KCI successfully conducted two Computer Science Crash Course workshops for educators last summer, sponsored by Google’s CS4HS initiative. Over 60 teachers participated and the feedback was positive with high teacher satisfaction levels. As a result, the Infosys Foundation has selected KCI’s CS Crash Course to be included as one of the offered programs at its Pathfinders Summer Institute in July. The Pathfinders

Summer Institute 2018 is an intensive week of in-person professional development in Computer Science and Making, at Indiana University Bloomington.

Over 800 K-12 national public school teachers will convene for this exciting week of PD that showcases programs from across the country. KCI’s CS Crash Course, which is 4½ days long, is aimed at middle school and early high school teachers. The program includes lessons in Scratch and Python, along with non-coding components of CS such as computational thinking, algorithms, computing systems, data, networks, and the impact of computing. The goal is to prepare teachers to integrate computer science into their curriculum, or prepare them to teach CS as an elective. In this hands-on program, teachers learn both content and pedagogy to successfully integrate CS into their curriculum and to reach all students in their classrooms.

By the end of the Crash Course, teachers will be able to code a variety of projects, integrate coding and computational thinking into their current curriculum, implement basic coding projects in their classrooms, and potentially teach a computer science class.

The Crash Course is designed and taught by local computer science teachers, with Sheena Vaidyanathan as program director. One of the program’s strengths is that it is designed and taught by teachers who are active in the classroom, adhering to our philosophy of teachers training teachers.

Questions? Contact programs@krauseinnovationcenter.org.