Class
Article
College
Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services
Department
English Department
Faculty Mentor
Mimi Recker
Presentation Type
Oral Presentation
Abstract
In the past decade, there has been increasing emphasis on preparing K-12 students for the workforce, including an increased emphasis on science, technology, engineering, math, and computing (STEM + C). One way in which this is reflected is in K-12 computer science (CS) standards that have been adopted by many states. However, many current teachers lack sufficient skills and knowledge to teach CS. In addition, there is a lack of time in the school day for teachers to teach the CS curriculum. To address this issue, many school districts throughout Utah have delegated the teaching of the CS curriculum, which emphasizes computational thinking, to paraprofessionals to teach as part of a specialty class during the school day. For many paraprofessionals, this is a new professional responsibility. Therefore, a systematic literature review was conducted to examine the literature on teaching computational thinking and professional development for paraprofessionals to better understand how to support paraprofessionals in this new role. 67 articles were included in the review. This presentation reports on findings from the systematic literature review. Findings identify a lack of literature on professional learning for paraprofessionals. Additionally, results identify areas where further research is needed and inform researchers, educators, and school leaders on the most current research regarding teaching computational thinking and providing professional development opportunities for paraprofessionals serving in this capacity.
Location
Logan, UT
Start Date
4-8-2022 12:00 AM
Included in
Computational Thinking and Professional Learning for Paraprofessionals
Logan, UT
In the past decade, there has been increasing emphasis on preparing K-12 students for the workforce, including an increased emphasis on science, technology, engineering, math, and computing (STEM + C). One way in which this is reflected is in K-12 computer science (CS) standards that have been adopted by many states. However, many current teachers lack sufficient skills and knowledge to teach CS. In addition, there is a lack of time in the school day for teachers to teach the CS curriculum. To address this issue, many school districts throughout Utah have delegated the teaching of the CS curriculum, which emphasizes computational thinking, to paraprofessionals to teach as part of a specialty class during the school day. For many paraprofessionals, this is a new professional responsibility. Therefore, a systematic literature review was conducted to examine the literature on teaching computational thinking and professional development for paraprofessionals to better understand how to support paraprofessionals in this new role. 67 articles were included in the review. This presentation reports on findings from the systematic literature review. Findings identify a lack of literature on professional learning for paraprofessionals. Additionally, results identify areas where further research is needed and inform researchers, educators, and school leaders on the most current research regarding teaching computational thinking and providing professional development opportunities for paraprofessionals serving in this capacity.