Frameworks for Integration of Future-Oriented Computational Thinking in K-12 Schools

Computational thinking (CT) K-12 curricula and professional development should prepare students for their future, but historically, such curricula have limited success. This chapter offers historical analogies and ways that CT curricula may have a stronger and more lasting impact. Two frameworks are central to the chapter's arguments. The first recalls Seymour Papert's original description of CT as a pedagogy with computing playing a formative role in young children's thinking; the computer was a tool to think with (1980, 1996). This “thinking development” framework emphasized child-centered, creative problem solving to foster deep engagement and understanding. Current CT seems to include creativity only tangentially. The second framework encompasses emergent machine learning and data concepts that will become pervasive. This chapter, more prescriptive than empirical, suggests ways that CT and requisite professional development could be more future-focused and more successful. It could be titled “Seymour Papert meets Machine Learning.”

Penurunan Disleksia pada Balita Melalui Permainan Puzzle Alfabeth dan Kartu Huruf

Dyslexia is a disorder in the form of difficulty reading, writing, spelling which results in children not being able to read and speak. Teachers can stimulate children's thinking interested in learning to read using interesting learning techniques such as alphabet puzzle games and letter cards. This study aims to determine the effect of alphabet puzzle games and letter cards to reduce dyslexia. The research design is quasi-experimental with a one-group pretest-posttest design approach, namely measurement of observations before and after being given an alphabet puzzle game and letter cards for 3 months every 7 days. The research subjects were all students under five as many as 66 people. The dependent variable is alphabet puzzle and letter cards and the independent variable is the decrease in dyslexia. The results showed that there was a decrease in dyslexia in toddlers using alphabeth puzzle games (70% to 13%) and letter card games (67% to 16%). The results of the Paired T test statistical test obtained a Sig 2 tailed value of 0.000 (p < 0.05) meaning that there was an influence of alphabet puzzle games and letter cards on the decrease in dyslexia. The conclusion is that there is an effect of alphabet puzzle games and letter cards on the reduction of dyslexia in children under five.

Kemampuan Literasi Anak: Bagaimana Peran Serta Orang Tua di Masa Pandemi Covid-19?

Literacy skills in children include the ability to hear, read, write, and speak. Increasingliteracy skills in children can develop children's thinking patterns to be more critical and logical insolving problems, express new ideas, and be able to understand what information is obtained frombooks, audios, and other sources. However, currently, Covid-19 has appeared across the world,resulting in many institutions closing, including educational institutions, to break the chain of Covid-19 spread. The purpose of this study was to analyze how the role of parents in improving literacy skillsin children, especially during the pandemic. One of the guardians of grade one at MIS Paya BujokTunong, Langsa City became the subject of research using this type of qualitative research through anaturalistic approach that is descriptive and interview techniques as a research instrument. Theresults of this study indicate that parents' awareness and ways of improving literacy skills in childrenare very important to capture interest and disinterest in children. In addition, during this pandemic,the learning process is also carried out at home, thus a friendly way using soft intonation can maintainthe mood. children in the process of improving literacy skills in children.

Developing Skills for Exploring Children’s Thinking From Extensive One-on-One Work With Students

In this article, we share results from a field experience model in which junior-year methods classes were held in an elementary school and preservice teachers (PSTs) worked with a single student (a “Math Buddy") on mathematics for 30 minutes per day. We focus on the development of PSTs’ skills for exploring children’s thinking and the structures and tools that we used to support this development. Data sources include screencast recordings of interactions with Math Buddies and written reflections completed by PSTs. Although the responsiveness of interactions varied across individuals and interactions, in general, PSTs showed improvements in exploring children’s thinking. We share implications of these findings for similar field experience models and for practice-based approaches to teacher education generally.

Levels of Sophistication in Elementary Students’ Understanding of Polygon Concept and Polygons Classes

This paper reports sophistication levels in third grade children’s understanding of polygon concept and polygon classes. We consider how children endow mathematical meaning to parts of figures and reason to identify relationships between polygons. We describe four levels of sophistication in children’s thinking as they consider a figure as an example of a polygon class through spatial structuring (the mental operation of building an organization for a set of figures). These levels are: (i) partial structuring of polygon concept; (ii) global structuring of polygon concept; (iii) partial structuring of polygon classes; and (iv) global structuring of polygon classes. These levels detail how cognitive apprehensions, dimensional deconstruction, and the use of mathematical language intervene in the mental process of spatial structuring in the understanding of the classes of polygons.

