Abstract
In this chapter you will learn how a community college in rural Wyoming is implementing professional development resources in Computer Science and computational thinking skills for middle and high school teachers in their communities. The objective of the community college was to build relationships with schools to teach Computer Science concepts and computational thinking skills in the classroom. In this day and age, many people young and old are spending time on playing games or simulations. Why not teach Computer Science concepts and computational thinking skills through gaming and simulations? The project included teaching teachers about computational thinking patterns when teaching their students computer gaming and simulation creations. The creation of computer games and simulations requires algorithmic, critical thinking, problem-solving, and computational thinking skills. Teachers were taught what computational thinking patterns are, how to teach their students about computational thinking patterns, and how to create computer games and simulations stressing computational thinking skills. The teacher progress is measured by recorded observations, completed student projects, and surveys.
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References
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Acknowledgments
I would like to thank the University of Colorado Boulder, Scalable Game Design (SGD ) project team, for including WWCC on their projects; it has been an invaluable experience. To the University of Wyoming, ITEST team, on letting me take part in their initiative, especially with the Wyoming schools. To my colleagues who have supported me along the way, Kim Farley, Paul Johnson, Craig Thompson, and Susan Heyborne. To Bernadine Craft at Sweetwater BOCES for continued project support. To all the Wyoming K-12 teachers I have worked with over the years on teaching Computer Science concepts and computational thinking skills. To the teachers that provided invaluable feedback for this book chapter: Adrienne Unertl, Clark Elementary; Kait Quinton, Rock Springs Junior High; Ken Aragon, Twin Spruce Junior High; Sharon Seaton, Black Butte High School; Shonie Mitchelson, Lincoln Middle School; and Tracy Clement, Monroe Intermediate. And last but not least to my family, my husband Mark, and my kiddos Evan and Eva for putting up with my time away from home.
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Croff, C.H. (2017). Teaching Computational Thinking Patterns in Rural Communities. In: Rich, P., Hodges, C. (eds) Emerging Research, Practice, and Policy on Computational Thinking. Educational Communications and Technology: Issues and Innovations. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-52691-1_11
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-52691-1_11
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