Introduction to Computational Thinking: A New High School Curriculum using CodeWorld

The Louisiana Department of Education partnered with the Gordon A. Cain Center at LSU to pilot a Computing High School Graduation Pathway. The first course in the pathway, Introduction to Computational Thinking (ICT), is designed to teach programming and reinforce mathematical practice skills of nine-grade students, with an emphasis on promoting higher order thinking. In 2017-18, about 200 students and five teachers participated in the pilot, in 2018-2019 the participation increased to 400 students, and in the current 2019-2020 year about 800 students in 11 schools are involved. After describing the course content and the teacher training, we briefly discuss the data we have collected in the last two years. The overall student reception of the course has been positive, but the course was categorized by most students as hard. The pre-post test content assessments show that students have learned not only the language, but also general principles of programming. Lessons learned during the pilot phase have motivated changes, such as emphasizing during Professional Development the need to provide timely feedback to students, provide detailed rubrics for the projects and reorganize the lessons to increase the initial engagement with the material. After two years of running pilots, the course is becoming student-centered, where most of the code and image samples provided in the lessons are based on code created by previous students.

[1]  E. Butterfield,et al.  Theory and practice of teaching for transfer , 1989 .

[2]  Jeannette M. Wing.  An introduction to computer science for non-majors using principles of computation , 2007, SIGCSE.

[3]  David M. Williamson,et al.  Understanding Mean Score Differences Between the e‐rater® Automated Scoring Engine and Humans for Demographically Based Groups in the GRE® General Test , 2018 .

[4]  Roy D. Pea,et al.  Designing for deeper learning in a blended computer science course for middle school students , 2015, Comput. Sci. Educ..

[5]  Clifford A. Shaffer,et al.  Transforming introductory computer science projects via real-time web data , 2014, SIGCSE.

[6]  Allison Elliott Tew,et al.  Empirical validation and application of the computing attitudes survey , 2015, Comput. Sci. Educ..

[7]  Mary Webb,et al.  A K-6 Computational Thinking Curriculum Framework: Implications for Teacher Knowledge , 2016, J. Educ. Technol. Soc..

[8]  David Weintrop,et al.  Using Commutative Assessments to Compare Conceptual Understanding in Blocks-based and Text-based Programs , 2015, ICER.

[9]  R. Pea,et al.  A Study of the Development of Programming Ability and Thinking Skills in High School Students , 1986 .

[10]  R. Mayer.  Should there be a three-strikes rule against pure discovery learning? The case for guided methods of instruction. , 2004, The American psychologist.

[11]  Michael S. Horn,et al.  Defining Computational Thinking for Mathematics and Science Classrooms , 2016 .

[12]  Peter J. Denning,et al.  Remaining trouble spots with computational thinking , 2017, Commun. ACM.

[13]  Roy D. Pea,et al.  Logo Programming and Problem Solving , 2007 .

[14]  Shuchi Grover,et al.  Computational Thinking in K–12 , 2013 .

[15]  Seymour Papert,et al.  Mindstorms: Children, Computers, and Powerful Ideas , 1981 .

[16]  Matthias Felleisen,et al.  The structure and interpretation of the computer science curriculum , 2004, J. Funct. Program..

[17]  David Weintrop,et al.  To block or not to block, that is the question: students' perceptions of blocks-based programming , 2015, IDC.

[18]  Fredrik Heintz,et al.  A review of models for introducing computational thinking, computer science and computing in K-12 education , 2016, 2016 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE).

[19]  Aman Yadav,et al.  Computational thinking in compulsory education: Towards an agenda for research and practice , 2015, Education and Information Technologies.

[20]  Jeannette M. Wing.  Computational thinking and thinking about computing , 2008, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences.

[21]  Matthias Felleisen,et al.  Transferring Skills at Solving Word Problems from Computing to Algebra Through Bootstrap , 2015, SIGCSE.