resources

Integrating Computational Thinking into Elementary Science Curriculum: an Examination of Activities that Support Students’ Computational Thinking in the Service of Disciplinary Learning

Published in the Journal of Science Education and Technology. Download for free at springer.com.

Integrating Computational Thinking into Elementary Mathematics and Science Curriculum Materials and Instruction Paper

Link to the Future of Education - International Conference Proceedings: https://conference.pixel-online.net/FOE/conferenceproceedings.php

2019 STEM for All Video Showcase (Click the Image to view the video by Kevin Waterman!)

This video shows how one of our grade 3 modules, “Populations and Habitat,” gives students opportunities to understand and explore key ideas of CT such as modeling (both physical and digital) and data analysis while exploring concepts of life science. Researchers and subject matter experts from Education Development Center (EDC), in partnership with Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (MA DESE) and elementary teachers from the state of Massachusetts, designed and developed these classroom experiences.

Throughout the country, there are many efforts to make both computer science (the science that deals with the theory and methods of processing information in computers) and digital literacy (the ability to use digital technology, communication tools, or networks to locate, evaluate, use, and create information) a more important part of all students’ K–12 learning experience. Through this work, EDC, along with MA DESE, has identified several promising elementary school mathematics and science topics for integrating with CT, the challenges to teachers of implementing I-Mods with fidelity to both the CT and math/science content, the resources needed at the state level to support teachers’ efforts to address new Digital literacy and Computer Science Standards (DL/CS), and the impact of the I-Mods on elementary students’ CT and teachers understanding of and sense of readiness to teach CT.

Over the course of the Broadening Participation project, two cohorts of teachers participated in the development and implementation of activities designed to integrate computational thinking (CT) into science and mathematics lessons. This report illustrates how teachers responded to the program through three short case studies, which describe teachers who took up the challenge of integrating CT into their instruc­tion in different ways. Their perspectives document how the I-Mods and related PD have made gains in producing a valuable body of materials teachers can use to address the CT strand of the DLCS framework; the materials can also serve as exemplars to stimulate teachers to seek their own ways to integrate CT into their subject area instruction.