Central Computer Science Concepts to Research-Based Teacher Training in Computer Science: An Experimental Study

Abstract

The significance of computer science for economics and society is undisputed. In particular, computer science is acknowledged to play a key role in schools (e.g., by opening multiple career paths). The provision of effective computer science education in schools is dependent on teachers who are able to properly represent the discipline and whose in-depth knowledge of the subject encompasses recent advances in the research. This article examines the assessment of content and process concepts relevant for K-12 computer science education by computer science teachers and computer science professors. The findings show that computer science professors attach more importance to content concepts of computer science (e.g., algorithm, model, system) in terms of several process concepts (e.g., analyzing, problem solving, investigating) than computer science teachers. These results should be taken into account by training programs for both pre-service and in-service teachers of computer science.