On Semiotics Perspectives of Computational Thinking: Unravelling the “Pamphlet” Approach, a Case Study

Vladimiras Dolgopolovas,Valentina Dagiene

doi:10.3390/su14041956

Abstract

Computational thinking (CT) is in the midst of an ongoing debate about its scope and definitions. There is a trend away from a “traditional” computer science-inspired agenda towards a focus on universal competences for today’s labor market. However—and this is the motivation behind the research—the shift described is just an unconscious attempt to reveal the immanent nature of CT as an evolving semiotic phenomenon. The aim of this study is to explore directions and perspectives for the further development of CT and related methodological design approaches. As a research strategy, this article utilizes a case study on the presented set of resources dedicated to CT early education and reveals it in terms of multimodal discourse analysis. As a result, a landscape of future CT trends is presented, uncovering CT from a multimodal semiotic perspective. This article discusses various issues related to CT and its multimodal semiotics nature, perspectives on the design of CT-related resources and additional educational issues such as the perspectives on instructional approaches for CT teaching. We conclude that CT as a social phenomenon is in the process of an evolutionary transformation of its constitutive structure in the direction of further revealing its agentive semiotic nature.

Highlights

Computational thinking (CT) is a transdisciplinary phenomenon having a great impact on the contemporary educational agenda
These relate to (1) semiotics and semiosis, (2) design theory, which draws on the considerations of actor-network theory (ANT) and (3) futures studies
Topics usually begin) is left out. The reasons for this are that (1) we focus our research efforts on the phenomenon of CT; as such, we consider the sociogenic features it mediates most important to study, and (2) we seek to study the phenomenon in its dynamics, assuming that CT is in the process of emerging transformations, leaving its internal structure out of the picture at this stage of the research

Summary

Introduction

Computational thinking (CT) is a transdisciplinary phenomenon having a great impact on the contemporary educational agenda. Starting with the claim of an improved educational methodology, it has evolved into a system of theoretical foundations and practical prerequisites for a holistic approach to educational transformations These transformations took place within a further refinement of the direction of educational methodologies aimed at personal development issues from the moment of birth and moving towards the identification of a spectrum of activities for the acquisition of professional skills and their corresponding advanced competences. This system of transformations aims at a socially oriented agenda. The reasons for this are that (1) we focus our research efforts on the phenomenon of CT; as such, we consider the sociogenic features it mediates most important to study, and (2) we seek to study the phenomenon in its dynamics, assuming that CT is in the process of emerging transformations, leaving its internal structure (its models or definitions, as understood in its “traditional” meaning) out of the picture at this stage of the research

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