Integrating Computational Thinking in Ecosystem Science Education via Modeling in Immersive Virtual Worlds

研究表明，年轻的学生能够推理和理解复杂的科学概念，并能参与相对复杂的计算机编程。发展科学和计算理解依赖于小学的坚实基础，因此，该项目将通过跨学科的生态系统虚拟现实课程，向三年级学生介绍计算思维（抽象、数据表示和算法）、计算机建模和环境系统思维。课程将培养学生对计算建模的理解，将其作为探索和理解生态系统相互作用的核心实践，例如生态系统内栖息地和物种生存的相互联系。在基础科学课程中整合计算机建模有助于在学科背景下实现21世纪关于计算思维的重要学习目标。以设计为基础的研究将探讨生命科学、数学和计算的无缝整合，以改善学生的学习和教学，并将为推进基础科学、技术、数学和计算教育做出重大贡献，这将揭示儿童对复杂环境和计算思维概念理解的重要方面。该项目由STEM+计算伙伴关系（STEM+C）计划资助，旨在通过跨一个或多个领域的应用研究和开发，促进STEM教学中计算和计算思维的多学科整合；K-12课程的计算进步；扩大在计算机领域的参与。在教育学、职前教育和在职教师专业发展的关键领域进行投资。该项目将使用基于设计的研究，通过脚手架式计算界面将沉浸式虚拟环境与动手交互建模结合起来，该界面将视觉模型与模拟森林环境中生态系统相互作用的动态表示联系起来。该课程将提供一个支持的、面向对象的编程环境（类似于Scratch和StarLogo NOVA），并提供一个简单的、脚手架式的块界面，专注于生态系统建模，并专门为年幼的孩子设计。与栖息地和食物网研究相关的学习目标使用系统视角进行教学，将教学重点从对静态表示的理解转移到对动态计算模型的后续学生互动。该项目将调查哪些抽象和表征的方法为年轻学生提供了最好的框架，以及学生在多大程度上能够构建、修改和解释生态概念的计算模型；学生对生态系统科学因果动力学的理解在多大程度上有所提高？以及教师如何最好地将跨学科的科学和计算机课程结合到他们的实践中。项目成果将告知如何最好地整合科学内容、科学探究、计算建模过程和计算思维，这些都是STEM+Computing项目的核心目标。

Research has revealed that young students can reason and understand complex science concepts and can engage at relatively sophisticated levels in computer programming. Developing scientific and computational understanding depends upon a strong foundation in elementary school, thus, this project will introduce third grade students to computational thinking (abstraction, data representation, and algorithms), computer modeling, and environmental systems thinking through an interdisciplinary, virtual reality curriculum on ecosystems. The curriculum will scaffold student understanding of computational modeling as a core practice used to explore and understand ecosystem interactions, such as the interconnection of habitats within an ecosystem and species survival. Integrating computer modeling in the elementary science curriculum advances important 21st century learning goals regarding computational thinking within disciplinary contexts. The design-based research will investigate the seamless integration of life science, mathematics, and computing to improve both student learning and teaching and will contribute substantially to advancing elementary science, technology, mathematics, and computing education that will reveal important aspects of children's understanding of complex environmental and computational thinking concepts. This project is funded by the STEM+Computing Partnership (STEM+C) program that seeks to advance multidisciplinary integration of computing and computational thinking in STEM teaching and learning through applied research and development across one or more domains; advancement of computing in K-12; and broadening participation in computing fields. Investments are made in critical areas of pedagogy, pre-service education, and in-service teacher professional development. The project will use design-based research to combine an immersive virtual environment with hands-on interactive modeling through a scaffolded computational interface that will connect visual models to dynamic representations of ecosystem interactions in a simulated forest setting. The curriculum will provide a supported, object-oriented programming environment (similar to Scratch and StarLogo NOVA) with a simple, scaffolded block interface customized to focus on ecosystems modeling, and designed specifically for younger children. The learning goals related to the study of habitats and food webs are taught using a systems perspective, shifting the instructional focus from comprehension of static representations to consequential student interaction with dynamic computational models. The project will investigate which approaches to abstraction and representation offer the best scaffolding to young students and to what extent students are able to construct, modify, and interpret computational models of ecological concepts; to what extent do students show gains in understanding of causal dynamics in ecosystem science; and how teachers can best incorporate an interdisciplinary science and computing curricula in their practice. Project outcomes will inform how to best integrate science content, science inquiry, computational modeling processes, and computational thinking, which are core objectives of the STEM+Computing program.