STEM Outreach: Assessing Computational Thinking and Problem Solving

Abstract

Abstract:The ever-growing popularity of computer science has fostered the need for computational thinking (CT), especially in K-12 education. Pedagogy that infuses CT, as well as reliable methods for assessing CT, remain open problems. In this paper, we describe a 5th-9th grade STEM outreach program. Classes on micro controllers and computer programming are presented. Data collected through a newly designed self-efficacy instrument is used to determine effectiveness of these curricula at improving confidence in CT and problem solving skills. IntroductionThis paper describes a STEM outreach program where the Manhattan-Ogden Unified School District 383 has partnered with Kansas State University. This program lasts four weeks and is designed to expose 5th-9th grade students to STEM careers and subjects through hands-on activities. The program covers a large range of areas, including robotics, computer programming, agriculture, food science, unmanned aerial vehicles, clean energy, and construction science. Professional educators are paired with small groups (2-4) of pre-service teachers to run each class (maximum size of 18). This allows pre-service teachers to get practical, hands-on experience, as well as to learn new STEM activities to include in their own future classrooms. This also gives an excellent teacher to student ratio, providing a oneon-one learning experience for program participants. We focus, however, on measuring the impact of two classes on the program participants. Each class employed similar pedagogy and the Scratch (2009) 17 programming language. One relied heavily on computer science theory and space exploration as a theme, and the other used micro controllers as the foundation for activities. The goals of this research are as follows: 1. Develop effective curricula for improving student self-efficacy in CT, 2. Develop a reliable and effective way of measuring student self-efficacy in CT, and 3. Enforce the notion that CT is not problem solving (PS), but a component of cognition.

Developing an Instructional Design for the Field of ICT and Software for Gifted and Talented Students

“…The results of previous studies and this study are aligned. However, it was indicated in the studies carried out by Atman et al (2018) and Weese and Feldhausen (2017) that instructional designs were not adequately effective in the development of computational thinking skills. In previous studies, the attempt to develop computational thinking was executed by using block-based programming pedagogy only.…”

Fundamental: Determining Prerequisites for Middle School Students to Participate in Robotics-based STEM Lessons: A Computational Thinking Approach

“…It is true that the concept of computational thinking is broad and not widely agreed upon. Nonetheless, for the purpose of creating themes from the prerequisites, we were guided by the fundamental concepts of computational thinking and adapted the aspects of the computational thinking considered mainly in [13,14] as well as in [15][16][17][18][19][23][24][25]. For example, formulating and solving problems [13][14][15][16]19,[23][24][25], analyzing outcomes [16,18], understanding obtained results to make improvements [13,14,24], learning from mistakes [24], handling uncertainty [13,17], and sharing ideas or concepts with others [13,14,24] were all treated as components of computational thinking theme while communicating general information was treated as a managerial skill theme (R.Q.1).…”

“…We began our study by conducting a literature review to identify the key definitions, concepts, principles, characteristics, elements, scope, importance, possibilities, challenges, frameworks, and assessment methods for computational thinking, especially in the context of K-12 education, [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25]. Ribeiro et al discussed the importance of computational thinking and explained how to include techniques to teach this kind of ability in elementary, middle, and high schools [15].…”

“…Werner et al suggested a method to assess computational thinking in middle school through game programming [23]. Weese and Feldhausen proposed another method to assess computational thinking of K-12 students based on self-efficacy in solving problems with microcontrollers and computer programming [24]. Yasar et al investigated the essence of computational thinking and tools to promote it in K-12 education [25].…”

“…Teachers can apply more scientific methods to assess the current status of each prerequisite. For example, game-based programming [23], and self-efficacy in problem solving [24] can be used to assess computational thinking. Evaluations by multiple evaluators (teachers and field researchers) can also make the results more reliable.…”