UWF awarded $300,000 to train local AP Computer Science teachers

The University of West Florida received a $300,000 grant from the National Science Foundation for a project entitled "Preparing In-Service Teachers in AP Computer Science Principles," under the direction of Dr. Sikha Bagui, Distinguished University Professor and Askew Fellow in the Department of Computer Science.

"The grant will help alleviate the critical shortage of computer science teachers in the local school districts," said Dr. Mohamed Khabou, dean of the Hal Marcus College of Science and Engineering and professor. "It's an extension of other efforts UWF has made to address teacher shortages in science, technology, engineering and math."

The two-year award, which began August 1, supports a partnership between UWF and the Santa Rosa and Escambia County School Districts to provide professional development for local educators teaching Advanced Placement Computer Science Principles. The project's aim is to train and provide year-round support to high school teachers. Guidance counselors and assistant principals will also be engaged in critical conversations needed to create, foster and provide access to computing courses for high school students.

"This grant is very important for introducing and improving the state of computing in the local area high schools," said Dr. Bagui. "Computing is the future, needed in every discipline, and most importantly, it forms the basis for Artificial Intelligence, presently one of the strategic priorities of the United States."

The professional development of this grant will follow Knight's Instructional Coaching model and be delivered through a continuous feedback loop that utilizes three stages: determining the readiness of the teachers at the topic level; providing content and pedagogical knowledge to the teachers; and providing continuous, personalized feedback to the teachers.

Through a concerted effort, the eventual goal of this grant is to provide as many high schoolers as possible the opportunity to take and pass AP CSP. In addition to increasing a student's computational ability, by taking AP CSP, students will increase their prospects for successfully entering the job market as well as entering any major in college. This will also serve as a pathway to AI.

This grant initiative addresses a national need to expand foundational computer science education at the high school level, particularly in Northwest Florida, where only a fraction of the high schools currently offer such courses.

This grant team comprises: Dr. Sikha Bagui (PI), Dr. Evorell Fridge (Co-PI), Dr. Melanie DiLoreto (Co-PI) and Dr. Giang Nguyen Nguyen (Co-PI).

For more information about the UWF Hal Marcus College of Science and Engineering, visit uwf.edu/hmcse.