K-12 Computational Learning

A model is developed for K12 science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education through computational learning to enhance student learning and understanding by combining theories of learning with the computer's unique attributes. The model is explicit in its use of a computer and specifically excludes non-cognitive uses of technology such as powerpoint, wikis, blogs, and clickers. In developing the model, computational science is viewed as the interaction between the human and the computer. The method allows students to learn to move from concrete representations of images to more abstract representations of those images. A student can also specify an organism, with primitive appendages to accomplish locomotion, and run the simulation to watch how the organism's ability to move evolves over time as a function of its current locomotion capability.