Using the CS4All Movement to Revolutionize the Math Classroom

“CS for All… by offering every student the hands-on computer science and math classes that make them job-ready on day one.” said President Obama in his 2016 State of the Union address. The country cheered! Everyone wore rose colored glasses, imagining the U.S. students becoming the leaders in global technology (we’re currently only ranked 1st in Hi-tech companies. We rank abysmally low in education) (Bloomberg, 2015). Meanwhile, teachers wondered who was going to teach these new classes? Where will computer science instruction fit amongst all the other state standards? How in the world do we have time in the school day to do more? Who feels qualified to teach technology when our students likely know more about technology than those of us from an older generation? As a pre-service teacher, I haven’t taught a full math class, but I have spent considerable time observing in-service teachers and substituting in classes from K-12. School days are full! Students are not sitting around ideally looking for more work, wanting to add more credits to their already full load. So what do we do to ensure our students are job-ready on day one and receive hands-on computer science education? 

I propose, as many have done before me, that we do not add to our overloaded schedules, but rather shift our classrooms into concurrently teaching math and CS, focusing on computational thinking skills. No offense to math teachers (because I am one too), but WOW! math classes can be boring! As a student, did you enjoy worksheet after worksheet or being assigned the odd problems one day and the even problems the next? Did you ask your math teacher, “Where will I ever use this in my real life?” Did you ever really, deeply understand the concepts you learned, or did you just get good at applying a formula to equations that always come up with a nice answer? This isn’t real life! Real life is messy and complicated and rarely involves whole number solutions. I believe there is a better way to meet the math standards and meet the call for CS4All, but it requires stepping away from the textbook, the old way of doing things, and out of our comfort zones. 

Conrad Wolfram, in his TED talk, makes the case that math is no longer about calculations. Computers have revolutionized the ancient field of mathematics. Students should now be focused on interpreting and understanding problems (using computational thinking skills) not spending their time learning to hand calculate. Math understandings should not be assessed by students using formulas to provide answers to dumbed down equations, but rather if we want students to show a thorough understanding of a math concept, require students to program it. This turns math into a practical, conceptual, engaging subject. No longer are you memorizing formulas, but now you must internalize them and apply them so they work in all situations, even when the answers are messy and realistic. 

I found Wolfram’s TED talk inspiring and convicting. I surprisingly agree with everything he says (says the mother who still insists her daughter memorize all her multiplication tables). In the world of computers, math cannot be taught in a textbook bubble and hand calculations have gone by the wayside. This thinking is revolutionary and will be met with much resistance. Is math traditionally about numbers, equations, and formulas or is it about critical thinking, posing the right question, computationally thinking about the question, and then producing real-world results? I believe the latter. This is why I propose that students will benefit from math co-taught with computer science. Traditional math standards are not going away, but new computer science standards are emerging. To teach both, without adding instructional hours, we need to alter the focus of our math classes and apply math education to the computer science framework. 

K12CS.org, a leading pioneer in computer science education, agrees that computer science should not be taught in isolation, but “rather than adding to educators’ already full plates, computer science can aid the current movement toward interdisciplinary education. Classrooms can infuse computer science into practically every other subject area, including mathematics, science, English language arts, world languages, social sciences, fine arts, service learning, health and physical education, and CTE programs” (K-12 Computer Science Framework, p.157). 

Thankfully, there are pioneers who paved the way for the rest of us. Quality, easy to follow, computer science curricula that integrates CS into the math classroom already exists. In my next blog post, I will discuss the pros and cons of teaching algebra standards using one such program, Bootstrap. I firmly believe we can do our math students a great service by applying their learning within the computer science field, but what do you foresee as the biggest hurdle to achieving this seamless integration?


Bloomberg Innovation Index. (2015). Retrieved from: https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2015-innovative-countries/ 
K-12 Computer Science Framework. (2016). Retrieved from: http://www.k12cs.org 
Wolfram, C. (2010). Teaching kids real math with computers. Retrieved from: https://www.ted.com/talks/conrad_wolfram_teaching_kids_real_math_with_computers