Running head: CS PD for ELementary Teachers

Executive Summary.....................................................................................4
Introduction/Background.............................................................................6
Problem description (gap analysis)..........................................................7
Target Audience.......................................................................................9
Environmental Scan/Industry Trends......................................................9
Relevant Research.................................................................................10
Solution Description..................................................................................11
Goals of the Project................................................................................11
Learning Objectives...............................................................................12
Proposed Solution..................................................................................12
Learning Theories/Instructional Principles............................................13
Instructional Strategies and Justification...............................................16
Media Components................................................................................18
Anticipated Challenges..........................................................................19
Narrative for Design and Development.................................................20

CS PD for ELementary Teachers

Steps to Finish Project...........................................................................21

Timeline/Progress Report..........................................................................22
Milestones..............................................................................................22
Evaluation/Testing Plan.............................................................................23
Formative Evaluation.............................................................................23
Summative Evaluation...........................................................................23
References..................................................................................................25

CS PD for ELementary Teachers

Executive Summary
Coding, computational thinking, and computer programming are viewed by some
in education as the new literacy. Thought leaders and organizations are concerned
that students need these skills to succeed in a competitive global job environment.
Teachers need to understand and grasp this driving force in our culture which is
now connected with almost all daily activity in our modern lives. Teachers
without grasping the concepts and the ability to incorporate and create lessons in
their classroom will be doing their students a disservice and putting them at a
disadvantage. It is key for the teachers to see and the students to understand that
without this understanding they will be left behind and view everyday technology
as something to consume rather than something utilized to express their thinking
and creativity with. The intended capstone project will fulfill the needs of teacher
professional development while still allowing them the freedom to choose from a
plethora of tools and concepts to teach age appropriate computer science concepts
in their everyday curriculum planning and instructional design.
Keywords: computer science, elementary teachers, coding

CS PD for ELementary Teachers

Computer Science Professional Development eLearning for Elementary Teachers

Introduction/Background
In the current approaches to incorporating the Common Core State
Standards (CCSS) and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) in
education at the elementary level, the importance of computer coding and
computational thinking comes up often as a means of helping students meet the
skills and strategies they need. Fortunately, in todays current state of technology
there are many developmentally appropriate tools that can be utilized beginning in
Kindergarten up through the fifth grade that can help the students do just that. For
example, one skill that we are asking students to participate more in is reflecting
on their own thinking which Seymour Papert proposed computer programming
excels at (Papert, 1980). Coding is becoming the new lingua franca, like French
was in the 19th century, and English in the 20th, for the 21st century. In the
Cupertino school district, the need to meet the new NGSS has led to the need for
creating professional development modules for teachers on computer science and
coding. This is so that they can incorporate lessons in-between the regular Full
Option Science System (FOSS) and later other subject matter areas during the
course of the school year.
My MIST Capstone project will involve solving this need for students to
have access to coding and computer science concepts by helping to prepare
teachers to incorporate them in their classrooms. Teachers will be introduced to
coding concepts that can be taught in Kindergarten up through fifth grade by
looking at the scope and sequence, tools, and lesson plan ideas. Currently the
plan is to have a primary focus on what are called graphical interfaces for iPads
and computers as these allow for children to focus on what they are programming
by dragging blocks to a designated area of the screen. The blocks are combined
to create an action such as move a character on screen, play a sound, or make an

CS PD for ELementary Teachers

interactive animation. This type of programming based on visual symbols have

been found to be very engaging and make the act of programming more
captivating with the use of a multimedia interface (Mahadevan, Freeman, &
Magerko, 2016). Earlier studies which relied upon text based programming using
Logos instead of a visual one indicated that while students gained important
metacognitive skills, some students at the primary grades were not
developmentally prepared for this type of programming (D. L. Brown, 1996).
Also based on several frameworks that are currently being created and posted by
school districts and organizations such as K12CS, the sixth grade seems to be a
general cutoff for beginning to introduce a command line or typing interface
rather than a graphics based one.

