Getting Students Interested

“It’s great to attract students with a fun, application oriented course that gets them excited about the field, and hit them later with the more abstract ideas that might seem less relevant at the outset.” – Matt Welsh

Promoting CS

1) Make connections between computer hobbies and CS as a field

2) Tell more people about computer science

3) Get students into international competitions in:

• Robotics

• General CS awards

4)Make the classroom a safe space to be a novice

5) Offer extra-curricular programs

6) Provide online resources for students to try on their own

7) Skype some professional into class and have them talk about their current work

8) Bring in computer science majors from a local college to work with the students and be role model

9) Involve the younger students in programming

10) Change other teachers and administrators perceptions of computer science

11) Create engaging activities

12) Get other classes such as math using computer science in their class

13) Take students on field trips to see how technology and computer science benefit the world

• Hospitals

• 911 Emergency Center

• Media Center

• Logisitics Company (UPS/FedEX)

14) Get students to read books such as I, Robot  and Godel, Escher, and Bach

15) Start a camp for middle school students

16) Make a coding a fun game by providing students the opportunity to "be the bad guy" and break something you wrote.