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In this poster, we present our efforts to engage elementary teachers with learning trajectories as a tool for developing both their own and their students’ comprehension of computational think-ing (CT) and strategies for integrating CT learning in their class-room. Eleven teachers, who voluntarily joined a teacher professional development (PD) program to develop teacher leaders for CT integration in the elementary context, attended a one-day PD session aimed at reviewing their knowledge of CT, participating in CT-infused lessons, and engaging with CT learning trajectories. Over the next year, teachers will participate in monthly virtual PD to continue to grow both their CT content knowledge and pedagogical knowledge. Our goal is to develop these teachers as teacher leaders who will support others as they integrate CT. This poster will show our current progress on CT learning trajectories and teacher leaders’ responses to the tool.
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This content will become publicly available on March 22, 2026
Teacher Reflections on a 3C Professional Development Model for Integrating Computational Thinking in Early Childhood and Elementary Classrooms
The purpose of this paper is to explain how we adapted our novel 3C PD Model (Code, Connect, and Create) for teacher professional development (PD) around computational thinking (CT) integration for elementary teachers. We will share PD design choices that support early childhood and elementary teachers in learning about CT knowledge, skills, and dispositions and making content connections to CT. We will also detail how we have helped teachers begin planning for CT-integrated lesson implementation. We will share empirical data from a post-PD survey that includes teacher reflections on their participation in the 3C PD Model. We conclude by making recommendations and offering implications for PK-5 PD providers that aim to increase teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) around CT and integration.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2300322
- PAR ID:
- 10589910
- Publisher / Repository:
- Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE)
- Date Published:
- ISBN:
- 978-1-939797-76-6
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 15-19
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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