Maria Knobelsdorf, University of Dortmund, Germany - Didaktik der ...

Table 1. Scoring Scale for the Implementation of a Standard
Rating Description
The specific competence is implemented in the
1 respective curriculum more or less totally (i.e. the
specific competence is described in the curriculum).
The specific competence is implemented partially
0.5 in the respective curriculum (i.e. something similar
bot not equivalent can be found in the curriculum).
The specific competence is not at all implemented
in the respective curriculum (i.e. nothing similar to
0
the specific competence can be found in the curriculum).
6.4 The Rating Process
To ensure a fair amount of objectivity and reliability, all ratings
were cross-examined and double checked by the two student
authors of this paper, who generally worked in parallel on separate
parts of the curricula. Thereby, the rating itself happened
exclusively on the basis of the statements featured in the curricula.
Due to the sometimes very universal statements in the curricula,
it was occasionally difficult to decide which rating to apply.
As an example we will draw on the standard 4.2 Develop criteria
for purchasing or upgrading computer system hardware (cf. table
8 in appendix). The HTL core curriculum states “assess a PC
configuration and make purchasing decisions” 1 which is basically
the same as specified by the respective standard. Consequently,
the rating 1 was applied. The HLW curriculum, however, only
states “hardware and software requirements” 2 . We decided that,
although one could infer the ability to make purchasing decisions
from someone’s knowledge of the hardware requirements, this
was too general and that therefore only the rating 0.5 should be
applied. By and large, we judged strictly and usually opted for
giving the worse rating in borderline cases.
7. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
First, we present the results of our investigation for the selected
school types. This is followed by a comparison and summary of
the results of all types.
7.1 Results for the Selected School Types
7.1.1 AHS
For the purpose of further elaborations, only the curricula of the
“Oberstufe” of AHS will be investigated in order to compare and
contrast them with the standards of level 3A, as they are recommended
approximately for the same age levels and grades. However,
computer science courses are only mandatory in the ninth
grade only. Students in grade 10 to 12 are offered elective computer
science courses, which is referred to as “Wahlpflichtfach”
and follows a separate curriculum, which is included in the analysis
as well.
Table 2. Selected Standards in the AHS Curriculum
Standard
No.
Strand Strand Strand Strand
CT CO CP CC
x=1 x=2 x=3 x=4 x=5
x.1 0 0 0 0 0
x.2 0 0.5 0 0 0
x.3 0 0.5 0 0.5 0
Strand
CG
1
German: “eine PC-Konfiguration bewerten und Anschaffungsentscheidungen
treffen“
2
German: „Hard- und Softwareanforderungen“
135
x.4 0.5 0 0 0 1
x.5 0
0 0 0
x.6 0.5 0.5 0 0.5
x.7 0 0 0 0
x.8 0.5 0 0.5 0
x.9 0.5 0 0 0
x.10 0 1 0.5 0.5
x.11 0 0.5
0
x.12 0
Sum 2 / 11 1 / 4 2 / 12 1.5 / 10 2 / 11
Strand (18%) (25%) (17%) (15%) (18%)
Overall
Sum
8.5 / 48 (18%)
The results are shown in table 2, where e.g. 2/11 represents ”score
2 of possible 11”. The abbreviations of the strands and the numbers
of the standards are listed in table 8 in the appendix. It turned
out that only a small number (18%) of recommended CSTA level
3A standards can be regarded as implemented in the Austrian
AHS curriculum. As the AHS curriculum is kept quite short and
generally formulated, it is difficult to compare it to the standards
that are described very precisely. However, the curriculum frequently
mentions basic skills and general concepts the students
should gain, without going too much into depth. The main focus
of AHS lies on developing abstract thinking, making use of information
technology and creating a general picture of computation
and its impacts on society (http://www.bmukk.gv.at/).
7.1.2 HTLs for Informatics and for Chemistry
Initially we will rate the implementation of the CSTA level 3A
standards in the basic/core curriculum, before rating the specialized
curricula for Chemistry and Informatics. The curricula give
rather detailed information on the required competencies and
skills and, therefore, were rather straightforward to compare with
the standards. The results of this process are depicted in table 3,
table 4 and table 5.
Table 3. Selected Standards in the Core HTL Curriculum
Stand- Strand Strand Strand Strand Strand
ard No. CT CO CP CC CG
x.1 0.5 0 0.5 0 0
x.2 0 0 0 1 0.5
x.3 0.5 0 0 1 0
x.4 0 0 0 0 1
x.5 0.5
0 0 0
x.6 0 0 0.5 0.5
x.7 0.5 0.5 0 1
x.8 0 0.5 1 0
x.9 0 0 0.5 0.5
x.10 0 0 0 0.5
x.11 0 0
0
x.12 0
Sum 2 / 11 0 / 4 1.5 / 12 4 / 10 4 / 11
Strand (18%) (0%) (13%) (40%) (36%)
Overall
Sum
11.5 / 48 (24%)
Table 4. Selected Standards in the HTL for Chemistry
Stand- Strand Strand Strand Strand Strand
ard No. CT CO CP CC CG
x.1 0.5 0 0.5 0 0
x.2 0 0 0 1 0.5
x.3 0.5 0 0 1 0