Teacher Practices for Computational Thinking Implementation in Elementary Science

Computational thinking (CT) is a key component of computer science and a foundational thinking process in K-12 classrooms. CT can be easily integrated into science lessons with the right policies, programs, and practices in place. This paper explores the current practices of CT in a northeast US state based on survey data collected from teachers. The research uncovers how much teaching time is spent teaching science and the percentage of lessons that have CT concepts and approaches present in the science instruction while describing what these lessons look like. This paper then discusses the next steps for implementation efforts based on the described CT practices in elementary science.