ERIC Number: ED614101
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2021-Jun
Pages: 17
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
How New Brunswick Implemented Its Computer Science Education Program
Nesen, Yuri; Fowler, Brian; Vegas, Emiliana
Center for Universal Education at The Brookings Institution
Computer science (CS) education helps students acquire skills such as computational thinking, problem-solving, and collaboration. Since these skills take preeminence in the rapidly changing 21st century, CS education promises to significantly enhance student preparedness for the future of work and active citizenship. Based on prior analyses and expert consultations, the authors selected 11-CS education country, state, and provincial case studies that may have lessons that can broadly apply to other education systems. These cases come from diverse global regions and circumstances and have implemented CS education programs for various periods and to different levels of success. As such, they have examined information to extract lessons that can lead to successful implementation. This study examines how New Brunswick seeks to improve and expand its CS education activities to train a future workforce that can thrive during economic transition and support the Canadian province's budding technology sector. The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (DEECD) and various stakeholder organizations aim to give all students the opportunity to learn CS and apply their lessons in a creative and collaborative environment. In the early 2000s, the DEECD decided to refocus its curriculum on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) subjects, including ICT (information and communications technology). This brought the necessary infrastructure and knowledge of digital technologies into schools that would later set the stage for mandatory CS courses in 2017. The DEECD also faced the challenge of rolling out CS education for students of two distinct language groups. Primary school teachers in the anglophone sector were encouraged to incorporate CS and computational thinking as interdisciplinary subjects, while the francophone sector had no requirement to offer either subject in primary schools. All lower-secondary school students, whether English- or French-speaking, take CS courses that emphasize programming skills. Further, both language systems offer more advanced CS courses in upper secondary school as electives.
Descriptors: Program Implementation, Computer Science Education, Foreign Countries, Curriculum Development, Elementary Secondary Education, Inclusion
Center for Universal Education at The Brookings Institution. 1775 Massachusettes Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036. Tel: 202-797-6048; Fax: 202-797-2970; e-mail: cue@brookings.edu; Web site: http://www.brookings.edu/about/centers/universal-education
Publication Type: Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Amazon.com, Inc.; Atlassian Foundation International; Google LLC; Microsoft Corporation
Authoring Institution: Brookings Institution, Center for Universal Education
Identifiers - Location: Canada
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A