From the AP CS Principles curriculum, there are six computational practices: Connecting Computing, Creating Computational Artifacts, Abstracting, Analyzing Problems and Artifacts, Communicating, and Collaborating ( College Board, 2017 , pp. 9-10).
Published in Chapter:
The Design, Implementation, and Evaluation of a Graduate Course to Prepare Teachers and School Librarians to Lead K-12 Computational Thinking
Kim C. Huett (University of West Georgia, USA), Adriana D'Alba (University of West Georgia, USA), and Bruce Neubauer (Albany State University, USA)
Copyright: © 2020
|Pages: 26
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-1479-5.ch013
Abstract
The importance of applying computational thinking—the problem-solving approach used in the domain of computer science—to solve significant problems is increasingly recognized in K-12 schools as a fundamental skill all students need to develop. The current study presents the design, implementation, and evaluation of a graduate course 20 teachers and school librarians completed in spring 2019. The purpose of the course was to expand learners' understandings of the value and nature of computational thinking, to explore barriers to access faced by students in underrepresented groups, and to reflect on how to facilitate K-12 students' understandings of computational thinking outside of dedicated computing courses. Using a model for systematic instructional planning and evaluation, this chapter reports qualitative thematic analyses of learners' performances and reflections. The chapter concludes with planned revisions for the course and implications for similar efforts within in-service teacher education programs.