Enhancing English writing and higher-order thinking skills through computational thinking

Abstract

Efforts to incorporate computational thinking (CT) into academic courses have been gaining popularity. CT is a problem-solving skill that is crucial in the 21st century. CT may be used to support language education. Courses in English as a foreign language often need an effective writing component that includes writing organization and language use, as demonstrated by the poor writing samples often generated by students of these courses. To address the problems, CT, which is a higher-order mode of problem-solving and knowledge acquisition optimization, was used. The experimental group was instructed using the CT teaching model based on CT's essential components (decomposition, generalization, abstraction, algorithm, and evaluation), whereas the control group was taught using the conventional method. In total, 58 undergraduate students divided into two groups participated in this study. A combination of writing, CT skills, surveys, and interviews were used to collect data according to an experimental design. The collected quantitative data were analyzed through analysis of covariance and structural equation modeling, and the MAXQDA 2022software was used to analyze the collected qualitative data. The results of this study indicate that incorporating CT into an English writing course enhances the writing and higher-order thinking skills of students. The CT concepts helps students develop critical thinking skills by evaluating the text and identifying potential issues or improvements. Additionally, it allows students to use their skills to create unique writing solutions, which can boost English writing creativity.