Programming and Performance Tasks: Addressing Computational Thinking

Data Collection      Microbit.org has provided a great resource for using the Microbit for data collection.  They have an excellent introduction, complete with video tutorial and sample code, for Data Collection, and a number of suggested experiments involving collecting data.  Each experiment has an Overview, Setup, and Procedure section - again with video tutorials and sample code.  The experiment topics are: Population Traits, Temperature, Soil Moisture, Gravity, Motion and Waves, Body, Electrical and Waves, Electricity, and Rocket Acceleration.  Material needs are minimal, usually a microbit, batteries, cable, copper wire, and access to a spreadsheet program for data analysis.  Some of the experiments make use of two Microbits and the Radio code blocks that allow Microbits to communicate with one another.      The overview is here (there are links to all the experiments in a sidebar): https://makecode.microbit.org/courses/ucp...

     The definition of Computational Thinking provided in the Virginia Computer Science Standards states that it " involves the use of concepts, such as abstraction, recursion, and iteration, to process and analyze data, " and relies on " practices such as abstraction, modeling, and decomposition. "  These can be very difficult concepts for many students, especially those in K-5.  One way to introduce these ideas might be through the use of fiction/children's literature.  A good resource site for ideas and resources is the Observe Le@rn Do blog found here: www.observelearndo.blogspot.com   There are good discussions of computational thinking, coding, and robotics.  A post closely related to the use of literature is this one:  http://observelearndo.blogspot.com/2018/01/using-picture-books-to-teach_21.html      As the author points out, it's not necessary to teach about computers or coding to teach the skills associated wit...

     There's an introduction to the Microbit on the Data and Analyses page of this site.  The Microbit is a very good option for learning about coding and hardware, and it's relatively inexpensive.  A local Physics teacher developed a great project built around the Microbit and you can see a description of the project, the code he used, and even an .stl file for 3D printing some materials he designed for the project here as the featured post:  http://stemlabsnn.blogspot.com/  (The STEMLabs site was developed for an earlier grant-based project and there's a lot of information about the Microbit, 3D printing and design, and a lot of other interesting tech.)

     I'm developing a post that walks through the development of a Performance Task.  It's available now, in an Under Construction condition, on the Performance Tasks page.  It's for 3rd grade History SOL 3.4, the kingdom of Mali, and integrates CS standards 3.1 and 3.2.  The task is developing a story-telling Scratch program for a well-known proverb.  I'm doing it as a detailed walk through, so it's a bit lengthy.  Eventually, it will include a completed Scratch Program as an example of how a 3rd grader might complete this assignment.   I'm doing the same for a 6th grade Science SOL: 6.5 - The student will investigate and understand that all matter is composed of atoms. Key ideas include:  a) atoms consist of particles, including electrons, protons, and neutrons; and the CS Standard will be: 6.1 The student will construct programs to accomplish a task as a means of creative expression or scientific exploration using a block based or te...

     This blog is meant to serve as a resource for educators looking for ways to assess computational thinking.  It is developed specifically for Virginia K-12 teachers who will be integrating the new Virginia Department of Education K-12 Computer Science standards in their classrooms.  Some of the key concepts discussed will include Algorithms and Coding, Data and Analysis, Computational Thinking, Physical Computing, and Authentic Assessments (Performance Tasks.)  Hardware and software addressed will include the Scratch and Arduino-based programming languages, Microbit and Snapinos boards, and Vernier sensors.  This blog will reflect the emphasis on across-the-curriculum integration of the CS standards, especially for K-8 grade levels.