EcoMOD: Integrating Computational Thinking into Ecosystems Science Education via Modeling in Immersive Virtual Worlds (Abstract Only)

In recent years, the field of education has challenged researchers and practitioners to incorporate computing as an essential focus of K12 STEM education. Widely recognized as a "basic skill" necessary for economic opportunity and social mobility, integrating computing within K12 STEM supports learners of all ages in applying computational thinking within established and accessible contexts while co-developing practices essential to mathematical and scientific expertise. The EcoMOD project is an example of such an integration. In EcoMOD, immersive virtual environments are blended with interactive computational modeling tools designed specifically for younger children in an attempt to support ecological knowledge, complex causal reasoning and computational creation in third grade students. Our curricular design is grounded in the Science-as-Practice perspective and literature on young children's computing. In this proposal, we present outcomes from early pilot work with 35 third graders across the greater Boston area. This work has implications for designers of educational technologies by illuminating aspects of children's understanding that researchers and designers can leverage to support deeper and earlier understandings of ecological dynamics and computational practices.