Steve Johnson presents at National Science Foundation conference
by Vicki Heisser |
Like many college courses this year, academic conferences have also gone virtual due to COVID-19. One such conference is the National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education (ATE) Conference where PWSC Associate Professor of CIS, Dr. Steve Johnson, presented work related to the Alaska Tech Learners project.
The NSF ATE Conference is typically held in Washington D.C., with over 1,000 people in attendance. But this year, participants attended virtual sessions and presentations. Dr. Johnson was one of the presenters this year.
Dr. Johnson explains, “The presentation was about the shared teaching model that we use in Alaska Tech Learners. The intention of the shared teaching model is that I want the local high-school teachers teaching the computer classes. To make that happen, we provide the teachers with free coursework so that they can get up to speed. Then they use the curriculum that they just learned to teach the course to their students. To solve the problem of how to award college credit, I grade the high school students’ work for their college credit and the high school teacher awards the grades for the high school course. The main goals of Tech Learners are to build a coordinated, cohesive computer science program that can be taught in the K-12 system as well as at the university and to cooperatively start to prepare Alaskans for IT jobs… in urban or rural Alaska.”
He went on to share, “We're trying to build a cooperative model between college faculty and high school teachers so that we can work together to extend dual enrollment opportunities throughout Alaska. This goes well beyond just Alaska Tech Learners. This is the model that we want to push forward with our Middle College as well as other areas.”
Beyond presenting his work and continuing his efforts with the Alaskan Tech Learners program, Dr. Johnson is also teaching some new computer courses at PWSC this coming semester.
He explains, “New this semester, I'm adding the server-side scripting course to the course menu, which is the first advanced course in the program. The client-side course will be available for the fall, and at that point, the entire Web Engineering Occupational Endorsement Certificate program will be available to high school students, teachers, and university students.”
For those interested in enrolling in the Alaska Tech Learners program, continue to check out PWSC for NSF funded summer camp experiences for both teachers and students this summer. More information can also be found on the Alaska Tech Learners web page.