The Implementation of School Literacy Movement by Using Storybook in Elementary School

Literacy is one way to build and develop children's thinking skills that are important for students. However, students' literacy habits are still low. Therefore, schools as one of the three educational centers should implement a literacy culture to improve children's thinking skills. This study aims to examine information about the application of literacy culture in schools and to apply literacy using children's stories for students. This study uses a qualitative descriptive approach with a survey method. The subjects of this study were elementary school students. Data collection techniques through observation, interviews, and documentation. Data analysis through the stages of data reduction, data presentation, and concluding. The results showed that literacy activities in schools had been implemented with literacy fifteen minutes before the lesson started and used every corner of the school as a reading corner, while the implementation of literacy using storybooks was done by inviting students to read books with various story titles. Based on these results, it can be concluded that elementary schools already have a good literacy program and the application of literacy using storybooks can invite students to retell the story content and the moral values of the story. This research implies that schools should optimize their role as one of the three educational centers to build and develop literacy habits for elementary school students.

Konsep Pendidikan Islam Menurut Ibnu Sina dan Ibnu Qayyim Al Jauziyyah

This study aims to describe the concept of Islamic education thought by Ibn Sina and Ibn Qayyim Al-Jauziyyah. The development of Islamic education thinking is important to improve and develop the quality of Islamic education in schools so that they can compete at the international level. The research method is descriptive qualitative and the data collection technique is a library study. The results of this study illustrate that there are fundamental differences from the concept of Islamic education thought both initiated by Ibn Sina and Ibn Qayyim, Ibn Sina's own thoughts are more inclined to the application of knowledge that is adapted to the age level of the child, while Ibn Qayyim's thinking is more inclined to inculcating values ​​of faith and the use of reason to develop children's thinking horizons. However, the thoughts of the two Muslim figures can still be used as a relevant reference in developing Islamic education in Muslim countries around the world, one of which is in Indonesia.

Dramatic play as a means to explore and support preschool children’s thinking about thermal insulation

Research in young children’s ideas, representations, and pre-conceptions about the natural and technical world has a long history. Most of the studies in the field have used individual, semi-structured interviews as a methodological technique to generate and collect empirical data. However, less is known about how tracing procedures can come in line and be incorporated into everyday educational reality in early childhood settings in a way that reflects young children’s interests and needs. The present study uses dramatic play to trace young children’s thinking in science and advance their science learning experiences. The study focuses on a science concept young children are familiar with in everyday life though has not been thoroughly studied in the literature yet: thermal insulation. Empirical data from 6 preschoolers in Greece are presented. Qualitative data were collected through recordings of children’s dialogues, children’s drawings, field notes from the early childhood teachers, and photographs. The findings revealed that during their dramatic play children a) developed basic argumentation to express their thinking about the phenomenon; b) related the phenomenon with the thermal condition and changes in temperature; c) identified materials and objects with insulating properties and distinguish them from others with non-insulating properties, and d) came to the conclusion that the use of amplified insulation materials can lead to better insulation results. The outcomes of the study add to the research methodology in early childhood science education and inform practice providing a pedagogical framework that balances between play-based pedagogies and advanced learning outcomes in science for young learners.

“I Didn’t Want to Be Ignorant”: An Exploration of Why Preservice Teachers Sometimes Choose Silence in Critical Conversations About Texts With Elementary Children

Discussions about texts can offer valuable opportunities for critical conversations about power and privilege. While we know such conversations are important to have in school, many teachers report feeling unprepared to facilitate them. In an effort to understand the in-the-moment decisions preservice teachers (PSTs) make in response to children’s contributions during critical conversations about texts, this qualitative, design-based study examines how PSTs responded to elementary-age children while facilitating discussions about texts in their field placements. Although various kinds of responses were made (e.g., eliciting children’s thinking, orienting children’s contributions to one another), in this analysis, we examine the moments where PSTs identified their silence as salient. Findings reveal that (1) some PSTs developing an understanding of the role of talk and desire to efficiently accomplish the task did not seem to set them up to see critical conversations about texts as a space for sensemaking, and (2) other PSTs did see critical conversations about texts as spaces to engage in sensemaking but felt discomfort grappling with unanticipated issues that arose. We discuss implications for literacy researchers and teacher educators committed to supporting critical conversations with children in schools.