Teaching Computational Thinking with Electronic Textiles: High School Teachers' Contextualizing Strategies in Exploring Computer Science

Understanding how teachers promote students' computational thinking in computer science classes addresses a critical need. We report on how high school teachers implemented a 30-40 hour electronic textile unit in which students designed different wearables with the LilyPad Arduino as part of the Exploring Computer Science curriculum in two classrooms. Our analysis focused on how teachers brought out computational thinking through students' interactions and projects in three key areas: strategic problem solving, iteration, and interfacing between abstract and tangible computation. In the discussion, we address what we learned about teachers' pedagogical content knowledge to make computational thinking tangible to students.