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High School Computer Science: Look Ma, No Textbooks!
theodp writes: Computer Science Teacher Alfred Thompson wonders how other high school CS teachers use textbooks. "It's not a conversation I hear much about," he writes. Indeed, many teachers apparently don't rely on CS textbooks much at all. In fact, the highly-touted new AP Computer Science Principles (AP CSP) course does not require a CS textbook for students (sample College Board AP CSP syllabus), albeit to the chagrin of some. Some of the bigger providers of AP CSP curriculum -- e.g., BJC and Code.org, both of whom partner with Microsoft TEALS -- don't require a traditional CS textbook. But with teachers being recruited to teach Computer Science even if they don't have a CS background, should students learning CS have a textbook? Or is the high AP exam pass rate enjoyed by AP CSP students proof that no-more-books works?
To drive down the cost of sourcing and employing programmers specific to the construction of code for major multinational corporations.
in much the same way slavery worked in 18th century america, these programmers are never intended to understand or learn the fundamentals of their trade. Instead, like the slaveholders cobbler or slaveholders carpenter, theyre instructed only as much as they need to know for the task at hand. There are no textbooks required, because these programmers are divorced from the core competency and theory of their trade by design.
Good people go to bed earlier.
If they want to teach computer science (and not software development or programming) a text on abstract algebra or discrete mathematics is likely going to help more than anything with "computer" in the title.
I took AP CS in 2000-2001 back when it was C++ based and we didn't use a textbook then either so I'm not so sure this is a new phenomena. We relied on lectures and a lot of hands-on exercises which seemed to work out pretty well. I suspect at that time the AP CS market was quite a bit smaller so there probably were a pretty limited set of textbook options, especially geared at high school students. Now, with the advantage of substantially more online resources there are probably even fewer reasons to be using a textbook. The teacher does need to put some effort into pre-selecting some good online resources to share with students as well as some effort into being a reasonably proficient programmer themselves though. There are many ways to do that too though and my AP CS teacher taught one or two sections of AP CS and the rest of the time was a math teacher which was pretty standard I think.
As long as there is a proper curriculum guiding the class it doesn't seem important whether or not there is one primary source or multiple different sources.
I believe that proves the test is well correlated to the class content (or vice-versa). Does the class content help the students find meaningful, relevant employment?
The Russians have won. They have made the world a cesspool of distrust, greed, fear and hate.
CS, much more than most other STEM fields, already has absolute loads of reference information and tutorials and explanations available online. A textbook is supposed to be one-size-fits-all volume with all you need to know to get to a certain level in a certain topic -- a really useful thing to have with no internet, or on a topic where the internet doesn't already have all that information in easily-accessible form, but with the tradeoff that everyone using that textbook gets taught in roughly the same way, which won't work well for all of them. For CS, especially high-school-level CS where you aren't dealing with the more complicated aspects of algorithm performance or CS theory, easily available resources outside textbooks can easily cover everything necessary while also allowing the versatility to more easily suit different teaching and learning styles.
direct background. My physics teacher did not have a major in physics, biology teacher was not a biologist etc etc etc. What they do need is a teaching background, a sound mind, and an interest in the topic. High-school is introductory level.
What value does a textbook really bring to a classroom beyond being expensive? I love reading but I stopped buying physical books years ago. Maybe the library at the school can have physical books for students who like a physical book. Most would be better off using a more interactive medium; especially for subjects that change often or are difficult to master/understand, like math or computer science. Oh, did you hate history? There are some great YouTube channels that make it fun.
it's not a real CS class! I'm kidding of course. Many of those books weren't textbooks by any stretch, any more than a dictionary or the DSM is a text book: good reference, but not with "lessons" and such. My best CS classes were when the prof used a reference book and wrote their own curricula, rather than a "textbook" and just following the built in lesson plan.
In Soviet Russia jokes are formulaic and decidedly non-humorous.
Textbooks are for student loans in HS the gov is paying most of the costs so they can say no to textbook BS.
Let me tell you about one of the best classes I had in high school... a public high school though it seems looking back that I received a really good education... AP US History with Mr Fox. Mr Fox started the first class of the year by dutifully issuing his students the proscribed text books. Then he instructed us to put them in our lockers and never touch them until we returned them on the last day of the school year. Over the course of the year Mr Fox relied on humor filled lecture denser in material than any class I had in an Ivy League college classroom, a variety of hand outs including: newspaper clippings, maps, speeches, a few data tables and bonus readings... Mr Fox had spent a career picking up small volume works including one that stick in my mind which was titled something like the "25 Greatest Supreme Court Rulings 1798-1948" which included the text of select rulings and a short commentary on it by various writers including I think later Supreme Court Judges. I later tutored College US History having never taken another History course though I have read copiously including "The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt" which was recommended to me by Mr Fox shortly before his death.
