Integration Of Computational Thinking Research Articles

Integration Of Computational Thinking In Mathematics Learning In Senior Secondary Education From 2019-2023: Systematic Literature Review

Mathematical thinking is very important for everyone and must be trained from childhood to face and solve everyday problems. To overcome problems and adapt to changes that occur in the era of globalization, changes in the industrial revolution 4.0 The world of education must be able to act quickly and precisely. Computational Thinking (CT), also known as computational thinking, is a process that involves formulating problems and finding solutions, as well as using these solutions to process information effectively to solve problems. The first objective, of this research it is hoped that someone will find it easy to observe problems, find solutions to problems, solve problems, and be able to develop solutions or solutions to problems. Apart from that, computational thinking hones us to think more effectively and efficiently. Second, to obtain a theoretical framework that can help solve the problem being researched to reveal concepts relevant to the case, especially in research that studies more deeply about research.Integration of Computational Thinking in Mathematics Learning in Senior Secondary Education. Stages In this research there are five stages, formulating the problem (1), searching for literature (2), selecting appropriate literature search results (3), analyzing several literature from test results (4), and making conclusions (5). The results show that articles reviewed by researchers regarding Computational thinking are associated with technology namely, from 14 articles referring to 9 articles that passed QA.

Empowering Vocational Students: A Research-Based Framework for Computational Thinking Integration

Vocational Education and Training (VET) faces significant challenges in equipping individuals for modern workplaces, which increasingly require digital literacy and Computational Thinking (CT) skills. This paper addresses the imperative of integrating CT into VET programs and outlines key research questions. Our methodology primarily involves a systematic literature review, resulting in the identification of 29 relevant papers. Through qualitative content analysis, we develop a CT integration framework that connects CT practices and integration elements to the engineering design process, while highlighting the VET context. Arguably, the innovative aspect of this framework lies in its core dimensions of harnessing computational power for enhanced efficiency. Raising the question of whether computers can optimize the efficiency and effectiveness of specific tasks is paramount for addressing challenges in technology-rich environments. Therefore, this inquiry merits unwavering attention at every stage of the process. The proposed framework provides educators with a structured approach to identify integration opportunities and help prepare students for multifaceted vocational careers. Furthermore, other key findings underscore the inherently interdisciplinary nature of VET, the growing demand for STEM competencies, and the transformative potential of CT integration. Implications emphasize the need for further research, supportive policies, and practical CT integration. Despite limitations, this study strongly advocates for CT integration, empowering VET students for success in the contemporary workforce.

Teacher education as stakeholder: teacher educator perspectives on the integration of computational thinking into mathematics and science courses

ABSTRACT Owing to its recognition as a 21st-century skill, computational thinking (CT) is currently being introduced into school curricula around the world. However, in-service teachers are largely unprepared for this implementation, which, in turn, makes teacher educators (TEds) important stakeholders in preparing prospective teachers to integrate CT into their classroom practices. In this regard, TEds are charged with a twofold responsibility: they must develop not only their own CT skills and digital competence but also a way of teaching these to the next generation of teachers who will facilitate future pupils’ learning. In this paper, we report on 17 TEds’ experience regarding the challenges and opportunities of integrating CT into Norway’s primary teacher education mathematics and science courses two years after CT’s introduction into Norwegian primary schools. A data-driven thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews was conducted. Our analysis suggests that it is challenging to integrate CT into existing courses. Such challenges, as well as opportunities, seem to apply at four levels: the systemic, teacher educator, student teacher, and subject levels. The results provide valuable insights for key stakeholders into the challenges and opportunities of integrating CT into teacher education, thus contributing to the body of research on professional digital competence.

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.

