CS Career/Role Model Exploration Lesson Plan

Grades: 7 - 12

Subject/Category: Computer Science/Careers

Timeframe: 30 - 45 Minutes

Standards:

RHODE ISLAND K-12 CS EDUCATION STANDARDS

Responsible Computing in Society

Social interactions - Computing can support new ways of connecting people, communicating information, and expressing ideas. In early grades, students learn that computing can connect people and support interpersonal communication. As they progress, students learn how the social nature of computing affects institutions and careers in various sectors.

Culture - Computing influences culture—including belief systems, language, relationships, technology, and institutions—and culture shapes how people engage with and access computing. In early grades, students learn how computing can be helpful and harmful. As they progress, students learn about tradeoffs associated with computing and potential future impacts of computing on global societies.

Practices

Practice 1 - Fostering an Inclusive Computing Culture

Overview: Building an inclusive and diverse computing culture requires strategies for incorporating perspectives from people of different genders, ethnicities, and abilities. Incorporating these perspectives involves understanding the personal, ethical, social, economic, and cultural contexts in which people operate. Considering the needs of diverse users during the design process is essential to producing inclusive computational products.

1.1 Include the unique perspectives of others and reflect on one’s own perspectives when designing and developing computational products.

1.2 Address,the needs of diverse users during the design process to produce artifacts with broad accessibility and usability.

1.3 Employ self- and peer-advocacy to address bias in interactions, product design, and development methods.

Practice 2 - Collaborating Around Computing

Overview: Collaborative computing is the process of performing a computational task by working in pairs and on teams. Because it involves asking for the contributions and feedback of others, effective collaboration can lead to better outcomes than working independently. Collaboration requires individuals to navigate and incorporate diverse perspectives, conflicting ideas, disparate skills, and distinct personalities. Students should use collaborative tools to effectively work together and to create complex artifacts.

2.1 Cultivate working relationships with individuals possessing diverse perspectives, skills, and personalities.

2.2 Create team norms, expectations, and equitable workloads to increase efficiency and effectiveness.

2.3 Solicit and incorporate feedback from, and provide constructive feedback to team members and other stakeholders.

2.4 Evaluate and select technological tools that can be used to collaborate on a project.

Practice 7 - Communicating About Computing

Overview: Communication involves personal expression and exchanging ideas with others. In computer science, students communicate with diverse audiences about the use and effects of computation and the appropriateness of computational choices. Students write clear comments, document their work, and communicate their ideas through multiple forms of media. Clear communication includes using precise language and carefully considering possible audiences.

7.1 Select, organize, and interpret large data sets from multiple sources to support a claim.

7.2 Describe, justify, and document computational processes and solutions using appropriate terminology consistent with the intended audience and purpose.

7.3 Articulate ideas responsibly by observing intellectual property rights and giving appropriate attribution.

Lesson Overview:

In this lesson students will learn about different careers in Computer Science by reading about the CS4RI/Prepare RI Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Role Models. Students will read through the Role Model Interviews and pick a role model that interests them and research their position/job. Students will present the results of their research to the class.

Lesson Objectives:

Students will be able to:

-Explore a career in Computer Science

-Learn the steps, background knowledge and education to assume the positions associated with that career.

-Discuss the requirements to pursue the career that was chosen.

Materials:

CS4RI/Prepare RI CS4RI/Prepare RI Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Webpages

Computer with web access for research

Presentation materials (poster making materials or acces sto Google Slides and Projection)

Vocabulary: engineer, cyber, cybersecurity, IT, visualization, technology, analyst, virtual reality, network, post-doc, internship, QA, CAD, SQL query

Context:

This lesson could be a standalone partially unplugged lesson/mini-unit as part of any Computer Science Course.

Lesson:

1. Introduce the CS4RI/Prepare RI Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Role Models and the associated web page.

2. Have the students read through the CS4RI/Prepare RI Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Role Models interviews.

3. Answer any questions the students may have..

4. Have the students ech pick one Role Model that they most identify with.

5. The students will then do research on the web into the career path/position of their chosen Role Model. This research should include finding job postings in their area for similar positions using a website such as Monster.com or Indeed.com. Students should research salary range, number of positions available in their local area, companies that have this type of position, experience needed, job responisbilities and education required.

6. Students presnt their findings to the class either through a postor presentation or a slide presentation.

Lesson Extensions

Students can interview someone in a similar position and present their results.

Students can create a webpage or blog about the position they chose. Class could create a Computer Science Career resource website.

Teachers can invite computer science professionals into their classrooms to speak to students.