Problem description (gap analysis)

Cupertino school district, like some other suburban, high socio-economic, public
school districts, has benefitted from extremely high state test scores (four
elementary schools placing in the top ten for the state of California with the rest
of the school sites in the top 50 in 2013) (LAtimes 2013) and continued high
enrollment due to being a destination district. Along with these positive
measurements for academic achievement has come some complacency to change
teaching practices and incorporate technology. These factors combine with others
to create a low rate of adoption of technology. Another factor is high new teacher
turnover which means that these new teachers after spending their first few years
learning to use the state adopted textbooks and materials and afterwards
potentially being open to incorporating technology are leaving the profession or
the district because of the high cost of living factors in Silicon Valley such as real
estate. Older teachers who have been teaching many years may because of their
age tend to be less enthusiastic towards changing well established teaching
practices. Teacher attitudes and beliefs have long been connected with the degree

CS PD for ELementary Teachers

of incorporation of technology in the classroom. Several studies such as those by

Pallak and Wall (Palak and Walls 2009) have found statistically significant
differences when looking at these factors. In particular programming and coding
incorporation into the classroom were one of several areas specifically found to be
influenced. Looking at a breakdown of technology skills and practices being
taught and incorporated into classrooms, coding, computer science, and
computational thinking would seem to be fairly low on the list of needed student
skills at the elementary level in particular with typing speed, multi-media
presentations, and basic operating skills given priority. Also, another reason that
coding and programming tend to be the last type of technology skills being taught
to students is because while other skills such as multimedia may be used to create
content by the teachers, rarely is coding or computer science used by teachers for
their lessons. Groups such as Code.org have spent considerable time and effort in
the past few years stressing its importance with substantial outreach to teachers
and the bringing together of several edtech companies dedicated to teaching
computer science and coding concepts to children. Also, although the parent
community for the Cupertino district is composed of engineers and other high
tech workers, their own education, with many coming from locations such as
India, Taiwan, and China, was made up of more traditional educational practices.
Lastly, the Cupertino district and school board only within the last three years has
made daily technology usage and integration in all subject areas a key focus of
improvement for classrooms. All these factors have played in influence in
relegating computer science, coding, and computational thinking to a place of
minimal priority.

Target Audience. The target audience for this Capstone project will be
the elementary school teachers between the Kindergarten and fifth grade level.
There are approximately 800 teachers within the school district with about twothirds teaching at the above grade levels and the rest being composed of middle

CS PD for ELementary Teachers

school teachers (sixth to eighth). All the elementary school sites currently utilize
the FOSS science kits and the intention is to give teachers access to the training in
the four week break periods when the kits are returned to a central processing area
for replenishment of materials to be sent back to school sites. The belief is that
teachers can begin to incorporate coding and computer science skills into the time
slots that had been given over to science instruction.

Environmental Scan/Industry Trends. To say that coding and

computer science has become just another tech skill that students must learn is
quite an understatement. Numerous articles in public newspapers and journals
and interviews with CEOs and industry influencers have continued to stress the
importance of high technology skills for future workers to help the United States
economy continue to be competitive with the world. No less than the President of
the United States, President Obama has taken up this need and directed
considerable resources including three billion dollars being given to states and
one hundred million going to school districts to making sure that students across
the nation, and in particular those that are underserved, have access to learning
these critical skills. In particular, his Computer Science for All initiative,
https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2016/01/30/computer-science-all has made
these skills a key focus.
Furthermore, a comprehensive organization called K12CS has drawn upon
and received support from numerous states, but more importantly key
organizations such as ACM (Association of Computing Machinery), CSTA
(Computer Science Teacher Association), Code.org, CIC (Cyber Innovation
Center), NMSI (National Math and Science Initiative), and they have all provided
funding along with the academic support of over 100 advisors. They plan to have
a framework published in September of 2016 which will be incorporated into the
scope and sequence portion of this Capstone project.

CS PD for ELementary Teachers

Numerous school districts have already completed a framework with

scope and sequence that can be incorporated into the Capstone project including
an extensive one from the San Francisco Unified School District called CSINF
(Computer Science for all in San Francisco). This framework in particular is well
detailed and with their supporting resources and references can be thoroughly
utilized for the Capstone modules.
Most of the materials that have so far been created are intended to be
reviewed and utilized during conferences as presentations, synchronous
professional development sessions at school sites or district meetings, or
references and handouts to be utilized and understood asynchronously without
follow up.