Developing pre-service teachers’ adaptive expertise through STEM-CT integration in professional development and residency placements

This paper focuses on how one innovative teacher education model, that included a unique residency model and the integration of computational thinking and digital teaching and learning in elementary classrooms, supported the development of adaptive expertise in pre-service teacher education programs. The theoretical frame applied in this study is adaptive expertise through the lens of sociocultural theory, and it employs tenets of ethnographic research procedure as methodology. Data demonstrated that the model provided pre-service teachers with a rigorous setting that allowed for practice of routine expertise as well as adaptive expertise. Additionally, analysis pointed to balancing efficiency and innovation and mentor-mentee collaboration as key components of the development of adaptive expertise in pre-service teachers.

Interdisciplinary Integration of Computational Thinking in K-12 Education: A Systematic Review

There is an increasing interest in the integration of computational thinking (CT) in the K-12 curriculum. By integrating CT into other disciplines, the aim is to equip students with essential skills to navigate domain-specific challenges. This study conducts a systematic review of 108 peer-reviewed scientific papers to analyze in which K-12 subjects CT is being integrated, learning objectives, CT integration levels, instructional strategies, technologies and tools employed, assessment strategies, research designs and educational stages of participants. The findings reveal that: (a) over two-thirds of the CT integration studies predominantly focus on science and mathematics; (b) the majority of the studies implement CT at the substitution level rather than achieving a transformation impact; (c) active learning is a commonly mentioned instructional strategy, with block-based languages and physical devices being frequently utilized tools; (d) in terms of assessment, the emphasis primarily lies in evaluating attitudes towards technology or the learning context, rather than developing valid and reliable assessment instruments. These findings shed light on the current state of CT integration in K-12 education. The identified trends provide valuable insights for educators, curriculum designers, and policymakers seeking to effectively incorporate CT across various disciplines in a manner that fosters meaningful skill development with an interdisciplinary approach. By leveraging these insights, we can strive to enhance CT integration efforts, ensuring the holistic development of students' computational thinking abilities and promoting their preparedness for the increasingly interdisciplinary domains of digital world.

The Potential of Developing Computational Thinking Approach-Based Physics Learning Media as a Means of Increasing Students' Problem-Solving Ability

A computational thinking approach is an approach to thinking and reasoning by computer scientists. Computational thinking skills can be adopted as an approach to solving a problem and analyzing the solution. The computational thinking approach is not limited to computer science but can also be applied to other disciplines through problem-solving. The computational thinking approach has been integrated into various instruments and learning media. The purpose of this research is to see the potential of the computational thinking approach to be integrated into learning media to improve problem-solving skills and to discuss the integration of computational thinking in various learning tools and media. This research method uses literature studies with 6 international articles as the main source from scopus.com and 19 articles as supporting articles from scholar.google.com. The results of the study show that the computational thinking approach has the potential to be integrated into various learning tools and media as a means of increasing problem-solving skills.

Designing a framework for teachers' integration of computational thinking into elementary science

AbstractAs professional science becomes increasingly computational, researchers and educators are advocating for the integration of computational thinking (CT) into science education. Researchers and policymakers have argued that CT learning opportunities should begin in elementary school and span across the K‐12 grades. While researchers and policymakers have specified how students should engage in CT for science learning, the success of CT integration ultimately depends on how elementary teachers implement CT in their science lessons. This new demand for teachers who can integrate CT has created a need for effective conceptual tools that teacher educators and professional development designers can use to develop elementary teachers' understanding and operationalization of CT for their classrooms. However, existing frameworks for CT integration have limitations. Existing frameworks either overlook the elementary grades, conceptualize CT in isolation and not integrated into science, and/or have not been tested in teacher education contexts. After reviewing existing CT integration frameworks and detailing an important gap in the science teacher education literature, we present our framework for the integration of CT into elementary science education, with a special focus on how to use this framework with teachers. Situated within our design‐based research study, we (a) explain the decision‐making process of designing the framework; (b) describe the pedagogical affordances and challenges it provided as we implemented it with a cohort of pre‐ and in‐service teachers; (c) provide suggestions for its use in teacher education contexts; and (d) theorize possible pathways to continue its refinement.

