Initiative Lead
Dublin City University

Primary Contact
Monica Ward
monica.ward@dcu.ie

€15000

Enhancement within Disciplines, Teaching and Learning within and across Disciplines

This T&L initiative is a computer science (CS) pedagogy project that involves collating current state of the art CS pedagogy and a collaborate, exploratory approach with the School of Computing lecturers to see how it can inform future teaching strategies. Equipping our CS educators with the Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) of CS will provide for a more beneficial, fruitful and enjoyable learning experience for both lecturers and students.
Computing is a challenging, yet intellectually rewarding field of study. Many students initially struggle with programming and certain pedagogical approaches have a role to play in this. It is important that students are given the opportunity to learn this key 21st century skill with the guidance of pedagogically aware and informed lecturers.
In academic terms, CS is a relatively new discipline. It has elements in common with cognate disciples, but it also has its own distinct features. Given its relative youth, it’s not surprising that the pedagogy around the teaching of CS continues to evolve. There are many interesting strategies that can be applied in CS teaching – at all stages of the CS curriculum and teaching life-cycle, from young learners at primary level to out-of-field students at postgraduate level.
Recent research in the School of Computing shows lecturers teaching programming related modules expressing a desire to learn more about CS and programming pedagogy. They realise that CS specific approaches could be beneficial for their students and they would like guidance in this regard.