Definition Of Computational Thinking Research Articles

Integrating Computational Thinking in Rural Middle School Art Classes in Eastern North Carolina

With funding from a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant, an innovative endeavor to integrate computational thinking into the teaching of both music and visual arts in three rural school districts in North Carolina was launched in early December 2018. Over the next five years—a time span that encompassed a major hurricane which devastated the area and the COVID-19 pandemic—the partners in a research practitioner partnership collaborated to create and refine curricular activity system projects in both subject areas. This paper is focused on the visual arts component of the grant activities. After discussing the genesis of the project, I situate it as contributing to the cultural capital of the middle school student participants and situate it theoretically in cognitive flexibility theory. I then discuss the operational definition of computational thinking that underpinned the design of the elements of the curricular activity system which were then refined and adapted to the rural contexts in collaboration with the teachers. I provide an overview of the curricular activities (a professional development website was created by grant colleagues at University 2) and discuss students’ perspectives on the concepts and approaches of computational thinking. I close with reflections on the importance of the project.

Bilgi İşlemsel Düşünme Üzerine Genel Bir Bakış

Computers and information technologies are increasingly becoming indispensable elements of our lives. Technological hardware and softwares are widely used in the field of education as well as in many fields such as engineering, business world, and health sector. In order to use these technologies efficiently, it is important for learners to understand the working logic of computers. One of the methods developed to achieve this is computational thinking. Although computational thinking is a relatively new concept, it is a rapidly developing concept. Computational thinking can be defined as a way of thinking that involves solving problems, designing systems, and making sense of human behavior using the basic concepts of computer science. The aim of this study is to discuss various dimensions of computational thinking with sources from the literature. In this context, firstly, the definitions of computational thinking were emphasized, and then information about the history and development process of computational thinking was given. The dimensions of computational thinking and the competencies related to computational thinking such as critical thinking, creative thinking, and algorithmic thinking are included. Finally, information is given about applications on computational thinking such as Google Education, Bebras, and Code.org.

A cognitive definition of computational thinking in primary education

There is increasing effort to integrate Computational Thinking (CT) curricula across all education levels. Therefore, research on CT assessment has lately progressed towards developing and validating reliable CT assessment tools, which are crucial for evaluating students' potential learning progress and thus the effectiveness of suggested curricular programs. Several CT assessment tools were developed for elementary, high-school, and university students over the last years. Moreover, associations between CT scores and other cognitive abilities were unraveled. However, studies on the topic in primary school level are scarce. Like the general concept of intelligence, CT remains broadly defined as the ability to combine algorithmic operations to form complex solutions in order to solve problems effectively, utilizing concepts of computer science with or without the use of computers. In this study, we aimed at specifying a cognitive definition of CT, focusing on the under-investigated population of primary school children. Since validated assessment tools for this age group were not available, we adapted a validated CT test, which was initially designed for middle school students. In our study participated 192 third and fourth graders. The analyses revealed promising results on the reliability of the adapted CT assessment for primary school students. Moreover, findings indicated CT's positive associations with i. complex numerical abilities, ii. verbal reasoning abilities, and iii. non-verbal visuospatial abilities. Our results indicate similarities but also differences in associations of CT with other cognitive abilities in primary school children compared to other age groups. In summary: i. numerical abilities seem to associate with CT at the primary school level, whereas this seems not the case later on in education, ii. verbal abilities seem to associate with CT both along primary and secondary education levels, and iii. non-verbal reasoning abilities seem to associate with CT from primary education level to the university level and beyond. These differences imply that several basic cognitive abilities support CT abilities and CT development differentially across ages.

Computational Thinking Through an Empirical Lens: A Systematic Review of Literature

This article provides an overview of the diverse ways in which computational thinking has been operationalised in the literature. Computational thinking has attracted much interest and debatably ranks in importance with the time-honoured literacy skills of reading, writing, and arithmetic. However, learning interventions in this subject have modelled computational thinking differently. We conducted a systematic review of 81 empirical studies to examine the nature, explicitness, and patterns of definitions of computational thinking. Data analysis revealed that most of the reviewed studies operationalised computational thinking as a composite of programming concepts and preferred definitions from assessment-based frameworks. On the other hand, a substantial number of the studies did not establish the meaning of computational thinking when theorising their interventions nor clearly distinguish between computational thinking and programming. Based on these findings, this article proposes a model of computational thinking that focuses on algorithmic solutions supported by programming concepts which advances the conceptual clarity between computational thinking and programming.

Informatical Thinking

In this paper, we reviewed many definitions of computational thinking, finding they share a lot of common elements, of very different nature. We classified them in mental processes, methods, practices, and transversal skills. Many of these elements seem to be shared with other disciplines and resonate with the current narrative on the importance of 21st-century skills. Our classification helps on shedding light on the misconceptions related to each of the four categories, showing that, not to dilute the concept, elements of computational thinking should be intended inside the discipline of Informatics, being its “disciplinary way of thinking”.

Analysis of the Research Status of Computational Thinking

Computational thinking has caused waves at home and abroad. This paper analyzes the foreign and domestic literatures: it finds that some countries have a good research foundation and pay attention to the interpretation of the definition of computational thinking. The research application mainly focuses on basic education. In China, computational thinking is various, which takes the research in higher education as the core, takes the programming language into primary and secondary schools as an opportunity, and attaches great importance to the basic education of computational thinking as the research frontier.

