Faculty Publications & Research
Integrating neuroscience into the K-12 computer science curriculum
Abstract
Adopting interdisciplinary STEM curricula is often difficult in public high schools that have stringent pacing criteria and standards. Further, high school students are not exposed to interdisciplinary courses (e.g., computer science integrated with biology) which are typically considered complex and expensive to curate. Currently opportunities to experience integrated, interdisciplinary curriculum/research are only available if students opt to pursue advanced graduate degrees or at major universities in lab courses. As a result, a large population of high schoolers are left with a poor understanding of key new interdisciplinary areas, (e.g., how the brain works), and, are not aware of a vast field of computational neuroscience research that needs our brightest and ethical minds to advance. The faculty at the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy (IMSA) in collaboration with the University of Missouri-Engineering (MU), have developed a K-12 curricular unit that has integrated topics that are in-line with the revised Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and state standards. Using robust, low-maintenance, microcontroller-based kits to study Electromyograms (EMG), we have
integrated neurobiology, computer science and engineering curriculum into a unit that has three activities. The curriculum involves hands-on, inquiry- based, student-centered scientific investigation through problem design, hypothesis generation, group discussions, collecting and interpreting
evidence, explanation and argument, generating inference from observations. This new learning environment will also focus on computational thinking through the lens of decomposition, pattern recognition and algorithmic thinking. We will also strengthen students' trust in their own investigations, students' views on working in research groups, via interdisciplinary work in the classroom. This effort will enable K-12 STEM students, including those from marginalized backgrounds and teachers with limited mathematical, programming and data skills, to strengthen their background. Importantly, this will empower them to ask thought-provoking questions from patterns hidden in real-world data and discover complex scientific phenomena. We believe such an investment offers a high cost to benefit ratio, will be long-lasting, advance our knowledge on the design and pedagogical guidelines of interdisciplinary learning environments that minimize cognitive load for novice K-12 learners while still maintaining compliance with district policies, and empower teachers to excite students in these fields that need talent.