Greetings everyone,
I'm Nick Bathum. These days I work as a software developer and do some volunteering for the VEX robotics community in northern Michigan. I'm an action oriented person, and I am here to connect with educators, and especially those with an interest in mathematics or functional programming enthusiasts. I also have to say that as a person currently far outside of academia, I am looking forward to hearing perspectives from folks who are closer to that world.
I'm currently endeavoring to become connected with the teachers in my area who are teaching the new "STEM" or computer science classes that our K-12 schools in the region have recently adopted. My intent is to see what sorts of issues they are struggling with and if there is an opportunity where I can plug in and assist them.
So what is the motivation or reason for introducing CS as a new curriculum in K-12 programs? I'd like to share some of my thoughts on that matter, not to provide an answer, but to get some feedback.
The K-12 mathematics curriculum in the USA seems to be very structured and established, especially since the adoption of the common core initiative. I know not all states have adopted the core mathematics -or any of the core- standards, but at least where I live this is true.
At the same time schools have begun offering extracurricular programs like robotics or hiring new teachers and offering regular classes under the STEM banner such as AP Computer Science. These new course offerings seem to be less structured, sometimes logistically complicated -- like teaching 4 different sets of course content to one "class", and overall the teachers of these courses seem to have less support in terms of community and teaching tools.
My aim is to connect with a local teacher, learn from them and help them any way I am able, and additionally pursue a larger goal of exploring how to help reinforce the mathematics curriculum rather than take away from it.
In terms of FP in education, my sense is that both functional and declarative languages would seem to be the most aligned with mathematics, conceptually and linguistically. However it seems the exception that computer programming courses begin with that content rather than the most used or popular language du jour.
I also see some of Johannes points, and agree that simply exploring mathematics without a computer would perhaps be most effective way for students to learn mathematics. My thought is that if schools are going to introduce new computer programming classes, can we find ways for these classes to become companions to the existing classes and attach to the existing bodies of knowledge?
Regards,
-Nick