Teacher Beliefs About Integrating Computational Thinking in K–5 Curriculum

• In Event: Dynamics of Computational Thinking: Theoretical and Practical Debates in Teacher Training

Abstract

Objectives
The purpose of this research was to explore elementary teachers’ beliefs and values regarding the integration of computational thinking (CT) concepts throughout their elementary school curriculum.

Background
Computational thinking (CT) has been described as a collection of thinking skills associated with those used by computer scientists in the context of problem solving with computers and computing-adjacent tasks (Wing, 2006; Denning, 2017). Computer science educators and technology companies have lobbied for the inclusion of CT in elementary education. In translating this enthusiasm into action there have been some notable challenges. Primary among these challenges are the lack of pre-service teacher preparation in CS, the difficulty in providing adequate training for in-service teachers, and the inequitable access to computing technology. Considering the challenges of introducing CS and CT at the elementary level, one potential pathway to providing access to computing content is the integration of CT into the general education curriculum. In this study, we aim to present major themes derived from a series of teacher interviews collected after in-service and pre-service educators were provided with instruction on how to utilize computational thinking ideas in mainstream curriculum at the elementary level.

Methods & Data Sources
Following a series of computer science and computational thinking training sessions conducted during the previous summer, the researchers conducted interviews with teacher participants from a large metropolitan district during the academic year. By this point, teachers had implemented co-constructed lessons developed during the summer training sessions. In this study, we used a methodological approach of thematic analysis via grounded theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). After the interviews were collected, they were coded using taxonomic coding (Spradley, 1979). This process involves understanding how participants categorize their culture, which in this case was the culture of the classroom and pedagogy as viewed by the in-service and pre-service teachers.

Results
From the interviews, the following major themes emerged: the facility of computational thinking vocabulary, the use of CT to provide a pedagogical framework to make connections between subject matter, and the use of CT to enhance student problem solving practices. Teachers expressed positive sentiment for CT as a means to encourage a more cohesive elementary curriculum and as a way to build student persistence through structured problem solving skill development. The researchers discuss ways in which teacher preparation programs could use the integration of CT as a way to increase student exposure to computer science ideas without taking away from other instructional time, and explore the teacher beliefs about problem solving ability improvements in light of research regarding transfer of problem solving stemming from CT instruction.

Scholarly Significance
Understanding how teachers think about incorporating CT into their classroom instruction could inform how to best support them and expose all students to CT ideas and practices.

Authors

• Phil Sands, Michigan State University

• Aman Yadav, Michigan State University

• Sukanya Kannan Moudgalya, Michigan State University

• Mike Zamansky, Hunter College