UCLA Institute Aims to Train High School Computer Science Teachers and Promote the Subject to Underrepresented Students

Date: July 6, 2004
Contact: Chris Sutton ( chris@ea.ucla.edu )
Phone: 310-206-0540

In an effort to increase the number of high school students enrolled in the county's computer science classes, 28 teachers from the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) will participate in a weeklong exchange with UCLA professors and researchers to find ways to engage young people more actively in pursuit of this often misunderstood subject.

Instructors Joanna Goode and David Smallberg practice a lesson in preparation for the UCLA/LAUSD Computer Science Institute.

The exchange, which takes place July 12 to 16 on the UCLA campus, is part of the UCLA/LAUSD Advanced Placement Computer Science Institute, a partnership among the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, the Graduate School of Education & Information Studies, and LAUSD. The institute is funded by grants from the UCLA Center for Community Partnerships, Microsoft, LAUSD's Los Angeles Urban Systemic Program and Northrop Grumman.

"In most Los Angeles communities, few African American, Latino and female youth are learning or even being introduced to computer science in a way that is meaningful to them," said Jane Margolis, an associate researcher at UCLA and co-founder of the institute. "Many of these youth are not exposed to any learning beyond the most basic 'point and click' user skills in the schools."

This summer, the institute will provide teachers with professional training in the Java computer language to prepare them for next year's advanced placement computer science classes, which will switch from focusing on the C++ language to Java. LAUSD sponsored a week of training earlier this year to introduce the teachers to Java, using curriculum provided by Cisco Systems.

The institute also will focus on developing engaging, effective approaches to classroom teaching of computer science. University professors from UCLA and UC Irvine will present high school teachers with approaches for making computer science more exciting and "real" by showing their own research on wearable computers, brain mapping, network sensors and theatrical applications.

Vijay K. Dhir, dean of the UCLA School of Engineering and co-founder of the institute, sees the partnership between UCLA and LAUSD as an essential way to increase student achievement in the sciences.

"We are committed to increasing the pool of qualified high school students who can enter an engineering program at a top-tier university like UCLA," Dhir said. "By increasing the capability of teachers to offer AP courses at their schools, we hope to provide more opportunities for students to take advanced courses in computer-related fields."

The institute grew from a series of conversations between Margolis and Dhir about how to improve the numbers of traditionally underrepresented students in engineering and the sciences.

Dhir saw the institute as a potentially effective way of expanding educational opportunities for urban high school students within the engineering school and broadening the diversity of its student body. Since being named dean in 2002, he has been a vocal supporter of greater diversity in engineering and the applied sciences through the School of Engineering's Center for Excellence in Engineering and Diversity. The institute, Dhir said, is another means of raising interest in the world of high technology.

"We want young people to experience the exciting possibilities of creating technology," Dhir said. "As a public university we have an obligation to help ensure that this knowledge is distributed equitably, and our school's support of this computer science institute is helping to achieve that."

Margolis is the co-author of "Unlocking the Clubhouse: Women in Computing," a book that summarizes her research concerning the recruitment and retention of women in computer science. Currently, she also leads a research project, funded by the National Science Foundation, investigating why so few African American, Latino and female students are studying computer science at the high school level.

In the course of her study, Margolis found that unlike many white and Asian male students in AP computer science classes who get introduced to computer science at home and further engaged with their community of friends, more students of color depend on school for their computing education. Yet, despite their enthusiasm for technology, these students are rarely shown the connection between their interests and computer science.

"We are concerned that while computer scientists at universities like UCLA continue to push technological boundaries, many able and potentially interested underrepresented students are not given opportunities to be exposed to this knowledge," Margolis said.

According to an LAUSD memorandum, "Student Achievement on the Advanced Placement Examinations 2003," roughly 2,000 students in LAUSD took the advanced placement calculus exam in 2003, while only 227 students took the AP computer science exam.

"Such a disparity shows me that the students have the requisite math ability, but there simply aren't enough trained teachers to lead computer science classes," said John Kwan, an instructional technology applications facilitator for LAUSD. "It's critical that we expand access to this curriculum."

Only 15 of the 57 high schools in LAUSD currently offer computer science. LAUSD has promised to introduce computer science at any school that sends a teacher to the Computer Science Institute. With 28 teachers set to participate, the district will nearly double the number of schools offering the curriculum this fall.

Kwan called Margolis' data on the underrepresentation of African Americans, Latinos and women in computer science "compelling" and said that it heavily influenced the district's decision to participate in the Computer Science Institute.

The institute's activities will take place in the UCLA School of Engineering. Two instructors will provide Java training: Joanna Goode, a researcher from the Graduate School of Education and a former computer science teacher at Santa Monica High School, and David Smallberg, a computer science lecturer in the School of Engineering. Guest lecturers include: Petros Faloutsos, an assistant professor of computer science from the UCLA School of Engineering; Jeffrey Burke, an assistant professor from UCLA's School of Theater, Film Television; and Sandra Irani, an associate professor of computer science at the University of California, Irvine.

While Goode and Smallberg will be training teachers in the Java programming language, they also will be leading lessons on teaching computer science itself. Some of the teachers participating in the institute have strong technical backgrounds based on years spent in industry, but lack formal teacher training; others may be switching from other subjects, such as business or math.

"Most computer science teachers don't have a department to rely on for support or resources," Goode said. "There is no clear entry to becoming a computer teacher like there is in other subjects."

The institute exists to provide such support, Greenberg said, and to encourage high school computer science instructors to go on even when they do not have all the answers.

"We'll be telling the teachers, 'Don't be afraid to experiment,'" Smallberg said. "Unlike other areas, like chemistry, where a mistake could blow up the lab, the worst that can happen in computer science is that you have to reboot."

UCLA's Center for Community Partnerships, which provided a grant to support the institute, teams with community groups in the Greater Los Angeles area with the goal of improving the quality of life for area residents. The center awards grants to nonprofit organizations that form partnerships with a UCLA faculty member, student or member of the professional staff, and whose services focus on one of three areas: children, youth and families; economic development; and arts and culture.