Thank you for watching our video on Time4CS, a collaborative group formed by Broward County Public Schools, the 6th largest in the Nation, and Outlier Research and Evaluation. In our original grant we created two interdisciplinary science and social studies modules that integrated STEM and computer science into a problem-based learning format for 3rd - 5th grades. This year, we took the feedback from the participating teachers and coaches, as well as the research analysis, to revise our 4th grade modules. This revised module now better meets the needs of the classroom teacher while still integrating computer science in a plugged and unplugged format that makes explicit connections to the curriculum. Our goal being that CS and STEM should not be an "extra thing" that teachers must teach, but rather a resource that allows deeper learning of Florida's 4th grade standards that could be demonstrated in a problem-based learning format.

Join us as we challenge students to use their understanding of life science and civic engagement standards to tackle the question of the invasive Burmese python in the Florida Everglades. They will showcase their learning by creating a Scratch simulation and using argumentation to share their point of view. Could this approach be used in your district? Could it be integrated into a different grade level? Would the use of blended learning professional development strategies be adequate to prepare educators to teach CS integration?

Thanks so much for sharing this work (and also, for sharing the fact that there are now pythons in the Everglades!).  I couldn't quite tell from the video - are the teachers themselves doing design work for the new 4th grade modules?  Or has your development team created the revised modules? Thanks.

This work looks really interesting, thanks for sharing! We are working in a similar space, examining integration of CS/CT in middle school science classrooms. It's really exciting to see others doing similar work in elementary classrooms.

Your project abstract mentioned that you measured achievement and attitudes towards STEM and CS in the initial project--I'd love to hear more about the measures you chose, whether you needed to modify them to suit your study, and of course what you discovered! 

I'm also curious about how your team approaches the application of science concepts in the Scratch models. Did you create custom models for each disciplinary topic? 

Thanks for sharing your work!

In my experience, it's always a challenge to balance the structure vs. flexibility when designing these types of resources for teachers, particularly when you seem to be targeting multiple subject areas. Can you share any tips or lessons you learned from undertaking this revision to design something more flexible for the teachers?

Thanks,
Gerad

Thanks for sharing this interesting work! Implementing the program in a large school district can definitely help with the impact evaluation in different ways such as increasing the sample size, finding a matched-comparison group, etc. I would like to know more about these information. Could you share more information on the outcomes you looked at, instruments used to measure the outcomes, and analytic approach (e.g., pre-post comparison) to measure the impact?

Thanks very much for your interest!  We matched our schools based on a range of characteristics (e.g. socio-demographic data, achievement data, size, etc.) and then randomly assigned each school to either treatment or comparison.

I outlined some of the measures above in my response to Ari, but there is much more to tell. In addition to the outcome measures, we also used our approach to measuring implementation to obtain more detailed information. In addition to knowing “whether” the modules “worked” or not, we were able to better understand which parts of the modules had the highest associations with student outcomes as well as any interaction effects occurring based on student socio-demographic characteristics.  Our approach to implementation measurement also enabled us to measure teaching practices that occurred in both, treatment and comparison classrooms so we could account for them in our analyses. 

As for the analyses themselves, as you noted, the Time4CS study involved a pre-post research design, which collected data from multiple reporters (i.e., students and teachers). Collecting data from both students and teachers enabled us to use hierarchical linear modeling (HLM). HLM enabled us to account for the fact that students are “nested” within classrooms where they are all exposed to the same teacher and his/her teaching practices.  In addition, because both students and teachers provided data, we were able to examine associations, using HLM, between teachers’ reports of the use of different teaching practices and students’ academic achievement and attitudinal outcomes. These associations helped create a more holistic understanding of how teachers’ behaviors impact student outcomes.  

We use a theory-based approach to implementation measurement – I’d be happy to direct you to some publications and/or to talk with you directly – jcentury@uchicago.edu.

Your collaborative efforts have produced a program that is changing the way students learn.  I am so impressed with the fluidity between programming and science as well as the integration of purposeful writing.  When a program works so smoothly and looks so effortless, you know a GREAT DEAL of work has taken place behind the scenes.  Thank you!

You are clearly well attuned to the teachers in the projects and have used their feedback as a basis for the revision process.  I’m more familiar with secondary schools where teachers sometimes take new ideas and techniques and apply them in quite divergent ways, maybe not always as intended and thus their implementations are hard to evaluate, let alone capture and share.  I’m curious about the contributions of the teachers in designing the materials.  Was that a reasonable expectation?   Of course, teachers involved in the creative processes and project leadership might help sustain the project beyond funding.  Doyou feel there will there be ongoing support from the school district going forward?