In North-Rhine Westphalia, the most populated state in Germany, Computer Science (CS) has been taught in secondary schools since the early 1970s. This article provides an overview of the past and current situation of CS education in North-Rhine Westphalia, including lessons learned through efforts to introduce and to maintain CS in secondary education. In particular, we focus on the differential school system and the educational landscape of CS education, the different facets of CS teacher education, and CS education research programs and directions that are directly connected with these aspects. In addition, this report offers a rationale for including CS education in general education, which includes the educational value of CS for students in today’s information and knowledge society. Through this article, we ultimately provide an overview of the significant elements that are crucial for the successful integration of CS as a compulsory subject within secondary schools.

We report on the design and evaluation of the first year of a Computer Science course in lower secondary education that implements the concept of braided teaching [7]. Besides being a proof-of-concept, our study demonstrates that students can indeed be taught Computer Science (as opposed to Information and Communication Technology) as early as in sixth grade while at the same time not falling behind with respect to Information Technology Literacy. We present quantitative and qualitative results and argue that Computer Science can be taught just like any other science subject worth full curriculum credit.

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