Foundations for advancing computational thinking [electronic resource] : balanced designs for deeper learning in an online computer science course for middle school students
Keywords: Education.

In middle and high schools across the US, misperceptions and lack of awareness about computer science (CS) lead to a lack of interest in this growing field. Poor introductory experiences to computing have also been known to result in high dropout rates in college for CS majors. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics about the growth of computing jobs magnifies this schism between opportunity and capacity. Appropriate experiences with computing during the K-12 years could help address this problem and broaden the CS pipeline. Additionally, in a world infused with computing, 'computational thinking' (CT) skills are seen as key for all citizens in the digital age, not only computer scientists. Among other skills, CT entails thinking logically, recognizing patterns and abstractions, and understanding how to systematically break down a problem and then compose an algorithmic solution. It is argued that those in possession of computational competencies will be better positioned to understand and take advantage of a world with ubiquitous computing. There is a growing belief that experiences with computing must start in middle school, as those years are formative and especially key for cognitive, social and personal development in the K-12 schooling journey. The driving goal of this research was to create and test an introductory CS course inspired by the recently developed high school Exploring Computer Science (ECS) curriculum (http://www.exploringcs.org/). Titled 'Foundations for Advancing Computational Thinking' (or FACT), this course aims to prepare and motivate middle school learners for future engagement with computational thinking, a skill set considered crucial in a world with ubiquitous computing. To address the acute shortage of teachers adequately prepared to teach CS in K-12, FACT was also created as a self-contained 6-week course on Stanford's OpenEdX MOOC platform for blended in-class learning experiences that leverage the affordances of the online platform and the social context of the classroom. Unique aspects of FACT include balanced pedagogical designs that address the cognitive, interpersonal and intrapersonal aspects of 'deeper learning'; a focus on 'expansive framing' and 'Preparation for Future Learning' (PFL) for mediating and assessing for transfer; curricular strategies for remedying misperceptions of computing; and a "system of assessments" (that include formative and summative quizzes, directed as well as open-ended, authentic programming assignments, and a PFL test to assess for transfer), to get a comprehensive picture of deeper computational learning in students. The empirical inquiry aimed to answer the following research questions: • What is the variation across learners in achieving desired outcomes through the FACT curriculum, specifically the learning of algorithmic flow of control- (a) serial execution (b) looping constructs and (c) conditional logic? • Does the curriculum promote an understanding of algorithmic concepts that goes deeper than tool-related syntax details as measured by PFL assessments? • What is the change in the perception of the discipline of CS as a result of the FACT curriculum? The course was empirically tested in a public middle school classroom over two iterations of a design-based research (DBR) effort; the first one being largely face-to-face, and the second using the online version of FACT created on Stanford OpenEdX in a blended classroom setting. In their role as "design partners", the key stakeholders in this research--the teacher and students--provided extensive feedback on the course experience. The online course and second study benefited from the feedback provided during and following the first iteration. Results from the pre-post study design suggest that all students in both studies achieved substantial learning gains in computational thinking skills that they were also able to transfer to a text-based programming context, as well as a significant growth towards a mature understanding of computing as a discipline. Students in the online version did better than those in the face-to-face one on some metrics. It is conjectured that this is attributable to course refinements guided by DBR. Quantitative analyses on the data included within-subject comparisons of pre-post tests in both studies, a comparative analysis of the data from the two studies, as well as multi-variate regressions to understand the factors that influenced learning outcomes overall. Mixed-method analyses were conducted to study growth in students' perceptions of computing as a discipline. Qualitative analyses of student projects and artifact-based interviews were also conducted to investigate the challenges the lowest performing students may have experienced with the materials and assessments. With its balanced design of individual and social in its wide array of online and blended core learning mechanics, activities, assessments and performances of understanding, FACT succeeded in its a priori desired goals of promoting deeper, transferable learning of introductory computing concepts to middle school students.