Communicating about computational thinking: understanding affordances of portfolios for assessing high school students’ computational thinking and participation practices

Fields, Deborah A.; Lui, Debora; Kafai, Yasmin B.; Jayathirtha, Gayithri; Walker, Justice T.; Shaw, Mia S.

doi:10.1080/08993408.2020.1866933

Cited by 15 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Based on the results of clustering analysis, learners in Cluster 3 who had many irrelevant behaviors and fewer operations of the programming platform underperformed in the CT test, from which we can conclude that irrelevant behaviors or cognitive absence are one of the barriers to developing CT skills through programming. Consistent with prior research (Fields et al, 2021; Hwang et al, 2012), Cluster 5, which performed lower in CT had the least number of debugging behaviors, which suggested that students could benefit from continuous debugging and modification of codes. Without testing their codes and detecting bugs in the codes, learners can hardly develop CT skills through the problem-solving process.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

Transitioning From Introductory to Professional Programming in Secondary Education: Comparing Learners’ Computational Thinking Skills, Behaviors, and Attitudes

Sun,

Zhu,

et al. 2023

Journal of Educational Computing Research

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Although previous research has provided some insights into the effects of block-based and text-based programming modalities, there is a dearth of a detailed, multi-dimensional analysis of the transition process from different introductory programming modalities to professional programming learning. This study employed a quasi-experimental design to address this gap, involving 64 secondary school students in two groups. For the beginning five weeks, the first group used an introductory block-based programming environment, while the second group used an introductory text-based programming environment. Then, both groups transitioned to professional text-based programming for the subsequent eight weeks. The results showed that participants who transitioned from introductory text-based programming to professional text-based programming (1) significantly outperformed in computational thinking skills; (2) had more code-writing and debugging behaviors and fewer irrelevant behaviors, and (3) had more interactions with the instructor. No significant differences were observed between the two groups regarding enjoyment, confidence, and interest in programming. Drawing on these findings, this study proposes pedagogical implications that could facilitate the adoption of programming modalities within the broader context of STEM education.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

Transitioning From Introductory to Professional Programming in Secondary Education: Comparing Learners’ Computational Thinking Skills, Behaviors, and Attitudes

Sun,

Zhu,

et al. 2023

Journal of Educational Computing Research

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“…From this perspective, the integration of computer science into schools has two main objectives: to offer all students the possibility of accessing computer science and to improve the learning of subjects known as STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) [12] by making the contents more authentic and relevant [13] and helping students with learning to break down a task into simpler ones, formulating and testing hypotheses, exploring and investigating, relating knowledge and coming up with original ideas or solutions. Thus, at a global level, different educational administrations have echoed this need in an increasingly digital world and are integrating computational thinking in their classrooms [14][15][16] as another competence that students must acquire from early childhood and primary education [17][18][19][20][21][22][23] through to secondary education [24][25][26][27].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of Arduino in Primary Education: A Systematic Review

García-Tudela

Marín-Marín

2023

Education Sciences

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In the last two decades, technological advances have been spectacular, and their transcendence has touched all areas of society. Specifically, in the field of education, these advances have allowed projects and approaches such as computational thinking to be taken up more strongly through interdisciplinary visions such as the STEM subjects and technological devices such as Arduino. The main objective of this article is to analyse the uses of Arduino and the achievements it has attained at primary-education level. To this end, a systematic review was carried out in the SCOPUS and Web of Science databases. The methodology used was the PRISMA statement and the SALSA framework. In accordance with the exclusion criteria applied, nine scientific papers from the last seven years were obtained. The qualitative software ATLAS.ti was used to extract the results. These papers reveal that the most commonly used methodology for incorporating the Arduino board into teaching is problem based learning (PBL) in the context of STEM subjects. In addition, programming environments, such as Scratch, and other electronic components have been used, which have enabled the development of computational thinking and the acquisition of technological knowledge, among other achievements.

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“…Portfolios have been used for evaluation in various subjects and fields, while their formats and contents vary greatly, each with its own set of advantages for evaluating student learning. The "cumulative" portfolio, for example, focuses on putting together a series of completed projects [21]. For example, portfolios utilized in the engineering domain are more process-driven and reflective and frequently deal with the advancement of a single project [22].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Experience Report on Transitioning to Blended Learning and Portfolio-assessment: a Cross-campus Course in Programming

Rouhani

Olso

Styve

et al. 2022

2022 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON)

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The transition from traditional to digital teaching has led to several challenges for students and educators under the COVID-19 pandemic. Most universities are experiencing remote online delivery and assessment for the first time, which creates several issues, particularly for delivering courses efficiently and evaluating the outcomes without students compromising academic integrity. In this study, we take a closer look at a cross-campus case in delivering a programming course that switched to digital teaching due to COVID-19. We focus on the transition in assessment forms and the gradual adaptation to portfolio evaluation over two years. This form of assessment is more aligned with the constructive alignment theory, and hence contribute to increased learning outcomes as the students receive feedback along the way. Furthermore, we introduced a task where students had to reflect on the answers and solutions. This reflection note may help the teacher to better understand to which level the student has actually understood the theories and skills applied in the solution, and hence reassure that the solution is produced by the student. Observations from our data provide promising direction that it can increase learning benefits and reduce possibilities or the need for cheating and contributes to increased learning outcomes. However, this form of assessment requires a significant effort from teachers and is both time and resource consuming.

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Communicating about computational thinking: understanding affordances of portfolios for assessing high school students’ computational thinking and participation practices

Cited by 15 publications

References 26 publications

Transitioning From Introductory to Professional Programming in Secondary Education: Comparing Learners’ Computational Thinking Skills, Behaviors, and Attitudes

Transitioning From Introductory to Professional Programming in Secondary Education: Comparing Learners’ Computational Thinking Skills, Behaviors, and Attitudes

Use of Arduino in Primary Education: A Systematic Review

An Experience Report on Transitioning to Blended Learning and Portfolio-assessment: a Cross-campus Course in Programming

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