Teaching Science with Computational Thinking: Preparing Preservice Elementary Educators of the Future STEM Workforce

About This Grant

This project aims to serve the national interest of improving science teaching at the elementary level by infusing a critical computational thinking perspective into the science methods courses and field placement experiences of elementary level preservice teachers. Computational thinking is a means to understand and solve complex problems using computer science concepts. Despite its increasing importance, as reflected in national standards and initiatives, no single preservice teacher prepared to teach computational thinking has graduated from the teacher education programs in West Virginia, and the situation nationally is similarly challenging. Most often, a sole focus on computer science provides no explicit connection to disciplinary classroom settings and student context, missing important opportunities for preservice teachers to recognize what computational thinking may mean in their future classrooms. Without systemic changes in teacher education, preservice teachers are likely to develop insufficient levels of understanding of and interest in the computational nature of science. Consequently, preservice teacheers will be limited in providing their students with important knowledge and skills necessary to participate in the workforce of the future. To address the issue, this project aims to develop and implement a computational thinking-infused curriculum in science methods courses. The project intends to co-design and pilot science lessons in schools where elementary preservice teachers are placed. The research agenda of the project is designed to investigate the impact of the efforts on the teaching of preservice teachers. By the end of the project, the participating preservice teachers are expected to know, practice, and teach critical computation thinking-infused science lessons. Project activities are anticipated to result in a model and a set of resources that can be tested and used in teacher education nationwide to cultivate preservice teachers’ computational thinking-enhanced STEM learning and teaching. The overarching goal of the project is to help preservice teachers develop interest, competence, and a positive perception of the utility value for incorporating critical computational thinking into their science instructional practices. Project research questions focus on measuring these constructs and identifying computational thinking practices and processes exemplified in preservice teachers’ teaching efforts over time. Approximately 100 preservice teachers, enrolled in science methods courses in the Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education Program of West Virginia University are intended to participate over two years. Preservice teachers are intended to have the opportunity to practice, design, and teach contextualized science lesson units that integrate both computational thinking processes and practices with the 5E Instructional Model, a widely accepted constructivist, inquiry-based instructional model for teaching science. Project research aims to determine the impact of computational thinking-infused activities on preservice teachers’ motivations and teaching. Then the project intends to employ a research-practitioner partnership perspective during full-time preservice teacher placement experiences. Selected preservice teachers are to be involved in iteratively co-designing, with multiple stakeholders from the local education community, piloting, and testing computational thinking-infused science lesson units in placement classrooms. Through the dissemination of project activities, research outcomes regarding how to integrate a critical computational thinking lens with the 5E Model, and developed materials, this project intends not only to help develop preservice teachers’ understanding of and interest in the computational nature of science teaching but also likely enable teacher educators and in-service teachers nationwide to recognize its relevance to pedagogy, content, and context, contributing to students’ preparation toward future STEM workforce. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools. Partial funding is from the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship program. 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.