Collaborative Research: Unpacking Computational Thinking for Elementary Teachers and Learners

协作研究：为小学教师和学习者解开计算思维

• 批准号: 2300323
• 负责人: Robin Jocius
• 金额: $ 44.36万
• 依托单位: University of Texas at Arlington
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-06-01 至 2027-05-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2300323&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Unpacking; Computational; Thinking

The goal of this project is to investigate the integration of computational thinking (CT) into elementary school curricula by studying how teachers develop expertise in integrating CT activities that align with interdisciplinary standards and existing curricula. This project addresses the critical need for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) literacy by investigating effective models of professional development (PD) that improve STEM teaching and learning. Leveraging an asset-based approach, the project will provide opportunities to broaden participation in computer science education through building a community of practice for teachers and designing CT-infused curricula. To ensure that all teachers have the necessary support to participate in new pedagogical practices of increasing complexity, the project will utilize a collaborative teacher PD and mentorship structure in which teachers will work closely with peers and project team members to prepare, teach, and reflect upon lessons through multi-year participation. The research will document how teachers come to understand CT and take up these practices in their classrooms. The Discovery Research preK-12 program (DRK-12) seeks to significantly enhance the learning and teaching of STEM by preK-12 students and teachers, through research and development of innovative resources, models and tools. Projects in the DRK-12 program build on fundamental research in STEM education and prior research and development efforts that provide theoretical and empirical justification for proposed projects.Over four years, this project will directly impact 135 teachers in multi-year participation in professional development and approximately 12,000 students indirectly in their classrooms. This project will initially focus on schools in South Carolina, especially in rural districts. The project will be guided by three primary research questions: 1) How do preK-5 teachers integrate CT into their disciplinary teaching?; 2) What are the personal learning trajectories that teachers move through as they work towards CT integration?; 3) What are the barriers and accelerators for teachers’ implementation of CT-infused lessons? This project is grounded in the idea that incremental, sustainable, and substantial teacher learning comes when teachers are fully invested in the cycle of learning and have opportunities to build and strengthen their communities of practice. In reflective PD sessions held throughout the academic year and summer, teachers will explore, co-design, implement, and refine student learning activities that integrate CT into existing content area standards and curricula. The CT activities, which will include standards-based lesson plans, assessments, and supplemental resources, will offer both plugged and unplugged components, so that students and teachers have opportunities to understand the conceptual underpinnings of computational thinking with and without computers. A minimum of 120 lessons and related pedagogical materials mapped to core-content standards will be developed and made freely available to the public on the project website. Using a mixed methods approach, this study will document the trajectories through which elementary teachers move as they begin to integrate CT into disciplinary teaching, as well as barriers and accelerators faced as they integrate CT into disciplinary teaching. Quantitative survey methodologies and multimodal analysis of narrative interviews, classroom video, teacher reflections, and pedagogical artifacts will be used to analyze teachers’ sense making about CT over time and the uptake of new pedagogical approaches in their teaching. Ultimately, this study will produce a set of empirically-tested learning trajectories that can be used to support teachers in integrating CT into their classrooms. As a means of expanding the community of practice, sharing resources, and disseminating project findings to a nationwide audience, the project also incorporates a virtual PD component to support PD access to elementary school teachers from underrepresented and underserved schools across the United States.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

该项目的目标是通过研究教师如何发展与跨学科标准和现有课程相一致的计算思维 (CT) 活动的专业知识，研究计算思维 (CT) 与小学课程的整合。该项目将通过研究可改善 STEM 教学和学习的有效专业发展 (PD) 模型，提高工程和数学 (STEM) 素养。该项目将通过建立实践社区，提供扩大计算机科学教育参与的机会。对于教师和设计融入 CT 的课程为确保所有教师都获得必要的支持来参与日益复杂的新教学实践，该项目将采用协作式教师 PD 和导师结构，教师将与同行和项目团队成员密切合作，准备、探索研究 preK-12 计划 (DRK-12) 旨在通过多年的参与来教学和反思课程。 STEM教学由 preK-12 学生和教师通过 DRK-12 计划中的创新资源、模型和工具的研究和开发，以 STEM 教育的基础研究和先前的研究和开发工作为基础，为拟议项目提供理论和实证依据。在四年内，该项目将直接影响 135 名长期参与专业发展的教师，并间接影响课堂上的约 12,000 名学生。该项目最初将重点关注南卡罗来纳州的学校，特别是农村地区的学校。三主要研究问题：1) PreK-5 教师如何将 CT 融入到他们的学科教学中？；2) 教师在实现 CT 整合时经历的个人学习轨迹是什么？；3) 教师面临的障碍和促进因素是什么？实施融入 CT 的课程？该项目的理念是，当教师充分投入学习周期并有机会建立和加强反思性 PD 实践社区时，就会出现增量、可持续和实质性的教师学习。整个学术期间举行的会议今年和夏季，教师将探索、共同设计、实施和完善学生学习活动，将 CT 融入现有的内容领域标准和课程。 CT 活动将包括基于标准的课程计划、评估和补充资源。提供插电和非插电组件，以便学生和教师有机会了解使用和不使用计算机的计算思维的概念基础。将开发至少 120 节课程以及映射到核心内容标准的相关教学材料，并免费提供给用户。本研究将采用混合方法，记录小学教师开始将 CT 融入学科教学时的轨迹，以及将 CT 融入学科教学时面临的障碍和加速器。对叙事访谈、课堂视频、教师反思和教学制品的方法论和多模态分析将用于分析教师随着时间的推移对 CT 的理解以及在教学中采用新教学方法的情况。最终，这项研究将产生一套经过实证检验的学习轨迹，可用于支持教师将 CT 融入课堂，作为扩大实践社区、共享资源并向全国受众传播项目成果的一种手段。该项目还包含虚拟 PD 部分，以支持 PD 接触美国各地代表性不足和服务不足的学校的小学教师。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优点和更广泛的影响审查进行评估，被认为值得支持标准。