"Gaps" and "Flags": Grounding Computational Abstractions in Scientific Experience in the Elementary Classroom

• In Event: 28.081 - Science Teaching and Learning SIG Paper Session: Change

Abstract

The notion of computational abstractions is at the heart of computational thinking (CT). What does this mean for integration of CT in teacher-led (as opposed to researcher-led) elementary science classrooms? In this paper, we draw on data from two long-term design-based research studies to illustrate how computational abstractions became grounded in computational and physical forms through the teachers’ emphasis on reframing computing in the science classroom as the design of units of measurement. A central finding is the heterogeneity of computational abstractions, as evident in students’ and teachers’ uses of the ViMAP programming environment and their movement across computational and material media in order to convey scientific meaning.

Authors

• Amy Voss Farris, The Pennsylvania State University

• Amanda Catherine Dickes, Harvard University

• Pratim Sengupta, University of Calgary