{"title":"Computational Thinking and Life Science","authors":"Amanda Strawhacker","doi":"10.4018/978-1-7998-7308-2.ch006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-7308-2.ch006","url":null,"abstract":"Life science and computer science share the educational goals of fostering students to engage in inquiry-based learning and solve problems through similar practices of discovery, design, and experimentation. This chapter outlines the pedagogical links among traditional life science and emerging computer science domains in early childhood education, and describes an educational intervention using the CRISPEE technological prototype. CRISPEE, designed by a research team of developmentalists, biologists, educators, and computer scientists, invites young children to use computational logic to model design processes with biological materials. Findings are discussed as they relate to new understandings about how young children leverage computational thinking when engaged in design-based life science, or biodesign.","PeriodicalId":435758,"journal":{"name":"Teaching Computational Thinking and Coding to Young Children","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1900-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129357663","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Apittha Unahalekhaka, Jessica C. Blake-West, X. Nguyen
{"title":"Insights Into Young Children's Coding With Data Analytics","authors":"Apittha Unahalekhaka, Jessica C. Blake-West, X. Nguyen","doi":"10.4018/978-1-7998-7308-2.ch015","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-7308-2.ch015","url":null,"abstract":"Over the past decade, there has been a growing interest in learning analytics for research in education and psychology. It has been shown to support education by predicting learning performances such as school completion and test scores of students in late elementary and above. In this chapter, the authors discuss the potential of learning analytics as a computational thinking assessment in early childhood education. They first introduce learning analytics by discussing its various applications and the benefits and limitations that it offers to the educational field. They then provide examples of how learning analytics can deepen our understanding of computational thinking through observing young children's engagement with ScratchJr: a tablet coding app designed for K-2 students. Finally, they close this chapter with future directions for using learning analytics to support computer science education.","PeriodicalId":435758,"journal":{"name":"Teaching Computational Thinking and Coding to Young Children","volume":"95 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1900-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133956581","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Rhyme and Reason","authors":"M. Govind, Ziva R. Hassenfeld, Laura E. de Ruiter","doi":"10.4018/978-1-7998-7308-2.ch005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-7308-2.ch005","url":null,"abstract":"The chapter begins with an exploration of computational thinking (CT) and its relationship to computational literacy, followed by a summary of theoretical and empirical work that aims to elucidate the connections among coding, CT, and literacy. The authors argue that these connections thus far have been predominantly one of support (i.e., unidirectional) and motivated by technological and policy advances, as opposed to considering the connections as mutually reinforcing and developmentally coaligned. The authors discuss the coding as another language (CAL) pedagogical approach, a pedagogy that presents learning to program as akin to learning how to use a new language for communicative and expressive functions, emphasizing the bidirectional connections between the two domains. Finally, the authors detail various curricula that use the CAL approach and discuss the implications of CAL for teaching and learning in early childhood.","PeriodicalId":435758,"journal":{"name":"Teaching Computational Thinking and Coding to Young Children","volume":"7 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1900-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122025438","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Makerspaces as Learning Environments to Support Computational Thinking","authors":"Amanda Strawhacker, Miki Vizner","doi":"10.4018/978-1-7998-7308-2.ch009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-7308-2.ch009","url":null,"abstract":"Makerspaces are technology-rich learning environments that can uniquely support children's development. In education communities, makerspaces have become sites to take up explorations of personally-motived problem solving, and have been tied to 21st century learning outcomes of perseverance, creativity, persistence, and computational thinking. Elsewhere in this book, Bers described computational thinking as the set of skills and cognitive processes required to give instructions for a specific task in such a way that a computer could carry it out. But Bers also argued that the purpose of computational thinking is to cultivate a fluency with technological tools as a medium of expression, not an end in itself. Computational making is part of this expression. This chapter explores the ways in which tools, facilitation, and the physical environment can support children's engagement with powerful ideas of computational thinking through making.","PeriodicalId":435758,"journal":{"name":"Teaching Computational Thinking and Coding to Young Children","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1900-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126150402","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Why Teach Coding to Early Elementary Learners","authors":"Claudia M. Mihm","doi":"10.4018/978-1-7998-7308-2.ch002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-7308-2.ch002","url":null,"abstract":"As coding and computer science become established domains in K-2 education, researchers and educators understand that children are learning more than skills when they learn to code – they are learning a new way of thinking and organizing thought. While these new skills are beneficial to future programming tasks, they also support the development of other crucial skills in early childhood education. This chapter explores the ways that coding supports computational thinking in young children and connects the core concepts of computational thinking to the broader K-2 context.","PeriodicalId":435758,"journal":{"name":"Teaching Computational Thinking and Coding to Young Children","volume":"26 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1900-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121428003","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Supporting Girls' Computational