K-12 CS Activities

I have worked with middle and high school teachers since 2011 to understand the factors that support or impede the introduction of CS classes in pre-college settings. With my background in software engineering, I am interested in getting pre-college students to take the first step towards eventually becoming proficient software engineers.

I am involved in the following activities. Click on the links to get more information about each one.

ITEST SPARCS

I am the Principal Investigator of Strategic Problem-based Approach to Rouse Computer Science (SPARCS), a project that aims to train middle school teachers in CS. It is funded by NSF under the ITEST program. This short video explains the program in 3 minutes.

Research Experiences for Teachers

I have served on two NSF-funded programs on Research Experiences for Teachers in Computer Science. Our latest program is titled Wearable Research for In-service STEM Teachers (WRIST). This program exposes high school teachers to CS research over a 6-week summer session and helps them to translate that experience into interesting classroom learning opportunities.

Google CS4HS

I have helped run several summer teacher professional development workshops funded by Google's CS4HS program. These short workshops enabled us to reach a larger set of teachers, and in many cases, served as a springboard for teachers to get into longer professional development programs such as SPARCS and RET.

MS CS Education

I have taught courses under UNO’s new MS in Computer Science Education degree. Students in these program are mostly in-service teachers. The MSCSEd program is the culmination of UNO's formal CS Teacher Education pathway, which also includes an IT Supplemental Endorsement (for Nebraska teachers only) and a Graduate Certificate in Computer Science.

Omaha CSTA

I am a founding member of Nebraska's Metro Omaha Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) chapter, which started in 2013. This organization supports teachers who are interested in CS across the state of Nebraska, and serves as a networking opportunity for these teachers who often find themselves the lone CS person in their school building. I continue to serve as a university liaison.

UNO CSEdWeek

I help organize UNO's annual CS Education Week events. CSEdWeek highlights the contributions computer science makes to society and is an excellent opportunity to introduce pre-college students to Computer Science. The highlight of our CSEdWeek is the High School CS Challenge.