SIGCSE 2020 Pre-Symposium Event by the SIGCSE Committee on Computing Education in Liberal Arts Colleges
Contributed by Jim Matthews (matthews@siena.edu) and Robin Flatland (flatland@siena.edu)
Are you willing to facilitate this discussion? Yes
Are there any others whom you would recommend as potential facilitators for this topic? Yes, Mike Zamansky from Hunter College.
New York State only recently established a computer science (CS) teaching certificate and tenure area for K-12 teachers. This past fall Siena College’s CS teacher initial certification program was approved by the New York State Education Department making it one of the first such programs in the state. We anticipate that recruiting undergraduates into the program will be challenging due to other career opportunities in CS, lack of CS teacher role models, and the national decline in interest in pre-college level STEM teaching. We have opportunities to recruit students through an established network of high school CS teachers who are participating in Siena’s CS dual-enrollment program, high school CS outreach events, involvement in the Upstate NY CSTA chapter, and Siena’s undergraduate CS major. We are interested in discussing these challenges and opportunities with colleagues at other liberal arts colleges.