Integrating Computational Thinking Strategies That Support Science Inquiry: A Case Study From a Summer Professional Development

• In Event: 53.082 - Poster Session 10
  In Poster Session: 53.082-3 - Special Topics in Engineering and Computer Science: Engineering Design, Computational Thinking, and Assessment

Abstract

This paper presents a case study of elementary school teachers’ integration of “unplugged” computational thinking (CT) into their extended scientific inquiry during a summer professional development (PD) workshop. We describe how one group of teachers used a flowcharting strategy involving problem decomposition and conditional logic, two key CT concepts, to manage possible explanatory scenarios during their science inquiries. This case study provides empirical evidence of participants explicitly recognizing and meaningfully integrating an unplugged computational thinking practice into their science inquiry. It contributes to the small body of empirical work describing and analyzing what unplugged CT looks like, and it contributes to ongoing theory-building around what it means for CT to be integrated meaningfully into scientific inquiry.

Authors

• Christina R. Krist, University of Maryland - College Park

• Andrew R. Elby, University of Maryland - College Park

• Jonathon Good, Michigan State University

• Ayush Gupta, University of Maryland - College Park

• Erin Ronayne Sohr, University of Maryland - College Park

• Aman Yadav, Michigan State University