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1. Bridging the Divide: Exploring Affordances for Interdisciplinary Learning

   Knowe, M. & (July 2021, Computersupported collaborative learning)

   de Vries, E. (Ed.)

   This study investigates how the design of hybrid mathematics and computational activities influences the ways in which students leverage ideas from both disciplinary topics. We examine two design cycles of a computer programming summer camp for middle school students which foreground computational thinking and then mathematics alongside computational thinking respectively. We review the rationale for each design iteration, the trends we saw in students’ engagement, and the implications for students’ reasoning. Findings of this study demonstrate the importance of thinking critically about the boundary objects that are included in design that support students to make bridges between multiple disciplinary practices. 

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2. Steerable Environmental Simulations for Exploratory Learning

   Zhu, M. (January 2019, In Proceedings of E-Learn: World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, and Higher Education)

   This paper presents the software design for three interactive simulations on the subject of Earth and Environmental science in grades 5, 6 and 7. These simulations together with some programming activities have been successfully integrated into a series of instructional modules for local New Jersey elementary and middle schools. The goal of these modules was for the students to explore the steerable parameters of the simulations and develop their computational and mathematical thinking. In this paper, we present three simulations we developed, discuss their design and examine student assessment results that were collected and analyzed using statistical inferences. Our findings illustrate the effectiveness of such enticing exploratory learning processes for developing students’ reasoning of Earth and Environmental science, computational thinking and mathematics. 

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3. Using evidence of student thinking as resources in a digital collaborative platform

   Park, Sunyoung; Edson, Alden J (August 2024, Mathematics education research and practice)

   Learning mathematics in a student-centered, problem-based classroom requires students to develop mathematical understanding and reasoning collaboratively with others. Despite its critical role in students’ collaborative learning in groups and classrooms, evidence of student thinking has rarely been perceived and utilized as a resource for planning and teaching. This is in part because teachers have limited access to student work in paper-and-pencil classrooms. As an alternative approach to making student thinking visible and accessible, a digital collaborative platform embedded with a problem-based middle school mathematics curriculum is developed through an ongoing design-based research project (Edson & Phillips, 2021). Drawing from a subset of data collected for the larger research project, we investigated how students generated mathematical inscriptions during small group work, and how teachers used evidence of students’ solution strategies inscribed on student digital workspaces. Findings show that digital flexibility and mobility allowed students to easily explore different strategies and focus on developing mathematical big ideas, and teachers to foreground student thinking when facilitating whole-class discussions and planning for the next lesson. This study provides insights into understanding mathematics teachers’ interactions with digital curriculum resources in the pursuit of students’ meaningful engagement in making sense of mathematical ideas. 

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4. Computational Thinking in Practice: How STEM Professionals Use CT in Their Work

   Beheshti, E. (April 2017, American Education Research Association Annual Meeting 2017)

   The goal of this study is to bring current computational thinking in STEM educational efforts in line with the increasingly computational nature of STEM research practices. We conducted interviews with STEM practitioners in various fields to understand the nature of CT as it happens in authentic research settings and to revisit a first iteration of our definition of CT in form of a taxonomy. This exploration gives us insight into how scientists use computers in their work and help us identify what practices are important to include in high school STEM learning contexts. Our findings will inform the design of classroom activities to better prepare today’s students for the modern STEM landscape that awaits them. 

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5. 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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