| Abstrakt: |
This presentation describes a three-year project that focuses on professional development for elementary teachers in the Appalachian region of the United States. The professional development considers culturally responsive approaches to teaching computational thinking. In the presentation, we draw attention to key aspects of the professional development, their implications for teacher and student learning, and directions for future research. The project, Computer Science for East Tennessee (CSforTN), is a three-year, NSF-funded project (#2219418) that seeks to increase elementary students' access to computational thinking (CT) through the integration of CT and literacy in elementary classrooms. Critical aspects of the project include: 1) professional development for elementary teachers that explores CT and literacy-integrated activities, 2) classroom implementation by the participating teachers to test out and learn from their students' participation in the designed activities, and 3) a computer science teaching network that offers opportunities for learning and networking. The focus of this presentation is on the professional development with attention to how an approach that leverages literacy practices can support or delimit teachers' connections with and learning of computational thinking. The project draws on sociocultural perspectives that view learning as involving shifts in participation reflected in individuals' experiences and changes in trajectory (Nasir, 2012). As individuals learning, they develop a sense of who they are in relation to the practices that come to define a learning context. For this project, identity is defined as how teachers define, the value they place on, and how they view their own competence in relation to CT. The project began in Fall 2022 and has completed one cycle of design-based research on the professional development. We draw on teacher artifacts and interview data to share preliminary insights on teacher learning and identity related to the project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
