Computational Sciences Pathway Option for Massachusetts High School Students

由于STEM学科中计算的强大创新和应用，STEM+C程序解决了从低年级到高中（preK-12）学生对现实世界，跨学科和计算准备的迫切需求。教育发展中心与马萨诸塞州中小学教育部合作，将开发和测试一系列计算科学高中课程。在所需的核心科学课程中嵌入计算思维和计算技能发展的方法与科学现代化相一致，使用计算工具和方法来促进科学理解，加速发现，并为学生在科学，技术，工程和数学（STEM）领域的未来努力做好准备。新课程将反映传统的科学途径，将与符合数字素养和计算机科学国家标准的主题相结合。课程材料的设计将由计算科学家和计算科学集成专家指导，以确保与STEM领域的现代计算实践相关。75名高中教师将参加一个专门的专业发展计划，该计划将提高教师解码和解释将科学思想嵌入计算机模型的机制的能力。将测试和修订包括课程和评估在内的教学材料。这些课程和相关教材将得到马萨诸塞州中小学教育部的认可，并将提供给所有406所马萨诸塞州公立高中。在项目的最后一年，计算科学课程对学生的计算思维技能和科学知识的影响将被衡量。到项目结束时，计算科学课程将嵌入马萨诸塞州的教育基础设施中，对STEM+C的教学和学习产生重大影响。该项目将开发和测试生物，化学和物理三门科学高中课程，其中集成了马萨诸塞州的数字素养和计算机科学标准。对于每门课程，该项目将开发和测试10个课程单元、年中和年终单元评估以及专业发展学习单元。教育发展中心将与马萨诸塞州中小学教育部合作开发和实施。研究问题解决的学生是否参加了开发的课程表现出更高水平的计算思维能力和科学知识比学生谁是在同一个过程中没有计算集成注册。为了回答这些问题，该项目将采用准实验研究设计，涉及60名干预教师（每门课程20名教师）和60名对照教师。将对参加研究的120名教师教授的大约2 400名学生进行知识调查评估。 除了期刊和会议出版物及演讲的传统传播方法外，这些单元和相关的评估将立即成为马萨诸塞州高中课程的一部分，并将在马萨诸塞州中小学教育部网站上免费提供。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准。

As a result of the powerful innovation and application of computing in STEM disciplines, the STEM+C program addresses an urgent need for real-world, interdisciplinary, and computational preparation of students from the early grades through high school (preK-12). The Education Development Center in partnership with the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education will develop and test a series of computational science high school courses. The approach to embed computational thinking and computational skills development within required core science courses is consistent with the modernization of science to use computational tools and methods that advance scientific understanding, accelerate discovery, and prepare students for future endeavors in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. The new courses will reflect the traditional science pathway that will be integrated with topics that align with digital literacy and computer science state standards. The design of curricular materials will be guided by computational scientists and experts in computational science integration to ensure relevance to modern computational practices in STEM fields. 75 high school teachers will participate in a specialized professional development program that will enhance teachers' ability to decode and explain mechanisms that embed scientific ideas with computer models. The instructional materials, which includes lessons and assessments, will be tested and revised. The courses and related instructional materials will be endorsed by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and will be available to all 406 Massachusetts public high schools. During the last year of the project, the impact of the computational science courses on students' computational thinking skills and science knowledge will be measured. By the end of the project, the computational science courses will be embedded in the Massachusetts educational infrastructure with major statewide impact on STEM+C teaching and learning. This project will develop and test three science high school courses in Biology, Chemistry, and Physics which integrates Massachusetts standards for Digital Literacy and Computer Science. For each course, the project will develop and test 10 curriculum units, mid- and end-of-year unit assessments, and professional development learning units. Education Development Center will partner with the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education for the development and implementation. Research questions address whether the students enrolled in the developed courses demonstrate higher levels of computational thinking skills and science knowledge than students who are enrolled in the same course without computational integration. To answer the questions, the project will use a quasi-experiment research design involving 60 intervention teachers (20 teachers per course) and 60 comparison teachers. Assessment of knowledge surveys will be administered to approximately 2,400 students enrolled in courses of interest who are taught by the 120 teachers participating in the study. In addition to the traditional dissemination methods of journal and conference publications and presentations, these units and the associated assessments will immediately become part of Massachusetts high school curriculum and will be available at no cost from the State of Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education website.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.