The University of Wisconsin-Platteville is collaborating with the Platteville School District in teaching students computer science. Donna Gavin, senior lecturer in the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering at UW-Platteville, has piloted a program this semester teaching high school students C++.
Gavin teaches 10 high school students by streaming her class through Blackboard Collaborate. She says the students watch the introductory course online as it is being streamed, and interact with the instructor in real-time by asking questions with a chat tool. The students then have the video to refer to later as a reference. “The CS1430 class we offer is in the C++ programming language; it’s the first class our computer science students take at UW-Platteville,” said Gavin. “The attraction for high school students is they receive college credit and they learn about programming concepts, like what an algorithm is. Programming is really about solving problems.”
According to Gavin, many school districts in Wisconsin do not have a computer science curriculum, and this opportunity to partner with the local school district creates a pipeline for students as they embark on their educational journey. “It’s important for computer science students to learn in the elementary school and high school level so they are familiar with it, because if they go into any engineering or STEM field, they are going to need to know a programming language,” said Gavin. “If they come out of high school without that, they are going to be at a disadvantage.”
The Platteville School District is excited about the opportunity it brings to their students. “It supports our efforts to assist our students with achieving post-secondary credits and/or credentials that they can carry with them when they leave us,” said Dr. Connie Valenza, superintendent of Platteville public schools. “We know that the skills they will learn from this class are important employment skills that will benefit them, their future employers, and, we believe, the region. We are extremely thankful to Senior Lecturer Donna Gavin and to UW-Platteville for offering this opportunity to our students.”
Gavin hopes to continue streaming her C++ class with the possibility of even expanding into other rural school districts. “We are going to see how this pilot goes and move from there,” Gavin said.