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Few studies of computational thinking (CT) integration in elementary curricula have yet focused on supporting early elementary educators with implementing and assessing their young students’ application of these practices to content area work. This paper summarizes a collaborative research project that engaged researchers, K-second grade teachers, and professional development (PD) providers in implementing a hybrid PD model to answer the following research questions: (1) What kind of PD and guidance do teachers need to identify and support emergent computational thinking development in young students’ language and work process? (2) What kind of PD and guidance do teachers need to identify emergent computational thinking development in young students’ work products? This project employed a mixed-methods research design that included pre- and post-surveys and interviews with teachers to measure and understand how growth in teachers’ confidence, knowledge, and self-efficacy with CT prepared them to identify and support these concepts with young learners. Additionally, analysis was able to identify the key formative assessment strategies these teachers employed to generate insight into students’ understanding and application of CT during problem-solving.
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Development and Preliminary Validation of the Assessment of Computing for Elementary Students (ACES)
As reliance on technology increases in practically every aspect of life, all students deserve the opportunity to learn to think computationally from early in their educational experience. To support the kinds of computer science curriculum and instruction that makes this possible, there is an urgent need to develop and validate computational thinking (CT) assessments for elementary-aged students. We developed the Assessment of Computing for Elementary Students (ACES) to measure the CT concepts of loops and sequences for students in grades 3-5. The ACES includes block-based coding questions as well as non-programming, Bebras-style questions. We conducted cognitive interviews to understand student perspectives while taking the ACES. We piloted the assessment with 57 4th grade students who had completed a CT curriculum. Preliminary analyses indicate acceptable reliability and appropriate difficulty and discrimination among assessment items. The significance of this paper is to present a new CT measure for upper elementary students and to share its intentional development process.
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- PAR ID:
- 10256865
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- The 52nd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE ’21)
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 10 to 16
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Conference Paper:
- https://doi.org/10.1145/3408877.3432376