Relevant Research. When looking at what tools a teacher should

utilize to teach coding and computer science, the primary focus for the Capstone
modules will be on graphical based coding with a Constructivist approach to the
classroom environment. Most of the research so far undertaken for the Capstone
project has looked at earlier elementary grades and how coding and computer
science skills have been presented to students. This is due to the substantial direct
classroom experience with 5th and 4th grade students that has already occurred by
the author using Scratch, MIT App Inventor, Code.org, Tynker, Tickle in a project
based, Constructivist learning environment. As for earlier elementary grades,
there have been several research projects involving the use of coding or
programming using a visual interface at the elementary school level involving an
application of constructivist theory. One study which looked at teacher styles by
Melissa Su Ching Lee looked at using the app called Scratch Jr. on iPads at the
kindergarten level. Scratch Jr. was created jointly at Tufts University and MIT.
The app itself was designed on constructivist principles such as allowing the
students to construct their understanding through their own sounds, painting, and
programming characters to animate and move. Her study looked at three

CS PD for ELementary Teachers

classrooms whose teachers employed a variety of classroom management styles

and structure. Her findings through student assessment were that students in
classrooms which were more constructivist in nature and were student centered
and collaborative scored the highest for learning programming concepts (Lee
2015).
Overall there have been multiple studies that have looked at the efficacy of
teaching coding or programming concepts to younger students (Kafai 2006),
(Portelance et al. 2015), (Karadeniz et al. ), (Hansen et al. 2015). Early studies
using LOGOS found that the use of a text based programming tool was difficult
for some five year olds to show understanding of the programming concepts
(Brown 1996). Modern apps such as Scratch Jr. use symbols for programming,
dont require reading skills, and are similar to Lego in which the student drags
blocks to a part of the screen to create actions.

Solution Description
Goals of the Project. The goal of the project is for teachers to shift their fears
and attitudes in a more positive direction on the difficulties of teaching computer
science in a kindergarten classroom up through a fifth grade classroom, and to
feel knowledgeable enough and empowered to introduce several computer coding
lessons during either the gap in the instructional day left by the absence of science
materials or within other subject matter instruction. The Cupertino district has
also directed that classrooms become in an indirect way more Constructivist in
nature. Included with this is the push for more student centered activities
including student choice, voice, critical thinking, problem solving, and selfassessment.

CS PD for ELementary Teachers

10

Learning Objectives.
Teachers will after completing three of the modules construct a short age
appropriate computer science skills related activity that they can then complete
with their students in their classroom.
Teachers will after completing the learning modules identify several age
appropriate computer science skills with 85% accuracy.
Teachers will be able to identify tools that they can utilize in their classroom with
100% accuracy to teach computer science to their students.

Proposed Solution. My proposed solution to fulfill the gap in teachers

understanding of concepts, skills, and tools, necessary to teach computer science
in a Kindergarten through fifth grade classroom is to create an Adobe Captivate
based set of asynchronous activities or learning modules and a website to embed
and present them in. There will be four main modules for teachers to complete.
The first module will be called Scope and Sequence. This module will involve
looking at a table that shows computer science concepts as well as tools or apps
that can be utilized in the classroom to teach the students with. The module will
at the end will assess the learner based on a drag and drop activity. The second
module will be titled Tools. This module will focus on specific tools that will be
introduced to the learner so that they can gain a better understanding of what they
have available to them to use. Within this module there will be three sub
modules. The first sub-module will be called Inside the Box. This will examine
and present all the possible iPad apps, websites, and organizations that use web
based activities such as Code.org to teach students computer concepts. The
second sub-module will be called Outside the Box and will cover robots or

CS PD for ELementary Teachers

11

movement based objects that are controlled by computer code that has been
generated that is sent either via Bluetooth or USB cables to control some action
using movement, light, or sound. The third sub-module will be called Paper and
will look at and present ways to teach computer science concepts that use only
paper and a pencil.
The third module will be called Computational Thinking and will introduce the
learner to the four primary systems involved with solving problems via
decomposition, pattern recognition, abstraction, and algorithm design. The intent
is to show that students need to build up background knowledge in order to create
a computer program that solves some problem or challenge. The fourth module
will be called Lessons. This will have three sub-modules called language arts,
math, and science. Each module will present a short lesson or activity that is
complete and presents an activity that can be used for each of the content areas.

