Computational thinking embedded in engineering design: capturing computational thinking of children in an informal engineering design activity

Ehsan, Hoda; Rehmat, Abeera P.; Cardella, Monica E.

doi:10.1007/s10798-020-09562-5

Cited by 45 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…There is growing interest in incorporating computational thinking (CT) into primary education to foster children's digital literacy skills (Hacker, 2018). CT includes thought processes such as abstraction, algorithms, troubleshooting and debugging, pattern recognition, problem decomposition and simulations and it has been suggested that engineering design and CT can be complementary (Ehsan et al 2020). But again, many primary teachers will lack relevant expertise to teach the subject confidently (Bell et al 2016) or equate computing with technology (Lee et al 2020).…”

Section: Pre-service Primary Teachers' Preparation For Engineering Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developing pre-service primary teachers’ understanding of engineering through engineering habits of mind and engagement with engineers

Hanson

Hardman

Luke

et al. 2021

Int J Technol Des Educ

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This paper explores how primary teachers might be prepared through their pre-service training to feel more confident to include engineering in their teaching. Prompted by concerns about young people’s lack of interest in STEM subjects and careers, engineering is gradually gaining visibility in the primary curriculum in several forms, particularly through integrated STEM programmes. However, the status of engineering relative to science, technology and mathematics remains contested in schools and engineering has low visibility in pre-service preparation programmes for primary teachers. Therefore, this case-study investigated how two strategies might give students learning to be primary technology, computing and science teachers greater confidence to introduce the concept of engineering into their teaching. By reframing engineering as engineering habits of mind and by giving students experience of engaging with practising engineers, the study found that it was possible to enhance primary trainee teachers’ understanding of the world of engineering and increase their confidence to introduce engineering habits of mind in lessons with primary children. The paper concludes with some implications for practice of this approach.

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Section: Pre-service Primary Teachers' Preparation For Engineering Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developing pre-service primary teachers’ understanding of engineering through engineering habits of mind and engagement with engineers

Hanson

Hardman

Luke

et al. 2021

Int J Technol Des Educ

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“…The authors underline that despite being highly relevant to modern society, CT and ED are still out of the formal curricula. Besides, Ehsan et al [46] add that there is still little research exploring how children's engagement in both engineering and computational thinking can support each other.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Computational Design Thinking and Physical Computing: Preliminary Observations of a Pilot Study

Dochshanov¹,

Tramonti²

2020

Robotics

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Today’s technological development inevitably defies educational approaches in terms of future demand for skills to be imparted. Among other skills, the capacity to operate and communicate effectively within multidisciplinary realms is duly considered as the fundamental one. Educational robotics (ER) and STEM do constitute a suitable framework for the development of these specific skills. Moreover, competences such as computational (CT) and design thinking (DT) have already been nominated as necessary to adapt to the future and relevant for innovation. The years of independent development and evidence of practical implementation justify the maturity of the related methodological approaches and emerging gradual shift towards their combination. In this regard, the actual work presents a pilot experience of the combined application of computational design thinking and educational robotics in the case of a 9-to-11-year-old target audience. The approach utilizes a novel platform developed under the project Coding4Girls combining design thinking and game-based learning and introduces physical computing through consecutive assembling and programming an IR-controlled robot-car. The core of the learning path consists in the development of primary programming skills and their gradual transfer into the physical realm. The method, as the study demonstrates, is capable of helping keep students both motivated and result-oriented throughout the duration of the course.

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“…The findings of our earlier works showed children's capability of engaging in competencies of computational thinking. For example, three studies conducted in informal learning settings provided evidence of K-2 aged children engaging in meaningful CT during an unplugged engineering design activity with and without adult supervision [4] [10] and in a plugged activity translating between different computational representations while engaging with a computational cognitive device [9]. Additionally, we observed children's engagement in computational thinking competencies could be supported by adults' facilitation strategies [12][13].…”

Section: An Overview Of the Empirical And Theoretical Basis For The Studymentioning

confidence: 87%

“…Lu and Fletcher [6] believe that if practicing CT starts from young ages, by the time children get to high school, CT will become the second nature for them. Several studies provide evidence that students as early as Kindergarten can engage in CT competenciesacquiring skills through different types of unplugged and plugged activities (e.g., [7][8][4] [10]). Plugged activities refer to those which require using digital devices and unplugged activities can be done without any digital devices.…”

Section: An Overview Of the Empirical And Theoretical Basis For The Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

WIP: First-graders’ Computational Thinking in Informal Learning Settings

Ehsan

Fagundes

Moore

et al.

2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access Proceedings

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Hoda is a Ph.D. student in the School of Engineering Education, Purdue. She received her B.S. in mechanical engineering in Iran, and obtained her M.S. in Childhood Education and New York teaching certification from City College of New York (CUNY-CCNY). She is now a graduate research assistant on STEM+C project. Her research interests include designing informal setting for engineering learning, and promoting engineering thinking in differently abled students in informal and formal settings. Ms. Barbara Fagundes, Purdue UniversityBarbara Fagundes is a first-year Ph.D. student in the Engineering Education Department at Purdue University. Her doctoral research interests involve representation of woman in the STEM field, k-12 engineering education and computational thinking.

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Computational thinking embedded in engineering design: capturing computational thinking of children in an informal engineering design activity

Cited by 45 publications

References 47 publications

Developing pre-service primary teachers’ understanding of engineering through engineering habits of mind and engagement with engineers

Developing pre-service primary teachers’ understanding of engineering through engineering habits of mind and engagement with engineers

Computational Design Thinking and Physical Computing: Preliminary Observations of a Pilot Study

WIP: First-graders’ Computational Thinking in Informal Learning Settings

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