Tuesday, April 12
4:45 PM-5:15 PM
PDT
Shorebreak

Using Word Clouds to Uncover Preservice Teachers’ Understanding of Computational Thinking in the Context of Teacher Education Coursework

Full Paper (F2F) ID: 61152
  1. aaa
    Lien Vu
    University of Delaware
  2. aaa
    Bataul Alkhateeb
    University of Delaware
  3. Megean Garvin
    University System of Maryland
  4. aaa
    Chrystalla Mouza
    University of Delaware

Computational thinking (CT) is important for many 21st century skills. It involves being able to decompose problems, think abstractly, and use technology for automating processes. The current research study is part of a multi-year project that seeks to develop, implement, and evaluate a regional collaborative partnership for infusing CT in preservice teacher education across the Mid-Atlantic region. Participants included preservice teachers (N=184) enrolled in courses delivered by teacher educators (n=17) who attended a CT-focused professional development program. Data was collected through open-ended survey responses before and after participation in a CT-integrated learning module within a teacher education course. Open-ended responses were analyzed in R to create word clouds. Results indicate that participants strengthened their understanding of CT and the role of technology in developing school students CT skills. Word clouds illustrate similarities and differences among preservice teachers enrolled in STEM and non-STEM teacher education courses.

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