Research on the Development of An Assessment to Measure Kindergarten Children's Abilities to Reason Computationally With Mathematical Problem-Solving Skills

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Students are coming into contact with programming toys at a young age. There are claims that use of such toys can enhance problem solving skills, develop early computational thinking, and provide a context for putting mathematics understandings to work. This has yielded a number of commercial products that purportedly help children to realize those benefits. While many of these early childhood coding toys are fun and playful, research on their ability to truly support early computer science learning is needed. For such work to be possible, educators need assessments that measure integrated computational thinking for early childhood learners that can quantify learning that takes place with coding toys. However, such assessments do not yet exist. This is compounded by a lack of curricular units and learning modules for early childhood classrooms that integrate computation and mathematics and build upon what these toys are supposed to offer. The project is funded by the STEM+C 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. In this STEM+C project, mathematics and computational thinking will be integrated in early childhood education. Using Evidence-Centered Design, the project will develop a theoretically-based, empirically-tested assessment to measure kindergarten children's abilities to reason computationally with mathematical problem solving skills (i.e., strategies and ways of thinking that aid their understanding and use of mathematical knowledge) in teachers' classrooms. The project will also develop modules for kindergarten instruction that encourage integrated computational thinking with mathematical problem solving. Recognizing that these are circular constraints, the project will involve the following four sequential steps: (1) operationalize early CT in kindergarten mathematics classrooms by identifying CT competencies; (2) develop curriculum involving a subset of current early childhood toys around the competencies; (3) develop an assessment to measure students' CT and mathematics competencies; and (4) conduct evaluation studies of the curriculum and assessment in kindergarten classrooms. Project deliverables include: a competency model of integrated computational thinking; an assessment that measures the competency model; and curriculum resources for teachers around the competency model that leverages toys and technologies intended for early childhood settings.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.