How Bottom-Up Researcher-Teacher Collaborations Can Support Bottom-Up Computational Thinking Integration

• In Event: Friday Roundtable Session 11:25 am
  In Roundtable Session: Cultivating Computational and Scientific Thinking Through Research-Practice Partnerships, Cross-Cultural Adaptations, and Equity-Oriented Co-Design for Educators (Table 11)

Abstract

Recently, there has been a growing emphasis on training teachers to integrate computational thinking (CT) practices into disciplinary instruction. Many methods follow a "top-down" approach to both the conceptualization of CT and to teacher learning. These approaches orient to CT as a set of abstract concepts, often failing to promote holistic understanding of the purposes and disciplinary value of CT. Furthermore, teachers are often positioned as novices awaiting the transmission of relevant CT knowledge rather than as agentive knowledge-builders with valuable expertise. We propose an alternative, “bottom-up” approach to supporting teachers in CT integration through a collaborative partnership between researchers and practitioners. We share evidence that this partnership led to understanding CT as inherently contextualized and productive for disciplinary problem-solving.

Authors

• Amy E. Green, University of Maryland

• Jennifer Radoff, University of Maryland

• Andrew R. Elby, University of Maryland

• Khusbu Dalal, University of Maryland

• Jonathan Rivera, University of Maryland

• Amra Nansimbi, Montgomery County Public Schools