Department Chair
Dr. Steve Macho, Chair & Professor of Career & Technical Education
Date of Award
5-2021
Access Control
Open Access
Degree Name
Career and Technical Education, M.S.Ed.
Advisor
Dr. Steve Macho
Department Home page
https://cte.buffalostate.edu/
First Reader
Dr. Steve Macho
Second Reader
Dr. Dennis Mike
Third Reader
Dr. John Earshen
Abstract
Computer Science has been increasingly prevalent in K-12 education in recent decades. Most Americans believe that Computer Science is as important as other skills taught in school; further, parents are putting pressure on districts to offer Computer Science programs (1.1). To meet this demand, many teacher preparation programs are adding Computer Science Education to their offering of degrees. This thesis investigates Agile and Scrum product development as a potential method of Computer Science instruction, explores the standards relevant to a Computer Science teacher, and offers a prospectus for a new Graduate Level Methods class to prepare Computer Science teachers to utilize the Scrum framework in standards-based instruction at the K-12 level (1.3). To create the prospectus, research from peer-reviewed articles, case-studies, and implementation guides relating to the topics of Scrum and Computer Science standards are reviewed. The implementation, validity and importance of Scrum, and its educational variant eduScrum, are compared based on the roles, rituals, and artifacts utilized in each framework. The results justify eduScrum as a valid method for problem-based, constructivist Computer Science instruction (2.10-2.12). The background, validity, and importance of three sets of Computer Science standards (K-12 Computer Science Framework, NYSED, and ISTE) are explored (3.1-3.3). These standards were selected for their relevancy to Computer Science certification in New York State and the support of industry, professionals, and lawmakers. The results justify the inclusion of all three standards as crucial to curriculum in New York State (3.4). The thesis culminates in the creation of a prospectus for the Student Learning Objectives and structure of a Methods of Computer Science Instruction class at the Graduate level (4.1-4.4). The SLO’s are created utilizing Bloom’s taxonomy (4.1). The prospectus recommends Scrum in the creation of Learning Segments utilizing relevant standards, topics, concepts and research literature. The prospectus models Scrum at all levels and is a valid way to teach constructivist, problem-based learning (4.2). More research is needed on the effectiveness of Scrum with low performing students, the use of eduScrum at the K-12 level and the implementation of the prospectus as a class at SUNY/Buffalo State.
Recommended Citation
Pierce, Noah M., "Using Scrum to Teach Standards-Based K-12 Computer Science: A Prosepectus for a Master’s Level Methods Class at Buffalo State" (2021). Career & Technical Education Theses. 5.
https://digitalcommons.buffalostate.edu/careereducation_theses/5
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