What can CS educators do to help teachers of other subjects include computing in their teaching? In the UK we are also asked to include computing across the curriculum, in the same way that we are asked to include literacy and numeracy across the curriculum ( spelling, punctuation, grammar, reading, graphs, correct use of arithmetic and mathematical concepts).

Teachers often deal with this by doing a lesson in the computer room, using MS-Word; Using I-Pads, or searching for stuff with Google. This is the “we have to use a computer” panic. But it is not very educational

This has not always gone well: often a negative or neutral impact on computing, and if to much pressure is put on teachers to do this, then also a negative affect on the other subject as well. This is because most teachers are not computer science or IT teachers (I have heard some say “the pupils know more than I do”).

So what can be done in other subjects, not to just use computers or to try to give experience of computers to the pupils, but to teach an aspect of computer science or IT whilst still remaining within their subject's specialty. In particular, what can we do to help in this process? For example: how to aid with computational thinking in other disciplines. Can this be done in such a way as to also aid our own students?
Every field has its own key issues and methodologies. History and Literature, for example, are very different from Computer Science.  

However, it is in the interest of those in other fields to promote computational thinking. It is a skill that their students need and it can be a tool in their own work. However, to do this two things are necessary:


First is to examine the current working practices in those other fields that use computational techniques in pursuit of their own goals. Literature, Science, Geography, History, Mathematics, the Social Sciences, all use computation for at least part of their normal work. This can be communicated to students and students can and should get practice in their use. 
Second, and harder, is that it likely requires some collaboration, up to the level of team teaching, to bring good techniques to the fore for students. In other words, we in CS need to become servants to the other disciplines to help them deal with their own questions.


Computational Thinking is a big deal in the US now. It can start very early in a kid's life. Piaget and The Montessori method took a shot at this long ago, with success. But it needs to go beyond just math, into, say, Algorithmics and Big Data.