Computational Thinking Education Research Articles

Improving Elementary Students’ Computational Thinking Skills through an Educational Robot Intervention: A Quasi-Experimental Study

Globally, many educational institutions recognize the importance of computational thinking and have begun incorporating it into primary education. Educators cultivate students’ computational thinking skills through block-based programming; however, a lack of digital learning tools that offer real interaction may negatively impact students’ computational thinking learning performances. This study proposes a cost-effective, block-based, programmable computational thinking educational robot developed using the open-source Arduino platform, combined with Android application development. This robot is specifically designed for use in elementary computational thinking education. To assess the impact of the proposed approach on elementary students’ learning achievement, motivation, and attitudes towards computational thinking education, a quasi-experimental design with control and experimental groups was implemented in the computational thinking curriculum at an elementary school. The experiment was conducted over a period of three weeks and involved two classes of students and one teacher. The control group engaged in computational thinking learning activities using computers, while the experimental group completed computational thinking learning activities using the computational thinking educational robot and application developed in this study. Data were collected through prior knowledge tests of computational thinking, learning motivation and attitude questionnaires, and computational thinking achievement tests completed by the students. The results indicate that the experimental group outperformed the control group in learning achievement, motivation, and attitudes, demonstrating that physical interaction in learning can effectively enhance learning performances.

Advancing computational thinking education: Insights from systems thinking applications

BACKGROUND: In today’s world, acquiring essential skills is crucial for empowering individuals, particularly children, to handle everyday challenges and tasks in a technologically advanced society. Among these skills, computational thinking (CT) plays a vital role in problem-solving and adapting to the complex and evolving demands of the 21st century. However, it is necessary to explore the role of other thinking skills alongside CT, considering that CT cannot be improved and applied in isolation. OBJECTIVE: This paper aims to address the gap in knowledge regarding the application of systems thinking to CT development and its integration into education settings. METHODS: Results from two studies, focusing on CT development using educational robotics and maker technologies, form the basis of this paper. The research findings are synthesized and consolidated using the systemic FMA (framework of ideas, methodology, and area of concern) model. RESULTS: The research findings illustrate that utilizing a diverse set of approaches, methods, and tools can improve CT skill development across different educational settings. CONCLUSIONS: The adapted FMA model promotes methodological pluralism and facilitates a critical examination of CT development boundaries, leading to both conceptual and practical changes. This approach enables the recognition of emergent properties, the design of interventions, and the incorporation of multiple perspectives.

Collaborative Learning in K-12 Computational Thinking Education: A Systematic Review

In the past decade, Computational Thinking (CT) education has received growing attention from researchers. Although many reviews have provided synthesized information on CT teaching and learning, few have paid particular attention to collaborative learning (CL) strategies. CL has been widely implemented in CT classes and has become the most popular pedagogy among educators. Therefore, a systematic review of CL in CT classes would provide practical guidance on teaching strategies to enhance CT interventions and improve the quality of teaching and learning, ultimately benefiting students’ CT skills development. To address this gap, this study examined 43 empirical studies that have applied CL strategies, ranging from 2006 to 2022. Several findings were revealed in the analysis. First, a wide range of theories and frameworks were applied to inform research questions, pedagogical design, and research methodologies. Second, despite the acknowledged importance of group composition in effective CL, a large number of studies did not provide details on how the students were grouped. Third, six types of CL activities and instructional designs have been identified in CT classrooms. The synthesized information provides valuable insights that can inform future research directions and guide the design and implementation of CL activities in future CT classes.

Scaling up a teacher development programme for sustainable computational thinking education: TPACK surveys, concept tests and primary school visits

Computational thinking (CT) education in K-12 requires extensive teacher development. This research investigates the effectiveness of a scalable and sustainable teacher development programme in promoting CT in primary education. This report presents two studies. Study 1 reports on the effectiveness of two 12-h courses using Scratch and App Inventor programming environments for CT development of teachers respectively, which involved 245 teachers from 47 primary schools. With teaching practices embedded, the programme, which used the framework of technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK), significantly enhanced teachers' content-related knowledge dimensions. The results indicate that the programme helped teachers develop advanced CT concepts such as data structures and procedures. Study 2, using thematic analysis, reports on CT strategies implemented in 47 schools through 94 school visits. The most mentioned strategies were the formation of teaching teams, lesson co-planning, and the integration of CT with subject teaching. The most mentioned challenges were teacher readiness, lesson time, and diversity – learners' abilities, interests, and approaches. Four types of support, including teacher development support, continuous and communal support, teaching materials support, and financial support were identified. The results suggest that a course-based programme with mixed programming environments and embedded teaching experience effectively develops teachers’ capabilities. However, continuous support for teachers in implementing the initiative after completing the programme is important, especially in addressing learner diversity and integrating CT with subject teaching.

