CURRENT RESEARCH PROJECTS
SELECTED CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS:
Jocius, R., Blanton, M., Albert, J., O’Byrne, W., Joshi, D. (2022, December). Unpacking Computational Thinking Literacies: Curricular Materials, Dispositions, and Teacher Learning. Paper to be presented at the Literacy Research Association Conference, Phoenix, AZ.
Jocius, R., Albert, J., O’Byrne, W., Blanton, M., Joshi, D., Robinson, R., & Andrews, A. (2022, April). Teacher learning in the virtual classroom. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association Conference, San Diego, CA.
Blanton, M., Jocius, R., Albert, J., Andrews, A., & Joshi, D. (2022, April). Leveraging virtual professional development to support elementary teachers’ understandings of computational thinking. Poster presented at the American Educational Research Association Conference, San Diego, CA.
Jocius, J., Blanton, M., Albert, J., Andrews, A., & Joshi, D. (2021, December). Sandcastles, dragons, and algorithms: using read-alouds to develop computational thinking skills. Paper presented at the Literacy Research Association Conference, Atlanta, GA.
Albert, J., Joshi, D., & Robinson, R. (2021, December). Towards a grounded theory of disciplinary computational thinking. Paper presented at the Literacy Research Association Conference, Atlanta, GA.
Jocius, R., Joshi, D., Albert, J., Barnes, T., Robinson, R., Catete, V., Dong, Y., Blanton, M., O’Byrne, W.I., & Andrews, A. (2021, March). The Virtual Pivot: Transitioning Computational Thinking PD for Middle and High School Content Area Teachers. Paper to be presented at the annual meeting of the ACM Special Interest Group on Computer Science Education, Orlando, FL.
- Integrating computational thinking in core-content lessons: How do teachers co-design CT-infused lessons? What supports do teachers need to implement CT-infused lessons? How does teachers’ knowledge of and pedagogy supporting CT integration change over time? How does students’ understanding of CT change? (funding from NSF RPP and recently completed NSF STEM+C)
- STEM teacher professional development: Which evidence-based strategies (e.g., teacher professional development, teacher collaborative time, co-design of lessons, community of practice) are most effective in the creation of highly-effective teacher leaders in rural districts? How do middle school mathematics teachers integrate instructional practices, designed to support students’ mathematical literacy, into their teaching? (funding from NSF NOYCE and SC CHE Centers of Excellence grant)
SELECTED CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS:
Jocius, R., Blanton, M., Albert, J., O’Byrne, W., Joshi, D. (2022, December). Unpacking Computational Thinking Literacies: Curricular Materials, Dispositions, and Teacher Learning. Paper to be presented at the Literacy Research Association Conference, Phoenix, AZ.
Jocius, R., Albert, J., O’Byrne, W., Blanton, M., Joshi, D., Robinson, R., & Andrews, A. (2022, April). Teacher learning in the virtual classroom. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association Conference, San Diego, CA.
Blanton, M., Jocius, R., Albert, J., Andrews, A., & Joshi, D. (2022, April). Leveraging virtual professional development to support elementary teachers’ understandings of computational thinking. Poster presented at the American Educational Research Association Conference, San Diego, CA.
Jocius, J., Blanton, M., Albert, J., Andrews, A., & Joshi, D. (2021, December). Sandcastles, dragons, and algorithms: using read-alouds to develop computational thinking skills. Paper presented at the Literacy Research Association Conference, Atlanta, GA.
Albert, J., Joshi, D., & Robinson, R. (2021, December). Towards a grounded theory of disciplinary computational thinking. Paper presented at the Literacy Research Association Conference, Atlanta, GA.
Jocius, R., Joshi, D., Albert, J., Barnes, T., Robinson, R., Catete, V., Dong, Y., Blanton, M., O’Byrne, W.I., & Andrews, A. (2021, March). The Virtual Pivot: Transitioning Computational Thinking PD for Middle and High School Content Area Teachers. Paper to be presented at the annual meeting of the ACM Special Interest Group on Computer Science Education, Orlando, FL.
