Learning Computer Science Through Tabletop Games in a Dual Language Immersion Middle School

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A computer programming approach is often used to introduce computer science, which can be intimidating and frustrating to some teachers and students. In response, researchers at Oregon State University (OSU) and practitioners at a dual language (Spanish and English) immersion middle school will use their current Research Practitioner Partnership (RPP) to develop and investigate a new approach using "unplugged" game play of familiar tabletop games to teach students how to think computationally. They will develop an innovative CS for All curriculum to teach 6th and 7th grade students about computer science (CS) using well-known tabletop games that are agnostic of gender, ethnicity, and socio-economic status, such as Tic-Tac-Toe and Go Fish. Through the natural social interaction during game playing, students will work together using scaffolded templates to identify computational concepts and describe the computation in the game. The project will also develop domain-specific languages (DSLs) for articulating game descriptions as a model for teachers to understand and implement the CS curriculum using semi-formal algorithm representations, and inform a set of supports for teachers and to transition from unstructured to formalized programming language notations. This CS for All project contributes to the understanding of how to introduce computation to middle school students and teachers in a way that is scalable and easily adaptable to support its widespread adoption.The research components of the project will examine the usability of the program including the usefulness of the representative algorithmic templates, the effectiveness of the curriculum approach for teaching core CS concepts and problem solving skills, and how the program address equity issues related to diverse student attributes, interests, motivations, and gaps in prior CS instruction. Multiple data sources, including student surveys, teacher interviews, classroom observations and workshop documents, will be gathered and analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. Beyond the curriculum and DSLs created in this project, the key experiences uncovered in this RPP will be documented and be used to inform the development of other successful RPPs that share the needs unique to dual-language immersion schools with many dual-language learners, as well as extend the existing RPP addressing computational needs to more schools across the district and state through a professional learning community.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.