Development and Validation of the Computational Thinking Concepts and Skills Test

Calls for standardized and validated measures of computational thinking have been made repeatedly in recent years. Still, few such tests have been created and even fewer have undergone rig- orous psychometric evaluation and been made available to re- searchers. The purpose of this study is to report our work in de- veloping and validating a test of computational thinking concepts and skills and to compare different scoring methods for the test. This computational thinking exam is intended to be used in com- puting education research as a common measure of computational thinking so that the research community will be able to make more meaningful comparisons across samples and studies. The Computational Thinking Concepts and Skills Test (CTCAST) was administered to students in several courses, evaluated and revised, and then administered to another group of students. Part of the revision included changing half of the items to a multiple-select format. The test scores using the three scoring methods were com- pared to each other and to scores on a different test of core com- puter science knowledge. Results indicate the CTCAST and the test of core computer science knowledge measure similar, but not identical, aspects of students’ knowledge and skills, and that item- level statistics vary according to the scoring method that is used. Recommendations for using and scoring the test are presented

Development and Validation of the Computational Thinking Concepts and Skills Test

Calls for standardized and validated measures of computational thinking have been made repeatedly in recent years. Still, few such tests have been created and even fewer have undergone rig- orous psychometric evaluation and been made available to re- searchers. The purpose of this study is to report our work in de- veloping and validating a test of computational thinking concepts and skills and to compare different scoring methods for the test. This computational thinking exam is intended to be used in com- puting education research as a common measure of computational thinking so that the research community will be able to make more meaningful comparisons across samples and studies. The Computational Thinking Concepts and Skills Test (CTCAST) was administered to students in several courses, evaluated and revised, and then administered to another group of students. Part of the revision included changing half of the items to a multiple-select format. The test scores using the three scoring methods were com- pared to each other and to scores on a different test of core com- puter science knowledge. Results indicate the CTCAST and the test of core computer science knowledge measure similar, but not identical, aspects of students’ knowledge and skills, and that item- level statistics vary according to the scoring method that is used. Recommendations for using and scoring the test are presented

Development and Validation of the Computational Thinking Concepts and Skills Test

Calls for standardized and validated measures of computational thinking have been made repeatedly in recent years. Still, few such tests have been created and even fewer have undergone rig- orous psychometric evaluation and been made available to re- searchers. The purpose of this study is to report our work in de- veloping and validating a test of computational thinking concepts and skills and to compare different scoring methods for the test. This computational thinking exam is intended to be used in com- puting education research as a common measure of computational thinking so that the research community will be able to make more meaningful comparisons across samples and studies. The Computational Thinking Concepts and Skills Test (CTCAST) was administered to students in several courses, evaluated and revised, and then administered to another group of students. Part of the revision included changing half of the items to a multiple-select format. The test scores using the three scoring methods were com- pared to each other and to scores on a different test of core com- puter science knowledge. Results indicate the CTCAST and the test of core computer science knowledge measure similar, but not identical, aspects of students’ knowledge and skills, and that item- level statistics vary according to the scoring method that is used. Recommendations for using and scoring the test are presented

Developing a Computational Thinking Test using Bebras problems

Assessment is one of the major factors to consider when developing a new course or program of study. When developing a course to teach Computer Science there are many forms this could take, one of which is linked to Computational Thinking. Whilst developing Computer Science to Go (CS2Go), an introductory course aimed at secondary school students, we have developed a Computational Thinking test based on the problems developed for the international Bebras Challenge. This paper will describe the content and development of the course, as well as some analysis on results from a year-long study with secondary school students and first-year undergraduate students. We believe that, based on our analysis and previous research in the field, that our assessment, based on pre-exisiting Bebras problems, has the potential to offer educators another way of testing this increasingly discussed skill, Computational Thinking

Habilidades de pensamiento computacional en docentes de primaria: evaluación usando Bebras

Se presenta un análisis de las habilidades de Pensamiento Computacional que poseen docentes de nivel primario, que en la actualidad cursan la Especialización Docente de Nivel Superior en Didáctica en Ciencias de la Computación, en la ciudad de Río Cuarto. Como herramienta de recolección de datos se utilizaron los Problemas Bebras para medir habilidades de Pensamiento Computacional que poseen estos docentes, detectando que un alto porcentaje, pudo resolver problemas de complejidad media que implican habilidades, tales como, abstracción, reconocimiento de patrones, modelos y simulación, algoritmos y descomposición.VIII Workshop Innovación en Educación en Informática.Red de Universidades con Carreras en Informátic

Habilidades de pensamiento computacional en docentes de primaria: evaluación usando Bebras

