| NSF Org: |
DRL Division of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings (DRL) |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | August 29, 2018 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | August 29, 2018 |
| Award Number: | 1837380 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Michael Ford
miford@nsf.gov (703)292-5153 DRL Division of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings (DRL) EDU Directorate for STEM Education |
| Start Date: | October 1, 2018 |
| End Date: | September 30, 2022 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $999,423.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $999,423.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
4400 UNIVERSITY DR FAIRFAX VA US 22030-4422 (703)993-2295 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
4400 University Blvd. Fairfax VA US 22030-4422 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | STEM + Computing (STEM+C) Part |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.076 |
ABSTRACT
Although there has been an increase in efforts to introduce computer science and computational thinking (CS/CT) into secondary schools, most initiatives have not been designed to develop related knowledge and skills necessary for elementary in-service teachers. This issue is particularly important as states begin to adopt CS standards for K-12 with little to no support for implementation of the standards. At the same time, students with the most common disabilities need to have opportunities to learn the content and practices outlined those CS standards. The project will address this problem by generating, working in partnership with a local school division, Norfolk City Public Schools, a usable, comprehensive, effective, and appealing model of professional development (PD) to support CS integration in elementary instruction for all learners, with an emphasis on supporting students with high-incidence disabilities. In developing PD for integration of CS standards in elementary grades and creating resources to support teachers in this integration, this project will work with more than 75 elementary teachers in the partner district. Of the nearly 10,000 current K-5th grade students in NCPS in any given year, these teachers will, conservatively, teach 1,500 students or 15% of the student population yearly. The PD model will also be extended into other school divisions in Virginia through its relationship with CodeVA. Finally, PD and research-partnership strategies will be disseminated through online resources (i.e., video library, online training modules), presentations at local and national conferences, and peer reviewed manuscripts.
Faculty from George Mason University and Old Dominion University created a Researcher Practitioner Partnership with personnel from Norfolk City Public Schools (NCPS) that will use a Design Based Implementation Research (DBIR) process to refine an effective PD model to support elementary teachers in inclusive classrooms in integrating recently-mandated CS standards into math, science, and literacy instruction in ways accessible to students with high-incidence disabilities (e.g. learning disabilities, emotional or behavioral disorders, mild intellectual disability, high functioning autism, and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder). Theoretically and conceptually, the research will contribute to pedagogical strategies and approaches for integrating computer science and understanding how elementary teachers understand CS standards and approach CS integration. The Universal Design for Learning instructional framework will guide the implementation team and partner educators to design instruction to meet the needs of all learners, including those with disabilities, by addressing barriers to learning. The research will examine CS sequencing through grade-appropriate progressions by drawing on the expert insights of elementary classroom teachers. The project will also develop disciplinary literacy through CS as students use various strategies to read, write, and communicate their understanding within and among various disciplines. Combined, these efforts will help answer the overarching question: How do multiple stakeholders collaboratively refine and develop effective and sustainable PD on the integration of computer science in K-5 inclusive classrooms to support students with high incidence disabilities? The project will collect data via interviews with teachers, field notes from observations, teacher assessment & survey results, verbal protocol data, teacher lesson plans, video data, and student work samples across 6-week iterative cycles as part of the DBIR process. Analysis of interviews, observations, lesson plans, and verbal protocol think-alouds in each cycle will rely on the constant-comparative qualitative method. Analysis of data from pre-post measures will include descriptive statistics and paired-sample t-test to measure the growth of teachers through the PD.
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.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
The rapid development of new computer science (CS) standards for elementary students has created a need for significant changes in elementary grade instruction. This is particularly true in states where the standards are written to indicate that CS should be integrated into existing content area instruction such as literacy, math, and science, rather than taught as an isolated subject. Yet, knowledge about how to best teach CS concepts to elementary grade students, particularly students with disabilities, is still developing. To address this challenge, we designed and studied a model of professional development (PD) and lessons aimed at preparing elementary school teachers to integrate CS into content area instruction, with an emphasis on supporting students with high-incidence disabilities. High-incidence disabilities are the most common disabilities, including learning disabilities, emotional and behavioral disorders, mild intellectual disabilities, high-functioning autism, and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.
The primary goals for this study were to: (1) Determine and respond to the challenges faced by teachers in inclusive classrooms when integrating CS into instruction for students with diverse needs, including those with high-incidence disabilities; (2) Determine a developmentally appropriate progression for integrating the Virginia CS Standards of Learning into literacy instruction; 3) Study the effectiveness of the Inclusive CS model of professional development to maximally support K-5 teachers in inclusive classrooms in integrating the Virginia CS Standards of Learning into literacy instruction for all learners, including those with high-incidence disabilities; and 4) Identify effective support methods and adaptations for teaching CS to K-5 students with high-incidence disabilities, incorporating the principles of Universal Design for Learning.
Through the design-based research process, the project team developed and studied a refined a model of computer science professional development that was based on teachers? challenges, experiences, and reflections as they engaged in the professional development. We aimed to understand the factors that inhibited and enhanced teachers? participation in the professional development and how participation in the professional development influenced teachers? instruction and perceptions about teaching computer science to students with disabilities. Our refined model, the Inclusive CS Model of Professional Development, includes a series of six online modules, participation in professional learning communities, and ongoing reflection and discussion opportunities to prepare elementary teachers to teach foundational computational thinking and computer science concepts by integrating them with literacy concepts. Our findings indicate that teachers? teachers? knowledge, comfort, beliefs, and perceptions about teaching CS to students with disabilities significantly improved after participating in the professional development. Further, teachers? knowledge and understanding of Universal Design for Learning for supporting students in learning about CS also improved.
Additionally, the project team worked with K-5 teachers to develop and pilot a series of five multi-day lessons for grades K-5 that reflect our findings on developmentally appropriate progressions of skills for each grade level. These lessons were developed with a focus on Universal Design for Learning principles to provide multiple means of engagement, representation, and action and expression in each lesson. This design approach was selected as a means of providing instruction that all students, including those with high-incidence disabilities, could engage in. Findings revealed that K-5 teachers found these lessons to be usable, useful, and interesting for K-5 students, including those with high-incidence disabilities.
The lessons designed through this study integrated computational thinking and coding skills with literacy skills in the following ways: (1) connecting word patterns to the types of patterns and loops used in programming, (2) connecting the reading comprehension skill of story sequencing to the concepts of sequencing and selection in computer science, (3) connecting the reading comprehension skill of story retelling to the computer science concepts of decomposition and abstraction, (4) connecting the reading comprehension skills of story sequencing and retelling to the step-by-step instructions created through algorithms, and (5) connecting the process of composing a story to the process of programming an animation. Findings revealed that connecting CS instruction to familiar literacy concepts increased teachers? comfort in teaching CS to students with high-incidence disabilities and their perceptions of their abilities to teach CS to all students.
Last Modified: 10/18/2022
Modified by: Amy Hutchison
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