Playlist: DRK-12 Videos Playlist 2022
Videos made by projects funded by the NSF DRK-12 program from the 2022 Video Showcase.
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Discussion from the 2022 STEM For All Video Showcase (14 posts)
Michael Berson
Professor, Social Science Education
Welcome to our Reaching Across the Hallway project! We hope that you enjoy watching our video and hear from our amazing participating teachers. We are focusing on powerful connections highlighting the integration of computer science and social studies into rural middle schools in Virginia.
Rebecca Dovi
Anita Crowder
Anita Crowder
Innovative project integrating social studies and computer science. I love the feedback from the teachers. Thank you for sharing!
Rebecca Dovi
Michael Berson
Debra Bernstein
Senior Researcher
Thank you, Anita!
Michael Berson
Catherine McCulloch
Senior Project Director
Thank you for the video. I'm curious about what you're learning about this model and the outcomes. Has there been anything that's surprised you so far?
Rebecca Dovi
Michael Berson
Michael Berson
Professor, Social Science Education
We have been excited to see all of the potential intersections between social studies and computer science; however, we also have noted the complexity of navigating the disciplinary specific ways of knowing that guide practice in the classroom. Exploring these intersections requires flexibility in thinking, planning, and implementation. Teachers in rural communities may be more isolated from peers, and benefit from shared communities of practice that promote innovation.
Rebecca Dovi
Michael Berson
Denice Blair
Great project! I love the focus on helping teachers develop ways to engage students with data, especially with looking at questions and results from various perspectives. There are so many online data sources available that would be informative for students to explore. As a museum educator who focuses a lot on history and culture, I can see how your project supports teachers in getting students excited about history - a definite win!
Rebecca Dovi
Michael Berson
Debra Bernstein
Senior Researcher
Thank you, Denice, for your comment. In this coming year, data and analysis will be one of our focal concepts in the teacher workshops. We are excited about the possibilities too!
Rebecca Dovi
Michael Berson
Mike Szydlowski
K-12 Science Coordinator
Thank you for this great project summary! Now that this has been explored, I would love to hear about a future project idea one or more of the teachers have.
Michael Berson
Michael Berson
Professor, Social Science Education
Mike- Thank you for the note. We are continuing to explore meaningful intersections between computer science and the social studies content. In their lesson design a few of the teachers have been looking at cybersecurity with connections to historical events.
Michael Berson
Debra Bernstein
Senior Researcher
Thanks, Mike. To add to Michael's comment, other teachers have examined sequences of activities (like the steps of how a bill becomes a law) and compared these sequences to algorithms.
David Campbell
Program Officer, retired
This is an interesting idea. Who do you think has benefitted the most, computer science teachers who have learned applications of computer skills, or history teachers who have learned the utility of CS for analyzing data?
Michael Berson
Michael Berson
Professor, Social Science Education
Fortunately we are seeing benefits for both social science teachers and computer science teachers. Our project focuses on rural middle schools where collaboration is critical in daily instructional operations.
Michael Berson
Maria (Mia) Ong
These narratives are powerful testimonies about how the project is changing both teachers' skill set and the way they teach. I'm curious to know what you think is unique about rural contexts for your project objectives. What might be the same, and what might be different compared to, say, urban contexts? Also, what implications for inclusion and equity do you see for this work?
Michael Berson
Michael Berson
Professor, Social Science Education
Great questions! In some of our schools there may only be one or two social studies teachers. Due to the size/population numbers there may only be just one faculty member teaching a given social studies topic (i.e. American History I or American History II). Building community through collaboration is a very important aspect of our project. Additionally some of our rural divisions (districts) are located a great distance from each other. We have been effective using digital collaboration tools to bring the participants together.
Michael Berson
Further posting is closed as the event has ended.