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1. Assisting K-12 Teachers to Make the Connection between Computational Thinking in Cybersecurity Unplugged Activities and Mathematical Mindset through A Cybersecurity Micro-credential

   Burrows, A.; Borowczak, M.; Mugayitoglu, B.; Kennedy, C.; Carson, A.; Person, C.; Finch, A. (January 2021, Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE))

   Langran, E.; Archambault, L (Ed.)

   This poster focuses on K-12 STEM teachers' computational thinking while using unplugged cybersecurity activities and exploring cybersecurity applications within self-paced micro-credentials. As a result, they share the most successful and challenging unplugged cybersecurity activities. The pilot micro-credentials were created to assess their effectiveness at enabling K-12 teachers to meaningfully their own materials to develop students’ STEM readiness and increase their engagement with cybersecurity, while enabling unplugged activities to transfer to a more mathematical mindset. The two pilot studies, focusing on K-12 teacher participants, included an initial micro-credential in the 2020 summer (n=5) which informed and enhanced a second micro-credential module sequence in the fall 2020 semester (n=16). Pilot 2 consisted of a total of five modules after refining it from feedback from pilot 1, which had only 2 modules. Researchers performed a mixed-methods study, which included qualitative data collected through interviews and focus groups. Additionally, content knowledge questions and attitude surveys were also used to collect both qualitative and quantitative data. Results indicate that the majority of K-12 teachers who participated in the micro-credential pilots were able to make connections between unplugged activities and a mathematical mindset. The poster presents these findings and also includes additional resources for further exploration and inspiration. 

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2. Investigating the Dynamic Change of Pre- and In-service Teachers' Experiences, Attitudes, and Perceptions through CS Autobiography Using Topic Modeling

   https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12729999  

   Zhang, Shan; Li, Hai; Li, Hongming; Botelho, Anthony F; Israel, Maya (July 2024, International Educational Data Mining Society)

   Benjamin, Paaßen; Carrie, Demmans Epp (Ed.)

   K-12 Computer Science (CS) education has seen remarkable growth recently, driven by the increasing focus on CS and Computational Thinking (CT) integration. Despite the abundance of Professional development (PD) programs designed to prepare future CS teachers with the required knowledge and skills, there is a lack of research on how teachers' perceptions and attitudes of CS and CT evolve before and after participating in these programs. To address this gap, our exploratory study aims to study the dynamics of pre-and in-service teachers' experiences, attitudes, and perceptions towards CS and CT through their participation in a K-12 CS education micro-credential program. In this study, we employed topic modeling to identify topics that emerged from teachers' written pre- and post-CS autobiographies, conducted statistical analysis to explore how these topics evolve over time and applied regression analysis to investigate the factors influencing these dynamics. We observed a shift in teachers' initial feelings of fear, intimidation, and stress towards confidence, fun, and feeling competent in basic CS, reflecting a positive transformation. Regression analysis revealed that features, such as experienced teacher status and CT conceptual understanding, correlate with participants' evolving views. These observed relationships highlight the micro-credential's role in not only enhancing technical competency but also fostering an adaptive, integrative pedagogical mindset, providing new insights for course design. 

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3. Exploring the Impact of High School Engineering Exposure on Science Interests (Work in Progress)

   Bond-Trittipo, B.; Berhane, B. T.; Lee, E. (July 2021, 2021 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition)

   null (Ed.)

   Research on K-12 integrated STEM settings suggests that engineering design activities play an important role in supporting students’ science learning. Moreover, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine named improvement in science achievement as an objective of K-12 engineering education. Despite promising findings and the theorized importance of engineering education on science learning, there is little literature that investigates the impact of independent engineering design courses on students’ science learning at the high school level. This sparse exploration motivates our work-in-progress study, which explores the impact of high school students’ exposure to engineering design curriculum on their interest in science through a semi-structured student focus group method. This study is a part of a National Science Foundation-funded project that investigates the implementation of [de-identified program], a yearlong high school course that introduces students across the United States to engineering design principles. The Fall 2020 student focus group protocol built on the [de-identified program] 2019-2020 protocol with the addition of a science interest item to the existing engineering self-efficacy and interest items. Approximately thirty-minute semi-structured student focus groups were conducted and recorded via Zoom, then the transcripts and notes were analyzed using an in-vivo coding method. Our preliminary findings suggest that future studies should aim to gain a deeper understanding of the influence standalone engineering design courses have on students’ science interests and explore the role engineering design teachers play in increasing students’ interest in science. 

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4. The Power of Teacher Leadership to Transform CS Education

   Lalbeharie, Verna; Jacques, Catherine; Goltermann, Theresa; Lockett, David. (June 2021, Constellations Professional Development Summit: CS for Social Good)

   null (Ed.)

   CS teachers must develop numerous skills and attributes that go beyond those of other K-12 teachers, given the unique nature of the CS education landscape. In fact, CS teachers are often called upon to serve as teacher leaders very early in their CS careers in order to build a CS program in their schools or districts and ensure equitable access to CS courses. So how can we best support CS teachers in growing that leadership knowledge and skills? The American Institutes for Research (AIR) and its CS for All Teachers community of practice recently developed a “stack” of asynchronous and interactive professional learning modules – or micro-credentials – on teacher leadership in CS. There are five micro-credentials included in the stack, which focus on the following topics: 1) Equity in CS, 2) Collaboration in CS, 3) Building a CS Program, 4) Advocacy for CS, and 5) CS Policy. Presenters will discuss the promise of teacher leadership to transform CS education. They will share how the micro-credentials were created and what the literature says about using this approach for professional learning. 

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5. Dimensions of Variation in group work within the “same” multi-section undergraduate course

   Smith III, J. (January 2020, Proceedings of the 23rd Annual Conference on Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education)

   Karunakaran, S. S. (Ed.)

   This paper reports a qualitative study of how small group problem solving was enacted differently across sections of a multi-section undergraduate introduction to proof course. Common course materials, common guidelines for instruction, and weekly instructor meetings led by a faculty course coordinator supported similar instruction across sections, including an emphasis on in-class group work. But within that shared structure, classroom observations revealed important differences in how group work was introduced, organized, and managed. Our results focus on differences in the time allotted to group work, the rationale for group work, the selection and organization of groups, and aspects of student activity and participation. We suggest that these differences shaped different opportunities to learn proof writing in small groups. These results have implications for the design and teaching of collegiate mathematics courses where group work is a regular element of classroom work. 

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