Principal Education Researcher, SRI Education
Satabdi Basu, PhD, conducts research in computer science (CS) education that spans the design, development, implementation, and evaluation of curricula, learning environments, assessments, and teacher professional development that foster computational competencies for K–12 students and teachers. She is particularly interested in exploring and leveraging the synergies between computer science and the disciplines of science, engineering, and mathematics. Her research interests also include promoting K12 Artificial Intelligence (AI) education and using AI to scaffold student learning in other disciplines.
In her current projects, Basu is developing technology-enhanced CS curriculum materials, innovative CS summative and formative assessments, rubrics for assessing students’ programming artifacts, and teacher professional resources to improve CS pedagogical content knowledge. Basu’s current STEM+Computing projects explore the integration of computing and computational thinking with K12 science, mathematics, and engineering by anchoring authentic problem-solving and design tasks in project-based investigations of scientific phenomena and engineering challenges. Her broad interests extend to applying different forms of learning analytics to better understand, assess, and scaffold students and teachers in their use of technology-rich, open-ended environments that foster CS concepts and practices.
Before joining SRI, Basu designed and developed educational technology to integrate science learning with computational thinking for middle school students and developed an artificially intelligent mentor agent to dynamically scaffold student learning in this environment. Basu received her undergraduate degree in computer science and engineering from the West Bengal University of Technology and her MS and PhD degrees in computer science from Vanderbilt University.
Key projects
- ASSIST-MSCS : Developing A Suite of Standards-based Instructionally Supportive Tools for Middle School Computer Science
- SPICE: Science Projects Integrating Computing and Engineering
- CoolThink@Jockey Club: Evaluation of a pilot CS program in Hong Kong
- PFACS: Playful game-based Formative Assessments of Computer Science
- C2STEM: Collaborative, Computational STEM for High School Physics Classrooms
Selected Publications
- Learner Modeling for Adaptive Scaffolding in a Computational Thinking-Based Science Learning Environment
- Measuring Student Learning in Introductory Block-Based Programming: Examining Misconceptions of Loops, Variables, and Boolean Logic
- A Framework for Using Hypothesis-Driven Approaches to Support Data-Driven Learning Analytics in Measuring Computational Thinking in Block-Based Programming Environments
Recent publications
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Global Benchmarking of Computational Thinking Education in Primary Schools
This report offers a framework for reviewing CoolThink@JC’s accomplishments to date and computational thinking education (CTE) initiatives in other jurisdictions.
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Scaling Up Coolthink@JC Implementation Study Baseline Report
This report is the first in a series from an implementation study being conducted by SRI International (SRI).
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Building Teacher Capacity in K–12 Computer Science by Promoting Formative Assessment Literacy
The rapid expansion of computer science (CS) instruction in primary and secondary education has highlighted the shortage of teachers qualified to teach the subject.
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Practice Guide: Applying a Principled Approach to Develop and Use K–12 Computer Science Formative Assessments
In this practice guide, we show how to apply the five-step process outlined in the corresponding white paper to systematically develop or select formative assessment tasks and use them to…
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Using Computational Modeling to Integrate Science and Engineering Curricular Activities
We articulate a framework for using computational modeling to coherently integrate the design of science and engineering curricular experiences.
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A principled approach to designing a computational thinking practices assessment for early grades
In this paper, we discuss the development of and results from a validated CT Practices assessment for 4th-6th grade students.