Computer Science

Streams of Data: Nurturing Data Literacy in Young Science Learners (Collaborative Research: Kochevar)

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Streams of Data is pursuing early stage research to address: How can the use of professionally collected, scientific data support the development of data literacy skills in elementary students, and what types of scaffolds are necessary to realize this potential? In the first year, baseline research examined the analytical thinking approaches children intuitively use when making meaning from different types of data with minimal scaffolding? We explored commonplace scenarios of data and conventional data representations.

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High School Students' Climate Literacy Through Epistemology of Scientific Modeling (Collaborative Research: Chandler and Forbes)

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We share the conception, design, and some activities from a curriculum based on the use of a global climate model EzGCM in secondary geoscience classrooms. Implemented through the NSF-funded CLiMES (Climate Literacy through Modeling and Epistemology of Science) project, this curriculum facilitated in-depth understanding of climate literacy concepts through model-based reasoning.

Co-PI(s): Mark Chandler, Columbia University

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Developing a Suite of Standards-based Instructionally Supportive Tools for Middle School Computer Science

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The ASSIST project will develop a set of educative resources, assessment tools and teacher professional development activities to support diverse teachers teaching a variety of computer science curricula using different programming languages. Teachers will develop knowledge of CS standards and learn to use formative assessments related to these standards to determine student understanding. Improved CS instruction that is responsive to the needs and challenges of the student population is critical to ensure more equitable participation in CS.

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Building Networks and Enhancing Diversity in the K-12 STEM Teaching Workforce

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The goal of this planning grant, which is based on the Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT). is to explicitly focus on broadening participation in the K-12 STEM teaching workforce, with the theory of action that diversifying the K-12 STEM teaching workforce would in the long term help more students see STEM as accessible to them and then be more likely to choose a STEM degree or career. This grant is also funded by NSF INCLUDES.

Co-PI(s): Helen Bond and Marilyn M Irving, Howard University; Hyunju Lee and Amy L D'Amico, Smithsonian Institution

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Understanding How Integrated Computational Thinking, Engineering Design, and Mathematics Can Help Students Solve Scientific and Technical Problems in Career Technical Education

INITIATE is a 3-year, STEM+C Partnership Program Design and Development project that partners high school Mathematics and Career Technical Education (CTE) teachers in Toledo Public Schools (TPS). Due to mathematics oftentimes serving as a gatekeeper for further STEM study, including technical careers, and to the strong reciprocal relationship between mathematics, computational thinking, and preparation for STEM careers, the project includes teachers of Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II, and Statistics/Analysis.
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Teaching STEM with Robotics: Design, Development, and Testing of a Research-based Professional Development Program for Teachers

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To lower the barriers in STEM disciplines for students, using evidence-based research, we designed and conducted a professional development program that built middle school teachers' capacity to use hands-on robotics and engineering design as the curriculum focus. Through summer workshops, teachers learned to: build and program LEGO robots; create and implement standards-aligned robotics-based STEM lessons; and develop, practice, and examine optimal pedagogical approaches for STEM learning using robotics.
 

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STEM Sea, Air, and Land Remotely Operated Vehicle Design Challenges for Rural, Middle School Youth

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STEM SEALs builds collaborative partnerships between North Florida College and local middle schools to bolster STEM pathways for students in this region. It involves the development of inexpensive, rigorous, and versatile design challenges to expose rural middle school students to high quality STEM experiences. Researchers study the feasibility and efficacy of these experiences to promote greater awareness of STEM pathways, increase readiness for STEM study; and generate student identity as STEM-able, STEM-skilled, and STEM-belonging.
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From Access to Sustainability: Investigating Ways to Foster Sustainable Use of Computational Modeling in K-12 Science Classrooms

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Our vision is to make computational modeling a sustained practice in middle school science classrooms. We are working closely with teachers to design a tool and curricula that integrate computational modeling with data practices and enables students to move towards unpacking models and their underlying assumptions. Our research questions involve investigating 1. students modeling trajectories in this environment; 2. how classrooms norms develop over time; and, 3. the interplay between computational modeling and data practices.

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Assessing College-Ready Computational Thinking (Collaborative Research: Brown and Wilson)

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This project seeks to develop and validate learning progressions and items with dynamic features to generate machine-scorable student responses for assessing computational thinking, in a test of college-ready critical reasoning skills, and to integrate these items into an existing online assessment system, the Berkeley Assessment System Software (BASS). This assessment is intended to be useful for formative and summative purposes in high-school and introductory college-level STEM classes, including mathematics and computer science courses.

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