Introducing middle school students to computational thinking with the CS first curriculum

Abstract

Computational thinking (CT) is a set of concepts and problem-solving skills that are not only imperative for computer scientists, but important and applicable to nearly every discipline. CT skills are essential in a world where technology is ubiquitous. In the past decade, many efforts have been made to develop and evaluate computational thinking in primary and secondary students. Promoting CT skills in these young students can help reduce the underrepresentation of women and minorities in STEM careers since students who are exposed to CT at an early age are more likely to pursue a STEM discipline in college [18]. This paper describes the COSMIC program, funded by Google's Tides Foundation, that introduces middle school students to CS and CT using the CS First curriculum and Scratch. The COSMIC activities spanned three years directly serving 700 students through 175 distinct events. Females comprised 51.1% of the individuals served, and 10.2% of those served were part of a minority group. The COSMIC activities allowed the researchers to investigate the effectiveness of the CS First curriculum. Using the Hairball-powered Dr. Scratch analysis tool on the curricular projects, the paper reports on the efficacy of the CS First curriculum in terms of its coverage of vital CT concepts and its success in transferring those concepts to middle school students.