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Abstract
Although teachers need to assess computational thinking (CT) for computer science education in K-12, it is not easy for them to evaluate students’ programs based on the perspective. The purpose of this study was to investigate students’ CT skills reflected in their Scratch programs. The context of the study was a middle school coding club where seven students voluntarily participated in a five-week coding activity. A total of eleven Scratch programs were analyzed in two aspects: problem decomposition and program development. Results revealed that students demonstrated proper decompositions of problems, which supported program development processes. However, in some cases, students failed to decompose necessary parts as their projects got sophisticated, which resulted in the failure or errors of programs. Regarding program development, algorythmic thinking had been identified as the area to be improved. Debugging and evaluation of programs were the necessary process students needed to practice. Implications for teaching CT skills were discussed.
Highlights
Since Wing (2006) suggested that computational thinking (CT) is “a fundamental skill for everyone, not just for computer scientists (p. 33),” many stakeholders have tried to develop a sustainable curriculum that encourages more students to learn programming earlier
block-based programming (BBP) provides a visual representation of programming, which reduces the cognitive load by excluding the chances of syntax errors, using commands similar to spoken languages, providing immediate feedback, and visualizing abstract concepts (Maloney, Resnick, Rusk, Silverman, & Eastmond, 2010)
Utilizing BBP has been encouraged for its effect of enhanced understanding of programming concepts, logic, and computational practices (Sáez-López et al, 2016), there is a scarcity of studies that suggest pedagogical guidance based on students’ CT skills in K-12 computer science (CS) education contexts
Summary
Since Wing (2006) suggested that computational thinking (CT) is “a fundamental skill for everyone, not just for computer scientists (p. 33),” many stakeholders have tried to develop a sustainable curriculum that encourages more students to learn programming earlier. Since Wing (2006) suggested that computational thinking (CT) is “a fundamental skill for everyone, not just for computer scientists Researchers have suggested that young students can engage in CT concepts and practices through block-based programming (BBP), such as Scratch and Alice (Bau, Gray, Kelleher, Sheldon, & Turbak, 2017; Sáez-López, Román-González, & Vázquez-Cano, 2016). Considering the limited amount of time, teachers’ expertise, voluntary engagement in activities, and different skill levels among the students, there are concerns about their effectiveness (Buss & Gamboa, 2017). Utilizing BBP has been encouraged for its effect of enhanced understanding of programming concepts, logic, and computational practices (Sáez-López et al, 2016), there is a scarcity of studies that suggest pedagogical guidance based on students’ CT skills in K-12 CS education contexts
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