Textbooks are designed to appeal to school boards. High School textbooks have a roughly 9th grade reading level, are filled with glossy pictures promoting popular ideas. They are far from primary sources and many have an agenda beyond being sold.
Don't get me wrong I am not suggesting The Art of Programming or the rants of Linus Torvalds would be useful in the classroom but select articles from Wikipedia (almost a primary source for programming), various PEP documents, many tutorials online free eBooks and carefully curated statements by big names in computing like Theo de Raadt and Steve Wozniak probably are.
Here's my suggestion to teachers of all subjects: Start a folder and fill it with clippings relevant to your area of instruction. Seek out other teachers who teach similar courses and raid (photocopy) their folders (the best teachers in my experience all have one). Moderate a class discussion board where students can post articles of interest they found helpful. Stop being afraid of Wikipedia. Find a library with back issues of magazines on your topic and photocopy the best articles or even see if they will cull the old articles into the back of your vehicle (you will be pleasantly surprised how many will). And of course save your course work from college with comments on what you found helpful and not.
Unfortunately, kids these days just aren't motivated to learn the way we were by a unattended Apple II and a floppy of Strip Poker.
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
I mean in other field things dont much change, new things are added but older things dont necessarily change. In CS what you learned about in your frist year might be obsolete before you finish your entire course. whats the use. I mean when I did my CS course at collegue we had textbox, where are those now? Down the drain.. nothing in these is much relevant now. I think its stupid to have textbook in CS as the web is a far better source of information. IMO it should be part of the course to learn how to better search the web. Textbook are in contracdiction to this.
We need to always make the distinction between computer science and programming. Computer science != programming, and most CS students learn to program (mostly, already have learned to program) on their own in order to explicate what's needed in their courses.
I imagine that the content of computer science changes too fast to be worth publishing a book. By the time the authors have finished the book, and it gets published, there is some new topic that needs to be covered, and other methods get disused. How about Math teachers, or History teachers? Do they still use textbooks?
There are two topics that often get mixed together: computer science and computer programming. For computer science, you'll likely want mathematics books. For computer programming, you'll likely just want Google for syntax. The reality is that by the time most computer programming books get published, they're already (somewhat) out of date. For true computer science, the principals haven't changed much in decades and good, advanced mathematics books will go a long way.
Before you call yourself a JavaScript programmer, read the first volume of "You Don't Know JS" (free ebook). Most people who use a JavaScript framework know only enough JavaScript, say, "Hello, World," to make the framework work but not enough to understand and solve problems when the framework doesn't behave.
Hands on experience beats textbooks pretty much every time. If your school has a computer lab (AKA you are in a first world country) then there isn't much point studying from the book instead of just doing it yourself and learning how it works. Later on when you start talking about making inductive proofs and the like then the books become necessary again, but for high school CS there is basically nothing that isn't best done directly on the computer.
I read the internet for the articles.
I teach Computer Applications at a Middle School. A B or better allows the class to substitute for the same class taught at the high school. This allows interested students the opportunity to start the High School in more advanced classes. It also means that my class may be the last computer application class that my students will take until they start college. I also teach a basic, intro to robotics class.
The computer applications class is focused on word processing, spreadsheets, and Photoshop. The reason Photoshop is taught in this class is because some of the High School courses need the students to be proficient in Photoshop. It is a bit of a problem because there are no Middle School Photoshop books. Due to this I use the High School Photoshop text that is out of the Higher Ed catalogue.
A large part of using a text is that it helps sequence the class. The other reason is that it makes it clear to students what we are doing. For word processing and spreadsheets it provides lesson material and data. As an example, I will typically provide the students with most of the typing done in spreadsheet assignments; however, they will need to put in the numbers. I do this in order to work with them on ten-key skills.
I do not use the click-here click-here books. I consider them to be worthless. I prefer instructions in the form of "create a two inch top margin." I then frequently modify the lesson in the text. So, why use the book at all, because it provides sequence, instruction, and content in my applications classes.
In Robotics I use a lot less book and rely on a sequence of worksheets. We use th eEV-3, so the programming is very block based. For those who do not know what the EV-3 environment looks like, if you have used the, Scratch based, Hour of Code, then you are well prepared for the EV-3 environment.
