Location

Mezzanine M1

Start Date

9-8-2016 11:15 AM

End Date

9-8-2016 12:30 PM

Subjects

Coding, STEM education, Technology education, Technology curriculum, Programming, Computer science education, Curriculum development

Comments

Concurrent session Block 3

Abstract

There has been an unprecedented push to revitalise interest in STEM education. Much of the discussion of the ’T’ in STEM education has been whether coding should be a central element of school education. This talk investigates the arguments for and against ‘coding in the curriculum.’ No sensible person thinks that teaching coding in the classroom will produce master programmers’, any more than teaching music in the school curriculum will produce master musicians. However the teaching of music can encourage some students to become musicians and the same would be true for coding. The issue is more what concepts are addressed in teaching coding, and how essential they are for engendering an understanding of the digital world around us, and improving productivity and innovation for which ICT skills and capability are essential.

Place of Publication

Melbourne Vic

Publisher

Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER)

ISBN

9781742864075

Share

COinS
 
Aug 9th, 11:15 AM Aug 9th, 12:30 PM

Coding in the curriculum : Fad or foundational?

Mezzanine M1

There has been an unprecedented push to revitalise interest in STEM education. Much of the discussion of the ’T’ in STEM education has been whether coding should be a central element of school education. This talk investigates the arguments for and against ‘coding in the curriculum.’ No sensible person thinks that teaching coding in the classroom will produce master programmers’, any more than teaching music in the school curriculum will produce master musicians. However the teaching of music can encourage some students to become musicians and the same would be true for coding. The issue is more what concepts are addressed in teaching coding, and how essential they are for engendering an understanding of the digital world around us, and improving productivity and innovation for which ICT skills and capability are essential.

 

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately,
you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.