Empirical Determination of Competence Areas to Computer Science Education

Abstract

The authors discuss empirically determined competence areas to K-12 computer science education, emphasizing the cognitive level of competence. The results of a questionnaire with 120 professors of computer science serve as a database. By using multi-dimensional scaling and cluster analysis, four competence areas to computer science education characterized by the degree of process-related coverage and educational accessibility can be defined: Information technology, computer communication and cooperation, model building, and software engineering. These competence areas consist of central content concepts of computer science (e.g., algorithm, system, and process) combined with central process concepts of computer science (e.g., analyzing, classifying, problem solving, and posing).