I also use the Hour of Code material for extension in my Computer II class (the second semester of Computer Applications). I am interested in the Code.org Middle School curriculum package. However, my district has made it very clear that the Middle School Computer I and Computer II classes will be entirely about applications. At one point Hour of Code was blocked for a couple of years because the school felt that it was distracting from the purpose of the class, which is applications.
Before you say I am taking some easy way out, My class is considered the most advanced class in the area, covering five districts. There is a parent waiting list to get students into my class as opposed to the other teacher's Apps class. I am consistently reminded of this, by the administration, when I want to add more material to my course. If the student fails my class (a C or below) they will have to retake it at the High School. The High School class covers less, not more, content.
Then they ain't learnin' shit. /old
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Jews believe this of all they call goyim/gentiles (any non-jew): Jews = biggest racists of all (for which they "jew guilt" you for no less! They're hypocrites known as thieves all thru history or were Argentines in the 1940 under Perrone, Spanish inquistion & Spain 1492 (Christopher Columbus the jew https://duckduckgo.com/?q=%22C... sailed to the US for them to create it), France (1306), Egypt (despoiled/robbed by jews), Arabs (pre & post 1948), England (1330 Edward longshanks), Romans under titus, Russia pogroms and Germany who got rid of them from their nations nazi german's too? No. Driven into DESERTS ages ago! Don't wonder why after all those exilings above. Should anyone doubt any of this see Jacob Javits' crony Rosenthal spill the beans on it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4zMVZ8HnFI/ where he called all Christianity fools for helping Israel and the biggest scam of all time per their beliefs below from their Talmud. This is the province of the synagogue of Satan (Khazar/Pharisees whom Jesus Christ himself kicked to the curb out of the temple & they killed him for it. Jeremiah did the same to them also + the Essenes could not stand them either breaking away from the pharisee corruption):
Maria Abramovic satanist spirit cooker pal of Hillary Clinton the Voodoo queen is a jew https://www.google.com/search?...
Just like Hillary Clinton's mentor Saul Alinsky author of rules for radicals book dedicated to Lucifer
"Most Jews do not like to admit it, but our god is Lucifer â" so I wasnâ(TM)t lying â" and we are his chosen people. Lucifer is very much aliveâ Harold Rosenthal http://www.thetruthseeker.co.u...
Jewish rabbi openly admits to satan worship use white children's blood they kill for passover bread, infiltrating and subverting the catholic church, creating the Jesuit order https://www.youtube.com/watch?... and https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Barbara Spectre, a jew, tells everyone it's jews orchestrating the muslim migrant problem in Europe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFE0qAiofMQ/ . No migrant raping of women in Poland. Tons in Sweden. Do the math. Use common-sense. This is to get muslims and other goyim/gentiles to wipe one another out as incompatible cultures that will clash and always have.
Rabbi A. Finkelstein ADMITS their greatest enemies are ARABS and WHITES (blacks too) whom they wish to kill one another in a 'theater of war' which they find AMUSING https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Finkelstein also admits JEWS DID 9/11 https://www.youtube.com/watch?... profiting by it (and that 3,000 jews employed there did not show up for work that day knowing about it beforehand).
Finkelstein also admits JEWS are going to destroy the U.S. Dollar and dumping it for other world currencies and gold to destroy the United States.
George Soros who funds groups to create division in the USA?? A jew. One who sold his own jew people into death for the nazis.
Zucker now FIRED @ CNN is another frying publicly for lying about "russians" and John Bonifield a producer @ CNN said it is bs. Van Jones did also.
Bernie Madoff (who made off with everyone's money, especially construction union pensions) shows the thieving nature of the JUDEN!
Eric Schmidt had to step down @ JEWgle (a jew).
If they want to teach computer science (and not software development or programming) a text on abstract algebra or discrete mathematics is likely going to help more than anything with "computer" in the title.
Don't start with this holier-than-thou not-a-true-Scottsman BULLSHIT.
We're talking about a high school course. We're talking about a world that has moved-on from MS-DOS and the the obscure (and very dead, and yes, IRRELEVANT) consumer operating systems that came before it. We're not talking about the old world where you had to fit your program and data structures into 64k.
Abstract algebra and discrete mathematics have their place, but to imply that it's useful or even necessary at a high school level is blind elitism. That suggestion says that you don't actually want to teach these students computer science. It says you want to redefine what you think is useful, and lord over them with your superior knowledge.