No es lo mismo: un análisis de red de texto sobre definiciones de pensamiento computacional para estudiar su relación con la programación informática

A pesar de que países de todo el mundo están modificando su plan de estudios nacional para incluir habilidades de pensamiento computacional, no hay un acuerdo en la definición de esta capacidad. Esto se debe en parte a la gran cantidad de definiciones propuestas por la comunidad académica. De hecho, hay múltiples ejemplos en escenarios educativos en los que la programación e incluso la robótica se consideran sinónimos del pensamiento computacional. Este artículo presenta un análisis de la red de texto de las principales definiciones de esta habilidad que se han encontrado en la literatura, con el objetivo de ofrecer información sobre las características comunes que comparten y sobre su relación con la programación informática. Como resultado, se propone una nueva definición de pensamiento computacional que emerge de los datos analizados. Even though countries from all over the world are modifying their national educational curriculum in order to include computational thinking skills, there is not an agreement in the definition of this ability. This is partly caused by the myriad of definitions that has been proposed by the scholar community. In fact, there are multiple examples in educational scenarios in which coding and even robotics are considered as synonymous of computational thinking. This paper presents a text network analysis of the main definitions of this skill that have been found in the literature, aiming to offer insights on the common characteristics they share and on their relationship with computer programming. As a result, a new definition of computational thinking is proposed, which emerge from the analyzed data.

Exploring the evolution of two girls’ conceptions and practices in computational thinking in science

As the definition of computational thinking (CT) in education continues to evolve, researchers have investigated the integration of CT in K-12 learning contexts and students' perceptions and development of CT in these integrated learning experiences. Drawing on prior work, this study explored the evolution of two elementary school girls’ conceptions and practices of CT in science as they participated in a four-week CT-integrated science unit at a summer camp using the Dash robot and the Blockly app. Three CT concepts: loops, sequences, and conditionals, were integrated into a unit on the reproduction cycle of flowerless plants. Observations, participant drawings, and analysis of Blockly code revealed that the children improved in their CT practices. In addition, the CT-integrated science unit developed for this study successfully engaged both participants, even when one expressed a low interest in science. The study suggested that defining computing vocabulary, using checkpoint activities with immediate and corrective feedback, and scaffolding of coding concepts with unplugged activities were particularly necessary in promoting CT and the integration of CT and science education in an elementary-level informal learning context.

Computational thinking як сучасний освітній тренд

In the article, the authors consider the essence of the concept of "computational thinking" as an actual contemporary trend in foreign education. The relevance, theoretical significance of the notion of computational thinking, is substantiated, various approaches to the definition of its essence are described. The operational definition of computational thinking for 12-year secondary education is presented. Author's definition of computational thinking is given as the intellectual ability of a person to solve complex problems by constructing systems and processes that can be implemented using computers. The main components of computational thinking are described: decomposition, pattern recognition, abstraction, and algorithms. The authors emphasize that computational thinking is inherent primarily to programmers, but with the development of computers and their use in all areas of human life, this kind of thinking becomes a universal ability, necessary for anyone to succeed in a digital society. Computational thinking is closely linked to procedural, algorithmic, structural and critical thinking, and contains these types of thinking. The necessity of forming computational thinking of pupils during learning various school subjects is substantiated. The experience of improving the skills of teachers in the formation and development of computational thinking of pupils is described. It is concluded that the introduction of methods and means of forming computational thinking in the educational process requires a large-scale continuous professional training of teachers and new pedagogical approaches.

Del pensamiento complejo al pensamiento computacional: retos para la educación contemporánea

Una de las problemáticas de la educación hoy en día es que se continúa privilegiando la enseñanza del contenido sobre el desarrollo de destrezas y habilidades cognitivas que permitan un desarrollo del pensamiento de los<br />estudiantes. Frente a una educación tradicional, se considera que una reflexión del pensamiento complejo puede contribuir a una mejor comprensión de una realidad contemporánea. La educación hoy tiene como reto el explicar y el comprender, desde una perspectiva hermenéutica, las nuevas complejidades de la realidad con la aparición y utilización cotidiana del internet, de las TIC, de la web 2.0 y de las redes sociales. Por este motivo, se plantea una relación entre pensamiento complejo y el pensamiento computacional que incide en un mejoramiento de la calidad educativa. En el presente artículo se iniciará con una reflexión en torno a la educación a partir de la concepción de incertidumbre del pensamiento complejo. Luego se plantearán elementos de conexión entre un pensamiento complejo y un pensamiento computacional a partir del conectivismo y los desafíos de una sociedad 3.0 en la que las tecnologías de la información y comunicación se encuentran incorporadas en la vida cotidiana de los seres humanos. A su vez, una definición de pensamiento computacional nos situará sobre esta nueva forma de pensar a partir de problemas reales a través de una nueva lógica computacional para lograr resoluciones. El pensamiento computacional desafía a la educación contemporánea a incorporar este nuevo enfoque para la solución de problemas, construcción de sistemas y comprensión de la relación prospectiva entre la ciencia, la tecnología y una sociedad 3.0.

Defining Computational Thinking for Mathematics and Science Classrooms

Science and mathematics are becoming computational endeavors. This fact is reflected in the recently released Next Generation Science Standards and the decision to include “computational thinking” as a core scientific practice. With this addition, and the increased presence of computation in mathematics and scientific contexts, a new urgency has come to the challenge of defining computational thinking and providing a theoretical grounding for what form it should take in school science and mathematics classrooms. This paper presents a response to this challenge by proposing a definition of computational thinking for mathematics and science in the form of a taxonomy consisting of four main categories: data practices, modeling and simulation practices, computational problem solving practices, and systems thinking practices. In formulating this taxonomy, we draw on the existing computational thinking literature, interviews with mathematicians and scientists, and exemplary computational thinking instructional materials. This work was undertaken as part of a larger effort to infuse computational thinking into high school science and mathematics curricular materials. In this paper, we argue for the approach of embedding computational thinking in mathematics and science contexts, present the taxonomy, and discuss how we envision the taxonomy being used to bring current educational efforts in line with the increasingly computational nature of modern science and mathematics.