Planning Grant: Integrating Computational Thinking Into Middle School Curriculum

弗吉尼亚理工学院和州立大学（VT）正在与亨里科县公立学区（HCPS）合作，计划拨款开发一个CE 21项目，该项目将在核心中学课程中将计算思维（CT）活动纳入当前的教学实践。该项目将在现有课程中确定新的计算机技术活动，加强和发展课程领域和目标计算机技术领域之间的重叠，并随后在一个简短的强化教学单元中加强计算机技术内容。该规划补助金将用于通过创建、试点、测试和组装教学干预和材料、CT学习进展方法、VT和HCPS之间和内部的管理安排和实践以及需要开发的领域的顾问来为研究做准备。和完整提案中的监督。完整提案的首要研究问题是（1）整合CT的方法是否在不同的教育环境，教师和学生中可行，（2）该方法是否具有显着的负面蕴涵（“显示停止器”），以及（3）该方法是否将被证明是可扩展的不同学校系统。VT的CS部门在K-12的创新参与以及计算思维，数学和科学教学的大学教育学方面有着悠久的历史。 HCPS是一个混合的SES，多种族区的50，000名学生，有十年的历史，将笔记本电脑的使用融入6-12年级的教学。HCPS管理部门已将CT确定为增长所需的领域，并得到了地区学校董事会的支持。 他们有3-4 CT活动的愿景，在每一个班级，在每个年级的核心课程领域。HCPS？的愿景加上VT的CT专业知识和PI在教育研究发展和扩大规模方面的经验，使该项目能够产生变革性的知识和实践。

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (VT) is partnering with the Henrico County Public School District (HCPS) on a planning grant to develop a CE21 project that will build Computational Thinking (CT) activities into current instructional practices across core middle school curriculum. The project will locate nascent CT activities in the existing curriculum, reinforce and develop the overlap between the curricular area and the target CT area, and subsequently reinforce the CT content in a short, reinforcing instructional unit. This planning grant will be used to prepare for the research by creating, piloting, testing and assembling instructional interventions and materials, approaches to learning progressions in CT, management arrangements and practices across and within VT and HCPS, and advisors across the areas that will need development and oversight in full proposal. The overarching research questions for the full proposal are (1) whether the approach of integrating CT is viable across diverse educational environments, teachers and students, (2) whether the approach has significant negative entailments ("show stoppers"), and (3) whether the approach will prove to be scalable across different school systems. The CS department at VT has a long history of innovative engagement with K-12 as well as university pedagogy in computational thinking, mathematics, and science instruction. HCPS is a mixed SES, multi-racial district of 50,000 students, with a ten-year history of integrating laptop use into instruction in grades 6-12. The HCPS administration has identified CT as a needed area for growth and has the backing of the District School Board. They have a vision of 3-4 CT activities in every class in every grade across core curricular areas. HCPS?s vision plus VT's CT expertise and the PI's prior experience with the development and scaling up of educational research position this project to produce transformative knowledge and practices.