Improving learning of computational thinking using computational creativity exercises in a college CSI computer science course for engineers

Shell, Duane F.; Hazley, Melissa Patterson; Soh, Leen-Kiat; Miller, Leonard D.; Chiriacescu, Vlad; Ingraham, Elizabeth

doi:10.1109/fie.2014.7044489

Cited by 22 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Shell et al [155] present their Computational Creative Exercises (CCE) which they designed to be used in a CS1 course for engineering students. They begin by showing the link between computational and creative thinking skills in these CCEs such as: Algorithmic Thinking -> Challenging accepted solutions and procedures.…”

Section: College/universitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Computational Thinking in Secondary Education: Where does it fit? A systematic literary review

Lockwood

Mooney

2018

IJCSES

114

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Computational Thinking (CT) has been described as an essential skill which everyone should learn and can therefore include in their skill set. Seymour Papert [1] is credited as concretising Computational Thinking in 1980 but since Wing [2] popularised the term in 2006 and brought it to the international community's attention, more and more research has been conducted on CT in education. The aim of this systematic literary review is to give educators and education researchers an overview of what work has been carried out in the domain, as well as potential gaps and opportunities that still exist.

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Section: College/universitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Computational Thinking in Secondary Education: Where does it fit? A systematic literary review

Lockwood

Mooney

2018

IJCSES

114

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“…To standardize grades across courses, grades were converted to Z-scores within each course. To provide a common cross-course measure of core computational thinking knowledge and skills, a computational thinking knowledge test developed by CSCE faculty and used in prior studies was used [6,7,11]. The test contained 13 conceptual and problem-solving questions for the core computational thinking content generally taught initially in CS1 classes.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As reported in [6,7,11,12], for all our CCEs, students work in groups to engage in a combination of hands-on problem solving, written analysis, and reflection. The collaborative nature of the CCEs facilitates creative thinking by bringing together students from diverse backgrounds.…”

Section: Overall Designsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improving Students' Learning and Achievement in CS Classrooms through Computational Creativity Exercises that Integrate Computational and Creative Thinking

Shell

Soh

Flanigan

et al. 2017

Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education

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Our research is based on an innovative approach that integrates computational thinking and creative thinking in computer science courses to improve student learning and performance. Referencing Epstein's Generativity Theory, we designed and deployed Computational Creativity Exercises (CCEs) with linkages to concepts in computer science and computational thinking. Prior studies with earlier versions of the CCEs in CS1 courses found that completing more CCEs led to higher grades and increased learning of computational thinking principles. In this study, we extended the examination of CCEs to by deploying revised CCEs across two lower division (freshmen, sophomore) and three upper division (junior, senior) CS courses. We found a linear "dosage effect" of increasingly higher grades and computational thinking/CS knowledge test scores with completion of each additional CCE. This dosage effect was consistent across lower and upper division courses. Findings supported our contention that the merger of computational and creative thinking can be realized in computational creativity exercises that can be implemented and lead to increased student learning across courses from freshmen to senior level. The effect of the CCEs on learning was independent of student general academic achievement and individual student motivation. If students do the CCEs, they appear to benefit, whether or not they are self-aware of the benefit or personally motivated to do them. Issues in implementation are discussed.

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“…Most studies have explored how CT education benefits K12 students and what kinds of educational approaches might be most effective. Several studies have focused on college students and explored how to effectively teach CT concepts to engineering students [9,10]. A few researchers have also explored the effect of CT on nonengineering students [19,20].…”

Section: Ct In Educational Settingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Particularly, researchers have focused on how CT could benefit students in educational settings [6][7][8]. Many studies have explored how CT education benefits K-12 students and what kinds of educational approaches can best serve them, whereas several other studies have focused on college students and explored how to effectively convey CT concepts to engineering students [9,10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bringing Computational Thinking to Nonengineering Students through a Capstone Course

Lee¹,

Kang²

2019

Proceedings of the Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences

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Although the concept of computational thinking has flourished, little research has explored how to integrate various elements of computational thinking into an undergraduate classroom setting. Clarifying core concepts of computational thinking and providing empirical cases that apply computational thinking practices into a real-world educational setting is crucial to the success of software engineering education. In this article, we describe the development of a curriculum for a social innovation capstone course, using core concepts and elements of computational thinking. The course was designed for undergraduate students of a liberal arts college at a university in Korea. Students were asked to define a social problem and introduced to the core concepts and processes of computational thinking aided by Arduino and Raspberry Pi programming environments. After building a business model, they implemented a working prototype for their proposed solution. We document class project outcomes and student feedback to demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach.

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Improving learning of computational thinking using computational creativity exercises in a college CSI computer science course for engineers

Cited by 22 publications

References 26 publications

Computational Thinking in Secondary Education: Where does it fit? A systematic literary review

Computational Thinking in Secondary Education: Where does it fit? A systematic literary review

Improving Students' Learning and Achievement in CS Classrooms through Computational Creativity Exercises that Integrate Computational and Creative Thinking

Bringing Computational Thinking to Nonengineering Students through a Capstone Course

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