Published February 17, 2026

Teaching Algorithmic Thinking to Elementary Students in an Unplugged Environment

By Maggie Vanderberg, Dylana Garfas, Gladys Krause, Eva Skuratowicz, and Eping Hung,

Computational thinking (CT) is becoming widely acknowledged as a foundational skill for all learners, yet the research literature on how to effectively teach CT, especially in elementary grades, remains underdeveloped. Early intervention holds promise for broadening participation in computing by engaging diverse learners before stereotypes and opportunity gaps take root. However, K–5 educators often lack clear standards and concrete examples for integrating CT into classroom practice. This paper addresses these challenges by presenting both conceptual and practical tools to support the development of algorithmic thinking, a key component of CT. We offer an exploratory learning progression that maps how students might build algorithmic thinking over time, along with excerpts from sample lessons that illustrate its application across elementary contexts.

Presented April 26, 2025

Teaching Algorithmic Thinking to Elementary Students

Presented at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting,, By Maggie Vanderberg, Dylana Garfas, Eva Skuratowicz, Gladys Krause, and Eping Hung

Computational thinking (CT) is now recognized as a critical skill for everyone, but the science of teaching and learning CT is underexplored. It is believed that early intervention has the potential to increase the diversity in technological fields because it can help students develop computer science skills at a young age. However, the field lacks standards and examples of CT use in K-5 curricula. This paper provides conceptual tools (an exploratory learning progression) and practical tools (examples of lessons) for developing algorithm thinking skills, which is one of the key components of computational thinking.

Presented April 23, 2025

Moving Out and Letting Go: How to Create a More Equitable Researcher Practitioner Partnership

Presented at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting, By Eva Skuratowicz, Daniel Schmidft, Jennifer Mohatt, Trish Dorr, Dylana Garfas, Eping Hung, Gladys Krause, and Maggie Vanderberg

An increasingly popular solution to educational research and policies that are shaped and driven solely by researchers’ agendas is the RPP (researcher practitioner partnership). In this paper, we explore the challenges of establishing a fully participatory co-research structure, and the benefits and opportunities that can occur through the dual processes of researchers letting go and teachers moving out of their comfort zone. We utilize a mixed methods case study approach. We use the boundary spanning framework to understand how these relational dynamics can be navigated. Findings showcase how this approach provides both challenges and opportunities for researchers and practitioners to expand their roles, and the importance of trusting relationships built through both formal and informal interactions.

Published March 7, 2024

Making Abstraction Concrete in the Elementary Classroom

By Eping Hung, Maggie Vanderberg, Gladys Krause, and Eva Skuratowicz

In recent years, several research projects have introduced elementary school teachers to computational thinking as a first step in familiarizing students with computer science concepts at an early age. A consistent challenge reported in these initiatives is teaching abstraction. This position paper offers preliminary recommendations for abstraction pedagogy in elementary education. These suggestions stem from an analysis of unplugged abstraction examples showcased during a summer institute on computational thinking.

Published January 18, 2023

Computational thinking in a bilingual kindergarten classroom: Emergent ideas for teaching across content areas

By Gladys Krause, Maggie Vanderberg, Eping Hung, and Eva Skuratowicz

Our study documents how a Spanish-English bilingual elementary teacher learned computational thinking while working to incorporate it into mathematics and language arts lessons in a bilingual classroom. We classified the elements of the teacher’s process into two practices: intentional and unintentional use of computational thinking. Intentional use of computational thinking…