Computer science program in moroccan secondary schools: curricula analysis
Автор: Ibrahim Ouahbi, Hassane Darhmaoui, Fatiha Kaddari, Abdellah Bemmouna
Журнал: International Journal of Modern Education and Computer Science @ijmecs
Статья в выпуске: 3 vol.11, 2019 года.
Бесплатный доступ
The methodology of teaching informatics is a reflection subject that arouses increasing interest both locally and internationally. Debates on the curricula of the discipline are always at the center of many discussions amongst computer scientists and other concerned educators. Teaching Computer science in secondary schools is increasingly perceived as having similar status like teaching mathematics, life and earth sciences, chemistry, and physics. In this paper we report and analyze the current status of computer science education in Moroccan secondary schools in light of the governing official instructions by the ministry of education. We also discuss the generalization of computer education in Moroccan secondary schools probing the emergence of teaching it as a disciplinary subject rather than a tool in other fields. Our analysis shows that teaching informatics in Morocco is not conform to the set ministerial objectives and it necessitate a reform in both its teaching methodology and content.
Computer science in Morocco, Computer science discipline, Computer science curricula
Короткий адрес: https://sciup.org/15016834
IDR: 15016834 | DOI: 10.5815/ijmecs.2019.03.02
Текст научной статьи Computer science program in moroccan secondary schools: curricula analysis
Computer science is currently considered as a fundamental component in educational curricula [1-5] and discussions about its content is still at the center of many debates [6-8]. Indeed, information technology (IT) is a field of knowledge in perpetual evolution, and as a result, computer-based education, presumably more than any other scientific discipline, requires a continuous renewal of its programs and the innovation in its teaching strategies and approaches.
Our basic motivation in this article is to shed light on the current status of computer science education in Moroccan secondary schools. After a brief historical overview of the different actions that led to the generalization of secondary computer science education, we present an analysis of these programs in contrast with the main official instructions of the discipline both in middle school and high schools. It appears from our analysis that despite the current efforts made by the National Ministry of Education, teaching informatics in Morocco is not up to the set objectives and its teaching methodology and content needs an urgent reform.
-
II. Emergence of Computer Science Discipline
Computer science as a school subject is relatively a new topic. Computer science has evolved over the last century and has benefited from the development of mathematics, the emergence of electronics and automatism. Its status as an independent school subject began to take shape in the sixties of last century.
Currently, this status of computer science as a "school subject" is widely accepted by almost all educational systems around the globe. However, even if the need to introduce computer science discipline into the school curricula is unanimous, the approaches adopted and the experiments carried out, differ from one country to another, they depend on the social and / or cultural context in each country [9,10,11]. Such differences result in a multiplicity of conceptions in computing fields, that school must then provide a wide variety of content implementation approaches.
Indeed, the divergence already appears at the nomenclature level and more precisely at the vocabulary level that designate computer science subject. We note several labels of this discipline as summarized in (Table1).
Table 1. Different labels for computer science subject
Label |
Definition |
Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). |
A global term that embraces a full range of electronic tools that enable us to transmit, process, store, create, display, share, and exchange information with others [12] |
Informatics, Computer Science |
Encompasses the study of computers and algorithmic processes, including their principles, their hardware and software designs, their applications, and their impact on society [13, 14] |
Educational Technology |
The use of computer tools (hardware and software) to advance student learning in other disciplines [13, 15]. |
Digital literacy and fluency |
Represent a set of curricula from literacy and the simple use of technological tools to mastery and the ability to express ideas creatively via these tools [13, 16] |
Reading the attributes relating to these labels reflects the fact that the discipline oscillates between technical and theoretical aspect.
Besides computer science subject title, contents and approaches used to their integration into the educational curriculum still arouse debate and although they are common, they show some differences.
-
III. Related Work
In the past few years, several countries have proceeded a full revision of their curricula promoting "computer science" as a school discipline having similar status as mathematics, physical sciences and chemistry [7,13].
-
• In England, the new curricula, introduced in 2014 [4], present the current trend for teaching informatics in primary and secondary schools namely. It emphasizes teaching computer thinking, video-based instruction and the introduction of visual environments such as Scratch [17] and Kodu [18], environments that make programming fun and accessible for young children [19].
