Learning Computational Thinking Research Articles

Exploring The Impact of Computational Thinking on Teacher Education: A Systematic Review

Objective: The objective of this study is to investigate the role of computational thinking in teacher training, in order to identify the main practices and trends in this field and examine their implications for technological education. Theoretical Framework: This study presents a review of the key concepts related to computational thinking in the educational field. Existing definitions and approaches are highlighted, as well as models and theories that support the integration of computational thinking in teacher training. Method: The methodology adopted included an exhaustive search in five academic databases to identify relevant studies published in the last five years. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied to select the relevant articles, and a systematic analysis was carried out to synthesize the findings. Results and Discussion: The results revealed a variety of experiences and practices related to computational thinking in teacher training. In the discussion section, these results were contextualized in the light of the theoretical framework, highlighting the implications for educational practice and identifying areas of future research. Implications of the research: The practical and theoretical implications of this study are discussed, providing information on how the results can influence the teaching and learning of computational thinking in the context of teacher training. These implications could include the design of professional development programs and the development of technology-focused educational curricula. Originality/Value: This study contributes to the literature by providing an updated view of the state of computational thinking in teacher training. Its relevance and value are evidenced in its ability to inform the design of effective educational interventions in the field of technological education.

Computational Thinking with a Multi-literacy Model Using Interactive PowerPoint Media: An Experiment in Elementary Schools

Elementary school students need to acquire computational thinking as a crucial skill in the digital age. Similar to mathematical skills, computational thinking is a fundamental competence in digital literacy. It is used to solve problems in learning. One approach is to facilitate children’s learning by emphasizing computational thinking, such as using the multi-literacy model with interactive PowerPoint slides. This study aimed to assess and characterize the influence of multi-literacy models aided by interactive PowerPoint media on the development of computational thinking skills in elementary school students, considering their prior knowledge. Involving a total sample of 56 4th-grade elementary school students, this quantitative study employed a 3 x 2 factorial design. The sample included 14 students in the high group, 28 in the medium group, and 14 in the high group. The research revealed that the implementation of a multi-literacy learning approach, assisted by interactive PowerPoint media, significantly enhances student’s acquisition and improvement of computational thinking skills. This is because children can develop computational thinking skills in an enjoyable environment using PowerPoint media. Another study revealed that students in the high group performed much better on average when it came to learning computational thinking skills. Meanwhile, the average gain of computational thinking skills in the medium group was only slightly different from that of the low group. Keywords: computational thinking, multi-literacy model, interactive PowerPoint media

Pengembangan Proyek Pemrograman Medıa Pembelajaran Interaktıf Untuk Tugas Pemecahan Masalah Pelatihan Berpıkır Komputasıonal Mahasiswa Dengan Scratch

Media is needed in learning to attract and make it easier for students to understand the material being taught. Interactive learning media for computational thinking material through Scratch programming as an example of a block-based programming project assignment by applying computational thinking concepts for PGSD student training has not been researched in Indonesia. The research carried out aims to develop an example of a final programming project for interactive media learning computational thinking for PGSD student programming training as a valid and practical problem solving task using the Scratch program as well as the level of competency of the programming project being created. The research carried out is of the research and development type using the ADDIE model. The research participants were 40 students from a private university in West Sumatra. Data was collected using observation, interview, artifact analysis, and questionnaire techniques. The research instrument was a questionnaire with a Likert scale filled in by material, media and research subject experts. Analysis of research data was carried out in a qualitative descriptive manner. From the development research carried out, it was found that the final project example of interactive media programming for computational thinking learning which was developed for PGSD students' computational thinking training as a problem solving task received a very good score with a score of 85.5% from the validation of material experts, media and students, 85. 2% for product practicality, and makes it easier for students to created the program because the difficulty is at intermediate level.

