Integrating a CS+Social Science Project into STEM and non-STEM High School CoursesK12
In this paper, we describe a CS+Social Science Python project that can be integrated directly into high school classrooms, enabling students to explore social science questions using computer science. The project uses the pandas library and Google Colab to give students an authentic experience with data science tools. We present teachers’ experiences and students feedback from implementing the project in three high school classes, one non-STEM class and two AP CS classes. The project is designed to be simple enough for students with no background to succeed, but creative and open-ended enough to allow students with experience to develop their skills further. Students from both courses report the project was interesting and useful. Our work builds upon the body of literature examining ways to include CS in non-STEM high school courses, but also appears to fit well into CS curricula.