Hi James! We are finishing refining the modules now with the data we have from several iterations. We hope to post them on our website (https://csimms.cs.fsu.edu/) at some point over the summer.

Great Question! Currently, we are not looking at that intersection, but it is a great suggestion for future research.

Yes, that is a really nice question. Currently, our focus has been on developing and refining 12 modules, but your idea would be interesting for the future!

Hi Chih-Pu and thanks for the questions! The only technology used in the modules regarding coding is Scratch. We starting to include some videos in the modules that could be used as tutorials, though. We have made student tasks and teacher guides for each module, but are currently working on more detailed teacher guides that aren't too long but have enough in them to assist in implementing any of the modules. We're hoping we might be able to make a workbook of sorts!

Thank you DeLene for the question.  One of the greatest challenges we found while trying to get teachers to implement the modules was convincing teachers that the modules could be used instead of their standard lessons on the subject as opposed to just supplemental material.  It greatly helped that we had one teacher who was willing to take a risk and use the modules to introduce material early in the project and she had some great success.  She helped convince other teachers in the project to take a chance on the modules as replacements for standard lessons. 

One key aspect that the teachers helped quite a bit with was refining the coding exercises so that the students could see required mathematics in the code.  To give you an example, we have a unit on geometric transformations and there are many different ways a reflection can be programmed in Scratch.  Finding an exercise that not only had the students reflect an object, but also having that exercise produce coding variants that were relevant to the standards relating reflections and coordinates was a bit of a challenge.  This is where the implementing teachers were great and provided great feedback that helped with the designing and refining of the modules.  A big thank you goes out to all of them.

Stacy, thank you for your interest!  Implementation in the teachers' classrooms varied greatly.  Some classrooms utilized smartboards to display student code with accompanying discussions.  Others gave the students the modules and let them work largely independently and there was everything in between.  The classrooms varied greatly as well with several of the implementation classrooms being in low SES schools.   

The modules were implemented at different points in the year and were designed to replace the lessons when they appeared in the curriculum.  We did have some teachers who used the modules in a more supplemental way as either an introduction to the material or revisiting the material after it had been covered in class.  

In terms of evaluating the learning gains from the program, we collected a pre-assessment math question and a post-module assessment with questions about math, computational thinking, and programming.  We also gave students a pre/post MISO survey to evaluate the program's impact on student attitudes towards STEM.  In addition, we also looking at the impact on the instructors and have pre and post-implementation interviews, recordings of their classroom implementation, as well as pre/post-implementation MISOs. 

When you gave students a pre/post MISO survey to evaluate the program's impact on student attitudes towards STEM, what were the top findings? 

Hi Delene! We're actually in the process of analyzing the MISO data currently. We're hoping to be able to answer questions like yours by the end of the summer! We have a lot of data that we're trying to sift through in the coming months.

Hi, Michael! We're not exactly sure how we're going to disseminate the modules, but you can definitely keep up with things on our website (https://csimms.cs.fsu.edu/).

Dr. Ellen Granger has done quite a bit of interdisciplinary work. When she saw the RFP for the STEM+C grants, she put the interdisciplinary team together. She selected folks who have a personality to work well together. When schools were selected, they were chosen to represent the community demographics and also under-resourced schools. Math teachers at these schools were invited to participate, and the ones who were interested came on board.

DeLene, great question.  I think one of the most ah-ha moments for me was the amount of time students spent personalizing their sprites and telling stories with their project.  Also, there were some students who did not seem to enjoy programming in Scratch and it would be interesting to investigate why this is.  Finally, creating and refining 12 modules in 3 years is a lot of work.