Adaptive learning framework for learning computational thinking using educational robotics

AbstractComputational thinking (CT) has been promoted worldwide by educational systems and is an essential skill for technological citizens. Various strategies have been planned and developed to help in introducing, improving, and delivering CT. One of the strategies is by creating and developing the supporting tools for CT learning. In this article, educational robotics (ER) is chosen as the focus tool to support CT learning. Each CT and ER has a massive field of study. There are various available reports determining the suitability of CT subject integrated with ER for students' learning. However, all students do not develop similar style of learning and thinking. There is difference in their personal traits. There is a lack of research that designed CT learning through ER specifically based on student's preferences. Besides, it resulted in a challenge to determine the suitability of CT and ER for different kind of preferences. Therefore, this study aimed to develop an adaptive learning (AL) framework for students to deliver learning of CT through ER. The framework consists of three submodels: domain model, student model, and adaptation model. One case study is defined, which is learning the introductory level of CT through ER (CTER). At the end of the study, it can be observed that the AL framework produced positive results in performance and perception for various student categories. It was noted that students utilizing the AL framework had superior understanding of CTER. Individually or collaboratively, all students who applied or did not apply the AL framework in studying the CTER introduction had positive learning outcomes.

Using LSTM to Identify Help Needs in Primary School Scratch Students

In the last few years, there has been increasing interest in the use of block-based programming languages as well as in the ethical aspects of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in primary school education. In this article, we present our research on the automatic identification of the need for assistance among primary school children performing Scratch exercises. For data collection, user experiences have been designed to take into account ethical aspects, including gender bias. Finally, a first-in-class distance calculation method for block-based programming languages has been used in a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) model, with the aim of identifying when a primary school student needs help while he/she carries out Scratch exercises. This model has been trained twice: the first time taking into account the gender of the students, and the second time excluding it. The accuracy of the model that includes gender is 99.2%, while that of the model that excludes gender is 91.1%. We conclude that taking into account gender in training this model can lead to overfitting, due to the under-representation of girls among the students participating in the experiences, making the model less able to identify when a student needs help. We also conclude that avoiding gender bias is a major challenge in research on educational systems for learning computational thinking skills, and that it necessarily involves effective and motivating gender-sensitive instructional design.

Developing Question-Based Learning Media by Applying Computational Thinking for Elementary School Students

This study aims to introduce question-based computational thinking to elementary school students. The background is the study that education in Indonesia needs to be improved in order to answer the global competition in the 21st century which is full of technological and information developments. In today's era everything is integrated with computers and technology, therefore it is necessary to be equipped with Computational Thinking which is believed to be able to train the brain to get used to thinking logically and structurally so that they are faster. Therefore, the development of Computational Thinking learning media was carried out by teaching using questions consisting of 4 categories and totaling 17 questions which were applied to the media. The media development model used was ADDIE (Analyze, Design, Development, Implementation, Evaluate) with a sample of 6 students from grade 6 SDIT 'Alamy Subang. The results of this study indicate that: The instructional media has been evaluated and rated "Very Good" by experts with an average percentage of feasibility of 96.19%. Computational Thinking skills possessed by students vary and have different abilities in each question category and have different levels of difficulty according to the abilities possessed by each student. Students' responses to learning media are enabling students to learn new things and get an average percentage score of 87.11% and are included in the "Very Good" category.

Computational Thinking Research in Mathematics Learning in the Last Decade: A Bibliometric Review

This study aims to map the landscape of the importance of previous research on computational thinking (CT) in mathematics learning over the last decade. This research is a literature review research, there are 113 publications collected from the Scopus database which are then analyzed using the bibliometric analysis method assisted by the Vosviewer application. The data taken from the Scopus database was refined so that it became 113 publications. The results of the study show that publications are spread across various continents, including America, Asia, Africa, and Europe. The United States and the United Kingdom are the most influential countries and have high cooperation with other countries in this field. The main conclusion from this study is that computational thinking has an important role in learning mathematics and STEM. The integration of computational thinking in the mathematics curriculum can improve students' understanding of mathematics and help them face the challenges of the digital age. In addition, the development of effective training methods for mathematics teachers as well as the assessment of good computational thinking learning tools and platforms can help improve the effectiveness of computational thinking teaching in mathematics contexts. These innovations will help better understand how computational thinking can be effectively integrated in mathematics learning and prepare students for a future filled with digital technologies.

