ABSTRACT
Our research group has studied how Kindergarteners through second graders can be introduced to the ideas of Computational Thinking (CT) through engineer design, unplugged, and programming activities. We often found it difficult to explain the boundaries and clear definitions for CT in research, to students and their teachers. Literature provides a variety of definitions from various perspectives, but these definitions often seem like capturing smoke. We see evidence CT, indicating fire, but how hot or lasting it burns cannot be measured by smoke alone. CT is typically defined by siloed concepts and skills. Some silos describe concrete ideas, which tend to be tied to programming principles. Many describe essential ideas, but over generalized becoming hard to teach and measure and distinguish from other types of problem solving. Is there a middle ground where we can clearly observe the presence and growing maturing of CT yet not limit the ways it can manifest, particularly without requiring coding? We hope this poster inspires conversation on 1.) the intersection of CT and programming skills, 2.) the priority and order for learning those skills, and 3.) how we can promote CT in disciplines who interact with and help define computational solutions yet are never expected to learn to program. We hope to share our perspective as well as garner feedback and possibly collaboration on better refining curriculum within Computer Science as well as promoting CT in other disciplines.
Index Terms
- Exploring the Definition of Computational Thinking in Research and the Classroom
Recommendations
Teaching how to teach computational thinking
ITiCSE 2018: Proceedings of the 23rd Annual ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science EducationComputational Thinking is argued to be an essential skill for the workforce of the 21st century. As a skill, Computational Thinking should be taught in all schools, employing computational ideas integrated into other disciplines. Up until now, questions ...
Thinking about computational thinking
SIGCSE '09: Proceedings of the 40th ACM technical symposium on Computer science educationJeannette Wing's call for teaching Computational Thinking (CT) as a formative skill on par with reading, writing, and arithmetic places computer science in the category of basic knowledge. Just as proficiency in basic language arts helps us to ...
Thinking about Computational Thinking: Lessons from Education Research
SIGCSE '19: Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science EducationComputational thinking (CT) is a means to help learners engage in authentic disciplinary and problem-solving practices of computer science (CS). For CS classrooms, CT is considered "thinking like a computer scientist". CT is believed to be an important ...
Comments