Despite increased calls to integrate computational thinking (CT) into early childhood education, very little is known about preschool children’s CT learning and the development of computational literacy. Building on the current interest in helping young children—especially those from underserved backgrounds—to think computationally, the EDC research and WGBH development teams will conduct a three-year exploratory collaborative research process.

Modeled on Clements’ (2007) Curriculum Research Framework, the full project team will develop a theoretical model, conduct formative research to support the development of educational materials for the preschool classroom, and implement a pilot study to investigate the promise of the intervention in cultivating preschoolers’ computational literacy and narrative competence. Throughout the three-year project period, the EDC research team will conduct research in three public urban preschools, all of which serve low-income children from a range of ethnic backgrounds.

This project is funded by the National Science Foundation’s STEM + Computing Partnerships (STEM+C) program, which seeks to advance the integration of computational thinking and computing activities in education from early childhood through high school (pre-K–12).