A Comparison of Online and Hybrid Professional Development for CS Principles Teachers

The College of St. Scholastica, in partnership with Trinity College, adapted the Mobile Computer Science Principles (CSP) curriculum and professional development (PD) for delivery online to reach high school teachers unable to attend traditional face-to-face PD. The Mobile CSP curriculum and PD were designed to increase the number of schools offering computer science (CS) courses and to broaden the participation of traditionally underrepresented students such as females and minorities. A deliberate and intentional process was used that incorporates evidence-based practices for the online environment and professional development. A comparison of student and teacher results suggests that online PD can be a successful strategy for scaling computer science professional development. This paper will discuss not only these results but also challenges from the first year of the project and how they are being addressed in subsequent years. This report focuses primarily on the activities and accomplishments of the online PD, although data and accomplishments are provided for the Mobile CSP project as a whole where appropriate.