Understanding How Integrated Computational Thinking, Engineering Design, and Mathematics Can Help Students Solve Scientific and Technical Problems in Career Technical Education

University Of Toledo, Toledo OH

Investigators

Abstract

Can self-driving cars be hacked? Can US highways become even more dangerous? This project will engage students in learning how to design and program secure technologies for the future. Combining multiple theories, such as the fusion of activity theory, social constructivist learning theory, and project-based learning (PBL), as the conceptual framework for this study, the investigators will apply the Concerns Based Adoption Model (CBAM) to guide professional development that uses PBL to help grade 9-12 science teachers integrate computational thinking into their teaching. The project will use smart vehicles as a means to engage career technical education (CTE) and mathematics teachers, alongside with grade 9-12 students, and to better understand how to embed computational thinking in the curriculum. The program is designed to contribute meaningfully to the understanding of effective characteristics of professional development. The project is funded by the STEM+Computing program, which seeks to address emerging challenges in computational STEM areas through the applied integration of computational thinking and computing activities within disciplinary STEM teaching and learning in early childhood education through high school (preK-12). This project will investigate whether a PBL focused topic is an effective medium for making mathematics more engaging and relevant to students. The investigation will address common concerns inhibiting teacher enactment of computational thinking in mathematics and CTE, and whether a relationship exists between teachers' CBAM score and implementation of PBL. The practice of developing collaborative partnerships between mathematics and CTE teachers to design and test their courses employing PBL techniques is unique and may serve as a powerful and replicable model for making mathematics more relevant to students.