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Developing a Systemic, Scalable Model to Broaden Participation in Middle School Computer Science
... • Lack of teacher and school capacity to implement maker activities (Fancsali et al., 2019), • Lack of computational thinking and computer science education in middle school (Gilbert et al., 2018;Wiebe et al., 2019), ...
... Connolly notes that even with RPPs, "everything grows from a strong foundation" (Connolly, 2019, p. 1). Part of this is also recognizing that the ecosystem of connected academic enterprises and institutions can result in positive change that impacts youth (Connolly, 2019;Wiebe et al., 2019). ...
... Collaboration strengthens the RPP, demonstrates its value, and can help institutionalize the work (Connolly, 2019). It can also ensure that the right problems of practice are being addressed (Wiebe et al., 2019). Identifying and decomposing the pressing problems can be aided by the use of the Edelsons design methodology and other step wise processes that include grounding the decomposition in practice through the RPP team members' vision (such as "techquity"), by function, and in relation to the contexts to which it applies (Kalir, no date;Muñoz, 2016;Resnick and Kazemi, 2019;Thompson et al., 2019). ...
This report provides a codebook for analyzing the Theory of Change for Research Practice Partnerships and lays a path for additional codebooks to be created for 8 additional components for comparing RPPs or understanding a single RPP.
... Connolly notes that even with RPPs "everything grows from a strong foundation" [9,p.1]. Part of this requires recognizing that the ecosystem of connected academic enterprises and institutions can result in positive change that impact student learners [9,56]. ...
... Connolly notes that even with RPPs "everything grows from a strong foundation" [9]. Part of this requires recognizing that the ecosystem of connected academic enterprises and institutions can result in positive change that impact student learners [9,56]. ...
... The impact of meaningful partnerships has been shown to include positive changes in teachers' self-efficacy and sense of ownership in the research, researchers' deeper understanding of school contexts, and improvement in students' engagement and learning [29,42,51,56]. Researchers and practitioners can collaborate in many ways in RPPs, several of which share common attributes for achieving success [26,29,47]. ...
NYC's Computer Science for All (CS4All) is a 10-year, districtwide initiative aimed at providing high-quality computer science (CS) education to all NYC public school students. It aspires to greatly increase the number of students, teachers, and schools exposed to CS in NYC, and to offer meaningful learning experiences that build on prior exposure and skills at every grade level. These plans include providing high-quality professional development (PD) to some 5,000 teachers, designed to help them learn new programs and pedagogies in CS education, as well as strategies for integrating CS into existing courses. This paper presents findings from an assessment of CS in NYC, conducted in the second year of the CS4All initiative. Using a telephone survey of a representative sample of schools, we describe the current state of CS programming and training in the City. Overall, we found high participation in CS teacher training opportunities (both through and independent of the initiative) and widespread offering of CS courses Specifically, we estimate just over half of schools districtwide (56%) participated in some type of CS training in the 2015-16 school year, and about two thirds of schools (64%) offered students some kind of CS coursework in the 2016-17 school year (through either stand-alone CS courses or the integration of CS into other subjects). The type of programming and training varied by school level (elementary, middle and high). We also explored the extent to which programming and training are reaching schools and students who are historically underrepresented in CS--including women and girls, students of color, low-income students and students with disabilities. We found that schools offering CS courses and activities served fewer Black and Latino students and more White and Asian Students, compared with schools not offering CS. This work is unique, as it is the only districtwide assessment of CS education conducted anywhere in the country to date, thus adding to an under-researched but important and growing field of study
In this chapter, we argue for an epistemological shift from viewing coding and computational thinking as mastery over computational logic and symbolic forms, to viewing them as a more complex form of experience. Rather than viewing computing as regurgitation and production of a set of axiomatic computational abstractions, we argue that computing and computational thinking, should be viewed as discursive, perspectival, material and embodied experiences, among others. These experiences include, but are not subsumed by, the use and production of computational abstractions. We illustrate what this paradigmatic shift toward a more phenomenological account of computing can mean for teaching and learning STEM in K12 classrooms by presenting a critical review of the literature, as well as by presenting a review of several studies we have conducted in K12 educational settings grounded in this perspective. Our analysis reveals several phenomenological approaches that can be useful for framing computational thinking in K12 STEM classrooms.
