CAREER: Spreading Computational Literacy Equitably via Integration of Computing in Preservice Teacher Preparation

理解并创造计算机解决专业和个人问题的方案，使人们在这个充满技术的世界中更安全、更足智多谋、更有创造力。为了增强社会的能力，K-12教育正在迅速改变，以传播计算素养。为了公平地传播读写能力，学校必须给所有学生提供理解和设计计算机解决方案的机会。然而，学校的课程表已经排满了必修课程，而且大多数教师毕业于没有提供计算机科学课程的专业。为了在K-12系统中传播计算素养，该项目将把计算整合到乔治亚州立大学的所有职前教师课程中。这种方法使所有教师，无论其主要学科或年级，都可以向学生介绍其学科内的真实计算解决方案，并将这些解决方案作为教授学科内容和实践的强大工具。此外，这种方法确保了公平性，因为所有职前教师都将通过他们的常规课程学习使用计算机工具，而不是一个自我选择的小组，选择参加有关该主题的选修课程或专业发展。该项目还将要求职前教师在他们的学生教学经验中使用与计算机集成的活动。这一要求有助于教师获得在未来课堂上使用这些活动的信心，并立即使亚特兰大地区的学生受益，这些学生主要来自计算机领域代表性不足的群体，包括女性、有色人种和低收入家庭的学生。本计画将研究职前教师计画中电脑整合对电脑素养的影响。职前教师计划，就像K-12学校的课表一样，充满了学科领域、教学法和执照要求。因此，研究需要检查将计算集成到这些程序中的最可持续的方法。本计划将以设计为基础的研究，探讨1)如何将计算概念和整合活动与教师的学科领域知识和教学实践联系起来，以及2)哪些计算概念对一般计算素养最有价值。由于计算机素养是一种相对较新的素养，计算机教育界仍在争论哪些概念是所有公民的基础。通过研究不同年级和学科领域的计算集成，本项目将探索哪些计算概念适用于广泛的学科。这些研究活动将直接促成本计划的教学目标，即为所有职前教师提供计算机教育和计算机素养。该项目将在所有年级和学科领域培养大约1500名职前教师（其中一半以上是女性），他们可以教授计算机综合活动。职业生涯计划是美国国家科学基金会（NSF）的一项全国性活动，旨在为那些通过杰出的研究、优秀的教育以及在其组织使命的背景下将教育和研究结合起来，体现教师学者角色的初级教师提供奖励。本项目由美国国家科学基金会发现研究PreK-12 （DRK-12）项目资助。DRK-12旨在通过研究和开发创新资源、模型和工具，显著提高pre -12学生和教师对科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）的学习和教学。DRK-12计划中的项目建立在STEM教育的基础研究和先前的研究和开发工作的基础上，为拟议的项目提供了理论和实证依据。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。

Understanding and creating computer-powered solutions to professional and personal problems enables people to be safe, resourceful, and inventive in the technology-infused world. To empower society, K-12 education is rapidly changing to spread computational literacy. To spread literacy equitably, schools must give all students opportunities to understand and design computing solutions. However, school schedules are already packed with required coursework, and most teachers graduated from programs that did not offer computer science courses. To spread computational literacy within the K-12 system, this project will integrate computing into all preservice teacher programs at Georgia State University. This approach enables all teachers, regardless of primary discipline or grade band, to introduce their students to authentic computing solutions within their discipline and use these solutions as powerful tools for teaching disciplinary content and practices. In addition, this approach ensures equity because all preservice teachers will learn to use computing tools through their regular coursework, rather than a self-selected group that chooses to engage in elective courses or professional development on the topic. The project will also require preservice teachers to use computing-integrated activities in their student teaching experiences. This requirement helps teachers gain the confidence to use the activities in their future classrooms and immediately benefits students in the Atlanta area, who are primarily from groups that are underrepresented in computing, including women, people of color and those who are from low-income families.This project will study the effect of computing integration in preservice teacher programs on computational literacy. Preservice teacher programs, like K-12 school schedules, are loaded with subject area, pedagogy, and licensure requirements. Therefore, research needs to examine the most sustainable methods for integrating computing into these programs. The proposed project will use design-based research to explore 1) how to connect computing concepts and integration activities to teachers' subject area knowledge and teaching practice, and 2) which computing concepts are most valuable for general computational literacy. Because computational literacy is a relatively new literacy, the computing education community still debates which concepts are foundational for all citizens. By studying computing integration in a range of grade bands and subject areas, this project will explore which computing concepts are applicable in a wide range of subjects. These research activities will feed directly into the teaching objective of this project — to provide computing education and computational literacy to all preservice teachers. This project will prepare about 1500 preservice teachers (more than half of them will be women) across all grades and subject areas who can teach computing integrated activities.The CAREER program is a National Science Foundation (NSF)-wide activity that offers awards in support of junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education, and the integration of education and research within the context of the mission of their organizations. This project is supported by NSF's Discovery Research PreK-12 (DRK-12) program. DRK-12 seeks to significantly enhance the learning and teaching of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) by preK-12 students and teachers through research and development of innovative resources, models and tools. Projects in the DRK-12 program build on fundamental research in STEM education and prior research and development efforts that provide theoretical and empirical justification for proposed projects.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.