How can you make your teaching more student-focused?

Teachers are always looking for unique ways to get their students more engaged in learning and to develop critical thinking and analytical skills. Some education experts believe that learning becomes more meaningful when children and adolescents are taught using an approach that encourages the student’s self-discovery of knowledge and information through the collection and analysis of data. This is sometimes referred to as active learning. In contrast, passive learning is where the teacher produces information and delivers it to the student through lectures or another form of one-way communication—the student’s primary job in this scenario is to consume and synthesize that information. There is a way, however, to balance both teaching methods so that students take ownership of their own learning, make their own educational discoveries, and formulate their own conclusions—all while enhancing and improving their problem-solving abilities. This revolves around the practice of computational thinking.

Computational thinking is an approach to problem-solving

While there is no one standard definition of computational thinking, it can be more easily conceptualized as an approach to problem-solving that involves several core elements. The first of these consists of the process of decomposition, described as taking a large, complex problem and breaking it down into smaller, more manageable pieces. Computational thinking also involves pattern recognition (identification of recurring elements or similarities); abstraction (the process of focusing only on those details that are relevant to the problem and ignoring extraneous information); and algorithms (establishing a logical series of sequential steps or instructions to solve a problem that mirror the process by which a computer operates). The integration of computational thinking in the classroom can help students develop the skills they need to design solutions in response to complicated problems in mathematics, science, as well as other subject areas by harnessing the power of technology and data. It can also spark curiosity in students by empowering them to chart their own course in experiential learning.

There is little guidance available to educators on how to integrate computational thinking into teaching

Despite its benefits in enhancing the learning experience of K-12 students, computational thinking is an abstract concept that is unfamiliar to many teachers and one with which they may feel uncomfortable using. Exacerbating this situation is the fact that educators may not have adequate guidance or access to professional development on how to incorporate computational thinking into their teaching. Existing studies suggest that educators may not know how to transform a pedagogical strategy that is currently teacher-centered into one that is student-centered.

Mason faculty conduct a study on the use of computational thinking

Researchers from George Mason University’s School of Education looked at this issue more closely during a recent study in which they evaluated the experiences of a group of secondary school science teachers in the use of a task analysis and a decision tree planning tool, both of which were designed to integrate computational thinking into lesson plans. As part of this study, nineteen high school science teachers from a school district located in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States participated in a professional development program focused on incorporating computational thinking into science lessons in which the collection and analysis of data by students made up a large part of the learning activity.

The task analysis tool allowed teachers to break down their science lessons into smaller steps and was formatted into columns where entries on teacher responsibilities, student responsibilities, data practices, and computational thinking practices associated with specific data practices could be displayed. The decision tree was designed so that teachers would know how, when, and where a student might make an error in working with the data they had collected for the assignment. For example, through the decision tree the teacher could ascertain whether the student had chosen a dataset that would be ineffective in providing the information needed to produce a solution to the assigned science problem. It could also help the teacher determine at what point the student might have made a mistake in interpreting the collected data or exactly when the student may have failed to recognize significant trends demonstrated by the data.

Researchers found that the infusion of computational thinking into lessons facilitates student-centered teaching

The Mason team found that the task analysis tool format gave the study participants a better understanding of student and teacher roles. Many of the educators reported that after filling out the task analysis form, they were surprised to see that they had listed far more teacher responsibility entries compared with the number of entries made for student responsibilities. This prompted them to modify their lesson plans accordingly so that the learning activity required a greater level of student activity and engagement. The task analysis tool also helped teachers identify where, in each step of the assignment, computational thinking could be linked to a specific data practice. In addition, teachers reported that the decision tree gave them insight into the many decisions students had to make in working through the science investigation and helped them predict where students might misinterpret data or where they might need additional guidance. The Mason team concluded that through the infusion of computational thinking into science lessons, teachers could structure learning activities so that they became more student-focused with a greater emphasis on student involvement.

To learn more about how the practice of computational thinking can facilitate student-focused teaching, read this article written by faculty from the Secondary Education 6-12 program in George Mason University’s School of Education. The Secondary Education program is designed to meet the needs of those at both the undergraduate and graduate levels who desire to be licensed in secondary teaching or who need to satisfy the requirements for provisional licensure. For more information, please visit our website.