At an unrivaled and enduring pace, computing has transformed the world, resulting in demand for a universal fourth foundation beyond reading, writing, and arithmetic: computational thinking (CT). Despite increasingly widespread acceptance of CT as a crucial competency for all, transforming education systems accordingly has proven complex. The…

This dissertation presents the first Systemic Functional Linguistics-based analysis of the teaching/learning of computational thinking through computer programming and comprehensive analysis of discourse of a whole computer programming course at any educational level. The current educational research raises questions about the nature of authentic…

The push to teach coding in schools continues to gain momentum. Coding helps students develop skills in problem-solving, critical thinking, and creativity, as well as improve overall academic performance. However, students with disabilities often face challenges in areas such as problem-solving, mathematics, and multistep reasoning when learning…

As Artificial Intelligence (AI) becomes increasingly ubiquitous in society, conversational agents such as Siri, Alexa, and ChatGPT are shaping the experiences of younger generations. However, these young users often lack opportunities to learn about the inner workings of these AI technologies. One way to foster such learning is by empowering…

Despite high scores and abilities, girls lose interest in science and math throughout middle school. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, jobs in the computer science research field will grow 19% by 2026; however, only 18% of the bachelor's degrees in computer science are earned by women in the United States (ComputerScience.org, 2021).…

Computational thinking (CT) is an essential 21st century skill for people to succeed in the increasingly technological (and interconnected) world. Researchers have explored different interventions to teach students CT skills (e.g., Scratch and robotics), but digital game-based learning is relatively under-researched. A critical issue to address in…

The demand for talent in the technology sector and the notion of computational thinking as everyday skills propel computing to enter middle school classrooms. The growing popularity of physical computing in educational spaces also infuses computing with elements of creativity and joy. Despite these recent movements, computing remains primarily in…

As new introductory block-based coding applications for young students to learn basic computer science concepts, such as, loops and conditionals, continue to increase in popularity, it is necessary to consider the best method of teaching students these skills. Many of these products continue to exhibit programmatic misconceptions of these concepts…

This dissertation conducted a science classroom intervention using two instructional approaches, computational modeling and paper-based pictorial modeling, in the context of food webs. A series of research papers were written on the impact of the intervention on students' attitudes and learning, and on teachers via professional development and…

As the so-called "digital natives" of the 21st century, children's fluency with web-based technologies is often assumed to be the natural and inevitable extension of living on a "new digital frontier". However, a growing body of research is increasingly questioning this widespread assumption about children's capacity…

This thesis explores the questions of how a teacher guides students to see concepts, and the role of gesture and gesture viewpoints in mediating the process of guidance. To examine these questions, two sociocultural theoretical frameworks--Radford's cultural-semiotic theory of knowledge objectification (e.g., 2003), and Goldman's Points of Viewing…

In today`s complex and fast-evolving world, problem solving is an important skill to possess. For young children to be successful at their future careers, they need to have the "skill" and the "will" to solve complex problems that are beyond the well-defined problems that they learn to solve at schools. One promising approach…

With tightened school budgets, school administrators need to know the short term and long range effects of providing gifted programs at the elementary level. Programming opportunities in elementary school have direct impact on middle school and this, in turn impacts high school and college course selection. This study used the Early Childhood…

Computational thinking aims to outline fundamental skills from computer science that everyone should learn. As currently defined, with help from the National Science Foundation (NSF), these skills include problem formulation, logically organizing data, automating solutions through algorithmic thinking, and representing data through abstraction.…

Advances in technology have caused high schools to update their computer science curricula; however there has been little analogous attention to technology-related education in middle schools. With respect to computer-related knowledge and skills, middle school students are at a critical phase in life, exploring individualized education options…