ABOUT THIS BLOG

   This blog was developed by George Meadows, Professor of Science Education in the College of Education at the University of Mary Washington (gmeadows@umw.edu).  It will focus largely on the implementation of the 2017 Virginia Standards of Learning for Computer Science in grades K-8, specifically the strands for Algorithms and Programming and Data and Analysis, and developing authentic assessments for these strands.

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PURPOSE

     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.
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MICROBIT EXAMPLE

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     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.)
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COMPUTATIONAL THINKING FICTION BOOKS

     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...
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