Computational Science combines computer simulations and knowledge from a science discipline to solve complex problems. While a decade ago computational science was rare and found mainly in research programs, today it is recommended even for K-12 education as an effective pedagogy for teaching science, math and computer science in context. However, science and math teachers are often not prepared well for their work with computers in K-12 classrooms. They may not be able to explain what is occurring within the computer applications used by their students. The investigators are developing a new course for students who plan to be K-12 teachers, called Computational Scientific Thinking and Modeling for Teachers. The course is designed to provide practical computation integrated into the scientific problem-solving paradigm and a contextual understanding of the important of computation. This will lead to better prepared teachers, to better informed students and to broader participation in computing.
The project represents a multi-institution collaboration among a computational physics educator, a science and math educator, an education foundation, a computational biologist and two community college science teachers. Course materials include online content and a collection of video-based modules. Student learning outcomes are being assessed and the results are being disseminated at national meetings for science and math teachers.
Science is increasingly following the computational science paradigm of using computers and mathematical models of scientific phenomena to advance our understanding of the physical world. Yet, even though teachers are often expected to teach science within this paradigm, rarely do the teachers, either in their pre-service and in service education, experience computational approaches to doing science. At present, the only college experience of many teachers is no more than one undergraduate computer science course. These courses are important for understanding how a computer works and how one might write computer programs, yet often leave untouched the computer’s use in science. When used in science teaching, computing often takes the form of using simulations in a classroom without any explanation of how the simulation works. Thus the computer and simulation are treated as proverbial "black boxes" that do not get looked inside of. The INSTANCES project introduced what we call Computational Scientific Thinking to teachers in their midst of their education and professional development. This framework assumes that computing is an integral part of the scientific process, a process that requires continual evaluation via comparison of theoretical predictions (mathematical models) to data, visualization and critical thought (Figure 1). Too often science is taught only as a collection of knowledge without the requisite tools and process for exploration. We have developed nine curricular modules that introduce critical concepts and mathematical models used to work with, analyze and understand observable phenomena using computational scientific thinking. These include: an introduction to the computer tools for the modules, computer precision, spontaneous decay, bacterial growth, bug population dynamics, random numbers, random walks and stone throwing. Although more modules were drafted (predator-prey, projectile-drag), our mutli-disciplinary team focused on creating a set of modules that could be implemented as a 10 week course. The materials are designed to be online or blended, i.e., combining online and face-to-face elements, in order for in-service teachers to take them while teaching in schools. The materials include programs within fundamentally different computing environments (Excel, Python and Vensim), lesson plans, references, instructor’s guide and background materials.