Analysis of the perception and needs for Computational Thinking education in middle and high school students

목적 본 연구는 컴퓨팅 사고(CT) 교육에 대한 수도권과 비수도권의 중⋅고등학생들의 인식 및 요구 분석에 대한 차이를 파악하였다. 방법 이를 위하여 수도권과 비수도권의 중⋅고등학생에 재학 중인 학생에게 구조화된 설문지를 사용하여 2019년 10월 1일부터 약 1개월간 자료를 수집하였다. 자료처리는 SPSS 24.0 프로그램을 사용하여 빈도분석, 기술통계, t 검정, F 검정, 군집분석을 실시하였다. 결과 첫째, 중⋅고등학생들은 컴퓨팅 사고(CT) 교육에 대한 기본 인식 및 환경에 대해 낮게 인식하는 것으로 나타났으며, 컴퓨팅 사고(CT) 교육에 관한 관심이나 인지에 대해서는 부족한 인식을 보이는 것으로 나타났다. 둘째, 성별, 학력, 지역에 따른 컴퓨팅 사고(CT) 교육에 대한 이해와 인식 수준은 유의미한 차이가 없는 것으로 분석되었다. 셋째, 중⋅고등학생들은 컴퓨팅 사고(CT) 교육에 대한 기본 인식은 높게 가지고 있으나, 교육방식에 관한 인식은 낮은 것으로 나타났다. 결론 중⋅고등학생들은 컴퓨팅 사고(CT) 교육에 대한 기본 인식은 높게 가지고 있으나, 교육방식에 관한 인식은 낮았다. 향후 교육 대상의 눈높이에 맞는 교육 콘텐츠나 교수법 개발 및 연구가 필요한 상황이다.

The Code-Centric Nature of Computational Thinking Education: A Review of Trends and Issues in Computational Thinking Education Research

Computational thinking (CT) is being recognized as a critical component of student success in the digital era. Many contend that integrating CT into core curricula is the surest method for providing all students with access to CT. However, the CT community lacks an agreed-upon conceptualization of CT that would facilitate this integration, and little effort has been made to critically analyze and synthesize research on CT/content integration (CTCI). Conflicting CT conceptualizations and little understanding of evidence-based strategies for CTCI could result in significant barriers to increasing students’ access to CT. To address these concerns, we analyzed 80 studies on CT education, focusing on both the CT conceptualizations guiding current CT education research and evidence-based strategies for CTCI. Our review highlights the code-centric nature of CT education and reveals significant gaps in our understanding of CTCI and CT professional development for teachers. Based on these findings, we propose an approach to operationalizing CT that promotes students’ participation in CT, present promising methods for infusing content with CT, and discuss future directions for CT education research.

Computational Thinking Education in the Asian Pacific Region

The importance of computational thinking (CT) education in the twenty-first century cannot be understated, as digital computing technologies have become an essential component of practically all human activities. Due to their strength in the ICT industry, countries such as Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China have launched national curricular reforms to address the current movement of CT education in K-12 education. This special issue, therefore, intends to provide insights into the current curricular reform movement of CT education in the Asian Pacific region. It includes six papers presenting studies which expose the recent evidence-driven research and development of CT education. The findings of the studies shed light on the future policy and implementation of CT education in the Asian Pacific region. Integrating CT into formal education involves far more than learning and teaching of computational concepts and coding skills. We hope that this special issue provides better understandings of the current status of CT education in the Asia-Pacific region and the challenges faced by teachers, school administrators, and policy makers as well as other key stakeholders in the education community.

Computational Thinking Education through Creative Unplugged Activities

Unplugged activities are well known in the computer science education. Creativity and computational thinking have been extensively researched and classified in last decade. In this paper we are focusing on creative unplugged activities and their potential in the classroom. We propose a model consisting of four types of creative unplugged activities that are used in CS education and present the results of an international online survey in which 360 educators participated in 2018. The survey found out how far the model is supported by educators, the extent to which creative activities are used in the classroom, what intentions are being pursued and what educational potential is seen in the four types of activities. Based on results of the survey we present ideas and methods on how to include and integrate creative unplugged activities into CS education and some possibilities on how to change such tasks to be more creative.

Engaging Primary School Children in Computational Thinking: Designing and Developing Videogames

This paper presents the results of a project on Computational Thinking education for primary school pupils. During the project – called Computational Thinking for children education – 81 students from a primary school in Italy have been guided to the design and development of computer games through the Microsoft Kodu game development platform. Different activities have been proposed to the pupils with the aim of promoting Computational Thinking abilities and skills. A narrative approach has been adopted throughout the project. Preliminary results of the educational experience highlight as the adoption of narrative learning and physical reproduction of manipulative programming objects provide an affordance for the development of Computational Thinking abilities. Furthermore, constancy during the learning process affects the acquisition of game development skills; finally, the design and implementation of computer games using Kodu have had a significant positive influence on the perception of computer programming.

Design to Tangible User Interface Module using Arduino for Computational Thinking education

Design to Tangible User Interface Module using Arduino for Computational Thinking education