Conceptions and Misconceptions about Computational Thinking among Italian Primary School Teachers

Abstract

Many advanced countries are recognizing more and more importance of teaching computing, in some cases even as early as in primary school. Computational is term often used to denote conceptual core of computer science or the way a computer scientist thinks, as Wing put it. Such term - given also lack of a widely accepted definition - has become a buzzword meaning different things to different people. We investigated Italian primary school teachers' conceptions about computational thinking by analyzing results of a survey (N=972) conducted in context of Programma il Futuro project. Teachers have been asked to provide a definition of computational thinking and to answer three additional related closed-ended questions. The analysis shows that, while almost half of teachers (43.4%) have included in their definitions some fundamental elements of computational thinking, very few (10.8%) have been able to provide an acceptably complete definition. On a more positive note, majority is aware that computational thinking is not characterized by coding or by use of information technology.