is a technology writer based in British Columbia. She can be reached at [email protected].

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