Computational Thinking and Physical Computing in Physical Education

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This project is a research practice partnership that bridges computer science and physical education. The research team and K-5 physical education and coding teachers will co-design and implement learning experiences that incorporate wearable technologies into traditional physical education and coding classes. These experiences will help learners see the broad implications of computer science on athletics and help them see how physical education can advance computational thinking skills. The experiences will also engage students in designing and inventing their own wearables. Finally, the project includes re-envisioning how to assess learning in non-traditional computer science classes. Collectively, the different components of this project help address three important concerns: 1) a shortage of trained computer science teachers, 2) limited time in the school day for additional course content, and 3) the need for computer science education experiences that broaden participation. This project will train approximately 30 educators who can sustain and grow this work beyond the award period. Additionally, the project will reach more than 600 3rd through 5th grade students and examine the impact that this project has on their short-term and long-term interests, perceptions and knowledge of computer science.This project is informed by prior research on constructionism, embodied cognition, culturally responsive computing and practice-linked learning. These bodies of literature come together to create a generative learning space that sits at the nexus of computational thinking, physical computing and physical education. This integration will be realized through activities that involve testing, critiquing, and designing custom sports wearables. Teachers will design activities that encourage students to 1) collect multimodal data (e.g. indoor location tracking, accelerometers, and bio-physiological sensors) using commercial wearables; 2) use that data to answer questions about their athletic performance; and 3) design low-cost prototypes that enable further exploring and improving their physical performance. Methodologically, this project uses a design based implementation research approach to study the following questions: 1) What are the components of an authentic and generative in-school learning experience that connects computing and athletics? 2) In what ways do these experiences impact short-term and long-term student and teacher perceptions, interest, knowledge and confidence with computing? 3) How do we appropriately re-envision assessments of student learning within these expansive learning environments? These questions will be addressed using a combination of data sources and analytic approaches. Researchers will use repeated measure statistical analyses of periodic questionnaires to quantify changes in perceptions, interest, confidence, and content knowledge. Many of the questionnaire items are drawn from the Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) and International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) guidelines, and the STEM activation framework. These measures will be complemented by bi-directional artifact analyses of student projects and in-session observations. This bi-directional approach centralizes and synthesizes learning processes and learning products. Finally, the project uses student interviews and logs from a community-wide remote learning platform (EL3) to construct rich long-term learning trajectories for student participants. These data points and analyses will help surface some of the different pathways students might take after engaging in expansive computer science learning opportunities. Moreover, they will elucidate important design principles that integrate learning sciences theory with the practicalities of school. This project is funded by the CS for All program.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.