Supporting elementary teachers’ change in computational thinking professional learning: a year-long multiple case study

Background and Context: Despite the widespread proliferation of computational thinking (CT) initiatives globally, the in-service teachers’ professional learning (PL) for CT-integrated curriculum is often insufficiently supported. In-service teachers often have limited prior experience with CT, low technological confidence, and insufficient ongoing support. This study focuses on three elementary educators with diverse profiles as they engage in a year-long CT PL program.Objective: The study aims to understand how sustained, individualized PL can support elementary teachers‘ development of CT knowledge and pedagogy over time. Specifically, it investigates how teachers’ engagement, understanding of CT, and CT-related pedagogical practices change throughout a 10-month PL program.Method: Through comparing the multiple cases with a longitudinal perspective, this study tracked three teachers over a full academic year. Data were collected through interviews, monthly individual coaching sessions, and classroom observations of CT-integrated lesson implementations. Analysis was guided by the Interconnected Model of Professional Growth, focusing on changes in teachers” personal knowledge, engagement in PL, and classroom practice.Findings: Teachers’ engagement evolved from focusing on CT content acquisition to refining CT-aligned pedagogical strategies. Their understanding of key CT concepts (e.g. decomposition, algorithmic thinking, and pattern recognition) expanded over time, and their instructional approaches broadened from isolated coding activities to integrated, inquiry-based lessons. Across cases, monthly individualized coaching played a critical linking role between workshop learning and classroom enactment.Implications: The findings underscore the value of ongoing, individualized coaching for helping in-service teachers translate CT learning into sustained classroom practice, informing the design of more effective and sustainable PL.