Fertile Zones of Cultural Encounter in Computer Science Education

• Published in: The Journal of the learning sciences Vol. 17; no. 1; pp. 1 - 32
• Main Authors: Kolikant, Yifat Ben-David, Ben-Ari, Mordechai
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Philadelphia Taylor & Francis Group 01.01.2008; Lawrence Erlbaum; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Computer Literacy; Computer programming; Computer science; Computer Science Education; Computer software; Computer Uses in Education; Computers in education; Cultural Differences; Cultural Influences; Culturally Relevant Education; Educational research; High School Students; Intervention; Learning; Learning disabilities; Learning Problems; Personal computers; Secondary education; Semaphores; Teachers; Teaching Methods
• ISSN: 1050-8406; 1532-7809
• DOI: 10.1080/10508400701793166

We explain certain learning difficulties in computer science education as resulting from a clash between the students' culture as computer users and the professional computing culture. We propose the concept of fertile zones of cultural encounter as a way of overcoming these learning difficulties. This pedagogical approach aims to bridge the gap between cultures by designing interventions that are appreciated by members of both cultures, yet also guide the student to engage in the practices of the professional culture. The learning difficulties are demonstrated by a detailed analysis of episodes taken from an advanced high school computer science course in concurrency. We show that fertile zones of cultural encounter can be successful in significantly improving learning of this subject. We are indebted to Sarah Pollack for her insightful comments on this article. We would like to thank the editor and the reviewers for their extensive comments that contributed materially to improving the article.