Computational thinking in compulsory education: Towards an agenda for research and practice

Abstract

Computational thinking in compulsory education: Towards an agenda for research and practice Voogt, J.M.; Fisser, P.; Good, J.; Mishra, P.; Yadav, A. Published in: Education and Information Technologies DOI:10.1007/s10639-015-9412-6Link to publication Citation for published version (APA):Voogt, J., Fisser, P., Good, J., Mishra, P., & Yadav, A. (2015). Computational thinking in compulsory education: Towards an agenda for research and practice. Education and Information Technologies, 20(4), 715-728. DOI: 10.1007/s10639-015-9412-6 General rightsIt is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), other than for strictly personal, individual use, unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Disclaimer/Complaints regulationsIf you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: http://uba.uva.nl/en/contact, or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible.

Improving the Computational Thinking Pedagogical Capabilities of School Teachers

“…Einhorn (2012) states that computational thinking develops a variety of skills (logic, creativity, algorithmic thinking, modelling/simulations), involves the use of scientific methodologies and helps develop both inventiveness and innovative thinking. Academics in the field of education, in particular educational technology, agree with the computer science education community that computational thinking is an important, essential and very truly 21st-century skill (Einhorn, 2012;Voogt et al, 2015;Wing, 2006). Based on the definitions and core concepts of computational thinking as provided by computer scientists and researchers, several definitions have emerged for what computational thinking is in the domain of compulsory schooling globally.…”

“…There has been a growing global interest in introducing computing into the school curriculum (Liu et al, 2011). Several international professional bodies and initiatives have called for more attention to computational thinking in the curriculum (Voogt et al, 2015). In particular, the National Science Foundation has assembled educational leaders to bring the concept of computational thinking to the K-12 classroom in the US (Barr, Harrison, & Conery, 2011).…”

Computer science (CS) in the compulsory education curriculum: Implications for future research

“…The relationship between these processes of problem solving, computing and programming is not at all clear within the literature, however. As Voogt et al (2015) state, "there is a history in both research and [the] popular press of the use [of] programming as a way to develop thinking skills. CT focuses on developing these thinking skills while within subjects beyond computer science, CT does not necessarily require the use of programming nor are CT scholars making the claim that programming has to be the context in which these skills are developed" (p.716).…”

“…This point is also considered by Lye and Koh (2014) in their review, from a programming, rather than a wider subject, perspective, stating that: "Programming is more than just coding, for, it exposes students to computational thinking which involves problem-solving using computer science concepts like abstraction and decomposition" (p.51). Voogt et al (2015), while considering the use of terms, and defining particularly the core skills and competences within the concept of computational thinking, discuss frameworks for how implementation of computational thinking and programming have been devised in the US and England, but indicate the paucity of evidence of how this implementation has been achieved, or what factors might influence it positively or negatively. Frameworks for implementation of computing and computer science certainly exist (as indicated in other parts of this paper in Australia or England, for example), but the number of studies that have explored this from an implementation point of view are scarce.…”

“…6 Evidence of outcomes of CS in compulsory curricula Voogt et al (2015), in their recent article, indicate the paucity of evidence of how computational thinking has led to any particular measurable learning outcomes, whether they are positive or negative. There is similarly a paucity of evidence about learning outcomes of CS in school curricula.…”