3.00 Credits
This course is designed to meet the needs of Secondary Education teacher candidates (undergraduate and graduate) seeking certification in Grades 7-12 Computer Science. This course provides teacher candidates in the Secondary Education Computer Science program with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary to effectively teach computer science at the secondary level. This course focuses on the theories, methods, materials, and assessment procedures that align with the standards put forth by the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) and the Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA). In this course, there will be a strong emphasis on practical aspects of classroom instruction, such as synthesizing content into individual lesson plans, developing instructional units, designing effective assessment, working with state and national standards, and using a wide variety of strategies to relay content. In addition, teacher candidates will teach sample lessons and complete a number of field experiences. As a whole, this course is designed to prepare teacher candidates with opportunities to connect theory, resources, and instructional methods to effectively teach in middle school and high school Computer Science classrooms during their student teaching ( clinical) experience and beyond.