1,593 research outputs found
Conceptions and Misconceptions about Computational Thinking among Italian Primary School Teachers
International audienceMany advanced countries are recognizing more and more the importance of teaching computing, in some cases even as early as in primary school. "Computational thinking" is the term often used to denote the conceptual core of computer science or "the way a computer scientist thinks", as Wing put it. Such term - given also the lack of a widely accepted definition - has become a "buzzword" meaning different things to different people. We investigated the Italian primary school teachers' conceptions about computational thinking by analyzing the results of a survey (N=972) conducted in the context of "Programma il Futuro" project. Teachers have been asked to provide a definition of computational thinking and to answer three additional related closed-ended questions. The analysis shows that, while almost half of teachers (43.4%) have included in their definitions some fundamental elements of computational thinking, very few (10.8%) have been able to provide an acceptably complete definition. On a more positive note, the majority is aware that computational thinking is not characterized by coding or by the use of information technology
Introducing Computational Thinking in K-12 Education: Historical, Epistemological, Pedagogical, Cognitive, and Affective Aspects
Introduction of scientific and cultural aspects of Computer Science (CS) (called "Computational Thinking" - CT) in K-12 education is fundamental. We focus on three crucial areas.
1. Historical, philosophical, and pedagogical aspects. What are the big ideas of CS we must teach? What are the historical and pedagogical contexts in which CT emerged, and why are relevant? What is the relationship between learning theories (e.g., constructivism) and teaching approaches (e.g., plugged and unplugged)?
2. Cognitive aspects. What is the sentiment of generalist teachers not trained to teach CS? What misconceptions do they hold about concepts like CT and "coding"?
3. Affective and motivational aspects. What is the impact of personal beliefs about intelligence (mindset) and about CS ability? What the role of teaching approaches?
This research has been conducted both through historical and philosophical argumentation, and through quantitative and qualitative studies (both on nationwide samples and small significant ones), in particular through the lens of (often exaggerated) claims about transfer from CS to other skills.
Four important claims are substantiated.
1. CS should be introduced in K-12 as a tool to understand and act in our digital world, and to use the power of computation for meaningful learning. CT is the conceptual sediment of that learning. We designed a curriculum proposal in this direction.
2. The expressions CT (useful to distantiate from digital literacy) and "coding" can cause misconceptions among teachers, who focus mainly on transfer to general thinking skills. Both disciplinary and pedagogical teacher training is hence needed.
3. Some plugged and unplugged teaching tools have intrinsic constructivist characteristics that can facilitate CS learning, as shown with proposed activities.
4. Growth mindset is not automatically fostered by CS, while not studying CS can foster fixed beliefs. Growth mindset can be fostered by creative computing, leveraging on its constructivist aspects
Growth Mindset in Computational Thinking Teaching and Teacher Training
International audienceTeacher training in computational thinking is becoming more and more important, as many countries are introducing it at all K-12 school levels. Introductory programming courses are known to be difficult and some studies suggest they foster a fixed-mindset views of intelligence, reinforcing the idea that only some people have the so called "geek gene". This is particularly dangerous if thought by future school teachers. Interventions to stimulate "CS growth mindset" in students and their teachers are fundamental and worth CS education research
Design and Computational Thinking with IoTgo: What Teachers Think
Computational and design thinking are orthogonal and complementary ways of thinking, which are fundamental for nowadaysâ learners and yet taught in isolation. Teachersâ understanding of them can be a barrier to their introduction. This paper reports on an intervention for primary- and secondary-school teachers, introducing them to both forms of thinking through hands-on laboratories, revolving around the IoTgo game-based toolkit. Teachersâ ideas of computational and design thinking were investigated with a questionnaire before and after the intervention. Their answers suggest that the intervention was effective and indicate future work related to computational and design thinking
Situated Learning with Bebras Tasklets
A Bebras short task, a tasklet, is designed to provide a source for exploring a computational thinking concept: at the end of the contest it could be used as a starting point to delve deeper into a computing topic. In this paper we report an experience which aims at taking full advantage of the potential of Bebras tasklets. A math teacher asked her pupils to act as Bebras \u201ctrainers\u201d for younger mates. The pupils, in pairs, were assigned to design and prepare a tangible game inspired by a Bebras tasklet, devised for the younger pupils to practice. They also had to explain the game to the younger pupils, make them play and support them in solving it. In carrying out this assignment the pupils acting as trainers had to deeply explore the Bebras tasklet and face its computational thinking challenge, and also practiced soft skills as collaborating with peers towards a common goal, adapting language and communicative style to engage with younger mates, devising and designing a tangible object, and planning its creation. The experience proved that using Bebras tasklets as the social and cultural context for situated learning of computational thinking competencies is indeed quite productive
Task-related models for teaching and assessing iteration learning in high school
A number of studies report about studentsâ difficulties with basic flow-control constructs,
and specifically with iteration. Although such issues are less explored in the
context of pre-tertiary education, this seems to be especially the case for high-school
programming learning, where the difficulties concern both the âmechanicalâ features
of the notional machine as well as the logical aspects connected with the constructs,
ranging from the implications of loop conditions to a more abstract grasp of the
underlying algorithms.
