Deepening Computational Thinking for English Learners by Integrating Community-Based Environmental Literacy

This project addresses two issues of critical importance to the nation's future: computational thinking, which is foundational to all areas of STEM, and environmental literacy, a set of knowledge, skills, and practices vital to supporting ecologically sound and economically prosperous communities for present and future generations. In doing so, it focuses on reaching all learners. In this research project, UC Irvine and three local education agencies serving form a Research-Practice-Partnership (RPP) to promote computational thinking among all learners. The partnership will develop and implement a two-year elementary school curriculum that integrates computational thinking with language and literacy instruction. The curriculum leverages the unique local community assets of learners to simultaneously develop computing and language skills. The project will develop, implement, and evaluate a third year of the computational thinking curriculum integrated with local community issues. This will allow students to deepen their understanding of local phenomena, come to understand the value of computer science in addressing challenges affecting their local communities, and enhance their language and literacy skills through scientific collaboration and communication. The project will address the following research questions: (1) What are the challenges faced in expanding an RPP to additional school districts and grade levels and to integration of new content, and how are those challenges best addressed; (2) What are the best practices for integrating computer science and community-based issues among fifth grade students; and (3) How does engagement with the curriculum affect the learning processes and outcomes of the students in local community knowledge, science knowledge, computational thinking, computer science identity, and academic language proficiency? It will address these questions through design-based implementation research centered on teacher instruction, student learning, and problems of teaching practice as identified by practitioners, students, and researchers. The project team will collect and analyze a wide range of data, including field notes from curriculum design meetings and classroom observations; teacher and student interviews and surveys; and assessments of students' learning outcomes in computer science, environmental literacy, science knowledge, and language and literacy. The project will generate important new knowledge disseminated to educational researchers and practitioners about how computational thinking can best be integrated with other STEM content for all learners at the elementary level, especially in the area of local community centered issues. It will also produce and disseminate an open access curriculum, instructional resources for teachers and students, and professional development content that can be used and adapted by other school districts and educators across the country. This project is funded through the CS for All: Research and RPPs program. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.