Fundamental Ideas as a Basis for Designing Coherent Competence Progressions in K-12 Computing Curricula

Curriculum design in K-12 computing education (CE) is often centered on core disciplinary ideas, principles, concepts and practices. However, their meaningful sequencing and interrelation within a coherent curricular progression has received comparatively little attention in the literature. Moreover, disciplinary concepts can acquire notably different meanings in the context of different applications. Both issues are made particularly apparent by recent technology innovations, particularly AI, which both introduces novel concepts and practices while also reframing established ones like program, model or data. As a result, there is an increasing risk, especially but not only in the context of innovative technologies, that K-12 computing curricula become fragmented into seemingly independent content areas rather than coherently interrelating them in the progressive pursuit of meaningful mastery. In this conceptual paper, I present a theoretical inquiry into the notion of curricular coherence in K-12 CE and propose a model to inform the coherent design of corresponding competences. Drawing on the notion of “fundamental idea,” developed primarily within the German CE community, and positioning it in the context of competence and curriculum design theory, I argue that fundamental ideas – understood as constitutive disciplinary goals – can provide a powerful basis to inform the coherence of curricular competence progressions. I illustrate the approach with the help of different examples. Moreover, I discuss how an idea-based curriculum can offer a more robust structure for the coherent and meaningful integration of innovative technologies, concepts and skills.