Book Review: Computer Science in K-12

Full disclosure: I haven’t read all of “Computer Science for K-12” edited and compiled by Shuchi Grover yet but a couple of chapters was enough to convince me I should recommend it to other computer science teachers. The books has chapters written by a veritable who’s who of computer science educators. (See the table of contents listed below) I’ve heard many of them speak, read much of their published works, and met more than a few of them. I knew from the author list that it would be worth having.

I have been jumping around a bit but for me the chapter on Naïve Conceptions of Novice Programmers alone was worth the price of the book.  I have no doubt that I am going to learn a bunch reading the rest of it. The chapter or chapters you read that makes the book worth the price may vary but I suspect you’ll find several such. If you are looking to improve HOW you teach CS you should get this book.

It is available with black and white illustrations and diagrams and color versions. I bought the black and white version but wish I had spent a few extra dollars for the color. It's available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble

• Computer Science for K-12 – Barnes and Noble
•  Computer Science for K-12 - Color Edition
• Computer Science for K-12 - Black/White Edition

The table of contents is below from the Amazon page.

0. Foreword (Inventing Computing Education in Schools) by Mark Guzdial
1. Algorithms (Shuchi Grover)
2. Before You Program, Plan! (Phil Bagge, Shuchi Grover)
3. Creative Coding (Miles Berry)
4. Data Structures (Baker Franke, Richard Kick)
5. Events (Jennifer Rosato, David Wolber)
6. Feedback Through Formative Check-Ins (Shuchi Grover, Vicky Sedgwick, Kelly Powers)
7. Guided Exploration Through Unplugged Activities (Paul Curzon, Shuchi Grover)
8. Hard Fun With Hands-on Constructionist Project-Based Learning (Deborah Fields, Yasmin Kafai)
9. Integrating Programming Into Other Subjects (Shuchi Grover, Aman Yadav)
10. JavaScript, Python, Scratch, or Something Else? Navigating the Bustling World of Introductory Programming Languages (David Weintrop, Shuchi Grover)
11. Knowledge, Skills, Attitudes, and Beliefs | Learning Goals for IntroductoryProgramming (Rebecca Vivian, Shuchi Grover, Katrina Falkner)
12. Learner-Centered and Culturally Responsive Pedagogy (Tia C. Madkins, Jakita O. Thomas,Jessica Solyom, Joanna Goode, Frieda McAlear)
13. Modularity With Methods and Functions (Mike Zamansky, Jens Monig, Jonalf Dyrland-Weaver)
14. Naïve Conceptions of Novice Programmers (Juha Sorva)
15. Operators and Expressions (Matthias Hauswirth, Shuchi Grover)
16. Pair Collaboration and Pair Programming (Shannon Campe, Jill Denner)
17. Questioning and Inquiry (Shuchi Grover, Steven Floyd)
18. Repetition and Recursion (Dan Garcia, Joshua Paley)
19. Selecting Pathways With Conditionals (Shuchi Grover)
20. Testing and Debugging (Kathryn Rich, Carla Strickland)
21. Universal Design for Learning: Reaching All Students (Maya Israel, Todd Lash)
22. Variables (Shuchi Grover)
23. Worked Examples and Other Scaffolding Strategies (Jane Waite, Shuchi Grover)
24. X-ing boundaries With Physical Computing (Sue Sentance, Katharine Childs)
25. Yay, My Program Works! Beyond Working Code ... Good Habits of Programming (Shuchi Grover)
26. Zestful Learning (Bryan Twarek)