About Initiate
Can self-driving cars be hacked? Can our highways become even more dangerous? This
project (INITIATE) combines multiple theories (the fusion of activity theory, social
constructivist learning theory, and project-based learning) to form its conceptual
framework or approach to this study. The project, guided by its conceptual framework,
will use the Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM) to guide professional development
that uses problem-based learning to help grade 9-12 science teachers integrate Computational
Thinking into their teaching. Activities will use smart vehicles as a mechanism to
engage Career Technical Education and mathematics teachers, alongside with 9-12 students
to better understand why and how to embed computational thinking in their curriculum.
The program should contribute meaningfully to the understanding of effective characteristics
of professional development. The project is funded by the STEM+Computing program,
which seeks to address emerging challenges in computational STEM areas through the
applied integration of computational thinking and computing activities within disciplinary
STEM teaching and learning in early childhood education through high school (preK-12).
This project emerges from a well-designed research plan and an explicit implementation
schedule which addresses whether a PBL focused topic is an effective medium for making
mathematics more engaging and relevant to students. The project will also investigate
common concerns inhibiting teacher enactment of CT in mathematics and CTE teaching
and whether a relationship exists between teachers' CBAM score and implementation
of PBLThe practice of developing collaborative partnerships between mathematics and
CTE teachers to design and test their courses employing PBL techniques is unique and
may serve as a powerful and replicable model for making mathematics more relevant
to students.