skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Attention:

The NSF Public Access Repository (PAR) system and access will be unavailable from 10:00 PM to 12:00 AM ET on Tuesday, March 25 due to maintenance. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Explore Research Products in the PAR
It may take a few hours for recently added research products to appear in PAR search results.


Title: Discourse Practices in Computer Science Education
Rich classroom discussion, or discourse, has long been a recommended pedagogical practice in K-12 math and science education. Research shows that discourse is beneficial for all learners, but especially for English learners and minoritized students in STEM. Discourse helps develop students' agency, academic language, and conceptual understanding. Some K-12 computer science (CS) curricula incorporate student discourse, but we believe it is under-used. In this paper, we review how discourse helps students learn, discuss the use of discourse in CS and math education, share ideas for promoting discourse in CS classrooms, and call on curriculum developers, teacher professional learning providers, and researchers to support the increased use of discourse in K-12 CS education.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2122485
PAR ID:
10558122
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ;
Publisher / Repository:
ACM
Date Published:
ISBN:
9798400704239
Page Range / eLocation ID:
632 to 638
Subject(s) / Keyword(s):
computer science education discourse academic language
Format(s):
Medium: X
Location:
Portland OR USA
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; (, ACM)
    Data science education can help broaden participation in computer science (CS) because it provides rich, authentic contexts for students to apply their computing knowledge. Data literacy, particularly among underrepresented students, is critical to everyone in this increasingly digital world. However, the integration of data science into K-12 schools is nascent, and the pedagogical training of CS teachers in data science remains limited. Our research-practice partnership modified an existing data science unit to include two pedagogical techniques known to support minoritized students: rich classroom discourse and personally-relevant problem-solving. This paper describes the iterative design process we used to revise and pilot this new data science unit. 
    more » « less
  2. ; ; (, ASEE Annual Conference proceedings)
    Computer Science (CS) is not introduced equitably across K-12 schools, yet it is increasingly a necessary skill regardless of vocational pathway. Co-curricular activities such as summer camps have become a popular way to introduce CS to K-12 students. Researchers at our institution, through partnerships with other educational institutions and practitioners, developed a transdisciplinary approach of teaching CS in K-12 informal learning environments. Building on positive results in the K-12 informal learning environment, researchers are exploring the applicability of the transdisciplinary modules in formal instruction for early college learners in CS0 and CS1 courses. This paper explores self-efficacy data collected from multiple CS0 and CS1 courses. Learners include freshmen in computing majors and in non-computing majors. We compare their self efficacy growth in computing across race and gender, considering their formal or informal CS education experiences prior to entering college. This work is a part of a larger effort to redesign CS0 and CS1 courses to introduce more complex concepts and important design concepts such as parallel and distributed computing earlier in the curriculum. The authors’ longer-term goal is to investigate active learning strategies that will introduce higher level computer science topics early in the curriculum to enable students to recognize content applicability earlier in their college pathway. 
    more » « less
  3. (, Teacher education and special education)
    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
  4. ; ; (, ACM)
    Tangential to the efforts to bring computer science (CS) into K-12 education, there has been increasing recognition of the critical role of data science (DS) in preparing future citizens to be able to gather, analyze, and represent data. With only 51% of K-12 schools offering CS, however, and the critical need for students to engage in DS practices, there is the need to examine ways to integrate DS in other subjects. Our study explores the current landscape of DS in methods and content courses within preservice teacher pathways. This poster outlines a study in its preliminary stages that explores how faculty teaching math, science, and social studies methods and content courses in colleges of education: a) define DS, b) conceptualize DS as related to their course content, c) make connections between DS, CS, and/or computational thinking (CT). Taking a participatory design approach, this study will also explore research-based approaches to building the capacity of preservice faculty in DS to advance the practice of teaching CS in a scalable way to expand access in equitable ways to CS and CT. 
    more » « less
  5. ; ; ; (, Teacher Education and Special Education: The Journal of the Teacher Education Division of the Council for Exceptional Children)
    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
  • Citation Formats
  • MLA
  • APA
  • Chicago
  • BibTeX
  • Save / Share this Record
  • Send to Email