Using a STEM education approach with a computational tool: The impact on students' computational thinking skills and understanding of climate change

The current study applied the STEM-integrated teaching approach to middle school students using computational practices and tool. The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to investigate whether teaching about climate change with a STEM approach using computational practices significantly changes eighth-grade students' CT skills and understanding of climate change. In addition, the effect of the CT approach as a thought system on the students' understanding of the concepts was investigated. Weintrop and colleagues' computational practices (2016) were integrated into the STEM-integrated teaching framework to focus on developing the CT skills of middle school students in science classes. The participants were 60 eighth-graders in a public middle school, selected using the purposive sampling method. The control group participated in a traditional lesson about climate change. The experimental group participated in an interactive lesson that integrated computational practices by incorporating the integrated STEM teaching approach and its steps, such as fact-finding and product development, and by using the LabStar as a computational tool. Two different instruments were applied as pre-and post-tests. Also, students' CT skills were analyzed qualitatively with worksheets and individual interviews. The findings of the study indicated that students in the experimental group had higher scores in the post-test on CTS and CCKT compared to the pre-test and students in the control groups. Engaging with computational practices in STEM lesson steps resulted in significant conceptual learning and algorithmic design.