Preparing Teachers Regarding Ethical Reasoning in Computational Thinking

该项目旨在满足国家对培养高素质中学STEM教师的需求，这些教师能够将伦理计算思维融入他们的教学中。计算思维已经成为几乎所有与STEM相关的领域不可或缺的一部分，对于中学生在高中及以后获得STEM课程和相关机会来说，计算思维越来越必要。此外，多位学者表明，在STEM研究和开发中缺乏对伦理的关注已经对个人、社会和环境产生了负面影响。北卡罗来纳州的教师没有得到足够的支持，无法将计算思维融入他们的课程，更不用说关注伦理了。该项目将为24名中学数学和科学教学候选人提供支助，每个候选人都将在一个合作的高需求学区与一名中学STEM教师进行匹配。教学考生和他们的中学导师将参加项目活动，以加强他们自己的伦理计算思维，并计划在未来的课程中使用它。项目活动包括学习基本的Python编码，并围绕数据科学、纳米科学、地理和地球科学以及工程的计算思维参与四个模块，每个模块都突出了伦理。教学候选人和指导教师将设计、实施、反思和分析他们基于伦理的计算思维课程的有效性。北卡罗来纳大学夏洛特分校的这个项目包括与夏洛特-梅克伦堡学校(CMS)的合作，CMS是北卡罗来纳州最大的学区，服务于超过150,000名学生。项目目标包括在四年内在八名数学和理科本科教学候选人(共24名)的三个队列中发展伦理计算思维(ECT)，以及合作伙伴地区的24名中级STEM教师。该项目旨在通过始终如一地让教学候选人及其指导教师参与活动，发展他们的计算思维，明确侧重于伦理影响，从而做到这一点。通过对该项目的评估，研究人员将深入了解如何招聘和发展准备在教学中注入伦理计算思维的中学STEM教师，从而使他们的学生在进入STEM劳动力市场时更具竞争力。研究结果将通过出版物和在地方和国家会议上的演讲向研究界传播，并通过北卡罗来纳大学夏洛特STEM教育中心网站向教学界传播，该网站将提供所有的ECT课程。这个Track 1奖学金和津贴项目由罗伯特·诺伊斯教师奖学金计划(Noyce)提供支持。Noyce计划支持有才华的STEM本科专业和专业人员成为有效的K-12 STEM教师，并支持经验丰富、模范的K-12教师成为高需求学区的STEM硕士教师。它还支持对高需求学区K-12 STEM教师的持久性、保留率和有效性的研究。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。

This project aims to serve the national need for preparing high quality secondary STEM teachers who can integrate ethical computational thinking into their teaching. Computational thinking has become an integral part of almost every STEM-related field and is increasingly necessary for secondary students’ access to STEM courses and related opportunities in high school and beyond. In addition, multiple scholars have shown that the lack of attention to ethics in STEM research and development has had a negative impact on individuals, society, and the environment. North Carolina teachers have not been adequately supported to integrate computational thinking in their curriculum, much less with attention to ethics. This project will provide support to 24 secondary mathematics and science teaching candidates, each of whom will be matched with a secondary STEM teacher in a partnering high-need school district. The teaching candidates and their secondary mentor teachers will participate in project activities to strengthen their own ethical computational thinking, as well as plan to use it in future lessons. Project activities include learning basic Python coding and engaging in four modules around computational thinking in data science, nanoscience, geography and earth science, and engineering, with ethics fore-fronted in each module. Teaching candidates and mentor teachers will design, implement, reflect on, and analyze the effectiveness of their ethically grounded computational thinking lessons. This project at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Charlotte includes a partnership with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS), the largest school district in North Carolina serving over 150,000 students. Project goals include developing ethical computational thinking (ECT) in three cohorts of eight mathematics and science undergraduate teaching candidates (24 total) over four years, together with 24 practicing secondary STEM teachers in the partner district. The project aims to do this by consistently engaging teaching candidates and their mentor teachers in activities to develop their computational thinking with a clear focus on ethical implications. Through the evaluation of the project, researchers will gain insights into ways to recruit and develop secondary STEM teachers who are prepared to infuse ethical computational thinking into their teaching, thus better preparing their students to be more competitive when they enter the STEM workforce. Findings will be disseminated to the research community through publications and presentations at local and national conferences and to the teaching community through the UNC Charlotte Center for STEM Education website that will house all ECT lessons. This Track 1 Scholarships and Stipends project is supported through the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program (Noyce). The Noyce program supports talented STEM undergraduate majors and professionals to become effective K-12 STEM teachers and experienced, exemplary K-12 teachers to become STEM master teachers in high-need school districts. It also supports research on the persistence, retention, and effectiveness of K-12 STEM teachers in high-need school districts.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.