Identifying middle school students’ challenges in computational thinking-based science learning

Abstract

Computational thinking (CT) parallels the core practices of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and is believed to effectively support students' learning of science and math concepts. However, despite the synergies between CT and STEM education, integrating the two to support synergistic learning remains an important challenge. Relatively, little is known about how a student's conceptual understanding develops in such learning environments and the difficulties they face when learning with such integrated curricula. In this paper, we present a research study with CTSiM (Computational Thinking in Simulation and Modeling)-computational thinking-based learning environment for K-12 science, where students build and simulate computational models to study and gain an understanding of science processes. We investigate a set of core challenges (both computational and science domain related) that middle school students face when working with CTSiM, how these challenges evolve across different modeling activities, and the kinds of support provided by human observers that help students overcome these challenges. We identify four broad categories and 14 subcategories of challenges and show that the human-provided scaffolds help reduce the number of challenges students face over time. Finally, we discuss our plans to modify the CTSiM interfaces and embed scaffolding tools into CTSiM to help students overcome their various programming, modeling, and science-related challenges and thus gain a deeper understanding of the science concepts.

The Big Why of Implementing Computational Thinking In STEM Education: A Systematic Literature Review

“…This information may have affected the stated self-efficacy. Basu et al, 2016 Science, biology, mathematics…”

“…Computational thinking is inter-disciplinary in nature (Yadav et al, 2017), so it makes good sense to continue practicing it in primary school or even early education, where all subjects are naturally blended together in the same environment for students. CT skills are widely used in various subjects such as arts and linguistic studies (Cheng et al, 2008;Grover & Pea, 2013;Sáez-López & Sevillano-García, 2017), social studies (Güven & Gulbahar, 2020;Hammond et al, 2020), music (Essl, 2007;Moore, 2015;Shafer & Skripchuk, 2020), STEM subjects (Basu et al, 2016;Jaipal-Jamani & Angeli, 2016;J. Leonard et al, 2016;Miller, 2019;Serrano Pérez & Juárez López, 2018), and physical education (Leonard et al, 2020;Parmar et al, 2017).…”

Still a New Kid on the Block? Computational Thinking as Problem Solving in Code.org

“…As a preliminary step, this study focuses on examining 3rd grade lesson plans at Code.org, a popular and non-profit educational site providing activities and curriculum for K-12 computer science. The focus on initiatives designed for 3rd graders is important and purposeful because (a) elementary school years, in general, are considered key for cognitive and social development as well as interest regarding future STEM engagement (Basu et al., 2016; K–12 Computer Science Framework & K–12CS. , 2016) and (b) 3rd grade, especially, is viewed as a key milestone when learners not only progress from learning basic skills (e.g., reading) to using them for building more complex ones (e.g., reading to learn) but also can display skills correlated with their educational outcomes at higher level grades (Lesnick et al., 2010).…”

Fostering Computational Thinking Through Unplugged and Robotic Collaborative Game-Based Learning on Primary School Students

“…Robots in educational settings have attracted many researchers to study their effects [19,20]. Introducing robots into the classroom is expected to provide multiple benefits in support of learning activities to promote student interest in STEM discipline and can be used to convey technical competencies, such as programming skills [1,21]. Besides, the understudy can get essential cross-over aptitudes, such as day-by-day critical thinking exercises, dynamic, correspondence, collaboration, and may apply to numerous other STEM learning areas [13,17].…”