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1. How Do We Do CS on Top of Everything Else? A Coaching Cycle Approach in Elementary School

   Pozos, R. (May 2021, Annual Conference on Research in Equity and Sustained Participation in Engineering, Computing, and Technology (RESPECT))

   null (Ed.)

   A key strategy for bringing computer science (CS) education to all students is the integration of computational thinking (CT) into core curriculum in elementary school. But teachers want to know how they can do this on top of their existing priorities. In this paper, we describe how our research-practice partnership is working to motivate, prepare, and support an elementary school to integrate equitable and inclusive computer science into core curriculum. Data were collected from teachers at a K-5 school where 65% of students are Hispanic or Latinx, 46% are English Learners, and 65% are eligible for free or reduced lunch. Data included semi-structured interviews, educators’ written reflections, and observations of classroom implementation and professional development. The findings show how the school is building buy-in and capacity among teachers by using a coaching cycle led by a Teacher on Special Assignment. The cycle of preparation, implementation, and reflection demystifies CS by helping teachers design, test, and revise coherent lesson sequences that integrate CT into their lessons. Contrasting case studies are used to illustrate what teachers learned from the cycle, including the teachers’ reasons for the integration, adaptations they made to promote equity, what the teachers noticed about their students engaging in CT, and their next steps. We discuss the strengths and the limitations of this approach to bringing CS for All. 

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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. Code, Connect, Create: The 3C Professional Development Model to Support Computational Thinking Infusion

   https://doi.org/10.1145/3328778.3366797  

   Jocius, Robin; Joshi, Deepti; Dong, Yihuan; Robinson, Richard; Cateté, Veronica; Barnes, Tiffany; Albert, Jennifer; Andrews, Ashley; Lytle, Nicholas (February 2020, SIGCSE '20: Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education)

   Despite the increasing attention to infusing CT into middle and high school content area classrooms, there is a lack of information about the most effective practices and models to support teachers in their efforts to integrate disciplinary content and CT principles. To address this need, this paper proposes the Code, Connect and Create (3C) professional development (PD) model, which was designed to support middle and high school content area teachers in infusing computational thinking into their classrooms. To evaluate the model, we analyzed quantitative and qualitative data collected from Infusing Computing PD workshops designed for in-service science, math, English language arts, and social studies teachers located in two Southeastern states. Drawing on findings from our analysis of teacher-created learning segments, surveys, and interviews, we argue that the 3C professional development model supported shifts in teacher understandings of the role of computational thinking in content area classrooms, as well as their self-efficacy and beliefs regarding CT integration into disciplinary content. We conclude by offering implications for the use of this model to increase teacher and student access to computational thinking practices in middle and high school classrooms. 

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4. Achieving CSforAll: Preparing Special Education Pre-service Teachers to Bring Computing to Students with Disabilities

   https://doi.org/10.1145/3478431.3499333  

   Yadav, Aman; Israel, Maya; Bouck, Emily; Cobo, Alexis; Samuels, John (February 2022, Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education)

   While computational thinking has gained popularity in K-12 schools to increase access to computing tools and practices, there is still limited understanding on how to broaden participation of students with disabilities in computational thinking (CT). One approach to increasing access to computing to students with disabilities is to educate future special education teachers to bring CT into their instruction. This study examined the influence of integrating CT into assistive technology course for special education pre-service teachers. Our results suggest that integrating CT into special educa- tion teacher preparation coursework can have a positive impact on how pre-service teachers see the value of bringing computational practices to students with disabilities. 

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5. Teachers’ Conceptualizations of Computational and Mathematical Thinking

   https://doi.org/https://doi.dx.org/10.22318/icls2020.2053  

   Walton, Margaret Walkoe; Elby, Andrew; Fofang, Janet Shufor; Weintrop, David (July 2022, International Conference of the Learning Sciences)

   Gresalfi, M. and (Ed.)

   The importance of integrating computational thinking (CT) into existing school structures, like core content domains, has emerged from efforts to improve computer science education in the U.S. In the past, computer science has often been treated as an elective or enrichment activity, which limits students’ exposure to foundational computing ideas, especially in underserved schools. However, given the ubiquity technology plays in our lives, it is imperative that all students have access to CT. Few studies have focused on how pre-service teachers (PSTs) learn about CT. Some researchers argue that CT integration into K-12 education belongs in teacher preparation programs and that teacher educators should develop courses aimed at supporting PSTs’ understanding of CT in the context of schools. This paper explores the ways in which PSTs begin to understand CT and how they work to integrate CT into their core subject areas. 

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