Abstract
The growing demand for combining digital technology with learning practices has surpassed the use of technology or learning how to use it into the process of enhancing learners’ intellectual levels and scaffolding their understanding by focusing on skills that include thought processes gathered in what is called computational thinking. On the other hand, educational challenges promote the search for new instructional tools and approaches. Consequently, learning shall be extended by superimposing science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) approach in the instructional practices. The aim of this paper is to show how STEAM approach can develop the computational thinking among high school learners in Jordan. The main skills of computational thinking included: algorithmic thinking, abstraction, decomposition, and generalization. The sample of this study involved 32 high school students in a private school in Amman. The experimental group studied geography skills in a STEAM approach that included the use of online resources such as LightBot maze and the Ordnance Survey maps (OS) website. The control group studied the same content but through conventional method. Findings showed a significant development in the computational thinking especially in algorithmic thinking and abstraction. Thus a STEAM approach learning environment is one of the effective methods of teaching that improved computational thinking.
Highlights
The huge growth of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and the ubiquitous influx of digital technologies, such as smart phones and online games, characterize societies of the 21st century [1]
Students of both groups were trained on the geography skills by the researcher, who used lecturing and direct teaching with the control group, and STEAM approach with the experimental group
The study question: What is the effect of using STEAM approach on developing computational thinking at the level of ( =0.05) among 10th grade students in Jordan? To answer this question, means and standard deviations on the performance of the two study groups, on the total score of the computational thinking skills were calculated
Summary
The huge growth of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and the ubiquitous influx of digital technologies, such as smart phones and online games, characterize societies of the 21st century [1]. There has been a broad call to provide today's learners with the essential skills that are expected to make them competitive in future jobs that cannot be precisely determined in an everlasting evolving technological landscape. One of these skills is the computational thinking. Rises the significance of the science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) approach, which properly ties disciplines together technologically and provides a precious pool of current and future-oriented, socially and economically stimulating skills that lead to growth and innovation [4]
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