Fostering Computational Thinking Through Neural Engineering Activities in High School Biology Classes

计算思维(CT)是一套使用算法或步骤识别和解决问题的过程，不仅可以应用于计算机科学，也可以应用于其他学科。该项目将开发和研究高中生物单元中支持CT的课程和应用程序。通过为期一个月的神经工程单元，18个班级的大约500名学生将使用一种低成本、便携式、可穿戴的技术来测量自己的肌肉和大脑活动。然后，学生们将分析数据并设计脑机接口，将神经信号转化为现实世界的输出(例如，由大脑活动控制的机械爪子)。该课程将得到以下支持：(1)指导学生完成神经工程设计过程的网络教学应用程序；(2)担任STEM导师的神经科学和工程学博士研究生和博士后；以及(3)教师和导师的专业发展计划。目标是提高学生对神经生物学、工程学和计算思维的知识和兴趣。这有助于他们追求STEM职业生涯的长期能力。通过将CT教育整合到高中科学中，这将扩大工程和计算经验的可及性，而不是其他主要专注于编程和计算机科学课程的努力。该项目将通过收集、操作、分析、模拟和可视化来自神经传感器的生物电信号数据，使学生参与丰富的数据实践，从而为学生提供应用计算思维原则的机会。该项目将为神经传感器和相关的数据实践编写课程材料。它将开发一款应用程序，帮助学生设计和构建脑机接口，包括编码块、传感器和数据模拟等计算元素，以及与外部设备的连接。这项研究提出的五个研究问题是：学生在参与神经工程设计过程中的CT是如何变化的？两个CT量表在美国高中生样本中的跨文化效度如何？收集和分析真实世界数据的过程与学生对工程设计过程的体验有何关系？在参与神经工程设计过程的过程中，学生对STEM的态度是如何改变的？教师在参与专业发展和实施拟议课程的过程中，通过工程设计培养学生CT的自我效能感是如何改变的？探索研究PRE-12项目(DRK-12)旨在通过研究和开发创新资源、模式和工具，显著提高Pre-K-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经验上的证明。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。

Computational thinking (CT) is a set of processes to identify and solve problems using algorithms or steps, and can be applied not only in computer science but in other disciplines. This project will develop and study a curriculum and app that support CT in a high school biology unit. Through a month-long neural engineering unit, approximately 500 students in 18 classes will measure their own muscle and brain activity with a low-cost, portable, wearable technology. Students will then analyze the data and design a brain-computer interface to turn neural signals into real-world output (e.g., a mechanical claw controlled by brain activity). The curriculum will be supported by: (1) a web-based instructional application that will guide students through the neural engineering design process; (2) neuroscience and engineering Ph.D. students and postdocs acting as STEM mentors; and (3) a professional development program for teachers and mentors. The goal is to increase the students’ knowledge and interest regarding neurobiology, engineering, and computational thinking. This can contribute to their long-term capacity to pursue STEM careers. By integrating CT education into high school science, this expands the accessibility of the engineering and computing experiences beyond other efforts that focus primarily on programming and computer science courses.The project will engage students in rich data practices by gathering, manipulating, analyzing, simulating, and visualizing data of bioelectrical signals from neural sensors, and in so doing give the students opportunities to apply computational thinking principles. The project will produce curriculum materials for the neural sensors and associated data practices. It will develop an app to help students design and construct a brain-computer interface, including computational elements like coding blocks, sensor and data simulation, and connecting to external devices. The five proposed research questions of the study are: How does students’ CT change throughout their participation in the neural engineering design process? What is the cross-cultural validity of two CT scales in a sample of high school students in the US? How does the process of collecting and analyzing real-world data relate to students’ experience of he engineering design process? How do students’ attitudes toward STEM change over the course of their participation in a neural engineering design process? How does teachers’ self-efficacy for fostering CT in their students via engineering design change through their participation in professional development and in implementation of the proposed curriculum?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.