Investigating Early Elementary Students' Computational Thinking Development in Integrated Mathematics-Coding Instruction

尽管越来越多的兴趣，在支持计算思维（CT）在小学教育的整合，有没有一个商定的定义CT是发展适合幼儿，也没有一个明确的理解幼儿的CT如何发展，以及哪种教学方法和实践真正支持CT的发展。儿童的想法和情况的解释是独特的不同于成人的，因此，儿童早期CT模型应反映他们的CT发展的理解。此外，学校往往缺乏教学时间和资源来教授CT作为一个单独的主题，所以CT往往是与其他学科，如数学相结合。早期的小学教育工作者需要可行的研究为基础的，发展适当的CT课程。该项目将通过与5名小学教师组成的设计团队合作，开发基于研究的综合数学和CT课程，为这一关键的STEM教育需求做出贡献。该项目将直接影响农村地区一级学校的300多名一、二年级学生和9名教师，目的是通过设计任务，使代表性不足的人口，特别是女孩和多语种学习者充分参与STEM，扩大参与。本研究采用设计为本的研究方法，透过课程设计、制定及分析的反覆循环，以层级互动的透镜，系统地研究儿童在课堂情境下的电脑及数学知识发展。数据收集将包括学生在编码工具，设计备忘录，访谈和CT，数学知识和空间能力的前后评估任务中的活动的视频记录。定性数据将采用回顾性和相互作用分析进行分析。本研究将利用多元回归分析评估资料，探讨电脑断层、数学知识与空间能力之间的关系。该研究将通过调查小学早期CT学习的进展来推进该领域，并将根据经验开发，测试和完善这些进展沿着与数学整合的CT课程任务和评估。这项研究将提供早期小学教育工作者和课程设计者了解儿童的CT发展的框架，并将告知未来的CT教学标准，课程，教学实践和评估的努力。该项目还将提供有关如何将计算机技术以可行和可访问的方式融入早期数学教育的宝贵信息。该项目的主要成果将是1-2年级的CT学习轨迹（LT），其中包括：（1）CT的认知模型，（2）与CT LT的发展性学习进展相一致的综合数学编码课程，以及（3）对教学任务不可或缺的形成性评估，为教师提供关于学生学习的反馈。该项目由Discovery Research preK-12（DRK-12）计划资助，该计划旨在通过研究和开发创新资源，模型和工具，显着提高preK-12学生和教师对科学，技术，工程和数学（STEM）的学习和教学。DRK-12项目中的项目建立在STEM教育的基础研究以及为拟议项目提供理论和经验依据的先前研究和开发工作的基础上。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Despite growing interest in supporting the integration of computational thinking (CT) in elementary education, there is not an agreed-upon definition of CT that is developmentally appropriate for early childhood, nor is there a clear understanding of how young children’s CT develops and which kinds of instructional approaches and practices truly support the development of CT. Children’s ideas and interpretations of situations are uniquely different from those of adults; therefore, models of early childhood CT should reflect the developmental understanding of their CT. Further, schools often lack the instructional time and resources to teach CT as a separate subject, so CT is often integrated with other disciplines such as mathematics. Early elementary educators need feasible research-based, developmentally appropriate CT curricula. This project will contribute to this critical STEM educational need by working with a design team of 5 elementary teachers to develop a research-based integrated mathematics and CT curriculum. The project will directly impact over 300 first- and second-grade students and 9 teachers from Title I schools in a rural setting with an aim to broaden participation by designing tasks for full participation of underrepresented populations in STEM, specifically girls and multilingual learners. Using a design-based research methodology, a systematic study of children’s developing CT and mathematics knowledge in classroom contexts will be conducted through iterative cycles of curriculum design, enactment, and analysis using the lens of hierarchic interactionalism. Data collection will include video recordings of students’ activity in tasks with coding tools, design memos, interviews, and pre-post assessments of CT, mathematics knowledge, and spatial ability. Qualitative data will be analyzed using retrospective and interaction analysis. Multiple regression analysis of assessment data will be used to explore the relationship between CT, mathematics knowledge, and spatial ability. The research will advance the field by investigating the progressions of CT learning in early elementary grades and will empirically develop, test, and refine these progressions along with the mathematics-integrated CT curricular tasks and assessments. This research will provide early elementary educators and curriculum designers with a framework for understanding children’s development of CT and will inform future CT instruction efforts for standards, curricula, teaching practices, and assessment. This project will also provide valuable information about how to integrate CT into early mathematics education in feasible and accessible ways for classrooms. The key outcomes of the project will be a CT learning trajectory (LT) for grades 1-2 that includes: (1) a cognitive model of CT, (2) an integrated mathematics-coding curriculum aligned with the developmental learning progression of the CT LT, and (3) formative assessments integral to the instructional tasks that provide feedback to teachers on student learning. This project is funded by the Discovery Research preK-12 (DRK-12) program, which 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.