In this episode I discuss an approach I’ve used for encouraging critical thinking and dialogue through individualized feedback and group discussion.
Read MoreIn this episode I unpack Obermüller, Greifenstein, and Fraser’s (2023) publication titled “Effects of automated feedback in Scratch programming tutorials,” which investigates the impact of two different types of hint generating approaches among two different classes.
Read MoreIn this episode I unpack Tobias, Campbell, and Greco’s (2015) publication titled “Bringing curriculum to life: Enacting project-based learning in music programs” to explore how computer science educators could incorporate project-based learning in their classroom.
Read MoreIn this episode I talk about how you can use Liz Lerman’s Critical Response Process to encourage feedback and dialogue among students around the projects they create.
Read MoreIn this episode I unpack Eisner’s (2002) publication titled “Educational aims, objectives, and other aspirations,” which problematizes behavioral education objectives and discuss two alternative approaches.
Read MoreIn this episode I unpack Koshy et al.’s (2022) publication titled “Moving towards a vision of equitable computer science: Results of a landscape of PreK-12 CS teachers in the United States,” which provides recommendations for the field based on a landscape study of CS educators in the United States.
Read MoreIn this episode I read and unpack my (2019) publication titled “Assessment Considerations: A Simple Heuristic,” which is intended to serve as a heuristic for creating or selecting an assessment.
Read MoreIn this episode I unpack Scott’s (2012) publication titled “Rethinking the roles of assessment in music education,” which summarizes three roles of assessment (assessment of learning, assessment for learning, and assessment as learning) that I discuss in relation to computer science education.
Read MoreIn this episode I discuss some example questions we can ask to encourage kids to think deeper about computer science and computational thinking by unpacking two papers on using guiding questions in mathematics education. The first paper paper by Way (2014) is titled “Using questioning to stimulate mathematical thinking” and the second paper by Pennant (2018) is titled “Developing a classroom culture that supports a problem-solving approach to mathematics.”
Read MoreIn this interview with Sofía De Jesús, we discuss Sofía’s book (Applied Computational Thinking with Python: Design algorithmic solutions for complex and challenging real-world problems), the importance of bringing your full self into the classroom, designing for equity and inclusion, working with individuals one-on-one rather than teaching to group averages, problematizing grades in education, collaborating with educators, and much more.
Read MoreIn this episode I unpack Tsan, Boyer, and Lynch’s (2016) publication titled “How early does the CS gender gap emerge? A study of collaborative problem solving in 5th grade computer science,” which investigates the potential impact of gendered groups on the quality of completed Scratch projects in an in-school computer science class for 5th grade students.
Read MoreIn this interview with Amy Ko, we discuss the importance of mentorship in education, learning what not to do with teaching, the positive results of being vulnerable, understanding and exploring the limitations and consequences of CS, problematizing grades in education, practicing teaching through mental simulations, the importance of engaging in the CS community, and much more.
Read MoreIn this episode I unpack Denning’s (2017) publication titled “Remaining trouble spots with computational thinking: Addressing unresolved questions concerning computational thinking,” which answers three questions: what is computational thinking, how do we measure students’ computational abilities, and is computational thinking good for everyone?
Read MoreIn this interview with GT Wrobel, we discuss the importance of understanding your “why” behind pedagogical approaches and curriculum design, the internal tensions that arise when designing curriculum used by people around the world, the potential for standards and assessment to be a form of oppression, how feedback impacts the evolution of a curriculum, considerations when designing culturally relevant curricula that is used around the world, aligning curriculum development with professional development, the importance of taking a break to prevent burnout, where we hope the field goes in the next few years, and much more.
Read MoreIn this interview with Shuchi Grover, we discuss the importance of having a variety of assessments in a CS class, why we need more research on computational thinking, why educators and scholars should read literature outside of the field, Shuchi’s new book titled “Computer Science in K-12: An A-To-Z Handbook on Teaching Programming,” and much more.
Read MoreIn this episode I unpack Graves and DeLyser’s (2017) article titled “Interested In Class, But Not In The Hallway: A Latent Class Analysis (LCA) of 2015-16 CS4All Student Surveys,” which highlights that although many of the 1,525 survey respondents expressed an interest in computer science in the classroom settings, they did not choose to engage in CS outside of the classroom.
Read MoreIn this episode I unpack Werner, Denner, Campe, and Torres’ (2020) article titled “Computational sophistication of games programmed by children: A model for its measurement,” which unpacks how the authors updated the game computational sophistical (GCS) model to account for computational learning evident within 39 games development by pairs of middle school children.
Read MoreIn this episode I unpack Allsup and Baxter’s (2004) publication titled “Talking about music: Better questions? Better discussions!” which is a short article that discusses open, guided, and closed questions, as well as a framework for encouraging critical thinking through questions. Although this article is published in a music education journal, I discuss potential implications for computer science educators.
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