Coding and Computational Thinking Learning for Vocational Students: Issues and Challenges

Coding and Computational Thinking Learning for Vocational Students: Issues and Challenges

The Effect of Time Management and Help-Seeking in Self-Regulation-Based Computational Thinking Learning in Taiwanese Primary School Students

Computational thinking skills are increasingly required for working with information technology products and are considered core learning objectives in science and technology curriculums across all grades. However, there is yet to be a curriculum model for computational thinking, and many teachers are still figuring out this issue and designing courses to cultivate these skills in students. We planned 8-course periods for 108 curriculums, using the Bebras International Computational Thinking Challenge and programming learning motivation scale to evaluate game-based lessons from Code.org. The grade-3 and -4 students were randomly divided into self-regulation and guided-learning groups, and 153 valid data were analyzed using paired t tests and ANCOVA. As a result, we found the learning behaviors of the two groups of students to be worthy of further exploration in terms of time management and help-seeking learning strategies. Code.org’s game-based lessons effectively engage students to complete most of the course, addressing the usual course completion issues when self-paced. The self-regulation group spent more time in peer discussions and had better learning outcomes than the guided-learning group. To this end, we provide detailed curriculum information as a teaching model for the self-regulated learning of computational thinking in primary schools.

Kindergarten Children’s Learning of Computational Thinking With the “Sorting Like a Computer” Learning Unit

ABSTRACT Computational thinking (CT) activities are increasingly being integrated into early childhood schools. We focus on studying children’s learning using an “unplugged” (non-computational) learning unit that considers a teacher’s knowledge and classroom space and affords seamless adaptation into the classroom given the objects used in the unit and activities that are reminiscent of classic class activities and games. The gap in research that we address is the focus on unplugged activities, which are less common. A learning unit with card games was developed, focusing on two fundamental sorting algorithms: Linear Sort and Category Sort. Sixteen kindergarten children participated in the study. Their CT skills were assessed using a pretest-intervention-posttest single group research design. An increase in CT skills was observed from an intermediate to a sophisticated level; the number of attempts to completion decreased and the average number of attributes the children could sort with increased. Two children’s interactions with the activities were analyzed in depth and compared. It was found that two concepts related to algorithms had to be learned separately and sequentially: multiple repeating actions and a stopping rule for repeating actions. With advanced challenges that involved multiple attributes and more than one sorting algorithm, children needed significant support.

Problems and Needs Assessment to Learning Management of Computational Thinking of Teachers at the Lower Secondary Level

The objective of the study was to investigate the problems and needs in the learning management of computational thinking among teachers at the lower secondary level in private schools in the province of Maha Sarakham, Thailand. This current study comprised 42 participants. The research tools were 1) questionnaires about problem situations in learning management for computational thinking and 2) recordings of group discussions. 1) The findings revealed that teachers had limited knowledge and understanding of learning management in computational thinking (xത = 2.43, S.D. = 0.44). In this regard, teachers believe that computational thinking is regarded as knowledge in addition to literacy, and they recognize that computational thinking, together with reading, writing, and calculating, is the cornerstone of learning in the 21st century. The best way to foster and develop teachers in teaching and learning computational thinking skills is through training and collaboration with the technology that should be used in teaching and learning computational thinking (i.e., computers, computer programs, smartphones, and multimedia). 2) Teachers indicated a strong need for self-improvement in terms of learning management in computational thinking (xത = 4, S.D. = 0.63). Through training, teachers want to improve their control of computational thinking. The development of learning management abilities that enhance computational thinking involves the following five steps: 1) Educating teachers; 2) Having a speaker or mentor instruct them in the creation of activities; 3) providing activities for teachers to practice together until proficiency is attained; 4) enabling each teacher to present the outcomes of the activities; and 5) teachers collectively summarizing the results of the activities.

Impact of Teaching a Neuro-Computerized Course Through VLE to Develop Computational Thinking Among Mathematics Pre-service Teachers

The current study aims to determine the effect of teaching a mechanic neuro-computerized course through virtual learning environments (VLE) to develop computational thinking among mathematics pre-service teachers. The neuro-computerized virtual learning environments (NCVLE) model was designed to be used to teach the mechanics course to third-year students of the mathematics department. To achieve the targeted learning outcomes, the study recruited (102) third-year students of the Faculty of Education and classified them into a control group of (50) students and an experimental group of (52) students. The experiment lasted for 14 weeks during one semester of the 2021-2022 academic year. The results agreed with most of what has been found from relevant literature and studies. Also, the results indicated that the NCVLE model played a vital role in the purposeful teaching, learning, and assessment processes and enhanced the learning of computational thinking.

