Report of a Workshop on the Pedagogical Aspects of Computational Thinking


Book Description

In 2008, the Computer and Information Science and Engineering Directorate of the National Science Foundation asked the National Research Council (NRC) to conduct two workshops to explore the nature of computational thinking and its cognitive and educational implications. The first workshop focused on the scope and nature of computational thinking and on articulating what "computational thinking for everyone" might mean. A report of that workshop was released in January 2010. Drawing in part on the proceedings of that workshop, Report of a Workshop of Pedagogical Aspects of Computational Thinking, summarizes the second workshop, which was held February 4-5, 2010, in Washington, D.C., and focuses on pedagogical considerations for computational thinking. This workshop was structured to gather pedagogical inputs and insights from educators who have addressed computational thinking in their work with K-12 teachers and students. It illuminates different approaches to computational thinking and explores lessons learned and best practices. Individuals with a broad range of perspectives contributed to this report. Since the workshop was not intended to result in a consensus regarding the scope and nature of computational thinking, Report of a Workshop of Pedagogical Aspects of Computational Thinking does not contain findings or recommendations.




Report of a Workshop on the Scope and Nature of Computational Thinking


Book Description

Report of a Workshop on the Scope and Nature of Computational Thinking presents a number of perspectives on the definition and applicability of computational thinking. For example, one idea expressed during the workshop is that computational thinking is a fundamental analytical skill that everyone can use to help solve problems, design systems, and understand human behavior, making it useful in a number of fields. Supporters of this viewpoint believe that computational thinking is comparable to the linguistic, mathematical and logical reasoning taught to all children. Various efforts have been made to introduce K-12 students to the most basic and essential computational concepts and college curricula have tried to provide a basis for life-long learning of increasingly new and advanced computational concepts and technologies. At both ends of this spectrum, however, most efforts have not focused on fundamental concepts. The book discusses what some of those fundamental concepts might be. Report of a Workshop on the Scope and Nature of Computational Thinking explores the idea that as the use of computational devices is becoming increasingly widespread, computational thinking skills should be promulgated more broadly. The book is an excellent resource for professionals in a wide range of fields including educators and scientists.




The Science of Adolescent Risk-Taking


Book Description

Adolescence is a time when youth make decisions, both good and bad, that have consequences for the rest of their lives. Some of these decisions put them at risk of lifelong health problems, injury, or death. The Institute of Medicine held three public workshops between 2008 and 2009 to provide a venue for researchers, health care providers, and community leaders to discuss strategies to improve adolescent health.




Getting Value Out of Value-Added


Book Description

Value-added methods refer to efforts to estimate the relative contributions of specific teachers, schools, or programs to student test performance. In recent years, these methods have attracted considerable attention because of their potential applicability for educational accountability, teacher pay-for-performance systems, school and teacher improvement, program evaluation, and research. Value-added methods involve complex statistical models applied to test data of varying quality. Accordingly, there are many technical challenges to ascertaining the degree to which the output of these models provides the desired estimates. Despite a substantial amount of research over the last decade and a half, overcoming these challenges has proven to be very difficult, and many questions remain unanswered-at a time when there is strong interest in implementing value-added models in a variety of settings. The National Research Council and the National Academy of Education held a workshop, summarized in this volume, to help identify areas of emerging consensus and areas of disagreement regarding appropriate uses of value-added methods, in an effort to provide research-based guidance to policy makers who are facing decisions about whether to proceed in this direction.




Report of the Workshop Predictive Theoretical, Computational and Experimental Approaches for Additive Manufacturing (WAM 2016)


Book Description

The volume focuses on theoretical and computational approaches and involves areas such as simulation-based engineering and science, integrated computational materials engineering, mechanics, material science, manufacturing processes, and other specialized areas. Most importantly, the state-of-the-art progress in developing predictive theoretical, computational and experimental approaches for additive manufacturing is summarized.







Writing Better Reports


Book Description







Report of the Regional Commission for Fisheries (RECOFI) Data Workshop Series


Book Description

Forty participants from the Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates participated in the RECOFI Data Workshop Series: Minimum Data Reporting (MDR) regional database, RECOFI-FIRMS stocks and fisheries inventories and SDG Indicator 14.4.1: Proportion of fish stocks within biologically sustainable levels. The workshop reviewed the MDR indicators and priority species list for endorsement, reviewed the presentation of pilot MDR RECOFI regional database and adopted an MDR data submission template. With regards to the RECOFI – FIRMS stocks and fisheries inventories, the workshop acknowledged the progress made so far and recommended that the Member Countries finalize and publish the RECOFI Fisheries inventory. The workshop also recognized the importance of publishing the work on the priority species presented at each meeting of the WGFM under the RECOFI - FIRMS collection as marine resource fact sheets. The workshop discussed the focal points list for MDR/FIRMS that will be circulated to Member Countries for finalisation and further discussed at the next meeting of the WGFM and approved at the next session of RECOFI. On SDG 14.4.1, the workshop agreed that the SDG 14.4.1 focal point list would be verified and validated and RECOFI Members’ reference list of stocks would be confirmed as either shared, transboundary and national, and communicate any issues with the outcomes.