Share Paper: Examining the Impact of a Computational Thinking Intervention on Pre-service Elementary Science Teachers’ Computational Thinking Teaching Efficacy Beliefs, Interest and Confidence

  1. Erdogan Kaya, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, United States
  2. Hasan Deniz, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, United States
  3. Ezgi Yesilyurt, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, United States
  4. Anna Newley, Sonoran Schools, United States
Wednesday, March 20 10:45 AM-11:15 AM Wilshire B

Abstract: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) and Computer Science (CS) are the driving forces of the United States prosperity. While there is a high demand to close the gap in STEM+CS jobs, there is little research in K-12, especially in K-5 level. Elementary teachers lack of self-confidence in STEM+CS and there is limited number of teacher training. Here, Integrating Computational Thinking (CT) in elementary science classrooms comes into prominence. International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) and Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) emphasize that CT learning is an important part of the elementary curriculum. It ...