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1. Developing Math Knowledge and Computational Thinking Through Game Play and Design: A Professional Development Program.

   Smith, H. (October 2020, Contemporary issues in technology and teacher education)

   null (Ed.)

   The Game Play and Design Framework is a project-based instructional method to engage teachers and students with mathematics content by utilizing technology as a vehicle for game play and creation. In the authors’ prior work, they created a technology tool and game editing platform, the Wearable Learning Cloud Platform (WLCP), which enables teachers and students to play, create, and experience technology-augmented learning activities. This paper describes a 14-week Game Play and Design professional development program in which middle school teachers played, designed, tested, and implemented mathematics games in the classroom with their own students. Examples are included of teacher-created games, feedback from the students’ experience designing games, and evidence of student learning gains from playing teacher-created games. This work provides a pedagogical approach for educators and students that utilizes the benefits of mobile technologies and collaborative learning through games to develop students’ higher-level thinking in STEM classrooms. 

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2. Developing mathematics knowledge and computational thinking through game play and design: A professional development program.

   Smith, H. (October 2020, Contemporary issues in technology and teacher education)

   null (Ed.)

   The Game Play and Design Framework is a project-based instructional method to engage teachers and students with mathematics content by utilizing technology as a vehicle for game play and creation. In the authors’ prior work, they created a technology tool and game editing platform, the Wearable Learning Cloud Platform (WLCP), which enables teachers and students to play, create, and experience technology-augmented learning activities. This paper describes a 14-week Game Play and Design professional development program in which middle school teachers played, designed, tested, and implemented mathematics games in the classroom with their own students. Examples are included of teacher-created games, feedback from the students’ experience designing games, and evidence of student learning gains from playing teacher-created games. This work provides a pedagogical approach for educators and students that utilizes the benefits of mobile technologies and collaborative learning through games to develop students’ higher-level thinking in STEM classrooms. 

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3. Key CSCL research topics for K-12 practice: A modified Delphi study with practitioners and researchers

   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.caeo.2025.100265  

   Dragnić-Cindrić, Dalila; Fusco, Judi (June 2025, Computers and Education Open)

   Computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) is effective in improving students’ learning outcomes, yet CSCL research is rarely translated to classroom practice. To identify key CSCL research topics for K-12 STEM practice, we conducted a modified Delphi method study with a panel of practitioners and researchers. We relied on a knowledge mobilization framework to draw on expertise from both researchers, who produce new knowledge, and practitioners, who combine it with their pedagogical wisdom and use it in classrooms. We used the Delphi method because of its potential to address the power imbalances among panelists and modified it to facilitate knowledge mediation between knowledge production and use. The panelists identified seven key CSCL topics for translation from research into practice: Classroom discourse; Diversity, equity, and inclusion; Teacher preparation and professional development; Socially shared regulation of learning; Argumentation; Classroom orchestration and scripts; and Student and teacher identities. We also investigated panelists’ ideas on effective practitioner-researcher partnerships to inform the next stage of our project, where researchers and practitioners will jointly translate research from selected topics into practical guidance. We discuss our findings and the affordances and limitations of the Delphi method in knowledge mediation. 

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4. Beyond Content: The Role of STEM Disciplines, Real-World Problems, 21st Century Skills, and STEM Careers within Science Teachers’ Conceptions of Integrated STEM Education

   https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci11110737  

   Dare, Emily Anna; Keratithamkul, Khomson; Hiwatig, Benny Mart; Li, Feng (November 2021, Education Sciences)

   Understanding teachers’ conceptions surrounding integrated STEM education is vital to the successful implementation of integrated STEM curricula in K-12 classrooms. Of particular interest is understanding how teachers conceptualize the role of the STEM disciplines within their integrated STEM teaching. Further, despite knowing that content-agnostic characteristics of integrated STEM education are important, little is known about how teachers conceptualize the real-world problems, 21st century skills, and the promotion of STEM careers in their integrated STEM instruction. This study used an exploratory case study design to investigate conceptions of 19 K-12 science teachers after participating in an integrated STEM-focused professional development and implementing integrated STEM lessons into their classrooms. Our findings show that all teacher participants viewed STEM education from an integrative perspective that fosters the development of 21st century skills, using real-world problems to motivate students. Our findings also reveal that teachers have varying ideas related to the STEM disciplines within integrated STEM instruction, which could assist teacher educators in preparing high-quality professional development experiences. Findings related to real-world problems, 21st century skills, and STEM careers provide a window into how to best support teachers to include these characteristics into their teaching more explicitly. 

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5. Teachers as curriculum co-designers: Supporting professional learning and curriculum implementation in a CSforAll RPP project

   Ni, Lijun; Bausch, Gillian; Feliciano, Bernardo; Hsu, Hsien-Yuan; Martin, Fred (May 2022, 2022 Conference on Research in Equitable and Sustained Participation in Engineering, Computing, and Technology (RESPECT))

   This paper examines the use of collaborative curriculum design (co-design) as a strategy for supporting teacher professional learning and the implementation of an inclusive middle school computer science and digital literacy (CSDL) curriculum in three urban school districts. The curriculum is focused on students developing mobile apps that provide social and community good. The second year of the project has been dedicated to developing and piloting curriculum resources that support remote learning and culturally relevant pedagogy while the partner districts switched to remote and hybrid instructions. This study explores teachers’ professional learning experiences in the collaborative design of curriculum materials and piloting the curriculum at their own classrooms. The paper includes analysis of three data sets: (1) co-design meeting notes and teacher reflections; (2) semi-structured interviews with teachers who co-designed and piloted the curriculum; (3) student pre- and post-survey responses on their attitude and interest in learning CSDL. Preliminary results indicate that the co-design approach supplemented with one-on-one coaching has not only facilitated the curriculum development process but also fostered professional learning and collective capacity building for implementing the project curriculum in the partner districts. Findings from student surveys show that students perceived their understanding of, and interest in computer science and creating apps were slightly improved, regardless of gender. 

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