Introducing schoolchildren to computational thinking using smartphone apps: A way to encourage enrollment in engineering education

Abstract

AbstractComputational thinking is the process of solving a problem in a way that can be readily automated by a computer. Decomposition, pattern recognition, abstraction, and algorithm design are four major components of computational thinking. We conducted an experiment to study the effectiveness of smartphone apps for teaching computational thinking to 7‐year‐old children. The first experimental group was taught computational thinking using four apps, one for each component. The second experimental group was taught computational thinking using the chalk and board approach. The control group was not imparted any lesson in computational thinking. The intervention period lasted 8 weeks and was followed by a posttest and a retention test conducted after another 2 weeks. The children showed interest in learning computational thinking and could solve problems that are inspired by real‐world engineering problems during the intervention period. They could analyze and debug (77%) their own work. The performance of the children in the two experiment groups was significantly better than those in the control group in the posttest and the retention test (F = 26.470, p < .05). This means that 7‐year‐old children can learn computational thinking from suitable mediums. No significant difference was observed in the performance of the children in the posttest and the retention test (p > .05), denoting that children can retain the concepts of computational thinking. Including computational thinking lessons at the K‐12 level can encourage children to enroll in engineering programs in the future. We recommend standardization of content and development of age‐specific apps for teaching computational thinking.