Collaborative Research: The Development of Computational Literacy through the Integration of Computational Thinking and Early Language and Literacy Development in Urban Preschools

基于当前和日益增长的对支持幼儿（特别是那些缺乏服务背景的儿童）进行计算思维的兴趣，该项目将整合讲故事和计算思维。在这种情况下，计算思维包括发现模式和理解逻辑顺序等知识，这些知识对数学和工程等学科至关重要。该项目将开展一个探索性的研究过程，首先了解儿童已经存在的计算思维学习机会，以及如何将其融入现有的讲故事和识字活动中。然后，该项目将研究学龄前儿童如何在发展叙事技能（讲故事和理解故事结构）的同时应用计算思维。该项目还将调查学龄前儿童和他们的老师如何在创作叙事时培养计算思维的体验。该项目将设计和改造一种名为“故事商场”的新学习资源，包括一个触摸屏数字平台，孩子们可以用它来编写自己的故事，以及伴随的动手活动和教师脚手架。然后，该项目将调查有哪些证据表明，Story Emporium可以作为一种资源，支持儿童使用计算思维来解决他们自己的挑战，并发展他们讲故事的叙述能力。该项目由STEM+Computing项目资助，该项目旨在通过将计算思维和计算活动应用于STEM学科的教学和学习中，解决计算STEM领域的新挑战。为了开展这项研究，一个由教育研究人员、从业者和技术专家组成的团队将与学前教师、儿童和实地专家合作，共同设计过程。来自幼儿教育、识字、计算思维教育和学习环境设计领域的专家将在这个项目上合作。以Clements（2007）的《课程研究框架》为模型，项目活动将从开发项目教学基础模型开始，由专家论坛和文献综述提供信息。然后，探索性研究将通过观察教育工作者和学龄前儿童在早期识字教学的课堂活动中，来探索整合计算思维和叙事发展的机会。项目的教学基础模型将根据探索性研究的结果进行修订。最后，该项目将使用多个设计周期来开发计算素养学习任务，并对儿童的计算素养和教师的教学实践进行形成性研究，同时迭代开发和测试学习干预（故事商场）。该项目还将调查干预在培养学龄前儿童的计算素养和叙事能力方面的前景。研究问题考察了计算思维的哪些方面已经存在于儿童的叙事发展和语言实践中，随后是当儿童参与旨在整合计算思维和叙事素养的学习干预时对学习过程的理解。学习过程将通过设计任务和数字学习平台得到支持。收集的数据包括记录学生学习的定性数据，如视频观察、成绩单分析、学生作业编码和儿童故事板任务。学生的知识也将通过一般识字测试、计算识字任务、叙事理解测试和视频观察来衡量。当教育者使用学习干预时，来自教师的数据还将包括课堂观察、访谈和实施日志。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Building on the current and growing interest in supporting young children (especially those from underserved backgrounds) to think computationally, this project will integrate storytelling and computational thinking. Computational thinking in this setting includes knowledge such as finding patterns and understanding logical sequencing that are essential for disciplines such as mathematics and engineering. The project will conduct an exploratory research process starting with understanding what computational thinking learning opportunities already exist for children and how they can be integrated into existing storytelling and literacy activities. Then the project will examine how preschool children apply computational thinking while developing their narrative skills (storytelling and understanding the structure of stories). The project will also investigate how preschool children and their teachers make meaning of experiences that are designed to foster computational thinking while composing narratives. The project will design and adapt a new learning resource called The Story Emporium and consisting of a touch-screen digital platform that children can use to program their own stories, along with accompanying hands-on activities and teacher scaffolds. Then, the project will investigate what evidence of promise exists for the Story Emporium as a resource to support children's use of computational thinking to solve their own challenges and to develop their narrative competence in storytelling. The project is funded by the STEM+Computing program, which seeks to address emerging challenges in computational STEM areas through the applied integration of computational thinking and computing activities within disciplinary STEM teaching and learning in early childhood education through high school (preK-12).To conduct the research, a team of education researchers, practitioners, and technology experts will collaborate on a co-design process with preschool teachers, children, and field experts. Experts from the fields of early childhood education, literacy, computational thinking education, and the design of learning environments will collaborate on this project. Modeled on Clements' (2007) Curriculum Research Framework, project activities will begin with developing a model of the project's pedagogical foundation, informed by a forum of experts and a review of literature. Then exploratory research will investigate the opportunities to integrate computational thinking and narrative development by observing educators and preschool children during classroom activities for early literacy instruction. The model of the project's pedagogical foundation will be revised based on findings from the exploratory research. Finally, the project will use multiple design cycles to develop computational literacy learning tasks and conduct formative research on children's computational literacy and teachers' instructional practices while iteratively developing and testing a learning intervention (The Story Emporium). The project will also investigate the promise of the intervention in cultivating preschoolers' computational literacy and narrative competence. The research questions examine what aspects of computational thinking are already present in children's practice with narrative development and language followed by understanding the learning process when children engage with a learning intervention designed to integrate computational thinking and narrative literacy. The learning process will be supported by designing tasks and a digital learning platform. Data to be collected include qualitative data to document student learning, such as video observations, transcript analysis, coding of students' work, and storyboarding tasks for children. Students' knowledge will also be measured using a general literacy measure, computational literacy tasks, a narrative comprehension test, and video observations. Data from teachers will also include classroom observations, interviews, and implementation logs when the educators use the learning intervention.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.