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:
Refereed Journal Articles
Blanton, M., Jocius, R., Albert, J.L., Joshi, D., & Andrews, A. (accepted). Dragons, Squishy Circuits, and Computational Thinking: Integrating Scientific Literacies into Elementary Classrooms. Language Arts.
Jocius, R., O’Byrne, W.I., Albert, J., Joshi, D., Blanton, M., Robinson, R., Andrews, A., Barnes, T., & Catete, V. (2022). Building a Virtual Community of Practice: Teacher Learning for Computational Thinking Infusion. TechTrends, 66, 547-559. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-022-00729-6
Wiegand, R.P., Bucci, A., Kumar, A., Albert, J.L., & Gaspar, A. (2022). Identifying informatively easy and informatively hard concepts. ACM Transactions on Computing Education (TOCE), 22(1), 1-28.
Jocius, R., O’Byrne, W.I., Albert, J., Robinson, R., Joshi, D., Andrews, A., & Blanton, M. (2021). Leveraging Virtual Professional Development to Build Computational Thinking Literacies in English Language Arts Classrooms. CITE Journal (English), 21(4). (acceptance rate: 29%).
Jocius, R., O’Byrne, Albert, J., Joshi, D., Robinson, R., & Andrews, A. (2021). Infusing Computational Thinking into STEM Teaching: From Professional Development to Classroom Practice. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 24(4).
Jocius, R., Albert, J.L., Andrews, A., & Blanton, M. (2020). A study in contradictions: Exploring standards-based making in elementary classrooms. The Journal of Educational Research, 113(5), 396-403. (2019 impact factor: 1.400).
Bari, A. G., Gaspar, A., Wiegand, R. P., Albert, J. L., Bucci, A., & Kumar, A. N. (2019). EvoParsons: design, implementation and preliminary evaluation of evolutionary Parsons puzzle. Genetic Programming and Evolvable Machines, 20(2), 213-244.
Albert, J.L. & Martinez, D. (February/March 2019). Cadets create indoor farm inside shipping containers. Mother Earth News.
Imam, S., Albert, J.L., Jocius, R. (January 2019). How Do You Stay Fit in Space?: Exploring Exercise Through Project-Based Learning. Science Scope.
Blanchard, M. R., Kier, M. W., Stevens, V. & Albert, J. L. (2017). STEM Bingo: A STEM Careers Game. Science Scope.
Kier, M. W., Blanchard, M. R., Osborne, J. W., & Albert, J. L. (2014). The Development of the STEM career interest survey (STEM-CIS). Research in Science Education, 44(3), 461-481.
Book Chapter
Jocius, R., Blanton, M., Albert, J., Joshi, D., & Andrews, A. R. (2021). Computational Thinking and Making in Virtual Elementary Classrooms. In Handbook of Research on Transforming Teachers’ Online Pedagogical Reasoning for Engaging K-12 Students in Virtual Learning (pp. 359-378). IGI Global.
Albert, J.L., Jocius, R., Barnes, T., Joshi, D., Catete, V., Robinson, R., O’Byrne, W., & Andrews, A. (2020). Research-based Design Recommendations for Transitioning a Computational Thinking Integration Summer Professional Development to a Virtual Format. In Ferdig, R.E., Baumgartner, E., Hartshorne, R., Kaplan-Rakowski, R. & Mouza, C. (Eds.). Teaching, Technology, and Teacher Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Stories from the Field. Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). Retrieved June 15, 2020 from https://www.learntechlib.org/p/216903/.
Albert, J. L., Blanchard, M. R., & Wiebe, E. N. (in press). How high school students construct or create animations about water boiling. In K.D. Finson & J. Pederson (Eds.), Application of Visual Data in K-16 Science Classrooms.