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1. Workshops and Co-design Can Help Teachers Integrate Computational Thinking into Their K-12 STEM Classes

   Wu, S.; Peel, A.; Bain, C.; Anton, G.; Horn, M.; Wilensky, U. (April 2020, Proceedings of International Conference on Computational Thinking Education 2020)

   Kong, S.C. (Ed.)

   This work aims to help high school STEM teachers integrate computational thinking (CT) into their classrooms by engaging teachers as curriculum co-designers. K-12 teachers who are not trained in computer science may not see the value of CT in STEM classrooms and how to engage their students in computational practices that reflect the practices of STEM professionals. To this end, we developed a 4-week professional development workshop for eight science and mathematics high school teachers to co-design computationally enhanced curriculum with our team of researchers. The workshop first provided an introduction to computational practices and tools for STEM education. Then, teachers engaged in co-design to enhance their science and mathematics curricula with computational practices in STEM. Data from surveys and interviews showed that teachers learned about computational thinking, computational tools, coding, and the value of collaboration after the professional development. Further, they were able to integrate multiple computational tools that engage their students in CT-STEM practices. These findings suggest that teachers can learn to use computational practices and tools through workshops, and that teachers collaborating with researchers in co-design to develop computational enhanced STEM curriculum may be a powerful way to engage students and teachers with CT in K-12 classrooms. 

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2. Developing Computational Thinking in Middle School Music Technology Classrooms

   https://doi.org/10.1145/3626253.3635527  

   McCall, Lauren; Allen, Brittney; Freeman, Jason; Garrett, Stephen; Grossman, Sabrina; Paz, Jed; Edwards, Doug; McKlin, Tom; Lee, Taneisha (March 2024, ACM)

   To engage diverse populations of students who may not self-select into computing courses, a curriculum for a middle school music technology + computer science course that addresses learning standards for both subjects was developed and deployed. Students who engage with the curriculum learn modern music production techniques and computational thinking concepts. This is through a mix of traditional approaches to music technology education (digital audio workstations) and computational approaches via a culturally relevant learning platform that introduces students to coding through music production and remixing. This poster reflects on the last two years of curriculum design and deployment, teacher training, and student and educator engagement and feedback to provide insight into the teaching (and learning) of computational thinking in the music technology classroom. 

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3. Rethinking Circle Time: Development of K-2 CT Literacy Integrated Curriculum

   https://doi.org/10.1145/3545947.3576338  

   Ottenbreit-Leftwich, Anne; Moore, Tamara J.; Tank, Kristina M.; Kim, Jiyoung; Fagundes, Bárbara; Chu, Lin; Wafula, Zarina (March 2022, Special Interest Group Computer Science Education)

   Students can begin to lose interest in CS as early as 2nd grade, indicating the importance of engaging students in CS as early as possible. This study examined the integration of computational thinking (CT) into literacy activities in early childhood education (K-2). We describe the co-design process of developing computational thinking literacy integrated curriculum for K-2, and preliminary results of K-2 student engagement in CT and literacy activities 

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4. Polyphony of (Analytical) Scores, Co‐Design, and Creative Methodologies

   https://doi.org/10.1111/jade.12583  

   Koro, Mirka; Vasquez, Ananí M; Reutlinger, Corey; McLeod, Cole (April 2025, International Journal of Art & Design Education)

   Abstract This experimental paper explores a form of neurodiversity‐affirming qualitative data analysis labelled a polyphony of (analytical) scores and creative methodologies utilised in our research project. Our data examples come from a federally funded research study which co‐designed sensory pedagogies for autistic students interested in computational thinking (CT). Four middle‐school teachers, or teacher fellows (TF), from diverse disciplines were recruited to develop neurodiverse CT mini curriculum and pedagogies for middle‐school students interested in STEM. Teacher fellows worked with the research team to co‐design teaching and learning materials and technology to explore computational thinking. The research team and teacher fellows attended workshops that included creative ensemble activities using digital‐physical musical technologies and CT concepts. Data from these workshops were used to create two polyphonic score compositions as ways to interact with data. A video creation addressed how TFs were impacted during the development and implementation of neurodiverse pedagogies. Quotes and keywords extracted for the video creation reflect how silence and sound collapse and expand in a rhizomatic fashion, indicating how TFs experience messiness, exploration, atypicality and more, which fully represent neurodiversity. The score analysis enabled us to diversify participants' experiences with neurodiverse pedagogies and illustrated the affective dimensions of musical composition as a form of data analysis. 

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5. Understanding the Complexities of Chinese Word Acquisition Within an Online Learning Platform

   Lu, X.; Ostrow, K. S.; Heffernan, N. T. (January 2019, 11th International Conference on Computer Supported Education)

   Because Chinese reading and writing systems are not phonetic, Mandarin Chinese learners must construct six-way mental connections in order to learn new words, linking characters, meanings, and sounds. Little research has focused on the difficulties inherent to each specific component involved in this process, especially within digital learning environments. The present work examines Chinese word acquisition within ASSISTments, an online learning platform traditionally known for mathematics education. Students were randomly assigned to one of three conditions in which researchers manipulated a learning assignment to exclude one of three bi-directional connections thought to be required for Chinese language acquisition (i.e., sound-meaning and meaning-sound). Researchers then examined whether students’ performance differed significantly when the learning assignment lacked sound-character, character-meaning, or meaning-sound connection pairs, and whether certain problem types were more difficult for students than others. Assessment of problems by component type (i.e., characters, meanings, and sounds) revealed support for the relative ease of problems that provided sounds, with students exhibiting higher accuracy with fewer attempts and less need for system feedback when sounds were included. However, analysis revealed no significant differences in word acquisition by condition, as evidenced by next-day post-test scores or pre- to post-test gain scores. Implications and suggestions for future work are discussed. 

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