-
• Computer science "informatyka" and ICT existed since 1985 as a school subject in Poland [20, 21]. The new ICT curriculum launched in 2015, is addressed at all students in K-12. Its main purpose is to motivate students to develop computational thinking competency and to use problem solving in various subjects [22].
-
• The French Academy of Sciences 1 reported in their annual report of 2013 that "the general education of informatics will first have to empower all citizens with keys to the future world, which will be much more digital and thus computerized than the world today, so that they understand it and can participate consciously in its choices and its evolution rather than just being exposed to it as consumers while things are decided elsewhere". In this context the current trend by the government aims to make compulsory
the teaching of computer coding starting in primary schools2.
-
• In Japan, the new curricula, which will be implemented starting 2020, states that all primary students will be introduced to programming and all high school students will have to learn computer science [23].
In addition, and in order to encourage students to learn computer science, several initiatives have been conducted lately: Code.org, Hour Code, Europe Code Week, and Africa Code Week [14], which invite millions of students all around the world to the field of programming in an entertaining and enjoyable way.
-
IV. Brief History on Teaching Computer Science in Morocco
Like many educational systems, Morocco undertook informatics integration tests in the 1980s. In high schools, this teaching was left to the initiative of the computer science teachers who were called "Computer animators". Thus, where it existed, the computer science discipline was based on learning algorithms and programming in Basic or Pascal and on the use of tutorials and programs for learning other school subjects such as mathematics and languages. In middle school, basic programming courses and activities on the use of office automation software were integrated into the subject of technology [25]. In fact, it can be said that there was no clear vision or strategy separating informatics as subject matter (full-fledged school discipline) and IT as a tool for learning other disciplines. This situation lasted throughout the 90s, despite the fact that a project to introduce computer science in the last two years of qualifying secondary education, especially for the scientific disciplines, was introduced during the 1998-1999 academic year [26].
It was not until the advent of the National Charter for Education and Training, which was the framework document for orientations and educational philosophy in 1999, that the integration of informatics as a separate subject in the field of education in the Moroccan
education system was considered [27]. Thus, in the 20012002 academic years, three decisions in favor of the implementation of IT integration project were made:
-
• The creation of a new professionals executives:
-
- Computer science inspectors: after a two-year training at the Training Center of Inspectors of Education (CFIE)
-
- Secondary school teachers: after a one-year training course in the Regional Centers for Education and Training (CRMEF). These new teachers were designated to teach computer science mainly at the middle school level.
-
• The increase in the number of computer science teachers, both for middle and high schools.
The designation of computer science as a school discipline with well-defined objectives began to be established after the graduation of the first cohort of inspectors in 2003. In fact, each inspector was in charge of the elaboration of a program specific to its regional academy assignment. They have therefore tried to generalize computer science education in middle schools and high schools which have computer science teachers [26]. These efforts culminated in 2005 with the release of official instructions related to teaching computer science. It should be noted, however, that CS teaching was limited to the core curriculum (1st year of high school, all sectors combined) because of shortage in the number of CS teachers. It's only in 2007 that computer science was generalized to all 3 levels in middle schools. However, informatics teaching official instructions in middle schools were only issued in 2009. Figure 1, shows the timeline of computer science education in Morocco.
in 2003, •creation of a professionals executives: CS inspectors and middle school CS teachers.
•generalization of CS and the release of official instructions related to teaching CS in the 1st year of qualifying secondary
In 2009: •release of official instructions related to teaching CS in middle schools
In 1998: *CS teaching Project for the last two years of high school (especially for scientific studies)
From the 80s: •training of high school CS teachers "CS animators"

Fig.1. Timeline of computer science education in Morocco
In 2007: •generalization of CS in middle schools, *release of official instructions related to teaching CS in the 2nd and 3rd year of "Economics and Management" branches of high
-
V . teaching Computer Science as a Discipline in Morocco
-
A. Computer Science in primary school
Enabling pupils to use ICT is one of the aims in primary education [28]. However, when analyzing the official instructions of primary education in Morocco, it is found that the term informatics is mentioned only once. These instructions, however ambiguous, present indications on the use of digital resources in teaching.
In practice, ICT exploitation remains very restricted and limited to initiatives by a minority of teachers mainly involved in digital content production projects and/or innovative educational projects like CITI, COLLAB, etc.[29]. However, we could highlight few experiences of computer education in the private sector, where computer science is integrated in the curriculum, a way to attract more students to these institutions. Manuals have been produced containing fun activities helping to develop algorithmic thinking of the learner [30].
