It’s Not Just “Doing Technology”: Embedding Computational Thinking into the “Grammar of Schooling” (Poster 7)

• In Event: Expansive Views on the Role of Computing and Digital Literacies in Teacher Education

Abstract

Summary
This research examines a pedagogical reform in a teacher education program that endeavors to advance a paradigm shift in N-12 schools. Since 2022, the Teacher Education faculty at our research site, a large public community college in New York City, has been a part of an initiative to integrate computing and digital literacies (CDLs) into teacher preparation programs and courses. We explore how this faculty feels about the CDLs training, their competence to integrate computational thinking (CT), specifically, in their classrooms, and their perceptions about continuing to integrate CT in their courses.

Objectives and significance
Prior scholarship evaluates how pre-service teachers adopt CT strategies (Bal et al., 2022; Yadav et al., 2022) and how digital literacies shape N-12 student development (NAEYC & Fred Rogers Center at Saint Vincent College, 2012); but we lack research on the first step of the process, where college faculty integrate CT into their teaching. The current study addresses this gap by examining a paradigm shift among teacher education faculty with the goal of enabling a pedagogical change in the N-12 teaching workforce. We also explore if the faculty will continue to work with CT principles when the incentives end and how the faculty are embedding a critical lens into this work.

Theoretical framework
Tyack and Cuban’s analysis of the public education reform movements reveal ways in which the complex structures of schooling make change elusive (1995). Yet, an ever-growing body of research demonstrates key elements to advancing educational reforms (Fullan, 2020; Hubbard & Datnow, 2020; Martínez Arbelaiz & Correa Gorospe, 2009), including the power that individual teachers hold in advancing reforms (Tyack & Cuban, 1995) and the importance of high-quality training (Hubbard et al., 2013). Introducing and implementing curricular change in postsecondary settings—including teacher education programs—is similarly difficult (Brownell & Tanner, 2012). The challenge of shifting pedagogies of college-level instructors compounds the difficulty of advancing N-12 reforms. We offer new knowledge about approaches to advancing curricular change in teacher training programs, particularly as it relates to preparing teachers to implement CT strategies.

Data and methods
This phenomenological study draws on data from three focus groups and open-ended writing sessions from eight faculty. Subjects were asked to write about their experiences, feelings, challenges, and the changes to their own perceptions and teaching practices when integrating CT into their course content. Afterwards, they discussed their ideas together in a semi-structured focus group. Each session was recorded and transcribed. Transcripts and writings were analyzed and coded thematically.

Results
Early results indicate that while all faculty acknowledge the importance of the CDL-integration work and program, they have a wide variety of experiences and feelings about its implementation and potential for longevity. Some early adopters strongly believe in the principles of the CDL-integration program and the need to fully integrate this work in N-12 schools, while others are hesitant, feeling that they need ongoing training and more time to learn about the principles and strategies being taught, especially if they want to adopt the program long term.

Authors

• Ryan Coughlan, Baruch College - CUNY

• Cara Kronen, Borough of Manhattan Community College

• Yolanda A. Medina, Borough of Manhattan Community College