I'd highly suggest some kind of book.
When I did programming classes in high school the teacher used a book specific to each language we were taught. We didn't take them home; they stayed in the classroom. The books were most useful for assignments, but the reading material was good too. The teacher's background was Mathematics and teaching; and he did fairly well. But what he brought most to the table was outside the book - discipline as we were also graded on comments, explaining what it did, and more than just the basics of the assignments; even if the program didn't work or failed, you could still do okay if you could explain what you were doing and had it all commented.
So yes - a book and non-book materials go hand-in-hand.
And at that level you basically cannot be doing the language du jour - you have to stick with time honored languages to keep year-to-year work easy. The teacher does not have the time to rewrite the curriculum every 6 months for whatever new hotness is out there. So sticking with C++, Python, and a couple others that have been around for a very long time is much more preferable than trying to keep up with all the different JS frameworks (Node, React, etc) or whatever else is the latest fancy of the CS departments.
Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but it ain't goin' away. - Elvis Presley (source: imdb.com)
The lack of a textbook is intentional, to instill a general hatred for documenting any code. All the explanation they will need is in the comments.
Nullius in verba
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"teachers being recruited to teach Computer Science even if they don't have a CS background"
I wonder if they also have English teachers who don't know how to read and write.
Looks like that retard Alexander Peter Kowalski is mad.
His antisemitic rants keep getting modded down so he just keeps spamming them.
He must be mad that his work can't be defended.
Just remember when dealing with APK always use facts, logic, and especially math as he doesn't understand them and will go full retard when called out.
There are now two AP courses for Computer Science. The first is Computer Science A, which is essentially CS 1 taught in Java. I've had students go directly from that course into Data Structures/Algorithms at a university and they do fine.
The other course is a few years old, and it is called AP Computer Science Principles. I haven't taught that course, but I have been to professional development workshops preparing teachers to teach it. Those of you who work in universities may be aware of "general education" courses in computer science that are designed for liberal arts majors. This is basically that course (and at least one liberal arts college in my city offers an equivalent). It's all the rage right now, because there's not a lot of programming (probably less than 25% of the course) so more people are comfortable teaching it. It also lets schools claim that more students are learning CS (which, to an extent, they are).
As to whether books are necessary in AP Computer Science, I think they help. A well-written introductory textbook explains things in a thorough, logical way, with plenty of examples and exercises. They are not essential, but many students who are interested in the material but have little or no background in programming find a thorough treatment helpful. You can also learn some things you might not have known otherwise by reading a newer text in a common programming language. I recently learned about default methods in interfaces in Java 8, which is something I didn't know before; I learned it because I was reading a newer text on Java for AP Computer Science. I also believe that students interested in engineering or computer science should have the opportunity to learn how to read technical literature which can be somewhat dense.
That's not to say that they are an expensive waste of money for some students thanks to predatory pricing from textbook publishers.
One issue with textbooks is that if you use a common one, solutions to every single exercise are available online. You can detect this with some clever things like MOSS (and just eyeballing the code yourself), but it really disrupts a lot of learning. I did my first computer science courses in Pascal/C++ before the internet really took off (mid-90s) and you really had to figure everything out on your own. I think a lot of us teachers write our own exercises to get around this, and the AP examination is a great equalizer to know who has really been learning the material.
Since the great majority of computer classrooms will immediately sit their students down at a computer, all that's needed is an internet connection to connect the students to the vast reservoirs of free, relevant knowledge on the internet. Computer skills taught in high school range from starcraft and counterstrike (teaching fundamental computer skills like how to use the mouse and keyboard), to typography and word processing, to modifying basic existing programs, all the way to writing small pieces of project software. None of this really requires a textbook, although there are textbooks out there.
Anonymous Cashews wrote:
Creimer had to pick up bottle and cans during his first year of college because his blue-collar family didn't believe in college. He later got a job at the bookstore warehouse and worked 30 hours per week while attending classes. Not bad for someone who graduated from the eighth grade in Special Ed, skipped high school and worked in construction before going to college via the Adult Re-Entry Program. After graduating with an A.A. in General Ed, he started his technical career and later went back to community college to learn Computer Programming, earning a 4.0 GPA and making the president's list while working 60+ hours per week as a lead video game tester and teaching Sunday school.
This means that Anonymous Cashews must be a master troll/hacker/stalker, however he found so many intimate details about our poor chris I'll never know but he's clearly sitting on more dox than mark zuckerberg.
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