An Interdisciplinary Approach to Supporting Computer Science in Rural Schools

加强计算机科学（CS）和计算思维（CT）教育是国家的优先事项，特别注意增加准备提供计算机科学课程的教师数量。 对于总共为1 000多万学生提供服务的农村学校来说，这尤其具有挑战性。 农村学校很难招聘和留住准备教授计算机科学和计算思维的STEM教师。 该项目将为农村教师带头人制定、测试和完善"培训培训员"专业发展模式。 该项目将建立教师的自我效能，将计算机科学的概念和实践引入中学社会研究课堂。该项目由CodeVA（弗吉尼亚州的一个全州性非营利组织）领导，与TERC（一个专注于STEM的国家研究机构）和南佛罗里达大学教育学院合作，并与弗吉尼亚州的六个农村学区合作。 该项目的目标是设计和开发一个专业发展模式，支持教师将与文化相关的计算机科学技能和实践纳入其中学社会研究课堂，从而扩大农村学生对计算机科学的参与。 专业发展模式将围绕满足农村教师的地理，经济和文化需求而设计和开发。 该模式也将是可持续的，并将在农村学区的资源限制范围内发挥作用。 这一模式还将建立在广泛传播CS教育同时建设农村能力的战略之上。该项目将使用混合方法的研究方法，以了解该模型的潜力，建立能力，在农村学校的教学CS。研究设计分为四个不同的阶段：规划/开发原型，试点和初步传播，功效研究，分析和传播。 该项目将招募45名教师领导和一名区级教学教练，六年级和七年级教师，并为1900多名六年级和七年级学生提供服务。 参与者将从布坎南、拉塞尔、夏洛特、哈利法克斯和北安普顿的弗吉尼亚州农村学区招募。 第一阶段的研究问题是，每个地区现有的计算机科学教育（如果有的话）和社会研究教育的做法是什么？第二、三、四阶段的研究将探讨专业发展对教师领导和课程整合的有效性。 第四阶段的研究将检查教师的效能，独立实施专业发展，使地区教师融入社会科学课程。每个阶段的教师数据源包括与管理人员和教师的访谈，教师准备调查，观察，工件检查和CS/CT内容访谈。 学生数据将包括课堂观察和学生态度调查。 将对定量和定性数据进行三角测量，以解决每组研究问题，并对调查结果进行可靠性检查。定性数据，如观察/视频和访谈数据将通过代码进行分析，这些代码代表了与教师和教练经验相关的预期主题和模式。项目成果将通过在计算机科学教育特别兴趣小组、计算机科学教师协会（CSTA）、国家社会研究理事会（NCSS）和美国教育研究协会等会议上的演讲进行交流。课程计划将在项目网站上提供，并通过出版物和通讯提供链接，如NCSS中级学习者，NCSS社会教育，CSTA的声音，NSF资助的CADREK12网站和NSF资助的STEM视频展示。探索研究preK-12计划（DRK-12）旨在通过研究和开发创新资源，模型和工具，显着提高preK-12学生和教师的科学，技术，工程和数学（STEM）的学习和教学。DRK-12项目中的项目建立在STEM教育的基础研究以及为拟议项目提供理论和经验依据的先前研究和开发工作的基础上。该奖项反映了NSF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。

Strengthening computer science (CS) and computational thinking (CT) education is a national priority with particular attention to increasing the number of teachers prepared to deliver computer science courses. For rural schools, that collectively serve more than 10 million students, it is especially challenging. Rural schools find it difficult to recruit and retain STEM teachers that are prepared to teach computer science and computational thinking. This project will develop, test, and refine a "train-the-trainer" professional development model for rural teacher-leaders. The project will build teachers' self-efficacy to deliver computer science concepts and practices into middle school social studies classrooms. The project is led by CodeVA (a statewide non-profit in Virginia), in partnership with TERC (a STEM-focused national research institution) and the University of South Florida College of Education, and in collaboration with six rural school districts in Virginia. The project goal is to design and develop a professional development model that supports teachers integrating culturally relevant computer science skills and practices into their middle school social studies classrooms, thereby broadening rural students' participation in computer science. The professional development model will be designed and developed around meeting rural teachers, where they are, geographically, economically, and culturally. The model will also be sustainable and will work within the resource constraints of the rural school district. The model will also be built on strategies that will broadly spread CS education while building rural capacity. The project will use a mixed-methods research approach to understand the model's potential to build capacity for teaching CS in rural schools. The research design is broken down into four distinct phases; planning/development prototyping, piloting and initial dissemination, an efficacy study, and analysis, and dissemination. The project will recruit 45 teacher-leaders and one district-level instructional coach, 6th and 7th-grade teachers, and serve over 1900 6th and 7th-grade students. Participants will be recruited from the rural Virginia school districts of Buchanan, Russell, Charlotte, Halifax, and Northampton. The research question for phase 1 is what is each district's existing practice around computer science education (if any) and social studies education? Phases 2, 3 and 4 research will examine the effectiveness of professional development on teacher leadership and the CS curricular integration. Phase 4 research will examine teacher efficacy to implement the professional development independently, enabling district teachers to integrate CS into their social studies classes. Teacher data sources for each phase include interviews with administrators and teachers, teacher readiness surveys, observations, an examination of artifacts, and CS/CT content interviews. Student data will consist of classroom observation and student attitude surveys. Quantitative and qualitative data will be triangulated to address each set of research questions and provide a reliability check on findings. Qualitative data, such as observations/video, and interview data will be analyzed through codes that represent expected themes and patterns related to teachers’ and coaches’ experiences. Project results will be communicated through presentations at conferences such as Special Interest Group on Computer Science Education, the Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA), the National Council for Social Studies (NCSS), and the American Educational Research Association. Lesson plans will be made available on the project website, and links will be provided through publications and newsletters such as the NCSS Middle-Level Learner, NCSS Social Education, CSTA the Voice, the NSF-funded CADREK12 website and the NSF-funded STEM Video Showcase. The Discovery Research preK-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.