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Use, Modify, Create: Comparing Computational Thinking Lesson Progressions for STEM Classes

Authors:

Nicholas Lytle,

Veronica Cateté,

Danielle Boulden,

Jennifer Houchins,

Alexandra Milliken,

Dolly Bounajim,

Tiffany BarnesAuthors Info & Claims

ITiCSE '19: Proceedings of the 2019 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education

Pages 395 - 401

https://doi.org/10.1145/3304221.3319786

Published: 02 July 2019 Publication History

Abstract

Computational Thinking (CT) is being infused into curricula in a variety of core K-12 STEM courses. As these topics are being introduced to students without prior programming experience and are potentially taught by instructors unfamiliar with programming and CT, appropriate lesson design might help support both students and teachers. "Use-Modify-Create" (UMC), a CT lesson progression, has students ease into CT topics by first "Using" a given artifact, "Modifying" an existing one, and then eventually "Creating" new ones. While studies have presented lessons adopting and adapting this progression and advocating for its use, few have focused on evaluating UMC's pedagogical effectiveness and claims. We present a comparison study between two CT lesson progressions for middle school science classes. Students participated in a 4-day activity focused on developing an agent-based simulation in a block-based programming environment. While some classrooms had students develop code on days 2-4, others used a scaffolded lesson plan modeled after the UMC framework. Through analyzing student's exit tickets, classroom observations, and teacher interviews, we illustrate differences in perception of assignment difficulty from both the students and teachers, as well as student perception of artifact "ownership" between conditions.

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Cited By

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https://doi.org/10.1017/S0956796824000182
İzci K(2025)Promoting Computational Thinking Through STEM EducationIntegrating Computational Thinking Through Design-Based Learning10.1007/978-981-96-0853-9_10(167-191)Online publication date: 3-Jan-2025
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-96-0853-9_10
A. Tesfamicael SFarsani D(2024)Creating a Culturally Responsive Mathematics Education: The Case of Gebeta Game in EthiopiaSTEM Education - Recent Developments and Emerging Trends10.5772/intechopen.114007Online publication date: 29-May-2024
https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.114007
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Index Terms

Use, Modify, Create: Comparing Computational Thinking Lesson Progressions for STEM Classes
1. Social and professional topics
  1. Professional topics
    1. Computing education
      1. Computational thinking
      2. K-12 education

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cover image ACM Conferences

ITiCSE '19: Proceedings of the 2019 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education

July 2019

583 pages

ISBN:9781450368957

DOI:10.1145/3304221

General Chairs:
Bruce Scharlau
University of Aberdeen, UK
,
Roger McDermott
Robert Gordon University, UK
,
Program Chairs:
Arnold Pears
KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden
,
Mihaela Sabin
University of New Hampshire, USA

Copyright © 2019 ACM.

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Published: 02 July 2019

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ITiCSE '19: Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education

July 15 - 17, 2019

Aberdeen, Scotland Uk

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Overall Acceptance Rate 552 of 1,613 submissions, 34%

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https://doi.org/10.1017/S0956796824000182
İzci K(2025)Promoting Computational Thinking Through STEM EducationIntegrating Computational Thinking Through Design-Based Learning10.1007/978-981-96-0853-9_10(167-191)Online publication date: 3-Jan-2025
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-96-0853-9_10
A. Tesfamicael SFarsani D(2024)Creating a Culturally Responsive Mathematics Education: The Case of Gebeta Game in EthiopiaSTEM Education - Recent Developments and Emerging Trends10.5772/intechopen.114007Online publication date: 29-May-2024
https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.114007
Ria R(2024)Computational Thinking Assessment: Bibliometric Analysis-VOSviewerJurnal Simki Pedagogia10.29407/jsp.v7i1.3437:1(305-316)Online publication date: 10-Jun-2024
https://doi.org/10.29407/jsp.v7i1.343
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Pajchel KAalbergsjø SKarlsen NHenriksen ESollid PSwensen HBrevik B(2024)8. BESt i naturfag: Bruke-Endre-Skape-tilnærmingen til programmeringskompetanse for naturfaglærerstudenterFra forskningsfronten til klasserommet10.18261/9788215069548-24-08(167-189)Online publication date: 7-Nov-2024
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Thomas MElmore EChavez BRuth RAvery CCukier MCateté VMonga MLonati VBarendsen ESheard JPaterson J(2024)Equitable Access to Cybersecurity Education: A Case Study of Underserved Middle School StudentsProceedings of the 2024 on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education V. 110.1145/3649217.3653581(625-632)Online publication date: 3-Jul-2024
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Tabarsi BReichert HLytle NCatete VBarnes T(2024)Scaffolding Novices: Analyzing When and How Parsons Problems Impact Novice Programming in an Integrated Science AssignmentProceedings of the 2024 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research - Volume 110.1145/3632620.3671110(42-54)Online publication date: 12-Aug-2024
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Galanti THolincheck N(2024) Integrating computational thinking in elementary STEM using the engineering design process School Science and Mathematics10.1111/ssm.12638124:4(279-286)Online publication date: 21-Feb-2024
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de Araújo A(2024)An Interactive Web Environment to Foster Learning Programming at the High School Level2024 International Symposium on Computers in Education (SIIE)10.1109/SIIE63180.2024.10604444(1-6)Online publication date: 19-Jun-2024
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