Robotics has emerged as a popular interdisciplinary pedagogical approach in the field of education to teach children STEM concepts. By providing playful learning experiences, the use of robots engages children in an active learning process, making it an effective tool to promote their targeted knowledge, skills, and disposition towards STEM,…

We conduct an impact analysis on a unique technology certificate and apprenticeship program offered by LaunchCode. We merge administrative data containing entrance exam scores with survey data for individuals that were (a) not accepted, (b) accepted but did not complete the course, (c) completed the course but not the apprenticeship, and (d)…

In this study, we investigated a rural school district's endeavor to implement and sustain coding and robotics integration into their elementary school classrooms. Our data sources were teacher and administrator interviews, video recordings of teachers' learning of coding and robotics, and artifacts. The analysis showed that administrators and…

The role of computation in science is ever-expanding and is enabling scientists to investigate complex phenomena in more powerful ways and tackle previously intractable problems. The growing role of computation has prompted calls to integrate computational thinking (CT) into science instruction in order to more authentically mirror contemporary…

It is important to understand how students reason in K-12 integrated STEM settings to better prepare teachers to engage their students in integrated STEM tasks. To understand the reasoning that occurs in these settings, we used the lens of collective argumentation, specifically attending to the types of warrants elementary students and their…

The goal of this paper is to share an analytic framework for understanding Students? Ways of Thinking (SWoT) in STEM-rich learning environments. Before revealing our refined coding framework, we detail the nature of our collaborations and the various analytic decisions that led to its formation. These collaborations supported our collective…

Background: Skill integration is vital in students' mastery development and is especially prominent in developing code tracing skills which are foundational to programming, an increasingly important area in the current STEM education. However, instructional design to support skill integration in learning technologies has been limited. Objectives:…

In the digital age, it's crucial to equip children with twenty-first-century skills, including programming and other competencies such as creativity, analytical thinking, and collaboration. This study introduces an integrated STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) curriculum focused on computer science for educators. It explores…

Drawing on research in mathematics and science education that has supported student higher-level thinking in K-12 classrooms, we sought to classify the ways of thinking and reasoning supported by robotics coding tasks. As part of a larger project, we examined coding tasks implemented in elementary school classrooms and analyzed ways of thinking…

DesignYOU! Code Camp is a grant-funded summer outreach camp designed to increase interest in coding and STEM careers among middle school students (6th - 8th graders) through an innovative, immersive summer camp experience. To make the concepts of coding more palpable, researchers incorporated fashion and retail allowing students to learn through…

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) curriculum and learning activities may help students learn social-emotional learning (SEL) competencies needed to support independence and community living, as well as 21st-century career development skills. Including robotics and coding curriculum in elementary classrooms can offer all…

Introduction: This study explored the impact of synchronous professional development regarding Nemeth Code Within Unified English Braille (UEB) Contexts on the knowledge and skills of 17 teachers of students with visual impairments. Methods: Participants attended the professional development sessions in June 2022 and submitted a pretest, posttest,…

Recent studies have shown that playing with coding toys enhances children's skills in STEM-subjects, especially problem-solving abilities. However, there is limited knowledge of early childhood education and care (ECEC) teachers' roles in facilitating children's problem-solving through coding-toy play activities and the high-quality pedagogical…

The aim in this study was to determine the effectiveness of STEM-based robotic coding education for primary school students in terms of their decision-making skills. Mixed method research was conducted. Pretest-posttest control group designs were used in the quantitative phase, and a case study was performed in the qualitative phase of the…

Theorists and educators increasingly highlight the importance of computational thinking in STEM education. While various scaffolding strategies describe how to best support this skillset (i.e., paired programming, worked examples), less research has focused on the design and development of these digital tools. One way to support computational…