With many school districts nationwide integrating Computer Science (CS) and Computational Thinking (CT) instruction at the K-8 level, it is crucial that CS instruction be eective for diverse learners. A popular pedagogical approach is Use!Modify!Create, which introduces a concept through a more scaolded, guided instruction before culminating in a more open-ended project for student engagement. Yet, little research has gone into strategies that increase learning during the Use!Modify step. This paper introduces TIPP&SEE, a learning that further scaolds student learning during this step. Results from a quasi-experimental study show statistically-signi cant outperformance from students using the TIPP&SEE strategy on all assessment questions of medium and hard difficulty, suggesting its potential as an eective CS learning strategy
more »
« less
Supporting Diverse Learners in K-8 Computational Thinking with TIPP&SEE
With the growth of Computer Science (CS) and Computational Thinking (CT) instruction in the primary/elementary domain, it is important that such instruction supports diverse learners. Four categories of students ś students in poverty, multi-lingual students, students with disabilities, and students who have below-grade-level proficiency in reading and math, may face academic challenges that can hinder their learning in CS/CT curricula. However, little is known about how to support these students in CS/CT instruction, especially at this young age. TIPP&SEE, a meta-cognitive strategy that scaffolds learning by proceduralizing engagement through example code, may offer some support. A quasi-experimental study revealed that the gaps between students with and without academic challenges narrowed when using the TIPP&SEE strategy, indicating its promise in providing equitable learning opportunities in CS/CT.
more »
« less
- PAR ID:
- 10256867
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- The 52nd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE ’21)
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 246 to 252
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
-
The Maker Partnership Program (MPP) is an NSF-supported project that addresses the critical need for models of professional development (PD) and support that help elementary-level science teachers integrate computer science and computational thinking (CS and CT) into their classroom practices. The MPP aims to foster integration of these disciplines through maker pedagogy and curriculum. The MPP was designed as a research-practice partnership that allows researchers and practitioners to collaborate and iteratively design, implement and test the PD and curriculum. This paper describes the key elements of the MPP and early findings from surveys of teachers and students participating in the program. Our research focuses on learning how to develop teachers’ capacity to integrate CS and CT into elementary-level science instruction; understanding whether and how this integrated instruction promotes deeper student learning of science, CS and CT, as well as interest and engagement in these subjects; and exploring how the model may need to be adapted to fit local contexts. Participating teachers reported gaining knowledge and confidence for implementing the maker curriculum through the PDs. They anticipated that the greatest implementation challenges would be lack of preparation time, inaccessible computer hardware, lack of administrative support, and a lack of CS knowledge. Student survey results show that most participants were interested in CS and science at the beginning of the program. Student responses to questions about their disposition toward collaboration and persistence suggest some room for growth. Student responses to questions about who does CS are consistent with prevalent gender stereotypes (e.g., boys are naturally better than girls at computer programming), particularly among boys.more » « less
-
The computer science education research community has thought deeply about how students learn computational thinking (CT) as it relates to other domains of computer science (CS; e.g. programming) and core content areas (STEM, humanities), but less work has examined the role of CT in pathways to computer science for K-5 teachers. This panel examines the experiences of practitioners – educators, administrators, and curriculum designers--who have both experienced and supported others in incorporating CT in elementary school settings as a pathway to or component of computer science education. All panelists have worked with teachers not previously trained to teach CS and have encountered the many opportunities and difficulties of bringing CS to in-service teachers. They will reflect on the multiple ways educators grapple with CT: as an entry point to computer science, as a way to enrich core disciplines, and as a way to support equitable practice – for example, several of the panelists have experiences leveraging CT and other domains of CS to support the expression and development of emergent bilingual students. The panel will explore ways in which CT and its associated language and strategies for problem solving may provide a particularly helpful onramp to CS generally, including integration with other disciplines and with language about academic skills more generally.more » « less
-
null (Ed.)Engaging students in science learning that integrates disciplinary knowledge and practices such as computational thinking (CT) is a challenge that may represent unfamiliar territory for many teachers. CompHydro Baltimore is a collaborative partnership aimed at enacting Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)–aligned instruction to support students in developing knowledge and practice reflective of the goals laid out in A Framework for K–12 Science Education (National Research Council 2012) “... that by the end of 12th grade, all students possess sufficient knowledge of science and engineering to engage in public discussion on related issues … and are careful consumers of scientific and technological information related to their everyday lives.” This article presents the results of a partnership that generated a new high school level curriculum and teacher professional development program that tackled the challenge of integrating hydrologic learning with computational thinking as applied to a real-world issue of flooding. CompHydro Baltimore produced Baltimore Floods, a six-lesson high school unit that builds students’ water literacy by engaging them in computational thinking (CT) and modeling practices as they learn about water system processes involved in urban flooding (See Computational Thinking and Associated Science Practices). CompHydro demonstrates that broad partnerships can address these challenges, bringing together the diverse expertise necessary to develop innovative CT-infused science curriculum materials and the teacher supports needed for successful implementation.more » « less
-
null (Ed.)Increasingly in K–12 schools, students are gaining access to computational thinking (CT) and computer science (CS). This access, however, is not always extended to students with disabilities. One way to increase CT and CS (CT/CS) exposure for students with disabilities is through preparing special education teachers to do so. In this study, researchers explore exposing special education preservice teachers to the ideas of CT/CS in the context of a mathematics methods course for students with disabilities or those at risk of disability. Through analyzing lesson plans and reflections from 31 preservice special education teachers, the researchers learned that overall emerging promise exists with regard to the limited exposure of preservice special education teachers to CT/CS in mathematics. Specifically, preservice teachers demonstrated the ability to include CT/CS in math lesson plans and showed understanding of how CT/CS might enhance instruction with students with disabilities via reflections on these lessons. The researchers, however, also found a need for increased experiences and opportunities for preservice special education teachers with CT/CS to more positively impact access for students with disabilities.more » « less