Online professional development to support K-12 teachers’ computer science integration

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Abstract
As schools struggle to add computer science (CS) curricula and prepare students to be computationally literate, many have become interested in an integrated approach that uses CS concepts and tools to support learning in non-CS classrooms. This paper describes the creation and testing of free, flexible, online professional development resources for teachers who are interested in this integrated approach. The project’s first goal was to design and develop a series of online micro-courses and associated micro-credentials to prepare teachers across disciplines to integrate computing into their classroom activities. The second goal was to implement and examine the effectiveness of these resources to understand better how non-CS teachers learn and apply CS concepts. Results indicated that while participants did identify some barriers to the integration of CS in their classrooms, the professional development significantly increased participants’ general confidence that CS concepts and practices can be integrated into their content areas. Participants also demonstrated a burgeoning understanding of CS concepts and their relation to aspects of their content areas after relatively limited instruction.
Funding Information
  • National Science Foundation (2241914)

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