Integrating Computational Thinking and The Polya’s Model In Minecraft: The Effects on Learners’ Fractions Achievement

There are few empirical research on the influence of incorporating computational thinking and Polya's Model in digital games on the academic achievement of students and the best ways for implementing this integration. Therefore, this quasi-experimental pretest and posttest non-equivalent group design research was aimed at determining the effect of integrating computational thinking and Polya’s model in Minecraft on students' fraction proficiency. Fifty-seven students from two intact classes were involved as the participants. The control group had 28 students, while the experimental group had 29 students. The findings revealed that the fraction achievement of the experimental group students increased as compared to students in the control group. It may be determined that studying fractions in Minecraft through the integration of computational thinking and Polya’s model had the best influence on student's academic progress. Thus, teachers should be able to incorporate it into other materials for learning mathematics.

Embracing Computational Thinking as an Impetus for Artificial Intelligence in Integrated STEM Disciplines through Engineering and Technology Education 


 The scope and versatile nature of engineering and technology education as a discipline provide a platform for the integration of computational thinking (CT) into STEM education, accomplishing the goal of bringing not only computer science principles into the K-12 education but also the fundamentals of machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) into the curriculum. Today, it is commonplace to say that artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies impact the workplace and continue to revolutionize as well as create new demands for solving daily world challenges. This article discusses the integration of computational thinking practices of decomposition, pattern recognition, algorithmic thinking, and abstraction as key to problem-solving practices that may enhance the development of AI and ML capabilities in high school students. The intent of this article is to contribute to ongoing discussions among educators, employers, parents, and all those concerned with how best to prepare a citizenry that is digitally revolutionized. Implications are offered for the assessment of CT integrated within STEM, curriculum, pedagogy, and professional development for STEM teachers.

Embracing Computational Thinking as an Impetus for Artificial Intelligence in Integrated STEM Disciplines through Engineering and Technology Education 


 The scope and versatile nature of engineering and technology education as a discipline provide a platform for the integration of computational thinking (CT) into STEM education, accomplishing the goal of bringing not only computer science principles into the K-12 education but also the fundamentals of machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) into the curriculum. Today, it is commonplace to say that artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies impact the workplace and continue to revolutionize as well as create new demands for solving daily world challenges. This article discusses the integration of computational thinking practices of decomposition, pattern recognition, algorithmic thinking, and abstraction as key to problem-solving practices that may enhance the development of AI and ML capabilities in high school students. The intent of this article is to contribute to ongoing discussions among educators, employers, parents, and all those concerned with how best to prepare a citizenry that is digitally revolutionized. Implications are offered for the assessment of CT integrated within STEM, curriculum, pedagogy, and professional development for STEM teachers.

Exploring Gamification Approaches for Enhancing Computational Thinking in Young Learners

The integration of computational thinking (CT) in mathematics education is increasingly important due to its intersections with mathematical thinking and its role in the 21st century. Recent years have seen a growing interest in the use of innovative tools to enhance mathematics education, including the exploration of gamification techniques to improve student engagement. While previous research suggests that the inclusion of CT activities at an early age can positively impact students’ motivation and CT skills, the potential benefits of incorporating gamification techniques into CT instruction remain unexplored. In this study, we investigated the impact of shallow and deep gamification techniques on the CT skills and the intrinsic and extrinsic motivation of second-grade students in a blended teaching sequence that combined both unplugged and plugged CT activities. A quasi-experimental design was used with a control group and an experimental group. The findings suggest that both shallow and deep gamification techniques can be effective in improving CT skills in young students, but deep gamification may have a stronger impact on motivation. These results contribute to the growing body of literature on the integration of gamification techniques in CT instruction.