Thinking Skillsets","authors":"Amanda Sullivan","doi":"10.4018/978-1-7998-7308-2.ch011","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-7308-2.ch011","url":null,"abstract":"The representation of women in technical fields such as computer science and engineering continues to be an issue in the United States, despite decades of research and interventions. According to the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics reports, only 21.1% of computer programmers are women, and only 16.5% of engineering and architecture positions are filled by women. This chapter discusses the long-term importance of exposing girls to computational thinking during their formative early childhood years (Kindergarten through second grade) in order to set them up for equal opportunities in technical fields throughout their later educational and career years. This chapter presents a case example of a K-2nd grade robotics and coding curriculum in order to highlight examples of developmentally appropriate technologies, activities, and strategies that educators can implement to foster young girls' computational thinking skills. Best practices and instructional strategies to support girls—as well as young children of any gender identity—are discussed.","PeriodicalId":435758,"journal":{"name":"Teaching Computational Thinking and Coding to Young Children","volume":"15 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1900-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125212240","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Fostering Computational Thinking in Homes and Other Informal Learning Spaces","authors":"M. Govind","doi":"10.4018/978-1-7998-7308-2.ch008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-7308-2.ch008","url":null,"abstract":"This chapter provides theoretical and practical insights for fostering children's computational thinking (CT) in homes and other family-friendly spaces such as libraries, museums, and after-school programs. The family context—the kinds of roles, interactions, and opportunities afforded by parents, caregivers, and siblings—is essential for understanding how young children learn and engage in CT. This work is informed by research on how everyday activities and educational technologies (and the contexts in which they are used) can be designed to promote opportunities for CT and family engagement. This chapter discusses ways to support children's CT by co-engaging family members in collaborative coding activities in homes and other informal learning spaces.","PeriodicalId":435758,"journal":{"name":"Teaching Computational Thinking and Coding to Young Children","volume":"23 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1900-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124952190","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Role of Executive Function and Self-Regulation in the Development of Computational Thinking","authors":"E. K. Myers","doi":"10.4018/978-1-7998-7308-2.ch004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-7308-2.ch004","url":null,"abstract":"This chapter summarizes theoretical connections between computational thinking through learning to code, self-regulation, and executive function and discusses why it is important to continue exploring the intersection of executive function, self-regulation, and computational thinking, including the need to revisit the socio-cultural underpinnings of foundational self-regulation, executive function, and school readiness research. As an example, findings from a 2014 study that explored the relationship between self-regulation and computational thinking when learning to code are shared. Research supports the idea of teaching computational thinking skills within an integrated early childhood curriculum to support the development of well-prepared citizens for the 21st century by drawing on the connections between executive function, self-regulation, and computational thinking.","PeriodicalId":435758,"journal":{"name":"Teaching Computational Thinking and Coding to Young Children","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1900-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129587898","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Computational Expression","authors":"Amanda Strawhacker, Amanda Sullivan","doi":"10.4018/978-1-7998-7308-2.ch007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-7308-2.ch007","url":null,"abstract":"In the past two decades, STEM education has been slowly replaced by “STEAM,” which refers to learning that integrates science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics. The added “Arts” portion of this pedagogical approach, although an important step towards integrated 21st century learning, has long confused policymakers, with definitions ranging from visual arts to humanities to art education and more. The authors take the position that Arts can be broadly interpreted to mean any approach that brings interpretive and expressive perspectives to STEM activities. In this chapter, they present illustrative cases inspired by work in real learning settings that showcase how STEAM concepts and computational thinking skills can support children's engagement in cultural, performing, and fine arts, including painting, sculpture, architecture, poetry, music, dance, and drama.","PeriodicalId":435758,"journal":{"name":"Teaching Computational Thinking and Coding to Young Children","volume":"9 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1900-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124361972","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Coding, Computational Thinking, and Cultural Contexts","authors":"Libby Hunt, M. Bers","doi":"10.4018/978-1-7998-7308-2.ch010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-7308-2.ch010","url":null,"abstract":"This chapter examines the relationship between coding, computational thinking, and the contexts in which those concepts are learned. It recounts a pilot study where a 12-week robotics curriculum was taught in kindergarten classrooms at eight interfaith and secular schools in Boston, United States of America and Buenos Aires, Argentina. In this chapter, the authors explore how teachers and students drew from their socio-cultural environments to inform the language of computational thinking and support the internalization of computational concepts and, in turn, how computational thinking was used as a tool for deeper exploration of cultural traditions and beliefs, meaning-making, and creative expression.","PeriodicalId":435758,"journal":{"name":"Teaching Computational Thinking and Coding to Young Children","volume":"289 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1900-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115533249","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}