Se presenta un análisis de las habilidades de Pensamiento Computacional que poseen docentes de nivel primario, que en la actualidad cursan la Especialización Docente de Nivel Superior en Didáctica en Ciencias de la Computación, en la ciudad de Río Cuarto. Como herramienta de recolección de datos se utilizaron los Problemas Bebras para medir habilidades de Pensamiento Computacional que poseen estos docentes, detectando que un alto porcentaje, pudo resolver problemas de complejidad media que implican habilidades, tales como, abstracción, reconocimiento de patrones, modelos y simulación, algoritmos y descomposición.VIII Workshop Innovación en Educación en Informática.Red de Universidades con Carreras en Informátic

Thinking in imperative or objects? A study on how novice programmer thinks when it comes to designing an application

Novice programming is a challenging subject to teach and learn. However, programming is an essential skill that is required by many majors apart from Computer Science. The challenges in a novice programming subject change according to the programming language used. At the beginning of the 90s, the object-oriented programming was introduced. Detienne claimed that it is easier for programmers to program using the object-first approach as humans think naturally in objects. The IEEE and ACM joint task force on Computing Curriculum proposed two tracks of curriculum, one for imperative-first and the other for objectfirst implementation. However, most of the work conducted on novice programming focused on the issues of syntax errors, reducing the possibilities of syntax error through a new or adapted programming environment. This paper will present the preliminary work to investigate if students will naturally think in objects or a series of steps. Three intervention methods were implemented in three different workshops. The intervention methods are the object-first, the imperative-first and the problem-solving-first. The students are then requested to design an application. Through the design, the research will identify if the students use the object-first or the imperative-first design. Assuming that the object-first intervention group will design primarily in objects, and the imperative-first intervention group in a series of steps, the problem-solving intervention will be the ”neutral” group. The object-first design is reflected through the attributes and methods of a particular object. The imperative-first design is identified if the solution contains a series of steps. The findings show that most of the students designed the application using a series of steps reflecting the imperative-first design. This finding should be included when considering if imperative-first or object-first should be the way forward for a novice programming subject

Habilidades computacionales en estudiantes ingresantes de la Universidad Global del Cusco, 2018

En este trabajo de investigación se analizó el estado inicial de las habilidades computacionales con los que los estudiantes ingresan a la Universidad Global del Cusco. Para ello se aplicó un examen de diez preguntas a estudiantes de las carreras profesionales de Administración de Negocios Turísticos e Ingeniería en Tecnología de Información y Comunicación. Las preguntas fueron seleccionadas cuidadosamente de las Olimpiadas de Computación de Sudáfrica y fueron aplicadas en hora y media. Los resultados muestran el bajo desarrollo de habilidades computacionales en los estudiantes ingresantes habilidades como la inferencia y lógica, pensamiento abstracto.Trabajo de investigacio

Influencia de la Capacitación en Algorítmica en el Nivel de Pensamiento Computacional de los estudiantes de la Universidad Global del Cusco,2018.

En este trabajo de investigación se analizó la influencia de la capacitación en algorítmica en el nivel de pensamiento computacional de los estudiantes de la Universidad Global del Cusco en el año 2018. Para tal fin, fue preparada una evaluación de 10 preguntas para la evaluación de las habilidades computacionales. Fueron considerados dos grupos de estudio, uno de control (ANG) y otro experimental (ITIC), donde el grupo experimental recibió una capacitación en el curso de algorítmica durante todo el semestre. La evaluación fue aplicada al inicio y final del semestre 2018-II. Los resultados mostraron que la capacitación en la disciplina de algorítmica en los estudiantes de ITIC influenció en el nivel de pensamiento computacional medido a través de las notas obtenidas en las evaluaciones. Palabras Clave: Pensamiento computacional, evaluación de estudiantes, ciencia de la computación en la educación.Trabajo de investigacio

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

Computational Thinking (CT) has been described as an essential skill which everyone should learn and can therefore include in their skill set. Seymour Papert is credited as concretising Computational Thinking in 1980 but since Wing 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. Overall it was found in this review that, although there is a lot of work currently being done around the world in many different educational contexts, the work relating to CT is still in its infancy. Along with the need to create an agreed-upon definition of CT lots of countries are still in the process of, or have not yet started, introducing CT into curriculums in all levels of education. It was also found that Computer Science/Computing, which could be the most obvious place to teach CT, has yet to become a mainstream subject in some countries, although this is improving. Of encouragement to educators is the wealth of tools and resources being developed to help teach CT as well as more and more work relating to curriculum development. For those teachers looking to incorporate CT into their schools or classes then there are bountiful options which include programming, hands-on exercises and more. The need for more detailed lesson plans and curriculum structure however, is something that could be of benefit to teachers