Broadening Participation of Elementary School Teachers and Students in Computer Science through STEM Integration and Statewide Collaboration

通过 STEM 整合和全州合作扩大小学教师和学生对计算机科学的参与

• 批准号: 1543136
• 负责人: Joyce Malyn-Smith
• 金额: $ 249.63万
• 依托单位: Education Development Center
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-10-01 至 2021-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1543136&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Broadening; Participation; Elementary; Teachers; Students

Computing has become an integral part of the practice of in modern science, technology engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. As a result, the STEM+Computing Partnership (STEM+C) program seeks to integrate the use of computational approaches in K-12 STEM teaching and learning and understand how this integration can improve STEM learning, engagement, and persistence. Computational Thinking (CT) is a relatively new educational focus and a clear need for learners as a 21st century skill. This proposal tackles this challenging new area for young learners, an area greatly in need of research and learning materials. This project will develop integrated STEM and CT modules for grades 1-6 that follow new Massachusetts standards for Digital Literacy and Computer Science. They will partner with the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (ESE) for the development and implementation. There are almost no curriculum materials and accompanying assessments developed and tested for CT in this grade band. This development work alone would give the proposal potential for broader impact. However, a set of materials and accompanying Professional Development (PD) for teachers who will employ the materials of the quality that the authors propose has a tremendous potential for broader impact. This is improved by the strong partnership with the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education for both development and implementation and the alignment with newly developed standards for Digital Literacy and Computer Science in Massachusetts. 100 teachers will participate in the PD. The set of modules will be used in the 1,154 elementary schools in Massachusetts immediately and they plan to disseminate further. The assessments the team will develop and share will enable many researchers to quickly improve their research in CT learning, as currently, there are no strong assessments available. The research plan will not only examine the effectiveness of the curriculum by examining both changes in student and teacher learning and attitudes towards CT, it will also investigate how the modules are implemented and deepen the field's understanding of what is effective STEM+C integration practices and of how teachers can best address the challenges that arise.This project will develop, implement and test 18 integrated STEM and CT modules for grades 1-6 based on the new Massachusetts standards for Digital Literacy and Computer Science. They will partner with the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education for the development and implementation. Their first research question investigates how teachers teach with the materials and how to help teachers overcome obstacles in this area. They will use a combination of survey and Design Based research methodologies to address this question through activity feedback and summary logs for teachers for each module, notes from teacher professional learning community meetings, selected classroom field notes, and through developing and employing a fidelity of implementation measure. The second research question investigates the effects of the modules on student and teacher learning and attitudes of CT. The will develop and/or adapt a teacher survey and student CT assessments. The will use these in a comparison study with approximately 200 classrooms, half in a control condition and half in the treatment condition, resulting in approximately 2500 students per condition. In addition to the traditional dissemination methods of journal and conference publications and presentations, these modules and the associated assessments will immediately become part of Massachusetts elementary school curriculum, and will be available at no cost from the State of Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education website.

计算已成为现代科学、技术工程和数学 (STEM) 领域实践不可或缺的一部分。因此，STEM+计算合作伙伴关系 (STEM+C) 计划旨在将计算方法的使用整合到 K-12 STEM 教学中，并了解这种整合如何提高 STEM 学习、参与度和持久性。计算思维 (CT) 是一个相对较新的教育焦点，也是学习者作为 21 世纪技能的明确需求。该提案解决了这个对年轻学习者来说具有挑战性的新领域，这个领域非常需要研究和学习材料。该项目将为 1-6 年级开发集成的 STEM 和 CT 模块，遵循新的马萨诸塞州数字素养和计算机科学标准。他们将与马萨诸塞州中小学教育部 (ESE) 合作开发和实施。在这个年级范围内几乎没有针对 CT 开发和测试的课程材料和随附的评估。仅这项开发工作就足以使该提案产生更广泛影响的潜力。然而，为使用作者提出的高质量材料的教师提供的一套材料和随附的专业发展（PD）具有产生更广泛影响的巨大潜力。通过与马萨诸塞州中小学教育部在开发和实施方面的牢固合作伙伴关系以及与马萨诸塞州新制定的数字素养和计算机科学标准的一致性，这一点得到了改善。 100 名教师将参加 PD。该套模块将立即在马萨诸塞州 1,154 所小学使用，并计划进一步推广。该团队将开发和共享的评估将使许多研究人员能够快速改进他们在 CT 学习方面的研究，因为目前还没有强有力的评估。该研究计划不仅将通过检查学生和教师学习的变化以及对 CT 的态度来检验课程的有效性，还将调查这些模块的实施方式，并加深该领域对什么是有效的 STEM+C 整合实践和该项目将根据马萨诸塞州数字素养和计算机科学的新标准，为 1-6 年级开发、实施和测试 18 个集成的 STEM 和 CT 模块。他们将与马萨诸塞州中小学教育部合作开发和实施。他们的第一个研究问题调查了教师如何使用材料进行教学以及如何帮助教师克服该领域的障碍。他们将结合调查和基于设计的研究方法，通过每个模块的教师活动反馈和摘要日志、教师专业学习社区会议的笔记、选定的课堂现场笔记，以及通过制定和采用忠实的实施来解决这个问题。措施。第二个研究问题调查模块对学生和教师的 CT 学习和态度的影响。他们将制定和/或调整教师调查和学生 CT 评估。他们将在大约 200 个教室的比较研究中使用这些教室，其中一半处于对照条件，一半处于治疗条件，每种条件大约有 2500 名学生。除了期刊和会议出版物和演示文稿的传统传播方法外，这些模块和相关评估将立即成为马萨诸塞州小学课程的一部分，并将从马萨诸塞州中小学教育部网站免费提供。