Chapter 4: Teachers’ Knowledge and Skills in Computational Thinking and their Enactment of a Computationally Rich Curriculum

The integration of computer science (CS) and computational thinking (CT) in science classes has been promoted as a strategy to engage all students in CS education. This approach aims to level inequities in access to computing education by placing CS education within compulsory science classes. Project GUTS’ CS in Science curriculum supports the integration of CT-rich computer modeling and simulation activities into middle school science classrooms. It has been promoted to serve the dual goals of exposing students to CS as a powerful tool for understanding scientific phenomena while simultaneously promoting students’ understanding of modern scientific practices. Yet full implementation of this curriculum that promotes the use, modification, and creation of computer models of scientific phenomena has been challenging for many middle school science teachers. In this chapter, we describe the National Science Foundation funded Teachers with GUTS program that investigated the supports and experiences needed to prepare middle school science teachers as computational thinkers capable of implementing the CS in Science curriculum. We discuss the professional development (PD) program, the learning objectives of the program, and how it sought to expand teachers’ knowledge and skills as computational thinkers over the course of 1 year. Using a mixed methods approach, we first describe correlations between teachers’ PD participation hours, their knowledge and skills in CT, and the number of CS in Science activities they implemented. Subsequently, we present two case studies that illustrate how teachers of varying levels of CT knowledge and skills enacted the curriculum to meet their instructional goals. Finally, we discuss the implications of these findings on teacher professional development programs that aim to prepare in-service science teachers to infuse CS and CT into middle school science classrooms.