-
B. Computer Science in middle school
In middle school, the computer science discipline, on one hand, aims at having students use ICTs to search, process and communicate information and on the other hand initiate them since the 2nd year to the programming concept and problem solving (Table 2).
Table 2. Content of the computer science curriculum in middle schools [31]
Content Item |
1st year |
2nd year |
3rd year |
Computer and Operating Systems (OS) |
-IT system (4h) -OS (4h) -Documentary research (6h) |
|
-Network Typology (2h) |
Use of Software |
- Creating a drawing file, and an audio file (2h) -Text analysis (14h) |
- Spreadsheets (12h) |
-Computer-assisted presentations (10h) |
Programming |
- Logo Programming (10h) |
- Logo Programming (8h) |
|
Internet |
-Web documentary researches (6h) -E-Mail (4h) |
-
C. Computer Science in high school
In the first year of high school, the program focuses on the use of ICT and the introduction of algorithmics and programming [27]. It is organized in four modules, the content of each comprises a set of coherent units. The level of deepening the notions varies according to each field of study.
Computer science at the 2nd and 3rd year of high school is taught at the level of the economic science and management branch: "IT management". The program is mainly focused on IT tools like word processing software, spreadsheets, internet services, management and accounting [32, 33].
Table 3 presents the content of the computer science discipline at high school level .
Table 3. Content of the IT Program in High School [27, 32, 33]
Content Item |
1st year (Common Core) |
2nd year (1st year BAC) |
3rd year (2nd year BAC) |
IT System basics |
-Definitions and basic vocabulary (2h) -Basic computer structures (4h) -Types of software (1h) -Application domains (1h) |
||
Software |
-OS (6h) -Text processing (10h) -Spreadsheets (6) |
-Word processing on Windows (22h) |
- Spreadsheets (36h) -Software SAARI (32h) |
Algorithmic and programming |
-Basic algorithm concepts (4h) -Basic control structures (6h) -Programming languages (6h) |
||
Networks & Internet |
-Basic IT network concepts (4h) -Internet network (10h) |
-Internet : Research, downloading, E-Mail….(12h) |
The computer science program in high schools seems varied and reflects the dual aspect of the discipline varying from theoretical to technical learning components. Nevertheless, it can be highlighted that:
-
• There is a lack of continuity and complementarity between the computer program at the middle school level and the 1st year in high school (core curriculum). Knowledge and know-how do not follow a precise order both in terms of difficulties and the level of concepts and themes. For example: concepts such as loops and procedures in the middle school program are absent in the 1st year of high school curriculum, as well as notions of array and other data structures. Moreover, the same notions taught in middle school are taken up in the first year of high school without any deepening study: computer networks and Internet, word processing software, spreadsheet ...
-
• In the 2nd and 3rd year of high school, computer science is only taught in the "Economics and Management" branches. The program is mainly focusing on informatics as tool.
-
VI. Conclusion
Computer science is currently omnipresent in all school subjects, it provides tools to master various technologies in perpetual development. The analysis of the content of this discipline and how it is currently taught in Morocco shows the following:
-
• there is a lack of a computer discipline at the primary level;
-
• there is a lack of continuity and complementarity between the computer program in middle school and the first year of high school. Knowledge and know-how do not follow a precise order both in terms of difficulties and the level of concepts and themes ;
-
• the teaching of IT in general education remains limited to the level of the 1st year of high school ;
-
• practically speaking, computer science education in middle schools is limited to the second year only;
-
• computer and internet courses are often flown over due to the lack of network equipment and/or the fact that it appears at the end of the program;
-
• the textbook, programs and official instructions for computer science education have never been reviewed or reformed since they were developed in 2005 for high school (Common Core) and in 2007 in the case of middle school. Thus, for a field that is experiencing rapid and continuous developments, computer skills currently taught are not -necessarily-adapted to the needs of today's learners ;
-
• only one cohort of twenty educational inspectors of the computer discipline was trained in 2003. At the present time, the number of these inspectors does not exceed ten, which limits the pedagogical accompaniment and the in-service training of teachers.
It therefore seems that despite the efforts made by the Ministry, the teaching of computer science is not up to the objectives set and that its teaching and content in force are to be reformed.