Learning Theories/Instructional Principles. The theories that will be

helping to direct teachers in creating activities and informing the Capstone project
will include constructivism as viewed through Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky, as
well as constructionism as presented by Seymour Papert. Constructivism will be
an overriding theory in its emphasis on the students creating their own
understanding and help to emphasize to the teacher the learner centered approach
to be the key focus for the project (D. L. Brown, 1996). Constructionism will be
utilized because of its focus on hands on learning. Also Papert was a leading
advocate for the use of computers and programming as a fulfillment of
constructivist theories in practice. He advocated that programming should fulfill
what was called a low floor, meaning low challenge programming tool, with a
high ceiling, meaning the tool will give ample opportunities for those that grow
into more advanced learners, and wide walls, meaning that the tool could be used
for many different types of projects (Resnick et al., 2009). The overall goal is to
find learning theories which will help balance between inquiry based learning,

CS PD for ELementary Teachers

12

socially constructed activities, and still guide the teacher to help the students to
create coding programs that apply to multiple subjects and include some form of
instructional guidance to introduce computer science programming concepts such
as loops, sequence, and variables.
Piaget will be influential and applicable to the capstone project for several
reasons. His ideas related to cognitive development and his stages of the
preoperational stage and the concrete operational stage will be important
especially as they may relate to assessments and how they may look or change
between the Kindergarten students up through the fifth grade (Portelance, 2015).
Overall his placing importance on the peer to peer interactions especially as they
relate to more open ended activities will need to be considered (Gredler, 2005).
Vygotsky is important as a representative of social constructivism in
regards to his zone of proximal development for the capstone project with the
consideration that each students developmental level will need to be considered
and that the peer interactions that will be promoted in the capstone project will be
based on the similar interests that will come about through the use of the
multimedia tools and the differences in abilities to interact with the tools based on
the childs previous exposure at home and at school (Portelance, 2015). The
instruction will be important in particular as it relates to having the teacher
drawing upon the students existing knowledge and then to take this knowledge to
help the students build new and further understandings (Toy, 2013). Also
Vygotsky while advocating for social learning placed a strong emphasis on
collaboration as being between the student and the teacher also called the ideal
form (Gredler, 2005).
Papert as stated previously is a key theorist when looking at computers
and programming. His early work with Piaget helped influence his thinking about
children becoming builders of their knowledge. Carrying this metaphor of the
children as builders even further he thought of them as like other builders,

CS PD for ELementary Teachers

13

children appropriate to their own use materials they find about them (Papert,
1980, p. 19). And when looking in particular at coding and programming being
such an open tool with broad applications it makes sense that he would go on to
develop a language called LOGO for children to build with.
For constructivism the child is influenced by direct experiences from the
environment and social interactions with others. These experiences help to form
the childs schema which is constantly changing and evolving, but like an adult a
child will not just accept what is being told to them but must process and compare
the experiences. If a new and better perspective or theory replaces the old one,
then the child will evolve a new construction of the culture and objects in that
environment they find themselves in (Ackermann, 2001). The cognitive
development that happens as a result of overturning the older schema happens
according to Vygotsky in connection with the childs social and emotional
experiences as well (Gance, 2002). Ackermann views the importance for
teaching and learning as being threefold. First, teaching is always indirect,
meaning students dont just accept new information but must interpret it. Second,
the transmission model. . . wont do, information is not a one-way process in
which the learner is given the knowledge to memorize and retain. And third, A
theory of learning that ignores resistances to learning misses the point, meaning
children have good reason not to abandon their previously held knowledge
(Ackermann, 2001, p. 3). Constructionism then takes the internal processes of
gaining knowledge and cognitive development and emphasizes the importance of
externalizing what is learned through building externally through physical
materials a representation and application of the words and understanding for the
child. This allows them to to construct new relationships with knowledge in the
process (Kafai, 2006, p. 38). As Ackermann states, Papert helps us see how
ideas get formed and transformed when expressed through different media, when

