Comparing cognitive and sociocultural assessments of learning in middle school computer science.

As K-12 Computer Science becomes a mainstream subject, there has been recognition of a need for dialogue between various theoretical framings of learning. However, even in research showing the importance of sociocultural factors, quantitative ass essment of Computer Science learning has been predominantly cognitive. This study presents an example of how quantitative assessments of learning, based on cognitive and sociocultural fram ings of learning, can be put into dialogue by developing measures of learning on internal individual terms and understood as participation in a community of practice. We develop two participation- based constructs assessed using methods from learning analytics, and show that each is significantly associated with better performance on a cognitively-based summative assessment of computer science content. These associations are medi ated by the content of students' programs. Beyond serving as contextual factors for cognitive assessments, we propose treating these constructs as primary evidence of learning.

Download full text

APA

Proctor, C., Zheng, Y., & Blikstein, P. (2020). Comparing Cognitive and Sociocultural Assessments of Learning in Middle School Computer Science. In M. Gresalfi & I.S. Horn (Eds.). The Interdisciplinarity of the Learning Sciences, 14th International Conference of the Learning Sciences (ICLS) 2020. (pp. 238-245). ISLS.

Bibtex

@article{proctor_2020_comparing,
  title = {Comparing {{Cognitive}} and {{Sociocultural Assessments}} of {{Learning}} in {{Middle School Computer Science}}},
  author = {Proctor, Chris and Zheng, Yipu and Blikstein, Paulo},
  year = {2020},
  journal = {The Interdisciplinarity of the Learning Sciences, 14th International Conference of the Learning Sciences (ICLS) 2020.},
  pages = {238--245},
  abstract = {As K-12 Computer Science becomes a mainstream subject, there has been recognition of a need for dialogue between various theoretical framings of learning. However, even in research showing the importance of sociocultural factors, quantitative assessment of Computer Science learning has been predominantly cognitive. This study presents an example of how quantitative assessments of learning, based on cognitive and sociocultural framings of learning, can be put into dialogue by developing measures of learning on internal individual terms and understood as participation in a community of practice. We develop two participationbased constructs assessed using methods from learning analytics, and show that each is significantly associated with better performance on a cognitively-based summative assessment of computer science content. These associations are mediated by the content of students' programs. Beyond serving as contextual factors for cognitive assessments, we propose treating these constructs as primary evidence of learning.},
  langid = {english}
}