It should be noted that if we want to establish a computer science discipline with the academic standards, informatics as "tool" shouldn’t take the upper hand and therefore, we must go beyond literacy, office automation. As a result, informatics subject needs to be addressed at a higher level, as a science of modeling, reasoning, analysis, problem-solving and creativity. Thus, the balance between the two aspects "Informatics as tool" and "Informatics as science" must be maintained and reviewed according to the school level and age of the learners (table 4).
Table 4. Teaching informatics as a tool and science (***) very important, (**) moderately important, (*) slightly important
Primary school |
Middle school |
High school |
|
Informatics as a tool / ICT |
*** |
** |
* |
Informatics as a science |
* |
** |
*** |
In fact, as students advance in their education program; computer science education, and especially algorithmic thinking and programming, must evolve accordingly.
Acknowledgment
We acknowledge the assistance of Ms. Racha YESSOUF in proofreading this paper. We are thankful to her.
Список литературы Computer science program in moroccan secondary schools: curricula analysis
- Dagiene, V., & Stupuriene, G. (2016). Informatics concepts and computational thinking in K-12 education: A Lithuanian perspective. Journal of Information Processing, 24(4), 732-739.
- Fluck, A., Webb, M., Cox, M., Angeli, C., Malyn-Smith, J., Voogt, J., & Zagami, J. (2016). Arguing for computer science in the school curriculum. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 19(3), 38.
- Kanemune, S., Shirai, S., & Tani, S. (2017). Informatics and Programming Education at Primary and Secondary Schools in Japan, Olympiads in Informatics, Vol. 11, 143–150.
- Webb, M., Davis, N., Bell, T., Katz, Y. J., Reynolds, N., Chambers, D. P., & Sysło, M. M. (2017). Computer science in K-12 school curricula of the 2lst century : Why, what and when?. Education and Information Technologies, 22(2), 445-468.
- Arcos, G., Aguirre, G. L., Hidalgo, B., Rosero, R. H., & Gómez, O. S. (2018). Current Trends of Teaching Computer Programming in Undergraduate CS Programs: A Survey from Ecuadorian Universities. KnE Engineering, 1(2), 253-275.
- Baron, G. L., Bruillard, E., & Drot-Delange, B. (2015). Informatique en éducation: perspectives curriculaires et didactiques. Presses Universitaires Blaise-Pascal.
- Ouahbi, I., Darhmaoui, H., Kaddari, F., Bemmouna, A., Elachqar, A., & Lahmine, S. (2015). Un aperçu sur l’enseignement de l’informatique au Maroc: Nécessité d’une réforme des curricula An overview of teaching informatics in Morocco: The need for a curriculum reform. Frantice.net, (11), 51-66.
- Vrachnos, E., & Jimoyiannis, A. (2017). Secondary education students’ difficulties in algorithmic problems with arrays: An analysis using the SOLO taxonomy. Themes in Science and Technology Education, 10(1), 31-52.
- Hubwieser, P., Armoni, M., Brinda, T., Dagiene, V., Diethelm, I., Giannakos, M. N., Knobelsdor, M., Magenheim, J., Mittermeir, R., & Schubert, S. (2011). Computer Science/informatics in Secondary Education. In Proceedings of the 16th annual conference reports on Innovation and technology in computer science education-working group reports (pp. 19-38). ACM.
- Sturman, L., and Sizmur, J. (2011). International comparison of computing in schools. Slough, UK: National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER).
- Diethelm, I., Arndt, J., Dünnebier, M., & Syrbe, J. (2013). Informatics in schools: local proceedings of the 6th International Conference ISSEP 2013; selected papers; Oldenburg, Germany.
- Anderson, J. (2010). ICT transforming education: A regional guide. Published by UNESKO Bangkok, 120.
- Seehorn, D., Carey, S., Fuschetto, B., Lee, I., Moix, D., O'Grady-Cunniff, D., Boucher Owens, B., Stephenson, C., & Verno, A. (2011). CSTA K--12 Computer Science Standards: Revised 2011.
- Wilson, C., Sudol, L. A. S., Stephenson, C., Stehlik, M., Acm, & Csta. (2011). Running on empty: The Failure to Teach K-12 Computer Science in the Digital Age. Inquiry : A Journal of Medical Care Organization, Provision and Financing, 48(3), 177–82.