CS PD for ELementary Teachers

14

actualized in particular contexts, when worked out by individual minds

(Ackermann, 2001, p. 4).
In this type of classroom, the teacher becomes more of a facilitator rather
than a dispenser of knowledge. The teachers role is, from the constructivist
standpoint, to help the individual begin to connect their schema with new
experiences. And in this instance help guide the students experience of coding
and to help guide these experiences un-forcefully in an appropriate direction for
the learner. The students become the main focus in the classroom and under
Vygotskys perspective the social and cultural environment are the primary means
by which knowledge is constructed and dispensed and where people create
meaning through their interactions with one another (Schreiber & Valle, 2013, p.
4). And with the emphasis on culture it is important for the teacher to help ensure
that the activities are meaningful and authentic to a larger social context than just
another school activity (J. S. Brown, Collins, & Duguid, 1989). Lastly, to be an
effective constructivist teacher who utilizes technology, in particular to teach
computer programming, it is important that the teacher themselves are familiar
with computers and different tools as a lack of being comfortable with technology
has been shown to have an effect on how often the students are given access to
computers (Gilakjani, Lai-Mei, & Ismail, 2013).

Instructional Strategies and Justification. Besides attempting to model

Constructivist based learning activities for teachers to then draw upon for their
own classroom, there are several instructional strategies that will be utilized to
reduce cognitive load, promote learning transfer to long-term memory, and reduce
interference in presenting key concepts. All these principles are intended to
transmit information to the learners in the clearest fashion with the focus on
cognitive load for the content to be learned. The first principle to be considered
will be the multimedia principle to help the students see the words involved but
also using screenshots and graphics to help them understand the interfaces they

CS PD for ELementary Teachers

15

need to navigate. The second principle will be the modality principle so that there
will be audio based information to be connected with the visual use of graphics
and to again minimize the cognitive load. Another principle will be the
redundancy principle which will limit the use of audio and onscreen words
depending on if the vocabulary that will be introduced will need to be further
accessed by the students. The last principle to be considered will be the
personalization principle. With learners at the elementary school level the use of
a coach and companion to the content will help the students feel more connected
and vested in learning the programming concepts involved. There will be other
instructional theories considered but these the main instructional principles
considered at this point of time (Clark and Mayer 2011).
Because the Cupertino School board has adopted what can be considered
Constructivist concepts the use of these student centered strategies will be
important to show the teachers how they relate to a more effective understanding
on the part of students for computer science concepts and coding. There are
several basic strategies that can be used by a teacher in the classroom to utilize the
learning theory. The best approach involves authenticity, choice, and student
voice. The importance of authenticity is to give more significance to what the
students are trying to learn. Too often activities are for a standard but a child that
is constructing knowledge in the context of cultural information should be
learning something that is applicable to their culture. Choice is also very
important because within the multicultural environment that are found now in
many classrooms, there is no single path or set of objects that will help all
students and support their knowledge acquisition. Lastly, student voice is critical
to not only help the student better form their own understanding but also the other
students in the social environment that the learning is taking place in. To put it
succinctly, the best activities are those that offer, A significant problem tackled
by small groups of students promotes involvement, curiosity, and heightened

CS PD for ELementary Teachers

16

motivation (Toy, 2013, p. 37). Ultimately the types of strategies employed

involve trying to create a transformation of the learners previous held schema to a
new understanding as expressed in the social context of the learner (Toy, 2013, p.
21). The challenge will be to guide teachers to a greater understanding in how to
connect up these key ideas when they attempt to construct their own activity with
their students.
Finally, in regards to structural steps to help guide the design,
development, and creation of the learning modules Merrills First Principles of
instruction will be particularly helpful. I think in trying to help teachers come
away with the desire to create a concrete activity for their students while at the
same time introducing and asking for an understanding abstract concepts the shift
between these two polar opposites that using Merrill will help ensure that the
application and implementation of an activity in the classroom will be more
likely.

Media Components. Media that is currently being considered includes the

use of original artwork, premade templates from the eLearning Brothers and
original recorded voices. As much as possible color palette tools as well as
Photoshop will be used to give the modules a professional appearance.

