EXP: CTSiM: Fostering Computational Thinking in Middle Schools through Scientific Modeling and Simulation

该项目的调查处于科学思维、计算思维、作为调查工作的建模和可视化编程工具之间的连接点。PI正在向中学科学注入促进计算思维的努力，通过使建模成为科学活动中更重要的一部分来做到这一点。建模体验学习者在每个模块中都变得越来越复杂，在模块之间也变得越来越复杂，复杂性的增加是由成为计算思考者的复杂性引起的。建模和计算思维在每个模块中都是突出显示的，随着时间的推移，由于在各种情况下重复日益复杂的建模经验，每个模块都变得更加流畅，所有这些情况都是相互建立的。心智模型的建立、计算思维、建模和科学教育文献都为这一努力提供了信息。技术创新包括创建和提炼适合中学生的建模环境，包括适当的可视化编程语言。研究问题解决了在学习建模和使用调查模型(反之亦然)的背景下学习计算思维的问题，以及学习计算思维和建模能力的轨迹作为他们的研究问题。计算思维正在成为科学家越来越重要的所需专业知识--无论是那些在计算科学和工程的高水平工作的人，还是那些支持他们和应用计算科学的人。此外，随着计算在各种学科和工作场所的职责中变得越来越普遍，其余人口也需要更擅长计算思维和使用计算工具。以适当的方式将计算思维和计算工具的使用融入课程是促进这种交叉专业知识的正确方式。科学是课程中一个可以很容易地整合计算思维的地方，这样做不仅可以让更多的人为需要计算思维和使用计算工具的职业和工作做好准备，而且还会让更多的人对中学科学更感兴趣。

This project's investigation is at the nexus between scientific thinking, computational thinking, modeling as an investigative endeavor, and visual programming tools. The PIs are infusing middle-school science with efforts to promote computational thinking, doing that through making modeling a more significant part of science activities. The modeling experiences learners have become progressively more complex throughout each module and more complex across modules, with the increases in complexity informed by complexities of becoming a computational thinker. Modeling and computational thinking are foregrounded in each module, with each becoming more fluid over time as a result of the repetition of increasingly complex modeling experiences in a variety of situations, all of which build on each other. The mental model building, computational thinking, modeling, and science education literatures all inform the endeavor. The technological innovation includes creating and refining a modeling environment appropriate to middle schoolers, including an appropriate visual programming language. Research questions address issues in learning computational thinking in the context of learning to model and use models for investigation (and vice versa) and trajectories towards competency in computational thinking and modeling as their research questions.Computational thinking is becoming a more and more important required expertise of scientists -- both those who work at the high levels of computational science and engineering and those who support them and apply computational science. In addition, as computation becomes more and more ubiquitous in a whole variety of disciplines and workplace responsibilities, the rest of the population, too, needs to be more expert at computational thinking and at using computational tools. Infusing computational thinking and the use of computational tools into the curriculum in appropriate ways is the right way to promote this cross-cutting expertise. Science is one place in the curriculum where computational thinking can easily be integrated, and doing so not only holds the promise for readying more of the population for careers and jobs that require computational thinking and use of computational tools but also making middle school science more exciting to more of the population.