EAGER: Microcredentials for Integrating Computing Responsibly into Other Domains (MICRO)

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Computing is fundamentally changing Americans’ professional and personal lives. Beyond the workforce demand for computer scientists, computing is becoming part of many fields, from engineering to art. Moreover, computing literacy is a fundamental and necessary skill for safely navigating information and systems in the world today. While the public education system wants to incorporate computing into standard educational practices, there is a dire shortage of teachers who are qualified to teach computing. Schools in rural and low-income areas are particularly unlikely to be able to offer computing courses, feeding existing underrepresentation problems that have contributed to a large number of vacant computing jobs, and to lack of diversity in the workforce. With the goal of increasing the number and diversity of students who participate in computing, this project will create a professional development (PD) model for teaching computing to K-12 science and math teachers who teach in rural and low-income areas so that they may spread computational literacy in their communities. The project’s model for doing this is based on online, competency-based instructional modules through which teachers can earn micro-credentials that demonstrate their knowledge and skills. The project team includes researchers from the International Society for Technology in Education, Georgia State University, and the Georgia Department of Education and aims to create and test the foundations for a computing education teacher preparation ecosystem that leverages the flexibility and accessibility afforded by micro-credentialing and online learning. The goals of this project are 1) to use purposeful and theory-driven instructional design to adapt existing Computer Science instruction into online modules that prepare preservice and in-service teachers to integrate computing into their non-computing courses; and 2) to produce and pilot a competency-based micro-credentialing system that will assess teachers’ knowledge and skills. The research component of this project will explore the following topics: (1) Effectiveness of online modules and micro-credentialing system to support teachers to integrate computing across grade bands and primary disciplines, (2) Self-efficacy of teachers while implementing computing-integrated activities in their classrooms, and (3) Perceived value of micro-credentials by teachers and their districts compared to university course credit. The researchers will collect data from teachers through assignments, assessments, and artifacts created by engaging with the modules and completing the micro-credentials. Data sources will also include a) surveys given before and after the modules, b) written individual reflections, c) collaborative discussions within the module, and d) lesson plans that integrate computing and computing integration activities. Methods for data analysis will mix qualitative and quantitative procedures for collection and analyses, depending on the type of data and research question that the data address. The project will contribute to our knowledge of how to support teachers in rural and low-income areas to learn and teach computing by examining the process of how they acquire and implement computing concepts, and by examining the efficacy of a micro-credentialing system that is designed to evaluate their skills.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.