Anticipated Challenges. The greatest challenges will come from the

development of the learning modules. The initial analysis has shown that for
many teachers coming away with an awareness may be a good first step, and for
other teachers that are ready, asking them to apply what they have learned will be
the goal. The ability to differentiate for all types of teachers will not be possible
within the scope of this project. Most of the apps and websites that can be used to
teach programming are free to use and download. The real limitations for
teachers will come about through either a lack of computers or tablets or the
teachers inability to adapt to the needs for teaching with technology. The

CS PD for ELementary Teachers

17

research shows that the more a teacher is willing to teach from a constructivist
viewpoint the more successful the children will be in learning coding and
computational thinking skills. Another issue after thinking about the initial
analysis will be through trying to ask teachers to create activities for students who
have progressed through the concepts beginning in kindergarten and when getting
to the fifth grade modules have already had four years worth of programming
versus a student who is studying programming for the first time even though they
are in fourth or fifth grade.
The design of the learning modules will be relatively fast once a balance is
found between basing the training on Constructivist principles while still
capturing data from the teachers to show that the instruction has made a
difference. There will not be sufficient time to see if teachers actually complete
an activity since the districts expectation are usually done within a school year
cycle. Teachers would have accomplished the learning goal if they can complete
an activity with students by June.
The development will be the most challenging aspect of the project. Most
of this will be caused by lacking the technical knowledge to apply what has been
designed. The intention is to rely upon MIST instructors such as Dr. Lara,
Professor Challenger, and Professor Beem, when instructional videos or training
information does not adequately address the technical problems.
The instructional stage implementation should not pose any problems as
there are numerous teachers both at former school sites and via reference by the
technology department that would be enthusiastic to participate in learning about
coding and computer science. In a recent survey done with teachers, these
concepts were listed as a topic of interest to learn more about.
For the evaluation stage, and thinking about Kirkpatricks levels of
evaluation, there will be two types of evaluations done and neither should pose a
problem. The district typically relies upon a level one or learner reaction

CS PD for ELementary Teachers

18

evaluation for most training. This evaluation would be based on the learners
reaction either positive or negative to the training. Teachers are treated at the
level of customers. The form will be in the form of a questionnaire with a
combination of open ended and closed ended questions with a rating scale. This
type of evaluation provides good information to improve the design of the
training. For the Capstone project a pre and post multiple choice and short
answer evaluation will be used.

Narrative for Design and Development. Thinking about the ADDIE

model and Merrills First Principles, I anticipate that the design and development
will look something like the following. The analysis stage will include looking at
what is hopefully produced by the K12CS group before the end of the month.
This document along with several other references will help give a final focus and
guide to the direction that the training will take. My contact for the district has
given me initial approval of the direction that the training is intended to go in. The
design stage will involve both finalizing the artwork and types of interactivity as
well as looking specifically how Merrills concepts apply. The task or problem
that the learner will be asked to overcome is clear, and that is the understanding
and creation of an activity by the teacher with their students. For the activation I
will look at each of the modules as described previously and see if in the
introduction that there will be obvious types of background that can connect the
learner to the concepts or understandings asked for in the module. Again for
demonstration, an analysis of how the key concepts for the learning modules will
need to be thought out and then within the scope of what is known about the
authoring tools determining what is possible. For the application of ideas, I
intend to utilize several drag and drop activities that will then allow the learner to
proceed when the module has objects or concepts correctly arranged. For
integration, Im thinking of doing a drag and drop type activity that will include
parts of all the previous modules so that a sequence of steps indicating that the

CS PD for ELementary Teachers

19

learner has all they need to then leave the Capstone project and be ready with
what they need has been completed.
The intention is to have the overall structure and navigation completed so
that the individual modules can completed as time permits and a demo of the final
project will show one example navigation through the content to appear to be a
completion of the activities.

Steps to Finish Project. There will be several resources that will be

adequately provided for while others will be particularly difficult to implement
and acquire. There will not be a need for any funding to complete the modules.
The hardware and software that will be needed will be provided by either the
student accounts through CSUMB or the district will provide access as needed.
The space needed will involve the use of the districts main office for recording of
voice or any photos that need to be taken. The expertise needed will be via access
to CSUMB professors as well as the IT department within the district. Subject
matter experts will involve several key individuals who are friends or informally
known and can be contacted for assistance for key concepts involving computer
science or software that can be recommended. Some contacts will need to be
made through the San Francisco Unified School District, but there are no
anticipated problems that a phone call or email shouldnt be able to answer.
Continued training on Adobe Captivate will be needed as well as seeing if
concepts that are being learned during IST 541 with Professor Beem can be used.
The support network in place should be able to provide direction or help answer
questions when needed.