For these reasons, the aim of this work is to: i) identifying methodological tools
to enhance a comprehensive understanding of the iteration constructs, ii) suggest
strategies to teach iterations.
We interviewed 20 experienced upper secondary teachers of introductory programming
in different kinds of schools. The interviews were mainly aimed at ascertaining
teachersâ beliefs about major sources of issues for basic programming
concepts and their approach to the teaching and learning of iteration constructs.
Once teachersâ perception of studentsâ difficulties have been identified, we have
submitted, to a sample of 164 students, a survey which included both questions on
their subjective perception of difficulty and simple tasks probing their understanding
of iteration. Data collected from teachers and students confirm that iteration is a
central programming concept and indicate that the treatment of conditions and
nested constructs are major sources of studentsâ difficulties with iteration.
The interviews allowed us to identify a list of problems that are typically presented
by teachers to explain the iterations. Hence, a catalogue of significant program
examples has been built to support studentsâ learning, tasks with characteristics
different from those typically presented in class.
Based on the outcome of previous steps, a survey to collect related information
and good practices from a larger sample of teachers has been designed. Data
collected have been analysed distinguishing an orientation towards more conceptual
objectives, and one towards more practical objectives. Furthermore, regarding
evaluation, a orientation focused on process-based assessment and another on
product-based assessment.
Finally, based on the outcome of previous studentsâ survey and drawing from
the proposed examples catalogue, we have designed and submitted a new studentsâ
survey, composed of a set of small tasks, or tasklets, to investigate in more depth
on high-school studentsâ understanding of iteration in terms of code reading abilities.
The chosen tasklets covered the different topics: technical program feature,
correlation between tracing effort and abstraction, the role of flow-charts, studentsâ
perception of self-confidence concerning high-level thinking skills.A number of studies report about studentsâ difficulties with basic flow-control constructs,
and specifically with iteration. Although such issues are less explored in the
context of pre-tertiary education, this seems to be especially the case for high-school
programming learning, where the difficulties concern both the âmechanicalâ features
of the notional machine as well as the logical aspects connected with the constructs,
ranging from the implications of loop conditions to a more abstract grasp of the
underlying algorithms.
For these reasons, the aim of this work is to: i) identifying methodological tools
to enhance a comprehensive understanding of the iteration constructs, ii) suggest
strategies to teach iterations.
We interviewed 20 experienced upper secondary teachers of introductory programming
in different kinds of schools. The interviews were mainly aimed at ascertaining
teachersâ beliefs about major sources of issues for basic programming
concepts and their approach to the teaching and learning of iteration constructs.
Once teachersâ perception of studentsâ difficulties have been identified, we have
submitted, to a sample of 164 students, a survey which included both questions on
their subjective perception of difficulty and simple tasks probing their understanding
of iteration. Data collected from teachers and students confirm that iteration is a
central programming concept and indicate that the treatment of conditions and
nested constructs are major sources of studentsâ difficulties with iteration.
The interviews allowed us to identify a list of problems that are typically presented
by teachers to explain the iterations. Hence, a catalogue of significant program
examples has been built to support studentsâ learning, tasks with characteristics
different from those typically presented in class.
Based on the outcome of previous steps, a survey to collect related information
and good practices from a larger sample of teachers has been designed. Data
collected have been analysed distinguishing an orientation towards more conceptual
objectives, and one towards more practical objectives. Furthermore, regarding
evaluation, a orientation focused on process-based assessment and another on
product-based assessment.
Finally, based on the outcome of previous studentsâ survey and drawing from
the proposed examples catalogue, we have designed and submitted a new studentsâ
survey, composed of a set of small tasks, or tasklets, to investigate in more depth
on high-school studentsâ understanding of iteration in terms of code reading abilities.
The chosen tasklets covered the different topics: technical program feature,
correlation between tracing effort and abstraction, the role of flow-charts, studentsâ
perception of self-confidence concerning high-level thinking skills
Informatical Thinking
International audienceIn this paper, we reviewed many definitions of computational thinking, finding they share a lot of common elements, of very different nature. We classified them in mental processes, methods, practices, and transversal skills. Many of these elements seem to be shared with other disciplines and resonate with the current narrative on the importance of 21st-century skills. Our classification helps on shedding light on the misconceptions related to each of the four categories, showing that, not to dilute the concept, elements of computational thinking should be intended inside the discipline of Informatics, being its "disciplinary way of thinking"
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