The National Science Foundation鈥檚 STEM+Computing Partnership (STEM+C) program has awarded 天天吃瓜 a three-year, $700,608 grant to promote computational thinking among students who are preparing to become teachers.
The grant, which takes effect in October 2016, will fund a project titled , which seeks to advance new approaches to鈥攁nd evidence-based understanding of鈥攖he integration of computing in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) teaching and learning, as well as broadening participation in computing and computing-intensive fields.
The goal of the project is to integrate computational thinking and coding across the science and math curriculum for middle and elementary school pre-service teachers in the (MSTQE) program at Northeastern.
MSTQE is a bridge program in which students from Wright College and Truman College take courses at Northeastern but identify with the Chicago City Colleges (CCC) as their 鈥渉ome鈥 institution. Northeastern and CCC students take courses together and are given the opportunity to interact with faculty from both institutions.
鈥淲e are excited to incorporate computer science concepts in science and math pre-service teachers鈥 classrooms,鈥 said Computer Science Assistant Professor , who applied for the grant with Assistant Professor of Mathematics , Biology Professor , Physics Professor and Associate Professor of Educational Inquiry and Curriculum Studies and . 鈥淥ur students can use these skills in their future classrooms, which means more elementary and middle school children will be exposed to computer science and it really will be Computer Science for All!鈥
Two initiatives will accomplish the curriculum integration: computing and computational thinking will be incorporated into mathematics and science courses for pre-service elementary and middle grade teachers. Additionally, two new courses are being developed, which will be required for all MSTQE students.
The program will be directed by Heather Patay, program director of the Math and Science Concepts minor for Elementary and Middle School Teaching.
