Abstract:

Many attempts have been made to integrate software into various industries through software development, but due to low enrolment in science and engineering programs, the human resources supply in computer science has been insufficient to meet industry demand. Consequently, curricula have been revised to foster the development of software-focused human resources, and many schools have introduced software education into courses. Following this paradigm, South Korea’s curriculum revisions in 2015 made informatics subjects mandatory in elementary and middle school and modified the contents to focus on computational thinking and informatics cultural literacy.

However, the contents and the days devoted to this subject are insufficient to foster software competency. To develop classroom guidelines for this subject, a standard education model is needed. Consequently, this study analyzes various computer-science education models and develops a new one for the Korean context.

The models analyzed are the CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards developed by the Computer Science Teachers Association in the United States, Computing released in 2014 in the United Kingdom and the 2015 curriculum revision in South Korea. Five categories of the CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards were applied in a comparative analysis: computational thinking, collaboration computing practice and programming, computers and communications devices, and global community and ethical impacts. In each category, the subjects and contents of the curriculum were compared. The results of the comparative analysis were adapted to the Korean context to develop a draft of a Korean computer science education model. A broad variety of opinions were gathered at two conferences with computer-science education experts and educational experts in diverse fields to develop the final model.

The computer science education model developed in this study identifies the standards of contents that must be taught to foster the human resources needed in the future. As a prototype, the model should be revised by the development of computer science technology. Furthermore, the construction of an integrated computer science model is needed to align the proposed model with computer science education in tertiary education.

Keywords:

Software education, curriculum model, korea secondary education, computer science standards.