10 Block Scratch Activity

Activities
In this project, you will create a program using only 10 types of blocks. Use them once, twice, or multiple times, but you will use each block at least once.  You are encouraged to be as creative as you would like! Your only limitation is the type of blocks you can use for this program. Go to our starter project on Scratch website that has the 10 blocks you can useSpend 20 minutes creating any program you would like using only the 10 blocks in the program (Remember: You may use each block as many times as you would like. But every block must be used at least once!)If you would like to save your project, you can do it two ways at the top menu You can download the…
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Learning to Think Computationally: Unplugged and Plugged Activities

Activities
Over the last couple of years, we have been working with elementary teachers to ensure that all students having access to computer science ideas and practices early on in their education. Our teacher partners have been leveraging both unplugged (without a computing device) and plugged (with a computing device) activities to bring computer science into their classroom. We have focused this work under the broad umbrella of computational thinking, which includes practices that computer scientists and programmers engage in. We believe that it is important for elementary kids to develop these skills and what it means to think computationally. Some of these computational thinking practices include, problem decomposition (breaking problems into manageable sub-problems), algorithms (designing and using a sequence of instructions), abstraction (reducing complexity by focusing on most essential details),…
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Elementary teachers’ perspectives on computational thinking integration in mathematics and science

Research
In a recent study published in Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, we interviewed 12 elementary school teachers to probe their understanding of six computational thinking concepts and practices (abstraction, algorithmic thinking, automation, debugging, decomposition, and generalization) and how they see its connections to their math and science teaching. Our findings suggest that teachers see stronger connections between CT and their mathematics instruction than between CT and their science instruction. However, teachers have concerns about bringing CT into their teaching due to limited class time and the difficulties of addressing CT in developmentally appropriate ways. We also found that the connections teachers draw between CT and their math and science instruction could be leveraged in professional development.
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Improving Computer Science Education in Michigan

News
A team of scholars from the Michigan State University College of Education will develop new methods to enhance computer science education in schools. The collaboration is funded by a nearly $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation. The team will work directly with the Oakland Intermediate School District to implement curriculum changes, focusing on minority and economically disadvantaged students to encourage their learning of the computer science field. Read more about the CT4EDU project on MSU Today
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