Timeline/Progress Report
Milestones.
1. Finalizing of artwork styles and color schemes by 9/21/16

CS PD for ELementary Teachers

20

2. Final timeline with timings, script, basic sketch of activities by 9/30/16

3. Creation, drawing, and downloading of creative commons content 10/9/16
4. Programming and creation of skeleton major navigation connecting
modules 10/16/16
5. Programming of modules including activities with drag and drop 10/23/16
6. Recording of voice or computer creation 10/30/16
7. Workable demo that can be tested 11/14/16
8. Prototype testing/feedback of teachers 11/14/16-11/18/16
9. Finalizing modules based on feedback and technical issues that have
arisen 12/9/16

Evaluation/Testing Plan
Formative Evaluation. The intention for the formative evaluation is to share
the URL of the modules to several teachers at the Meyerholz Elementary school
site at several grade levels to receive feedback. The intention is both to capture
data with a Google form as well as interview teachers face to face on the week
before the Thanksgiving break for the district. Information that is gathered can
then be analyzed during the week of 11/21 to 11/25 when on vacation.

Summative Evaluation. For the summative evaluation another set of

teachers throughout the district at different school sites will be asked to take a
pretest using a Google form and then after the modules are completed a post-test
made up of the same questions will be given along with a level 1 attitudes survey
on positive or negative feelings that came up during the teacher completing the
modules.

CS PD for ELementary Teachers

21

CS PD for ELementary Teachers

22

References
Brown, D. L. (1996). Kids, computers, and constructivism. Journal of
Instructional Psychology, 23(3), 189.
Clark, R. C., & Mayer, R. E. (2011). E-learning and the science of instruction:
Proven guidelines for consumers and designers of multimedia learning. John
Wiley & Sons.
Gance, S. (2002). Are constructivism and computer-based learning environments
incompatible? Interface: The Journal of Education, Community and Values,
2(3). Retrieved from http://commons.pacificu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?
article=1019&context=inter02
Hansen, A. K., Dwyer, H. A., Hill, C., Iveland, A., Martinez, T., Harlow, D., &
Franklin, D. (2015). Interactive Design by Children: A Construct Map for
Programming. In Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on
Interaction Design and Children (pp. 267270). New York, NY, USA: ACM.
Kafai, Y. B. (2006). Playing and making games for learning instructionist and
constructionist perspectives for game studies. Games and Culture, 1(1), 36
40.
Karadeniz, ., Samur, Y., & zden, M. Y. (n.d.). Playing with Algorithms to Learn
Programming: A Case Study on 5 Years Old Children. Icita.org. Retrieved
from http://www.icita.org/2014/papers/tr-Karadeniz.pdf

CS PD for ELementary Teachers

23

Lee, M. S. C. (2015). Teaching Tools, Teachers Rules: ScratchJr in the

Classroom. TUFTS UNIVERSITY. Retrieved from
http://gradworks.umi.com/15/89/1589471.html
Mahadevan, A., Freeman, J., & Magerko, B. (2016). An interactive, graphical
coding environment for EarSketch online using Blockly and Web Audio API.
In Proceedings of the 2nd Web Audio Conference (WAC-2016), Atlanta.
smartech.gatech.edu. Retrieved from
https://smartech.gatech.edu/handle/1853/54581
Palak, D., & Walls, R. T. (2009). Teachers beliefs and technology practices: A
mixed-methods approach. Water Science and Technology: A Journal of the
International Association on Water Pollution Research. Retrieved from
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15391523.2009.10782537
Portelance, D. J., Strawhacker, A. L., & Bers, M. U. (2015). Constructing the
ScratchJr programming language in the early childhood classroom.
International Journal of Technology and Design Education, 116.
(n.d.). Retrieved September 11, 2016, from http://schools.latimes.com/2013-apiscores/ranking/page/1/

CS PD for ELementary Teachers

24