Supporting Elementary Teachers’ Technological, Pedagogical, and Content Knowledge in Computational Thinking Integration

Supporting Elementary Teachers’ Technological, Pedagogical, and Content Knowledge in Computational Thinking Integration

Biological evolution learning and computational thinking: Enhancing understanding through integration of disciplinary core knowledge and scientific practice

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to quantitatively assess the integration of computational thinking with learning about biological evolution. Specifically, we investigated the effectiveness of a framework from a recently developed learning progression that emphasises the complex nature of teaching both computational thinking and biological evolution. Computational thinking is a concept introduced by relatively recent science education reform efforts. For many educators, the notion of computational thinking is unclear making it difficult to integrate into instruction. High school student participants engaged in a quasi-experimental design study. Interventions integrating computational thinking and evolution concepts were used synonymously with assessments to identify change in both student biological evolution knowledge and computational knowledge over time. Students deepened their knowledge in both areas; however, one intervention was more robust in increasing both knowledge of computational thinking and biological evolution. The results warrant future research in these areas and suggest that computational thinking deserves a much greater emphasis within biology classrooms. It also supports the learning progression’s model of weaving disciplinary core ideas with scientific practices to deepen students’ science learning.

High school biology teachers’ integration of computational thinking into data practices to support student investigations

AbstractIn the United States, the Next Generation Science Standards advocate for the integration of computational thinking (CT) as a science and engineering practice. Additionally, there is agreement among some educational researchers that increasing opportunities for engaging in computational thinking can lend authenticity to classroom activities. This can be done through introducing CT principles, such as algorithms, abstractions, and automations, or through examining the tools used to conduct modern science, emphasizing CT in problem solving. This cross‐case analysis of nine high school biology teachers in the mid‐Atlantic region of the United States documents how they integrated CT into their curricula following a year‐long professional development (PD). The focus of the PD emphasized data practices in the science teachers' lessons, using Weintrop et al.'s definition of data practices. These are: (a) creation (generating data), (b) collection (gathering data), (c) manipulation (cleaning and organizing data), (d) visualization (graphically representing data), and (e) analysis (interpreting data). Additionally, within each data practice, teachers were asked to integrate at least one of five CT practices: (a) decomposition (breaking a complex problem into smaller parts), (b) pattern‐recognition (identifying recurring similarities in data practices), (c) algorithms (the creation and use of formulas to predict an output given a specific input), (d) abstraction (eliminating detail in order to generalize or see the “big picture”), and (e) automation (using computational tools to carry out specific procedures). Although the biology teachers integrated all CT practices across their lessons, they found it easier to integrate decomposition and pattern recognition while finding it more difficult to integrate abstraction, algorithmic thinking, and automation. Implications for designing professional development experiences are discussed.

The Effects of Computational Thinking Integration in STEM on Students’ Learning Performance in K-12 Education: A Meta-analysis

Computational thinking is believed to be beneficial for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) learning as it is closely related to many other skills required by STEM disciplines. There has been an increasing interest in integrating computational thinking into STEM and many studies have been conducted to examine the effects of this intervention. This meta-analysis examined the effects of computational thinking integration in STEM on students’ STEM learning performance in the K-12 education context. Following systematic procedures, we identified 20 publications with 21 studies meeting the inclusion and exclusion criteria from a range of academic databases. We extracted effect sizes on student learning outcomes in one-group pretest-posttest designs. We also examined a range of moderating variables in the models, including student levels, STEM disciplines, intervention durations, alignment with content standards (e.g., CSTA/NGSS), types of intervention (e.g., simulation), and the use of unplugged/plugged activities. Overall, we found a statistically significant large effect size ( g = 0. 85 [95% CI of 0.57–1.14]; p < .001), indicating a large overall effect of computational thinking integration on STEM learning outcomes. The effect sizes were significantly moderated by intervention durations. We provide a discussion of the findings and present implications for future research and practice.

Supporting Future Teachers to Promote Computational Thinking Skills in Teaching STEM—A Case Study

In recent years, teachers in various fields, such as science, mathematics, linguistics and others, have been interested in alternative learning strategies as opposed to traditional activities, in order to help students to examine their learning progress. The integration of computational thinking in teaching activities, after returning to face-to-face activities, can meet the needs of students during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this research, two samples of students in their first year of study were recruited for the teacher training program validation for computational skills in STEM education. The training model offers an explanation for the differences between the following two sets of data: the CT modules used in a substantial number of teacher workshops, and the results obtained, which are closely related to the argument that teachers can support students’ lifelong learning by developing computational thinking activities. The results related to the students’ scores may have contributed to their improvement in computational thinking skills and it could be one of the best examples of how to change the ways of learning about 21st century skills and sustainable education.

