The news of modifying teaching computer skills at K-12 level in the U.S. by the NSF, which is supported by large companies, suggests that Europe has similar needs.
To know the situation, I made a survey in Catalonia about the knowledge that the students have about calculators and computer programming.
The survey was done in a large group of students (n = 267) from 3rd. ESO, 1st and 2nd of Baccalaureate in two different schools. Also in the survey are included 2 exchange students from Germany, and through Comenius there are data of 21 baccalaureate students, Poland (3), Romania (2) Greece (5), Italy (7), Turkey (4) that have spent one week in Barcelona. These data allow to infer that European students are not different that the Catalonia’s students.
The survey results give several readings, from the standpoint of education, business (Texas Instruments, Hewlett-Packard), the Obama's economic policy, the lack of creativity in the manufacturing and use of calculators, PISA and SITES reports, STEM program, etc. All these factors indicate that an educational program of computing designed for 2nd level of Baccalaureate (K-12) may be a fiasco. Finally, conclusions are given as recommendations to follow.
