Supporting computational thinking across grade levels and content areas in K-5 education

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Computational thinking (CT) refers to a set of thought processes typically employed in computer science to solve large complex problems. Computational thinking itself does not require a computer and can be applied across a broad array of contexts, making it ideal for implementation in elementary classrooms. This CSforAll research practitioner partnership (RPP) examines how 20 K-5 teachers integrate CT into lessons across content areas. Understanding how the application of CT differs across grade levels and content areas makes it possible to identify best practices for preparing elementary teachers to implement CT. Additionally, the RPP investigates how CT can be used as a resource for teachers to teach language across content areas in such a way that both content and language are foregrounded and integrated. This use of CT is novel and enables researchers to explore how CT can be used to teach in multilingual contexts. The project seeks to understand how CT teacher novices can transition into CT leaders that can support new teachers. A major contribution of the project is development of a network of teacher leaders, as well as resources, that can sustain the dissemination of these innovative teaching practices to enhance the learning experience of all students in K-5 classrooms. All lessons and instructional resources are widely available in both English and Spanish to teachers across the nation. The project impacts what multiple audiences know about CT, including pre-service and in-service teachers, district administrators, and researchers. By supporting teachers as they make decisions regarding their own and their students’ roles in learning CT, the RPP advances a conceptualization of teacher learning of CT as a self-sustainable process by combining what teachers know with how they can support disseminating this knowledge to other teachers. This research study is centered around three conjectures: (1) CT concepts become more intertwined as grade-level and complexity of content increase; (2) CT can be used as an instructional practice that facilitates the learning of language; (3) CT novices can become teacher leaders that support new teachers in their districts. The plan to investigate these three conjectures is split across three years. During Year 1 the established RPP is revising the CT professional development series developed through a previous award and is onboarding a new cohort of teachers. During Year 2, the RPP teachers lead the new teachers through the process of integrating CT into existing core-content lessons. In Year 3, a new set of teacher leaders support others as they continue designing, developing, delivering, reflecting on, and revising CT lessons. Lesson plans, feedback, revisions and reflections are analyzed to determine how CT changes across grades and content areas. These artifacts, along with video recordings and observations of lesson delivery, are used to study where CT is evolving as an effective content-neutral instructional practice that supports language development. Through a sequential design quantitative survey, data inform the questions asked in qualitive follow-up reflections, observations and interviews. Using a mixed methods approach, data are analyzed to identify trends in both monolingual and bilingual classrooms to ensure a comprehensive perspective for understanding the learning, use, and incorporation of CT and how these practices can be disseminated widely. This project is funded by the CS for All: Research and RPPs 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.