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Strengthening Computational Thinking within Upper Elementary Classrooms: A Strategy for Broadening Participation in Computer Science

Published: 16 May 2024 Publication History

Abstract

This paper describes a research-practice partnership (RPP) in western South Dakota involving twenty 4th and 5th grade teachers and a support team of university researchers and K-12 learning specialists. For three years, the RPP has been exploring ways to strengthen computational thinking within elementary math and science instruction, attending to policy considerations and the local education landscape. The RPP is motivated in part by the hypothesis that a larger, more diverse group of students will choose to enroll in computer science courses in high school if they gain familiarity and confidence related to computational concepts at earlier grades. Feedback from participating teachers along with student attitude and problem-solving data suggest this is a promising approach.

References

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B. Sayler, I. Her Many Horses, D. Kertzman, T. Belden, B. Carroll, H. Caffee, "Introducing computer science within South Dakota high schools through a research-practice partnership: Exploring student enrollment, attitudes, and problem-solving with a focus on broadening participation," in CSforAll & Sage Fox Consulting (Eds.), The intersection of RPPs and BPC in CS education: A compendium of papers from the RPPforCS community [White Paper], CSEdResearch.org., November, 2021, [Online].
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      cover image ACM Conferences
      RESPECT 2024: Proceedings of the 2024 on RESPECT Annual Conference
      May 2024
      321 pages
      ISBN:9798400706264
      DOI:10.1145/3653666
      This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives International 4.0 License.

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      Published: 16 May 2024

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      1. broadening participation
      2. computational thinking
      3. elementary computer science
      4. equity
      5. research-practice partnership

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