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A Case Study of the Introduction of Computer Science in NZ Schools

Published: 01 June 2014 Publication History

Abstract

For many years computing in New Zealand schools was focused on teaching students how to use computers, and there was little opportunity for students to learn about programming and computer science as formal subjects. In this article we review a series of initiatives that occurred from 2007 to 2009 that led to programming and computer science being made available formally as part of the National Certificate in Educational Achievement (NCEA), the main school-leaving assessment, in 2011. The changes were phased in from 2011 to 2013, and we review this process using the Darmstadt model, including describing the context of the school system, the socio-cultural factors in play before, during and after the changes, the nature of the new standards, the reactions and roles of the various stakeholders, and the teaching materials and methods that developed. The changes occurred very quickly, and we discuss the advantages and disadvantages of having such a rapid process. In all these changes, teachers have emerged as having a central role, as they have been key in instigating and implementing change.

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cover image ACM Transactions on Computing Education
ACM Transactions on Computing Education  Volume 14, Issue 2
Special Issue on Computing Education in (K-12) Schools
June 2014
180 pages
EISSN:1946-6226
DOI:10.1145/2642651
Issue’s Table of Contents
Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than the author(s) must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected].

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Association for Computing Machinery

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Publication History

Published: 01 June 2014
Accepted: 01 April 2014
Revised: 01 March 2014
Received: 01 March 2013
Published in TOCE Volume 14, Issue 2

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Author Tags

  1. Darmstadt model
  2. High school
  3. computer science education

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