Engineering Professor Contributes to New High School Computer Programming Class

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John Gauch, University of Arkansas

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – John Gauch, a computer science and computer engineering professor at the University of Arkansas, helped create an introductory programming class for high school students in Arkansas.

The creation of this course was in response to the Computer Science House Bill 1183, which ensures that computer coding classes are offered in all Arkansas high schools. The plan is for the course to be offered as an elective in all high schools for 2-15-16 school year.

At the end of January, Gauch served on the 2015 Arkansas Computer Science Coding Course Committee. The committee of teachers, curriculum specialists and higher education representatives created a framework for the new course, “Essentials of Computer Programming.” The Arkansas State Board of Education approved the framework for the course on February 12.

“I am very pleased that the General Assembly has passed my plan to offer computer-coding classes in high schools across the state,” said Governor Asa Hutchinson in a Feb. 19 news release. “I especially want to thank Rep. Bill Gossage and Sen. Missy Irvin for their leadership in guiding it through the Legislature. By passing this bill, Arkansas will become a national leader in computer-science education, and we’ll be preparing a workforce that’s sure to attract businesses and jobs to our state. Of all the big-ticket items we’ve dealt with this legislative session, this relatively small-ticket item may have the greatest long-term impact.” 

Gauch said, “The governor seems to be excited about computer science, and that’s always a good thing. Having all of the high schools teach computer science means that students will have a better frame of reference when they come to the university to decide whether to be a computer science major or to be a different kind of engineering major.”

The new course is designed to introduce programming concepts to high school students without a lot of prior math knowledge. A class called “Computer Science and Mathematics” already exists but is more advanced and is only taught in three high schools in Arkansas.

“Hopefully after students take this introduction class, they will do much better in AP Programming or in the more advanced course,” Gauch said.

Gauch is excited about how this course will help spread programming skills across the state.

“I think that raising the computer literacy of the state as a whole is a great goal, and this is a good first step in that,” he said. “Everything is running on a computer these days, so being computer literate is important. Computer programming is a general problem-solving skill that I think is worth knowing even if you’re going to be a biology major or go into business.

"In this generation, I think these young kids have to be as familiar with computers as you and I are with toasters or something," he said. "They have to incorporate them into everyday life.”