In this chapter, we argue for an epistemological shift from viewing coding and computational thinking as mastery over computational logic and symbolic forms, to viewing them as a more complex form of experience. Rather than viewing computing as regurgitation and production of a set of axiomatic computational abstractions, we argue that computing and computational thinking, should be viewed as discursive, perspectival, material and embodied experiences, among others. These experiences include, but are not subsumed by, the use and production of computational abstractions. We illustrate what this paradigmatic shift toward a more phenomenological account of computing can mean for teaching and learning STEM in K12 classrooms by presenting a critical review of the literature, as well as by presenting a review of several studies we have conducted in K12 educational settings grounded in this perspective. Our analysis reveals several phenomenological approaches that can be useful for framing computational thinking in K12 STEM classrooms.
This study examines college students’ science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) choices as they relate to high school experiences, parent, teacher, and self-expectations, and mathematics and science efficacy. Participants were 2246 graduates of a STEM-focused public Harmony Public Schools in Texas, Harmony Public Schools (HPS). Descriptive analyses indicated that the overall percentage of HPS graduates who chose a STEM major in college was greater than Texas state and national averages. Logistic regression analyses revealed that males and Asian students are more likely to choose a STEM major in college than females and non-Asian students, respectively. Moreover, students whose parents had a college degree in the U.S. are more likely to major in STEM fields than those who did not. Furthermore, males with higher mathematics efficacy and females with higher science efficacy are more likely to choose a STEM major than their counterparts with lower mathematics and science efficacy.
Navigating the current STEM agendas and debates is complex and challenging. Perspectives on the nature of STEM education and how it should be implemented without losing discipline integrity, approaches to incorporating the arts (STEAM) and how equity in access to STEM education can be increased are just a few of the many issues faced by researchers and educators. There are no straightforward answers. Opinions on how STEM education should be advanced vary across school contexts, curricula and political arenas. This position paper addresses five core issues: (a) perspectives on STEM education, (b) approaches to STEM integration, (c) STEM discipline representation, (d) equity in access to STEM education and (e) extending STEM to STEAM. A number of pedagogical affordances inherent in integrated STEM activities are examined, with the integration of modelling and engineering design presented as an example of how such learning affordances can be capitalized on.
In this paper we have examined the position and roles of Computer Science in curricula in the light of recent calls for curriculum change and we have proposed principles and issues to consider in curriculum design as well as identifying priority areas for further research. The paper is based on discussions within and beyond the International Federation of Information Processing (IFIP) Education Community since 2012 as well as an analysis of curriculum developments in five different countries. Emerging themes have been discussed with reference to important perspectives from curriculum theory including “powerful knowledge” as a key element of entitlement and management of the growth of expertise. Based on this analysis we have identified areas of consensus as well as constraints, risks and issues that are still subject to controversy. There is an emerging consensus of the importance of Computer Science and the nature of its “powerful knowledge”. Furthermore current understanding of the opportunities and benefits for starting to learn Computer Science early in primary schools has identified this early start as an entitlement and equity issue. There is a strong consensus that teacher professional development in Computer Science Education is critical for supporting curriculum change and is currently a major challenge in many countries. Other key issues include understanding how the growth of expertise affects potential structure and sequencing in the curriculum and the balance of content. Further considerations include how new technological opportunities interact with pedagogical approaches and can provide new potential for the growth of expertise.
Computational thinking (CT) has been described as the use of abstraction, automation, and analysis in problem-solving [3]. We examine how these ways of thinking take shape for middle and high school youth in a set of NSF-supported programs. We discuss opportunities and challenges in both in-school and after-school contexts. Based on these observations, we present a "use-modify-create" framework, representing three phases of students' cognitive and practical activity in computational thinking. We recommend continued investment in the development of CT-rich learning environments, in educators who can facilitate their use, and in research on the broader value of computational thinking.