Maryland Center for Computing Education Renews Hood College Grant

FREDERICK, Maryland—The Maryland Center for Computing Education (MCCE) has granted Hood College nearly $50,000 to fund a second round of the Computational Thinking Partnership.

Last fall, this collaborative partnership between Hood, Frederick County Public Schools, Frederick Community College and Maryland Codes (a Code.org regional partnership) involved 23 diverse educators, including 12 Hood preservice students, one Hood faculty member, five FCC preservice students, and five FCPS classroom teachers.

“We had representation from several cultural groups and gender identities including some of the traditionally underrepresented populations for computer science,” said Jennifer Cuddapah, Ed.D., associate professor of education at Hood and lead on the grant. “Participants shared their final projects during the celebratory Computational Thinking Gallery in December. Twelve participants applied for and were awarded mini-grants to purchase materials to enact their projects. With the second round of the grant, we seek to expand participation to 30 educators and hope all will receive the mini-grant award.”

Participants will learn and apply foundational principles of computer science and computational thinking into K-8 STEM curriculum and teaching. Beginning with a hands-on introduction to the core and cross-cutting computer science concepts such as computing systems, networks and the internet, data and analysis, algorithms and programming, impacts of computing, abstraction, system relationships, human-computer interaction, privacy and security, and communication and coordination, participants will engage as students and then look at the same activities as teachers.

Participants will envision how activities apply to K-8 classrooms, and they will work in pairs or groups to design a problem-based project for students. They will have an opportunity to receive a mini-grant to support classroom implementation of their projects. Throughout the learning experience, participants will stay connected with one another and the computer science and education faculty through the online forum. Participants will reconvene regularly to continue exploring the K-12 Computer Science Framework, receive coaching about application of computational thinking, and share the progress of their projects.

Read about last year's grant here.

Hood College is an independent, liberal arts college, offering 28 bachelor’s degrees, four pre-professional programs, 19 master’s degrees programs, two doctorates and 10 post-baccalaureate certificates. Located in historic Frederick, near Washington, D.C., Baltimore and the I-270 technology corridor, Hood gives students access to countless internships and research opportunities.

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