Computer science teacher professional development and professional learning communities: a review of the research literature

ABSTRACT

Background & Context

Many efforts have been dedicated to building computer science (CS) teacher capacity through offering professional development (PD) programs. Previous reviews indicated the need to offer more continual support for teachers. Recent research has shifted its focus to scaling up PD and sustaining teaching capacity by establishing PLCs for CS teachers.

Objective

This study aims to conduct a systematic literature review of recent research on K-12 CS teacher PD, with an explicit exploration of PLCs.

Method

Based on 48 selected articles of 41 programs, this study explored features that contributed to the effectiveness of PD, including (1) PD goals, (2) theoretical frameworks and PD models, (3) curriculum and pedagogy, (4) programming tools, (5) program structure and approach, and (6) PD evaluation. We also examined whether and how these programs were dedicated to establishing PLCs.

Findings

Findings indicate a considerable increase in the number of studies on CS teacher PD . More programs saw the promising roles of PLCs and explored a variety of approaches for community building and promoting teacher learning.

Implications

PLCs have immense potential for teacher development, including breaking teacher isolation and fostering collaboration. More research can enlighten the efforts for CS teacher preparation and development.

KEYWORDS:

• Teacher professional development
• professional learning community
• computer science teachers
• review study

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No.1923461. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. We would like to thank the CS Pathways project team and the reviewers, who provided constructive feedback for an earlier version of this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation under Grants No.1923461.