Integrated and culturally responsive computational thinking curriculum for primary students

Our initiative to join this project stemmed from a pressing need to incorporate computational thinking skills into primary education curricula, all while celebrating the diverse array of cultures within the European Union. Recognizing the European Commission's projection that 90% of future jobs will demand digital skills, we sought to equip students with the necessary competencies for success in the digital age. However, our assessment revealed significant gaps in the integration of computational thinking skills into formal education systems, presenting challenges that demanded further exploration and resolution. Thus, our primary objective in participating in this project was to develop a comprehensive methodology that not only addressed these challenges but also embraced cultural diversity in a sensitive, inclusive, and developmentally appropriate manner. Through our efforts, we aimed to provide students with engaging and enriching experiences, leveraging cultural artifacts such as fairy tales, legends, and other relevant materials from partner countries to facilitate the acquisition of computational thinking skills.

As part of INCTCORPS project, a culturally responsive and integrated computational thinking curriculum was developed. This process is supported by unplugged activities, designed to enable students to develop their computational thinking skills even when digital technologies are inaccessible. As a result, the curricula and teaching materials developed in this project have made a significant contribution to the teaching of computational thinking in primary education in a culturally responsive and integrated way. Our project has enabled the improvement of educational standards across Europe through an innovative and integrative approach.

Summary of the activities implemented in the project: 1. Development of Basic Protocols: • Preparation and kick-off meeting to establish communication, conflict resolution, risk management, financial protocols, and partnership agreement. • Creation of social media accounts and a website for the project. 2. Development of Guideline for Teaching Integrated and Culturally Responsive Computational Thinking Skills Curriculum: • Development of the guideline for teaching the integrated and culturally responsive curriculum (PR-1). • Joint staff training workshop and writing a book on the guideline. 3. Development of Integrated and Culturally Responsive Computational Thinking Skills Curriculum: • Development of the integrated and culturally responsive computational thinking skills curriculum for primary education (PR-2). • Online meeting (zoom) for clarification of Lesson plan template • Second transnational partners meeting for monitoring, progress report, and planning the next step. 4. Evaluation of Integrated and Culturally Responsive Computational Thinking Skills Curriculum: • Selection of lesson plans, student and teacher participants, and training venue. • Training of teachers before implementing the curriculum. • Implementation of the integrated and culturally responsive computational thinking education (At least 30 hours for each partner). • Data collection, analysis, and reporting on the curriculum implementation. • Evaluation of the developed curriculum (PR 3). • Thirth transnational project partners meeting and project evaluation report. 5. Dissemination & Reports: • National symposiums for dissemination. • Building a project website and publishing PRs as book • Dissemination of the project report. • Filling out the Beneficiary Module as the Final Report for submission to the national agency.

The concrete outputs of the INCTCORPS Project can be summarized as follows. A Guide to Computational Thinking Skills: Instead of the planned 20-30 page guide, a much more comprehensive 100-page guide was developed and published as an e-book. This guide is a comprehensive resource for preparing integrated, unplugged and culturally sensitive curricula or lesson plans for developing computational thinking skills at primary level. It has been translated into English, Romanian, Slovenian, Turkish and Greek and an e-book has been created in each language. Lesson Plans and E-Book: While each partner organization was envisaged to prepare at least 8-10 lesson plans (4-5 language teaching, 4-5 art teaching), 51 lesson plans were developed in total. These plans, which cover 1-4 hours, were designed taking into account the objectives, topics and the characteristics of the integrated fairy tales. A 920-page comprehensive e-book in English was created, which was later translated into Turkish, Greek, Romanian and Slovenian, making it a 4600-page multilingual resource. Teacher Trainings: While it was planned to train at least 15 teachers, a total of 41 teachers were trained (15 Pamukkale University, 11 Ljubljana University, 3 Ankara University, 7 University of Aegean, 5 CFPC). This allowed the lesson plans to be evaluated from different perspectives, widely disseminated, and enabled their continued use after the project. Curriculum Implementation: The new curriculum, which was planned to be implemented for at least 100 students, was implemented for a total of 902 primary school students (149 Pamukkale University, 275 Ljubljana University, 95 Ankara University, 155 University of Aegean, 228 CFPC). This broad implementation contributed greatly to the dissemination of the project. Workshops and Trainings: A total of 17 teacher educators from 5 partner institutions participated in the workshop organized by the University of the Aegean in Rhodes, Greece. Several training sessions were conducted by experts from partner organizations and other invited experts. Evaluation of Curriculum Effectiveness: All partner organizations analyzed data from evaluation forms (teacher information form, teacher training feedback form, lesson observation form, reflective writing forms for teachers and students) and focus group discussions with teachers. The results of the analysis were compiled into a 240-page report in English, Romanian, Slovenian, Turkish and Greek. Public Awareness and Conferences: Public awareness was raised through social media, website updates, TV programs and press releases. In addition, all partner organizations organized national symposiums with a total of 679 participants, including teachers, student teachers, teacher educators and policy makers. Dissemination through Digital Platforms: Project results were shared through various digital platforms, social media and mass media. Dissemination on platforms such as Code.org is expected after the completion of the project. Overall, the INCTCORPS project has produced more tangible outputs than originally planned, contributing significantly to the development and dissemination of culturally responsive, integrated and unplugged computational thinking curricula and lesson plans at the primary level.