Educational Game for Learning Computational Thinking in a Low Budget Virtual Reality Environment

Virtual reality (VR) is a technology that can create a simulation of real objects in a virtual environment more interactively. In terms of budget, VR devices can be categorized into low budget and high end. However, both of them can still carry out the same interactive simulations, such as educational games. This research aims to develop an educational game based in low-budget VR environment for learning computational thinking (CT), one of the 21st century skills that students need to learn. The method used is Design and Development Research (DDR) that consists of five stages: analysis, design, development, testing, and evaluation. Participants involved in this study are 30 students of vocational school (SMK) majoring Computer and Network Engineering. Evaluation conducted through Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) framework that consists of perceived usefulness (PU), perceived ease of use (PEU), attitude toward using (ATU), and intention to use (ITU). Based on the data obtained and the analysis performed, the Cronbach’s alpha score of PU and PEU were 0.714 and 0.614, respectively. Meanwhile, the Cronbach’s alpha score of ATU and ITU were 0.754 and 0.882, respectively. PU and PEU are positively correlated with ATU, while ATU is also positively correlated with ITU. It means that the ease of use of the application and the usability aspects of the developed application have a positive effect on user attitudes. This positive behavior is also positively correlated with the intention to use it again on another occasion. Thus it can be concluded that this educational game based in low-budget VR environment can be used for learning CT. It can be seen from the analysis and some positive comments from students, like participants wish they can use this learning approach in the other subject.

Implementation of a Curriculum to Enhance Learning Management Competency in Computational Thinking for the Lower Secondary Teachers

Teaching computational thinking develops students in analytical thinking, systematic thinking, step by step reasoning to solve problems, applicable to real-life problems, and can be integrated across a wide range of disciplines, combining knowledge to create works and extend knowledge to other subjects. The objective of this study was to examine the outcomes of a curriculum to enhance learning management competency in computational thinking for lower secondary teachers. The samples were 4 teachers selected by purposive sampling, and 123 grade 8 students selected by the criterion of 70% from private schools under Mahasarakham Provincial Education Office, Office of the Private Education Commission, Thailand. The instruments for the lower secondary teachers were; 1) a test to measure knowledge and understanding of teachers' computational thinking learning management, 2) an assessment form for learning activity design ability, and 3) an observational form of learning management ability, while a computational thinking ability test was employed to the students. The data were analyzed by mean, percentage, standard deviation, and the Wilcoxon signed rank test. The results were; 1) the teachers after the workshop had higher knowledge and understanding of computational thinking learning management than before the workshop; 2) the teachers were able to design learning management that promotes computational thinking at a high level; 3) the teachers were able to provide learning management that promotes computational thinking: overall, the average was good; and 4) the students' computational thinking ability after learning was higher than before learning at a statistical level of .05.

ZPD Technological Learning Environment In Learning Computational Thinking Skill-Based Mathematics

This research was conducted as an innovation related to learning problems that often occur in students. This research aims to develop a technological prototype of the mathematics-computation learning environment for playing skills using the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) approach based on intelligent technology. This type of research is Research and Development using the 4-D model flow (Four-D Models). The sampling technique is purposive sampling. Data collection in this study uses angles for learning environment data sources and computational thinking. Then interviews are used as a source of learning experience data. Data analysis on quantitative data types used descriptive and inferential statistics in the form of independent sample t-tests and the Miles and Huberman model. This study found differences in the computational thinking abilities of male and female students, and the dominant computational thinking abilities were male students. This development research has produced an online learning environment product where the product is valid in the opinion of experts in the good category, exciting and feasible to implement. The learning environment assists and facilitates students in learning mathematics by using technology geared toward improving thinking.

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

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.

