Education Commons^™

Computational Thinking Integration Into Middle Grades Science Classrooms: Strategies For Meeting The Challenges, Danielle Cadieux Boulden, Eric Wiebe, Bita Akram, Osman Aksit, Philip Sheridan Buffum, Bradford Mott, Kristy Elizabeth Boyer, James Lester

Middle Grades Review

This paper reports findings from the efforts of a university-based research team as they worked with middle school educators within formal school structures to infuse computer science principles and computational thinking practices. Despite the need to integrate these skills within regular classroom practices to allow all students the opportunity to learn these essential 21st Century skills, prior practice has been to offer these learning experiences outside of mainstream curricula where only a subset of students have access. We have sought to leverage elements of the research-practice partnership framework to achieve our project objectives of integrating computer science and computational thinking …