Integrating STEM and Computer Science in Algebra: Teachers' Computational Thinking Dispostions

Abstract

is currently a doctoral student at the Ohio State University, where she is in her second year of the STEM education PhD program. She is a graduate research assistant on the STEM+C NSF funded project, looking at integrating computer science and engineering concepts into algebra classrooms. Bailey received her BS in mechanical engineering from Ohio Northern University and her M.Ed. in curriculum and instruction from University of Cincinnati. Her research area of interest is creating a more equitable learning environment for underrepresented populations of students in the STEM fields.

Fundamental: Determining Prerequisites for Middle School Students to Participate in Robotics-based STEM Lessons: A Computational Thinking Approach

“…It is true that the concept of computational thinking is broad and not widely agreed upon. Nonetheless, for the purpose of creating themes from the prerequisites, we were guided by the fundamental concepts of computational thinking and adapted the aspects of the computational thinking considered mainly in [13,14] as well as in [15][16][17][18][19][23][24][25]. For example, formulating and solving problems [13][14][15][16]19,[23][24][25], analyzing outcomes [16,18], understanding obtained results to make improvements [13,14,24], learning from mistakes [24], handling uncertainty [13,17], and sharing ideas or concepts with others [13,14,24] were all treated as components of computational thinking theme while communicating general information was treated as a managerial skill theme (R.Q.1).…”

“…The students also gained some aptitude in , x , c x computational thinking through their daily life and previous lessons/grades, but that might not be sufficient to fulfill the formal requirement of computational thinking during the robotics-based lessons [13,14]. Literature shows that continuous practice with suitable artifacts and problem solving by students as well as continuous assessment can improve computational thinking [14,17,23]. Hence, robotics-based lessons and robotics kits can also improve the computational thinking of students as they use and practice with robotics kits as a pedagogical tool and learn lessons through robotics kits [14].…”

“…We began our study by conducting a literature review to identify the key definitions, concepts, principles, characteristics, elements, scope, importance, possibilities, challenges, frameworks, and assessment methods for computational thinking, especially in the context of K-12 education, [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25]. Ribeiro et al discussed the importance of computational thinking and explained how to include techniques to teach this kind of ability in elementary, middle, and high schools [15].…”

“…They suggested that successful integration of computational thinking into K-12 curricula requires improvement in education policy and additional resources for teachers [16]. Braaten and Perez explored teachers' computational thinking dispositions by embedding STEM and computer science in algebra [17]. Dasgupta et al examined computational thinking practices in a kindergarten classroom through the analysis of student work [18].…”

A Systematic Literature Review Examining the Impacts of Integrating Computer Science in K-5 Settings

“…Integrating CS and computational thinking (CT) into subjects such as math and language arts has been viewed as a way to mitigate the barrier related to time [8] and to create innovative learning environments [9]. Integration also provides opportunities to link CT and CS more closely to mathematics, engineering and science [9,10], given the shared learning processes and contexts across the fields.…”