#403: Unpacking Elementary Teacher Interactions in an Asynchronous Online Computational Thinking Professional Development Course

To support elementary teachers in developing computational thinking (CT) knowledge and pedagogy, professional development (PD) programs must engage them in meaningful and collaborative learning environments. This study examined how elementary teachers interacted in an asynchronous online CT PD designed to build foundational coding skills and pedagogical strategies situated in a game-design context before integrating it into their classrooms. Using an explanatory mixed-methods approach, we first employed social network analysis to characterize teachers’ interaction patterns across three cohorts and then conducted qualitative analyses of discussion posts to interpret their roles in context. Findings revealed that teachers who actively engaged in programming practice, lesson design, and reflection developed shared understandings of students’ struggles and pedagogical approaches to support student CT learning in classrooms. These results highlight the potential of asynchronous online CT PDs to foster peer-supported reflection and pedagogical reasoning among teachers new to teaching CT.