research-article

Teaching CS unplugged in the high school (with limited success)

Authors:

Yvon Feaster,

Luke Segars,

Sally K. Wahba,

Jason O. HallstromAuthors Info & Claims

ITiCSE '11: Proceedings of the 16th annual joint conference on Innovation and technology in computer science education

Pages 248 - 252

https://doi.org/10.1145/1999747.1999817

Published: 27 June 2011 Publication History

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Abstract

CS Unplugged is a set of active learning activities designed to introduce fundamental computer science principles without the use of computers. The program has gained significant momentum in recent years, with proponents citing deep engagement and enjoyment benefits. With these benefits in mind, we initiated a one-year outreach program involving a local high school, using the CS Unplugged program as the foundation. To our disappointment, the results were at odds with our enthusiasm --- significantly. In this paper, we describe our approach to adapting the CS Unplugged materials for use at the high school level, present our experiences teaching it, and summarize the results of our evaluation.

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Cited By

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Mladenović MMedak LKrpan D(2024)Teaching the Bubble Sort Algorithm Using CS Unplugged Activities at the K-12 LevelACM Transactions on Computing Education10.1145/370612025:1(1-22)Online publication date: 28-Nov-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3706120
Zhang YLiang YTian XYu X(2024)The effects of unplugged programming activities on K-9 students’ computational thinking: meta-analysisEducational technology research and development10.1007/s11423-023-10339-5Online publication date: 8-Jan-2024
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-023-10339-5
Percival NNarain SLee C(2023)Modern Cryptography Education of Middle School Students: A Review of Current WorksProceedings of the 24th Annual Conference on Information Technology Education10.1145/3585059.3611428(33-38)Online publication date: 11-Oct-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3585059.3611428
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Index Terms

Teaching CS unplugged in the high school (with limited success)
1. Social and professional topics
  1. Professional topics
    1. Computing education
      1. Computing education programs
        Computer science education
      2. Model curricula

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Published In

ITiCSE '11: Proceedings of the 16th annual joint conference on Innovation and technology in computer science education

June 2011

418 pages

ISBN:9781450306973

DOI:10.1145/1999747

General Chair:
Guido Rößling
TU Darmstadt, Germany
,
Program Chairs:
Tom Naps
University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, USA
,
Christian Spannagel
PH Heidelberg, Germany

Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

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Published: 27 June 2011

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ITiCSE '11: Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education

June 27 - 29, 2011

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Mladenović MMedak LKrpan D(2024)Teaching the Bubble Sort Algorithm Using CS Unplugged Activities at the K-12 LevelACM Transactions on Computing Education10.1145/370612025:1(1-22)Online publication date: 28-Nov-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3706120
Zhang YLiang YTian XYu X(2024)The effects of unplugged programming activities on K-9 students’ computational thinking: meta-analysisEducational technology research and development10.1007/s11423-023-10339-5Online publication date: 8-Jan-2024
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-023-10339-5
Percival NNarain SLee C(2023)Modern Cryptography Education of Middle School Students: A Review of Current WorksProceedings of the 24th Annual Conference on Information Technology Education10.1145/3585059.3611428(33-38)Online publication date: 11-Oct-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3585059.3611428
Dengel ALäufer TGehrlein RDoyle MStephenson BDorn BSoh LBattestilli L(2023)The Engaging Computer Science Education LaboratoryProceedings of the 54th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 110.1145/3545945.3569879(207-213)Online publication date: 2-Mar-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3545945.3569879
Korom SIlles Z(2022)Methods of teaching programming with Raspberry Pi2022 Second International Conference on Advances in Electrical, Computing, Communication and Sustainable Technologies (ICAECT)10.1109/ICAECT54875.2022.9808040(1-5)Online publication date: 21-Apr-2022
https://doi.org/10.1109/ICAECT54875.2022.9808040
Ly AEdwards JLiut MPetersen ALunt BHansen DMorrey P(2021)Revisiting Syntax Exercises in CS1Proceedings of the 22nd Annual Conference on Information Technology Education10.1145/3450329.3476855(9-14)Online publication date: 6-Oct-2021
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Maiorana FCsizmadia ARichards GRiedesel C(2021)Recursion Versus Iteration: A Comparative Approach for Algorithm ComprehensionVisions and Concepts for Education 4.010.1007/978-3-030-67209-6_27(247-259)Online publication date: 6-Feb-2021
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Poulakis EPolitis P(2020)Teaching Computational Thinking UnpluggedHandbook of Research on Tools for Teaching Computational Thinking in P-12 Education10.4018/978-1-7998-4576-8.ch009(200-236)Online publication date: 2020
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Lee VPoole FClarke-Midura JRecker MRasmussen MZhang JSherriff MHeckman SCutter PMonge A(2020)Introducing Coding through Tabletop Board Games and Their Digital Instantiations across Elementary Classrooms and School LibrariesProceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education10.1145/3328778.3366917(787-793)Online publication date: 26-Feb-2020
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Huang WLooi C(2020)A critical review of literature on “unplugged” pedagogies in K-12 computer science and computational thinking educationComputer Science Education10.1080/08993408.2020.178941131:1(83-111)Online publication date: 14-Jul-2020
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Assessing Computational Thinking in CS Unplugged Activities

CS Unplugged and Middle-School Students’ Views, Attitudes, and Intentions Regarding CS

The inteaction between high school curriculum and first year college courses: the case of computing

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