Integration of computational thinking into STEM activities: an example of an interdisciplinary unplugged programming activity

ABSTRACT STEM and computer science (CS) education are some of the most important research topics of the last decade. The idea that CS should be a part of STEM is becoming more and more common. The most important goals of integrating CS into STEM are to develop students’ computational thinking (CT) and problem-solving skills. STEM education creates a natural context for integrating CT into learning and teaching processes. However, applied studies are needed since the subject is new and open to development. In this study, we designed an interdisciplinary unplugged programming activity to integrate CT into STEM activities which we then implemented in a professional development course (PD) with the participation of STEM teachers. To evaluate the effectiveness, an open-ended questionnaire was given to the teachers and the results were analyzed. Accordingly, the teachers stated that the activity was exemplary in applying the interdisciplinary approach and enabling the perspectives of different disciplines to be seen by other subject-area teachers. Also, using unplugged programming activities in teacher education provides an important example. Teachers who want to conduct unplugged programming activities in their classrooms, learn how to integrate CT into STEM, are interested in the practice to support their students’ research skills, and aim to support students’ 21st-century skills can also use this activity. The interdisciplinary structure of the activity and its example of integrating CT into STEM will guide practitioners and researchers in the field.

TPACK leveraged: A redesigned online educational technology course for STEM preservice teachers

Integration of computational thinking and programming into science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) classes is needed to promote students’ learning of twenty-first century skills. Yet, teachers are not equipped to achieve this integration successfully as teacher education curricula do not generally align with this need. With the Covid-19 outbreak, curricula also need to be adapted for online environments. This qualitative study presents the redesign of an educational technology course that introduces programming and computational thinking to STEM preservice teachers for online settings, and explores learning experiences of preservice teachers, in terms of how they combine technological knowledge with pedagogy and content. Data were collected from course artifacts, such as reading responses, coding challenges, and lesson designs and implementations. The findings showed the online course design was helpful in enhancing preservice STEM teachers’ pedagogical approaches of how to teach computational thinking and programming. Offering hands-on coding practices in the course allowed preservice teachers to improve their technological knowledge (programming), and they were able to integrate their technological pedagogical knowledge into their content area and design meaningful lessons. The study offers implications for design of online teacher education courses that promote preservice teachers’ technological pedagogical content knowledge for computational thinking and programming. Implications for practice or policy: The online course design implemented in this study can be adjusted into different contexts, considering that fully-online or blended teacher education courses will still be needed in the future. The design guidelines used in this study can be utilised to develop online teacher education modules for educational technology topics other than programming. The question prompts given to preservice teachers in the study can be refined to trigger deeper reflection on pedagogy of computing education.

Building a Virtual Community of Practice: Teacher Learning for Computational Thinking Infusion.

The COVID-19 pandemic led to an urgent need for professional development (PD) experiences to support teacher learning across hybrid and digital contexts. This study investigates teachers’ experiences in a Virtual Pivot, a PD workshop designed to support computational thinking integration into disciplinary teaching. Participants were 151 middle and high school content area teachers, including 49 teachers who participated in previous face-to-face workshops. Virtual Pivot employed research-based design principles for virtual teacher PD, including asynchronous and synchronous engagement, explicit instruction in technological tools and scaffolds for teacher collaboration. Data sources included pre-PD surveys (n = 151), post-PD surveys (n = 119), interviews (n = 57) and six-month follow-up surveys (n = 105). Findings describe elements of Virtual Pivot which supported teacher learning and engagement (virtual community of practice, PD structure, during-PD support, pre-PD support and badges). We conclude by discussing this study’s theoretical, methodological and practical contributions for designing and investigating virtual computational thinking PD experiences.