Integrating Science, Mathematics, and Computing within an Elementary and Middle School Pre-Service Teacher Education Curriculum

该项目由STEM+计算伙伴关系（STEM+C）计划资助，该计划旨在推进将计算整合到STEM教学和学习中的新方法和基于证据的理解，并扩大对计算和计算密集型领域的参与。本项目将通过将计算机科学和计算思维与科学和数学课程整合到一个针对中小学科学和数学教师的教师培训计划中，为这一努力做出贡献。课程整合将透过两项措施来完成：1)将计算及计算思维纳入职前小学及中学教师的数学及科学课程；2)开发教师资格证所需的两门新课程：一门计算机科学入门课程，重点是使用各种技术结合计算思维和编码来教授科学和数学概念，一门顶点课程，学生将使用以前课程中的计算思维概念来开发一个项目。目标是使职前教师能够将计算思维、编码和各种技术的使用纳入他们自己在1-8年级的科学和数学教学中。下一代科学标准（NGSS）中描述的科学与工程实践将“使用数学和计算思维”作为学生学习的八项基本实践之一，该项目将使新教师能够促进这种学习。这个教师预备课程中的生物、物理和数学课程是连接社区学院和大学的跨学科本科桥梁课程的一部分。该伙伴关系的一个重要目标是招收不同的少数民族、非传统和其他代表性不足的学生群体，这些学生的背景与他们将要教授的城市学生的背景相一致。此外，该计划与白宫计算机科学全民计划的优先事项保持一致，并有可能影响全国的教师培训计划。本设计开发项目将对中小学教师预备课程的课程设置和课堂学习环境进行修改。计算思维将被整合到职前教师现有的五门课程中：生物、物理、代数、几何和一门科学教学方法课程。教师培训计划将开发两门新课程：一门计算机科学入门课程和一门顶点课程，将通过提供连贯的学习机会来增加与计算思维的接触，职前教师在入门课程中学习计算思维和编码的基本概念，在学科课程中学习各种应用，并将所学知识应用于顶点体验，学生将利用教育应用开发自己的项目。教师培训计划中所有课程的课堂环境将被修改，包括使用与初始计算机科学课程中引入的相同的技术、编码程序和计算思维概念。将在整个程序中使用的基本工具包括在初始计算机科学课程中使用乐高Mindstorm工具包构建的机器人，Scratch编程语言以及将在每门课程中用于平板设备的各种Android应用程序。在开发过程中，该项目将寻求两个研究问题的答案：1)教师在计算思维和编码方面的准备策略对来自不同背景的教师和学生最有效，以及2)我们如何最好地利用不同的技术来帮助可视化数学和科学概念？

This project is funded by the STEM+Computing Partnership (STEM+C) program, which seeks to advance new approaches to, and evidence-based understanding of, the integration of computing in STEM teaching and learning and broadening participation in computing and computing-intensive fields. This project will contribute to that effort by integrating computer science and computational thinking with science and mathematics coursework in a teacher preparation program for elementary and middle school teachers of science and mathematics. This curriculum integration will be accomplished through two initiatives: 1) incorporating computing and computational thinking into mathematics and science courses for pre-service elementary and middle grades teachers; and 2) developing two new courses required for teacher licensure: An introductory computer science course that will focus on using a variety of technologies combined with computational thinking and coding to teach science and mathematics concepts, and a capstone course where students will develop a project using computational thinking concepts concepts from previous courses. The goal is to enable pre-service teachers to later incorporate computational thinking, coding, and use of various technologies into their own teaching of science and mathematics in grades 1-8. The Science and Engineering Practices described in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) include "using mathematics and computational thinking" as one of the eight practices that are essential for students to learn, and this project will enable new teachers to facilitate that learning. The biology, physics, and mathematics courses in this teacher preparation program are part of an interdisciplinary undergraduate bridge program linking a community college to a university. An important aim of the partnership is to recruit diverse minority, non-traditional, and other underrepresented student groups whose backgrounds mirror those of the urban students they will be teaching. This program is additionally well aligned with the priorities of the White House Computer Science For All initiative, and has the potential to influence teacher preparation programs nationwide.This design and development project will modify both the curriculum and the classroom learning environments of a teacher preparation program for elementary and middle school teachers. Computational thinking will be integrated into five existing courses for pre-service teachers: biology, physics, algebra, geometry and a science teaching methods course. Two new courses will be developed for the teacher preparation program: An introductory computer science course and a capstone course that will increase engagement with computational thinking by providing a coherent sequence of learning opportunities, with pre-service teachers learning the basic concepts of computational thinking and coding in the introductory course, learning various applications in the disciplinary courses, and applying what has been learned in a capstone experience where students will develop their own projects with educational applications. The classroom environments for all the courses in the teacher preparation program will be modified by including use of the same technologies, coding procedures, and computational thinking concepts introduced during the initial computer science course. The basic tools that will be used throughout the program include robots built using Lego Mindstorm kits during the initial computer science course, the Scratch programming language, and various Android applications that will be used on tablet devices in each course. During that development process, the project will seek answers to two research questions: 1) What strategies for teacher preparation in computational thinking and coding are most effective for teachers and students from diverse backgrounds, and 2) How can we best use different technologies to help visualize mathematical and scientific concepts?