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Despite increasing attention to the potential benefits of infusing computational thinking into content area classrooms, more research is needed to examine how teachers integrate disciplinary content and CT as part of their pedagogical practices. This study traces how middle and high school teachers (n = 24) drew on their existing knowledge and their experiences in a STEM professional development program to infuse CT into their teaching. Our work is grounded in theories of TPACK and TPACK-CT, which leverage teachers’ knowledge of technology for computational thinking (CT), CT as a disciplinary pedagogical practice, and STEM content knowledge. Findings identify three key pedagogical supports that teachers utilized and transformed as they taught CT-infused lessons (articulating a key purpose for CT infusion, scaffolding, and collaborative contexts), as well as barriers that caused teachers to adapt or abandon their lessons. Implications include suggestions for future research on CT infusion into secondary classrooms, as well as broader recommendations to support teachers in applying STEM professional development content to classroom practice.
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This content will become publicly available on March 23, 2026
Empowering Teacher-Driven Computational Thinking Integration through Collaborative Partnerships
Recently, there has been a growing emphasis on training teachers to integrate computational thinking (CT) practices into disciplinary instruction. However, many current approaches involve a "top-down" method, where CT concepts and teacher training are dictated by external CT “experts,” often in an abstract and generalized manner, rather than being developed collaboratively or contextually with the teachers. These approaches typically treat CT as a set of abstract concepts, which can fail to promote a holistic understanding of the purposes and disciplinary value of CT. Consequently, teachers may feel less inclined to integrate CT into their regular teaching practice beyond the confines of professional development sessions. Furthermore, teachers are frequently positioned as novices awaiting the transmission of relevant CT knowledge rather than as agentive knowledge-builders with valuable expertise. This can undermine their autonomy, ownership, adaptability, and long-term commitment to implementing CT effectively in their teaching practice. We propose an alternative, “bottom-up” approach to supporting teachers in CT integration through a collaborative partnership between researchers and practitioners. We share evidence that this partnership led to understanding CT as inherently contextualized and productive for disciplinary problem-solving.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2219332
- PAR ID:
- 10615796
- Publisher / Repository:
- National Association for Research in Science Teaching
- Date Published:
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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