research answers questions that are unique to the domain. Mathematics education researchers help us determine what preschoolers ought to know so they succeed later at multi-digit arithmetic (and how to remediate missing skills early, before they impede students’ progress). Physics education researchers know why students have trouble understanding velocity and acceleration, and they have identified the visualizations and activities that can enhance learning.

Computing education research is necessary for us to improve our teaching of computer science. Researchers in computing education can tell us how students understand parallel algorithms, what kind of visualizations help with understanding data structures (and how to use them), and how to measure understanding about computing that goes beyond any single language. Computing education researchers help us understand why students do not pursue computing as a career, and how to recruit, engage, and motivate more (and more diverse) students.

But we are the new kids on the
school block. The National Council of
Teachers of Mathematics was founded
in 1920. The National Association for
Research in Science Teaching started
in 1928. In comparison, ACM’s Spe-
cial Interest Group in CS Education
(SIGCSE) is only 40 years old, and ACM
started the Computer Science Teach-
ers Association (CSTA) six years ago.
SIGCSE’s research conference, Inter-
national Computing Education Re-
search (ICER) Workshop, is only in its
fifth year.

Results of nsf “fastlane” abstracts summary analysis.

Program

itest Grad teaching Fellows K– 12 Gender in sci/engineering research and evaluation on education in science and engineering (reese) dr K– 12 2% robert noyce* teacher scholarship Program

1%

math and science Partnerships (msP)

0%

total 4%

cs participation rate number of cs hits number of Proposals 9% 18 202 6% 20 316 4% 8 187 3% 11 413

6 4

289 282

the state of computing education
Research funding in the u.s.

How about in the U.S.? Things are much more dismal, particularly for the K– 12 level. The National Science Foundation (NSF) is primarily responsible for funding education research,a which comes two directorates: Computer and Information Sciences and Engineering (CISE) and Education and Human Resources (EHR). We examine CISE first.

CISE has had two programs—CISE Pathways to Revitalized Undergraduate Computing Education (CPATH) and Broadening Participation in Computing (BPC)—with a focus on education. However, as of this writing CISE announced that it is combining these programs into a broader program. This new vision would look at the entire pipeline but with special focus in two areas:

˲ ˲ moving earlier into the pipeline with specific engagements in middle/ high school to bring computational thinking/computer science concepts into this space; and

˲ ˲ widening the program to be inclusive for all populations, built around a theme that “computing is for everyone.” It would also add a specific education research component that would seek to build education research capacity at the university level and to provide a greater understanding of how children come to understand computing concepts. No one knows exactly what this new program will look like until the solicitation comes out, which CISE is saying will happen in the summer of 2010. It is expected the new program will be funded at about $20 million, which is similar to the combined amount for CPATH and BPC.

0

150

67

1839

* noyce is not a research program; rather it is a program that prepares K– 12 teachers in specific stem disciplines. Computing may do poorly in this program because of serious teacher certification issues for computer science teachers, which have been explored in a report by the Computer science teachers association: http://csta.acm.org/ComputerscienceteacherCertification/sub/ teacherCertificationrequi.html

a We did not do a detailed review of grants from the Department of Education’s research arm— The Institute of Education Science—as this institute appears to be focused on general education research. A cursory review did not find any grants focused specifically on computing research. Further, other programs run by the Department of Education are primarily focused on funding state and local education agencies to put resources directly into the schools.