Advancing the Computational Thinking of Undergraduate Students in Intermediate Computer Science Courses

在中级计算机科学课程中促进本科生的计算思维

• 批准号: 2044179
• 负责人: Adrienne Decker
• 金额: $ 30万
• 依托单位: SUNY at Buffalo
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-06-01 至 2024-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2044179&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Advancing; Computational; Thinking; Undergraduate; Students

This project aims to serve the national interest by defining critical concepts students must understand to become computational thinkers and by identifying misconceptions that stand in the way of learning these concepts. In today’s data- and computing-driven society, people need computational thinking abilities to be successful, contributing members of society. The ability to think computationally is as fundamentally important as basic fluency in reading, writing, and arithmetic. A well-known and troubling problem is the low retention of students in computing courses and programs, where computational thinking is typically taught. Although considerable work has been done to identify critical concepts and improve student performance in introductory computing courses, little work has been done in intermediate courses. This project seeks to understand the conceptual barriers that students face while learning basic computational skills in their second and third year of study. This understanding may lead to new approaches to improve teaching and learning of computational thinking. The results of this project have important implications for building and maintaining a skilled national workforce, especially in fields that are highly focused on computation.This project will study computational thinking through the lens of threshold concepts and threshold capability frameworks. Students often struggle to learn threshold concepts because these concepts require learners to shift their thinking in new and often counter-intuitive ways. Object-oriented programming is an example of a threshold concept. Once learned, threshold concepts are transformational because they enable learning of more advanced concepts and build the learners’ professional identities in computing. By identifying threshold concepts in intermediate computer science, the project aims to help students navigate more successfully through the conceptual work needed to develop computational thinking capabilities. This project will integrate issues of threshold concepts, liminality, and transformative learning to produce a framework through which computational thinking can be probed and students’ progression can be better assessed. Computational thinking is, itself, a threshold capability that lays the groundwork for professional success in STEM and non-STEM careers. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.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.

这个项目旨在通过定义学生必须理解的关键概念来成为计算思考者，并通过识别阻碍学习这些概念的误解来服务于国家利益。在当今数据和计算驱动的社会中，人们需要计算思维能力才能取得成功，为社会做出贡献。从根本上讲，计算思维的能力与流利的阅读、写作和算术能力一样重要。一个众所周知的令人担忧的问题是，学生在计算机课程和程序中的留存率较低，这些课程和程序通常教授计算思维。虽然在计算机入门课程中已经做了大量的工作来识别关键概念和提高学生的表现，但在中级课程中所做的工作很少。这个项目试图了解学生在第二年和第三年学习基本计算技能时面临的概念障碍。这一理解可能导致改进计算思维的教与学的新方法。该项目的结果对建立和保持一支熟练的国家劳动力队伍具有重要意义，特别是在高度关注计算的领域。该项目将通过阈值概念和阈值能力框架的镜头来研究计算思维。学生经常很难学习阈值概念，因为这些概念要求学习者以新的、往往与直觉相反的方式转变他们的思维。面向对象编程就是阈值概念的一个例子。一旦学会，阈值概念就具有变革性，因为它们能够学习更高级的概念，并建立学习者在计算方面的职业认同感。通过确定中级计算机科学的门槛概念，该项目旨在帮助学生更成功地完成培养计算思维能力所需的概念性工作。这个项目将整合门槛概念、限定性和变革性学习的问题，以产生一个框架，通过这个框架可以探索计算思维，并可以更好地评估学生的进步。计算思维本身就是一种门槛能力，它为STEM和非STEM职业的专业成功奠定了基础。NSF IUSE：EHR计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生的STEM教育的有效性。通过参与的学生学习路径，该计划支持有前景的实践和工具的创建、探索和实施。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。