Integrating Computational Thinking into Mathematics Instruction in Rural and Urban Preschools

STEM+计算伙伴关系（STEM+C）计划旨在通过跨一个或多个领域的应用研究和开发，推进STEM教学和学习中计算的多学科整合。该项目将开展探索性研究，以更好地了解如何设计学前学习和教学环境，以支持4-5岁儿童将计算思维（CT）与数学相结合。尽管最近的研究表明，幼儿可以掌握计算思维概念，如测序、重复循环和设置参数，但关于这种理解如何与其他STEM学科（如科学、工程和数学）交叉的研究有限。该项目将调查儿童的CT学习和教师对CT的理解，因为他们参与了有趣的动手活动原型和与学前数学教学相一致的数字平板电脑应用程序。学龄前CT学习模型和CT学习任务的发展将用于评估儿童的CT思维，并将有助于了解CT技能如何在幼儿中发展。学习研究人员和媒体设计师将与肯塔基州东部、波士顿和纽约四所公立幼儿园的16名学前教育工作者和100-120名不同的农村和城市儿童密切合作，探索幼儿如何在数学教学背景下理解计算思维（CT）实践。这个为期两年的研究和开发过程将以Clements（2007）的课程研究框架为模型，并将：1)探索幼儿数学和CT的基础研究，咨询专家顾问，并与在服务不足的城市和农村幼儿园工作的教师进行利益相关者访谈，以了解将CT融入现有的学前数学实践后可能产生的学习机会；2)起草学前CT学习模型，为开发CT活动原型和一套有趣的CT学习任务提供信息，以探索学龄前儿童的CT学习；3)开展形成性研究过程，探索儿童的CT学习和教师的CT理解，因为他们参与了与美国国家科学基金会资助的积木学前数学课程中所教授的概念相一致的原型动手活动和数字平板电脑应用程序；4)运用研究性早期数学评估来评价学龄前儿童的学习，了解他们在CT学习任务上的表现与他们的数学学习是如何对应的。未来，这些学前教育资源可以得到进一步开发，并有助于对高质量的、基于研究的学前教育和学习方法的需求。

The STEM+Computing Partnership (STEM+C) program seeks to advance multidisciplinary integration of computing in STEM teaching and learning through applied research and development across one or more domains. This project will conduct exploratory research to better understand how preschool learning and instructional environments can be designed to support the integration of computational thinking (CT) with mathematics for children ages 4-5. Although recent research suggests that young children can master computational thinking concepts such as sequencing, repeat loops, and setting parameters, there is limited research about how this understanding could intersect with other STEM disciplines such as science, engineering, and mathematics. This project will investigate children's CT learning and teachers' understanding of CT as they engage with playful prototypes of hands-on activities and digital tablet apps that align with preschool math instruction. The development of preschool CT learning models and CT learning tasks will be used to assess children's CT thinking and will contribute to an understanding around how CT skills may develop in young children.Working in close collaboration with 16 preschool educators and 100-120 diverse rural and urban children in four public preschools in eastern Kentucky, Boston, and New York, learning researchers and media designers will explore how young children make sense of computational thinking (CT) practices in the context of mathematics instruction. This two-year research and development process will be modeled on Clements's (2007) Curriculum Research Framework and will: 1) explore foundational research in early childhood math and CT, consult with expert advisors, and conduct stakeholder interviews with teachers working in under-served urban and rural preschool settings to understand the learning opportunities that could arise when CT is infused into existing preschool mathematical practice; 2) draft preschool CT learning models that will inform development of CT activity prototypes and a playful set of CT learning tasks to explore preschoolers' CT learning; 3) conduct a formative research process to explore children's CT learning and teachers' CT understanding as they engage with prototype hands-on activities and digital tablet apps aligned with concepts taught in the NSF-funded Building Blocks preschool math curriculum, and; 4) evaluate preschool children's learning using the Research-Based Early Math Assessment to understand how their performance on the CT learning tasks corresponds to their learning of mathematics. In future, these preschool resources could be further developed and contribute to the need for high-quality, research-based approaches to preschool instruction and learning.