- Cheung, A. C., & Slavin, R. E. (2013). The effectiveness of educational technology applications for enhancing mathematics achievement in K-12 classrooms: A meta-analysis. Educational Research Review, 9, 88-113.
- Pernia, E. E. (2008). Strategy framework for promoting ICT literacy in the Asia-Pacific region. Publication of UNESCO Bangkok Communication and Information Unit. Bangkok: Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education, 4-20.
- Wilson, A., Hainey, T., & Connolly, T. M. (2013). Using Scratch with Primary School Children: An Evaluation of Games Constructed to Gauge Understanding of Programming Concepts. International Journal of Game-Based Learning (IJGBL), 3(1), 93-109.
- Stolee, K. T., & Fristoe, T. (2011). Expressing computer science concepts through Kodu game lab. In Proceedings of the 42nd ACM technical symposium on Computer science education (pp. 99-104). ACM.
- Dagiene, V., Jevsikova, T., Schulte, C., Sentance, S., & Thota, N. (2013). A comparison of current trends within Computer Science teaching in school in Germany and the UK. In Informatics in Schools: Local Proceedings of the 6th International Conference ISSEP 2013–Selected Paper (p. 63).
- Gańko-Karwowska, M. (2004). Pourquoi l'informatique et la technologie de l'information en tant que matière de formation en Pologne?. Récupéré le 19 Avril 2015 du site de l’EPI : http://www.epi.asso.fr/revue/articles/a0405a.htm
- Sysło, M. M., & Kwiatkowska, A. B. (2008). The Challenging face of informatics education in Poland. Informatics Education-Supporting Computational Thinking (pp. 1-18). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
- Sysło, M. M., & Kwiatkowska, A. B. (2015, September). Introducing a new computer science curriculum for all school levels in Poland. In International Conference on Informatics in Schools: Situation, Evolution, and Perspectives (pp. 141-154). Springer, Cham
- Kanemune, S., Shirai, S., & Tani, S. (2017). Informatics and Programming Education at Primary and Secondary Schools in Japan. Retrieved from: https://ioinformatics.org/journal/v11_2017_143_150.pdf
- Bogliolo, A., Delpriori, S., Klopfenstein, L. C., & Paolini, B. D. (2016). Immersive Coding: Innovative tools and formats for large-scale coding events. EDULEARN16 Proceedings.
- Rak, I. (2002). « Education technologique au Maroc La coopération franco-marocaine ». Revue Education technologique n° 18 (pp. 25-30). Retrieved January 2, 2019 from http://techno-hadf.pagesperso-orange.fr/edu/8-biblio-classement/HADF_8-3_Articles_publies_par_I.RAK.doc
- Rak, I., & Hariri, A. (2006). Maroc : l'informatique au collège, nouvelle discipline d'enseignement. Retrieved January 2, 2019 from http://perso.orange.fr/techno-hadf/edu/3-college_etranger_1985-20__/HADF_3-9_Maroc_l_informatique_nouvelle_discipline_d_enseignement.doc
- MEN. (2005a). Ministère d’Education Nationale, Programme et instructions officielles pour l’enseignement de l’informatique aux troncs communs.
- MEN. (2011). Ministère d’Education Nationale, Programme et instructions officielles pour l’enseignement au cycle primaire.
- El ouidadi, O., Lakdim, A., Essafi, K., Sendide, K., & Depiereux, E. (2013). Principaux facteurs influençant les usages des TICE chez des enseignants marocains. Frantice.net, (6), 37-52.
- Bemmouna, A., Chetouani, A., & El yacoubi, T. (2013). L’informatique pas à pas. Collection de l’enseignement de l’informatique au primaire (du 3ème au 6ème). Rabat: Dar Nachr Almaarifa.
- MEN. (2009). Ministère d’Education Nationale, Programme et instructions officielles pour l’enseignement secondaire collégial.
- MEN. (2005b). Ministère d’Education Nationale, Programme et instructions officielles pour l’enseignement en 1ère année du baccalauréat sciences économiques et sciences de gestion comptable.
- MEN. (2007). Ministère d’Education Nationale, Programme et instructions officielles pour l’enseignement en 2ème année du baccalauréat sciences économiques et sciences de gestion comptable.