Integrating Computational Thinking into the Insights Elementary Science Curriculum

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The STEM+C Program supports research and development of interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches to the integration of computing within science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) teaching and learning for preK-12 students in both formal and informal settings. There is a pressing need for elementary science curriculum materials that integrate computational thinking; however, scientifically rigorous, coherent, and developmentally appropriate materials are scarce. This project, Integrating Computational Thinking into the Insights Elementary Science Curriculum, supported by the STEM+C program, will develop such materials by adapting instructional modules from Insights, an elementary science curriculum that promotes students' science sense-making through inquiry, discourse, and reflection. Specifically, four modules in the Insights curriculum, two for grade 1 and two for grade 4, will be developed and pilot tested. Each module is designed for 6-8 weeks of instructional time. This work is important because it creates anchoring points for articulating a developmentally appropriate progression for CT-science integration. Lessons learned during development will generate knowledge about productive ways to integrate CT with science and will identify limitations to effective integration. The project address elementary teachers' lack of preparation to teach CT by providing professional development. Resources, including annotated artifacts of student work and videos of classrooms in which students are engaged in CT-enriched science inquiry, will be integrated into an interactive teacher guide. Development and pilot testing of the CT-integrated modules and associated teacher supports will involve iterative design-test-revise cycles in three grade 1 and three grade 4 classrooms. Field testing will expand to 18 classrooms per grade. Teachers and school administrators are involved in the design-test-revise process. To achieve its aims, the project team will take four steps: (1) conduct a crosswalk of the 21 Insights elementary science modules with Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) to produce a provisional scope and sequence for NGSS alignment and CT-science integration; (2) develop and test four revised, NGSS-aligned Insights modules that integrate CT concepts and practices consistent with NGSS and the Computer Science Teachers Association standards; (3) develop teacher supports for implementing the revised Insights modules; and (4) conduct a small comparison study to investigate the impact of the revised Insights modules on student CT and science learning. Results of the comparison study will be used to strengthen CT integration for the revised field test version, support the development of teacher materials, and provide preliminary information about the promise of the revised modules.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.