A systematic review of integrating computational thinking in early childhood education

Computational thinking education has become an increasingly popular topic among practitioners and researchers. However, rare is known how to effectively teach and learn computational thinking in early childhood education. To address this knowledge gap, this systematic review examined 26 studies on the teaching and learning of computational thinking in early childhood education from 2010 to 2022. The content knowledge, tools, pedagogical design, assessment methods, and learning outcomes were analyzed. Results indicated that, with age-appropriate instructional design, children could develop early concepts and skills of computational thinking, as well as other related skills such as communication, collaboration, and problem solving. Across the studies, we found that most studies used quantitative research methods, with direct assessment and observation being the most. Several challenges were identified: (1) achieving a deeper learning of computational thinking; (2) a lack of valid and reliable computational thinking assessments for children with a wider age range; (3) selecting appropriate learning tools; and (4) designing age-appropriate activities for young learners. Although with these challenges, computational thinking education could bring new learning opportunities and enhance children's computational thinking skills, as well as other non-cognitive skills such as critical thinking, body-material interaction, and hand-eye coordination. This systematic review informs future endeavors in theorizing a digital learning framework that can integrate computational thinking into early childhood education.

Transdisciplinary Learning Based on Problem Identification of Design Computational Thinking - A Case Study of the Topic of Marine Debris

Aim: The purpose of this study is to explore how design students can identify marine debris problems and generate insights through the computational thinking learning process to better develop design students’ ability to learn across domains.Methodology: We have set up a transdisciplinary learning course of "Design Computational Thinking", trying to introduce the knowledge of marine debris in the humanities and environmental sustainability into the course, combining design thinking and computational thinking processes, and guiding students to think about and evaluate problems in stages and complete thematic design. Finally, through the achievement report, Expert assessment, and semi-structured interviews with students, analyze and evaluate their learning effect.Findings: It was found that students were creative in the way to deal with marine debris problems. Computational thinking can have an impact on the design process. In the process of design decision-making, students can think and express hierarchically, and use core strategies to solve problems.Implications/Novel Contribution: This study provides a knowledge base for problem-solving through transdisciplinary and metacognitive learning. The combination of design thinking and computational thinking provides different levels of thinking models for problem-solving and generates insights.

Digital Game-Based Learning for Information Technology: An Exploratory Analysis

Keeping students engaged and motivated is a challenge. Digital game-based learning is considered an approach that can help towards achieving this goal. The study aimed to understand the influence digital game-based learning (DGBL) has on students learning to code in Information Technology. This study used an intervention of digital game-based learning to teach grade eight learners programming in three schools prior to COVID-19. Questionnaires and focus group interviews were used to gather students’ backgrounds and learning experiences. 89 students and three educators participated in the study. The overall attitude towards DGBL is positive with a high mean score of 4.77. Learning real-world skills, in developing simple games, as was done in this in this study, can equip one with the tools essential for success in a workplace. Keywords: digital game-based learning (DGBL), programming, computational thinking learning motivation

Digital Storytelling (DST) Media Development in Online Physics Learning Based on Computational Thinking

The objectives of the study are: (1) producing learning media as a component of computational thinking learning; (2) describing the effectiveness of the thinking process based on DST media of online Physics learning; (3) describing user response based on computational thinking. The type of study is “Research and Development” by the ADDIE model. The data of the study were taken from: (1) the analysis of the data from students of X class in the period 2020/2021 and curriculum document of Physics material; (2) expert validation which are lecturers and Physics teachers of SMAN 2 South Bengkulu; and (3) test source from students of X class. There were 32 students of MIPA 4 (experiment class) and 33 students of MIPA 5 (control class). The methods of the study were observation, questionnaires, and tests. The analysis of the study was qualitative and quantitative method. The results of the study showed that: (1) expert validation was stated that some components of the learning process based on computational thinking such as syntax component, social system, principal reaction, support system, instructional effect, and accompaniment impact. Each of them is valid; (2) Based on the Quasi experiment, there was a significant difference between the learning outcomes using experiment test and control test (grade t count is 2.876 in other hand grade t table in 5% and grade p<0.005 is 2.042); (3) the students' responses from learning computational thinking were very positive (95%) and positive (5%). The conclusion is computational thinking learning is a valid product model, practice, effective, and suitable to be used.