The essence of computational thinking and tools to promote it

Abstract

is an endowed professor and director of the CMST Institute at The College at Brockport, SUNY. He established the first undergraduate degree program in computational science in the United States and developed a computational pedagogical content knowledge (CPACK) framework for teacher education. His research interests include engineering and science education, computational pedagogy, computational and scientific thinking as well as fluid dynamics, engine ignition modeling, and parallel computing. Yasar has a PhD in engineering physics and a MS in computer science and in nuclear engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He graduated with a BS in engineering physics and Abstract A decade of discourse to capture the essence of computational thinking (CT) has resulted in a set of skills whose teaching at the K-12 level poses many challenges because of the reliance on the use of electronic computers and programming concepts that are often found too abstract and difficult by young students. This article attempts to link cognition to basic computational processes, particularly modeling and simulation, that are known to facilitate deductive and inductive inquiries by scientists for decades. Empirical data from a quasiexperimental study in 15 secondary schools suggests a similar impact on student learning. This is consistent with learning theories that students learn science in the way that scientists think and work. In this article, we offer a viewpoint on the essence of CT and suggest that we teach students relevant cognitive habits prior to teaching them electronic CT skills. This will not only improve their critical thinking skills but also their motivation and readiness to learn electronic CT skills.

Digital K–12 STEM Education through Human–Robot Interaction: Investigation on Prerequisites

“…The literature shows definitions, notions, concepts, misconceptions, ideas, fundamental principles, elements, understandings, misunderstandings, characteristics, scope, opportunities, significance, importance, application frameworks, challenges, prospects, possibilities, and evaluations of CT [21,22,[25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35]. The general definition is that the cognitive process used by human beings to find concepts to solve problems is called Computational Thinking (CT) [31].…”

Fundamental: Determining Prerequisites for Middle School Students to Participate in Robotics-based STEM Lessons: A Computational Thinking Approach

“…It is true that the concept of computational thinking is broad and not widely agreed upon. Nonetheless, for the purpose of creating themes from the prerequisites, we were guided by the fundamental concepts of computational thinking and adapted the aspects of the computational thinking considered mainly in [13,14] as well as in [15][16][17][18][19][23][24][25]. For example, formulating and solving problems [13][14][15][16]19,[23][24][25], analyzing outcomes [16,18], understanding obtained results to make improvements [13,14,24], learning from mistakes [24], handling uncertainty [13,17], and sharing ideas or concepts with others [13,14,24] were all treated as components of computational thinking theme while communicating general information was treated as a managerial skill theme (R.Q.1).…”

“…We began our study by conducting a literature review to identify the key definitions, concepts, principles, characteristics, elements, scope, importance, possibilities, challenges, frameworks, and assessment methods for computational thinking, especially in the context of K-12 education, [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25]. Ribeiro et al discussed the importance of computational thinking and explained how to include techniques to teach this kind of ability in elementary, middle, and high schools [15].…”

“…Weese and Feldhausen proposed another method to assess computational thinking of K-12 students based on self-efficacy in solving problems with microcontrollers and computer programming [24]. Yasar et al investigated the essence of computational thinking and tools to promote it in K-12 education [25]. Most importantly, the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) have also recommended incorporation of computational thinking in K-12 science education [20].…”

The Essence of Scientific and Engineering Thinking and Tools to Promote It

“…Our focus has been rather on computational pedagogical content knowledge (CPACK; a subset of TPACK) development 45 and its cognitive framework. 46,49 A sequential mixed-methods approach 7 was used to collect quantitative data (e.g., pre-and post-activity teacher surveys, classroom artifacts, student report cards, test scores, and standardized exams), followed by an enriched case study with a qualitative component (e.g., interviews, teacher activity logs, and classroom observations) to explore the meaning of the quantitative trends/findings in the first part of the study. The experiment evolved in phases as the program staff developed, in collaboration with participating teachers, a database of curricular modules, lesson plans, and related assessment instruments and rubrics with good psychometric properties.…”