Workshop to Develop an Interdisciplinary Framework for Integrating Computational Thinking in K-12 Science, Mathematics, Technology, and Engineering Education; Oct. 2016-Waltham, MA

STEM+计算(STEM+C)计划旨在推动在小学、初中和高中科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)教育中整合计算和计算思维的应用研究，并促进和扩大对计算和计算密集型领域的参与。计算思维传统上是在计算机科学学科的背景下定义的；然而，随着其他STEM领域变得更加计算机化，计算思维已经成为其他STEM学科的学生的一项基本技能，这些学科包括化学、生物化学、生物物理学、地球科学、分子生物学、遗传学、基因组学、生态学、进化论、解剖学、神经科学、应用数学、统计学、建模、模拟和可视化，以及一些非STEM领域(刑事司法、音乐、电影和动画)。鉴于在其他STEM学科中缺乏定义计算思维的研究，以及同样缺乏关于如何将计算思维整合到高中早期年级的研究，迫切需要将教育研究人员、K-12从业者和学科科学家聚集在一起，共同开发一个从跨学科角度定义计算思维的循证框架。将在马萨诸塞州沃尔瑟姆的教育发展中心为正在研究STEM教育中计算和计算思维整合的参与者举办一个为期四天半的研讨会，以合作(1)确定计算思维在小学到高中年级的学科学习中发生的具体特征，(2)确定适当的计算思维年级评估以衡量学生的学习，以及(3)就将计算思维整合到职前教师教育中提出建议。讲习班将由一名外部评价员进行评价，他将观察讲习班活动，与讲习班参与者和项目工作人员进行面谈，并对讲习班的结果进行最后的总结性分析，以评估项目目标和目的是否得到充分落实。研讨会将就K-12有效教授和学习跨学科计算思维所需的教学和能力的范围提出独特的发现，并将推动未来关于在计算和其他STEM学科的交叉点学习的研究，这是STEM+计算(STEM+C)计划的核心目标。这个STEM+C研讨会研究跨学科计算思维，为期18个月，将由教育发展中心的首席调查人员和项目工作人员组成的规划委员会指导。研讨会参与者将包括来自NSF STEM+C、ITEST和其他项目的教育研究人员、K-12从业者、学科科学家和首席调查人员，以及教育和计算领域的国家思想领袖。参加者将在特定的年级组别(K-2、3-5、6-8和9-12)、按主题组织的小组和混合小组中开会，分析目前支撑该领域及其研究中计算思维的假设和结构，并寻求确定学生在STEM领域计算思维方面所需的各自技能和能力，以及支持此类技能发展的适当教师教学方法。项目小组和参与者将综合研讨会的讨论和结果，并合作开发一个跨学科的理论框架，该框架将(A)从跨学科的角度描述计算思维，以在整个STEM课程的年级组别中取得进展，(B)传达它对学生在STEM领域内和跨STEM领域进行计算思维的意义，(C)阐明评估学生跨学科计算思维的年级组别建议，以及(D)就将计算思维融入职前教师教育和教师专业发展提出建议，(E)确定未来跨学科计算思维的研究领域，(F)对现有计算思维评估进行全景研究，并进行差距分析，以确定现有评估与讲习班框架的一致性；以及(F)建立工作组，通过会议论文、同行评议的期刊文章和向国家STEM教育和计算利益攸关方，包括实施K-12计算机科学标准的国家的政策制定者介绍，传播讲习班的成果。将对讲习班及其成果进行总结性评价，包括对该框架进行全外地评估和同行审查。讲习班将推进STEM+C方案的核心目标，以发展基于证据的方法，在K-12教与学中整合计算和计算思维；创新评估特定年级计算思维的方法；以及整合计算思维的新教师教学法。

The STEM+Computing (STEM+C) program seeks to advance applied research on the integration of computing and computational thinking in elementary, middle, and high school science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, and advance and broaden participation in computing and computationally-intensive fields. Computational thinking has traditionally been defined in the context of the discipline of computer science; however, as the other STEM fields have become more computational, computational thinking has emerged as a fundamental skill essential for students across a wide range of other STEM disciplines, such as chemistry, biochemistry, biophysics, geoscience, molecular biology, genetics, genomics, ecology, evolution, anatomy, neuroscience, applied mathematics, statistics, and modeling, simulation, and visualization, as well as some non-STEM fields (criminal justice, music, film, and animation). Given the scarcity of research defining computational thinking in the other STEM disciplines, and the equal scarcity of research on how to integrate computational thinking in the early grades through high school, there is an urgent need to bring together education researchers, K-12 practitioners, and disciplinary scientists to collaborate on the development of an evidence-based framework for defining computational thinking from an interdisciplinary perspective. A four and half day workshop will be held at the Education Development Center in Waltham, Massachusetts for participants who are studying the integration of computing and computational thinking in STEM education, to collaborate on (1) defining the specific characteristics of computational thinking as it occurs within disciplinary learning across the elementary through high school grade bands, (2) determine the appropriate grade-specific assessments of computational thinking to measure student learning, and (3) make recommendations for integrating computational thinking in pre-service teacher education. The workshop will be evaluated by an external evaluator who will observe workshop activities, conduct interviews with workshop participants and project staff, and provide a final, summative analysis of the workshop's findings to assess whether project goals and objectives have been fully implemented. The workshop will contribute unique findings on the range of pedagogies and competencies needed to effectively teach and learn interdisciplinary computational thinking in K-12, and will advance future research on learning at the intersection of computing and the other STEM disciplines, a core objective of the STEM+Computing (STEM+C) program.This STEM+C workshop studying interdisciplinary computational thinking is an 18-month effort that will be guided by a planning committee comprised of the Principal Investigators and project staff from the Education Development Center. Workshop participants will include education researchers, K-12 practitioners, disciplinary scientists, and Principal Investigators from NSF's STEM+C, ITEST, and other programs, and national thought leaders in education and computing. Participants will meet in specific grade bands (K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12), in groups organized by subject matter, and in mixed groups, to analyze the assumptions and constructs that currently undergird computational thinking in the field and in their research, and seek to identify respective skills and competencies students will need in computational thinking for STEM fields, and appropriate teacher pedagogy supporting such skills development. The project team and participants will synthesize workshop discussions and findings, and collaborate on the development of an interdisciplinary theoretical framework that will (a) describe computational thinking from an interdisciplinary perspective to progress in grade bands across the STEM curriculum, (b) convey what it means for students to think computationally within and across the STEM fields, (c) articulate grade-band recommendations for assessing students' interdisciplinary computational thinking, and (d) make recommendations for integrating computational thinking in pre-service teacher education and teacher professional development, (e) identify areas for future research on interdisciplinary computational thinking, (f) produce a landscape study of existing computational thinking assessments with a gap analysis to determine alignment of existing assessments with the workshop's framework; and (f) create working groups for disseminating workshop findings via conference papers, peer reviewed journal articles, and presentations to national STEM-education and computing stakeholders, including policymakers in states implementing computer science standards in K-12. A summative evaluation will be conducted on the workshop and its results, including field-wide assessment and peer review of the framework. The workshop will advance core objectives of the STEM+C program to evolve evidence-based approaches to the integration of computing and computational thinking in K-12 teaching and learning; innovation of approaches to assessing grade-specific computational thinking; and new teacher pedagogy integrating computational thinking.