Our Goals
- Identify the needs of current Indiana preservice CS education.
We developed a needs assessment questionnaire, which is intended to review how Indiana preservice CS educators incorporate CS into their teacher education program. The results will assist us with determining the needs of elementary education faculty in Indiana when it comes to integrating CS standards/content into their curricula. - Provide professional CS learning community (PLC) for Indiana preservice CS educators
We invite Indiana Elementary Education programs faculty members to join dynamic and collaborative meetings aimed at shaping the future of CS education for our preservice teachers. Each semester, we hold a professional summit that gathers teacher educators to engage in insightful discussions, share innovative ideas, and collectively chart a course toward providing comprehensive CS education to our future educators. The collaboration will help us shape the direction of our CS education preparation programs. In Spring 2024, we provided opportunities for preservice teacher educators to join our CS Cohort Spring 2024 to advance computer science education in elementary teacher preparation programs. - Providing professional development opportunities for Indiana preservice education programs
BCPCS and Nextech.org offer preservice educator preparation programs across the state an opportunity for workshops at their location for their students and local teachers. Because of our generous partners, including the Indiana Department of Education, we are able to offer workshops at the site for educators at no cost, including a stipend for the workshop organizer and incentives for attendees.
Current Progress
Professional Developments
The BCPCS team visited nine schools and conducted 17 professional development sessions. The PDs impacted over 390 preservice teachers with the support of 14 faculty members from the K-6 preservice teacher training programs in Indiana.
Needs analysis
We invited 115 faculty members from Elementary Preservice Teacher Education Programs in Indiana to participate in our needs analysis survey and interviews. Out of these, 24 faculty members shared their insights and experiences on conducting CS education, and nine of them participated in in-depth interviews.
CS Cohort
In the spring of 2024, our project launched the CS Cohort, a professional learning community dedicated to exploring opportunities for teaching and integrating CS. This community focuses on sharing experiences and resources, as well as supporting and celebrating the growth of CS education.