Evaluation Of Efforts To Expose Middle School Students To Computational Thinking: A Report On The Cosmic Program

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. In the past decade, many efforts have been made to develop and evaluate CT in primary and secondary students. This push for CT development in students seeks to prepare their problem-solving skills for a world where technology is ubiquitous, as well as to understand and mitigate the under-representation of women and minorities in STEM careers through exposure to computer science early on. COSMIC is one such effort that took place in Caldwell County middle schools from 2015 through 2017. The COSMIC program was created and supervised by researchers at Appalachian State University who supported teachers in hosting after school clubs and summer camps to teach students CT concepts through the use of the CS First curriculum and Scratch programming language. This thesis analyzes the impact of COSMIC using a mixed-mode approach of quantitative and qualitative data. The COSMIC effort was successful in its efforts to improve student awareness, knowledge, and skill of CT concepts, perspectives, and practices.