Integrating Computational Thinking and Scientific Inquiry Practices into a Co-designed Biology Unit

Abstract

Curriculum reforms in India, as well as across the world, have underscored the importance of Computational Thinking (CT) and Scientific Inquiry (SI) for teaching-learning science [1–3]. This thrust to create modern educational spaces that equip students with 21st-century skills requires the development of new curricular materials and shifts in pedagogical practices. To effectively integrate CT and SI in their regular classrooms, we collaborated with high school teachers as a part of a design-based research project. We developed a framework of CTSI practices using the CT practices for science and mathematics [4] and SI practices [2, 3]. This paper presents a case study of co-designing a biology unit on the Excretory System for 11th grade that used co-designed agent-based computational models to facilitate student participation in CTSI practices. In our analysis, we investigate the co-design process and its outcomes regarding integrating CTSI practices. Our data includes field notes of the workshop, recordings of co-design meetings, models, and curricular activities as co-design artifacts, and a teacher interview. The findings show how the CTSI practices were integrated into the curriculum and how the co-design process supported the creation of the CTSI integrated unit and shifts in the teacher’s pedagogical practices that would support student agency in learning. This work has implications for creating teacher professional development programs to develop and use new CTSI-integrated units as a part of NEP 2020 and NCFSE 2023 implementation.