Introduction to Computational Thinking with Scratch for Teacher Training for Spanish Primary School Teachers in Mathematics

In recent years, the inclusion of computational thinking in education has become very important. This is a response to the needs of the evolution of our society and the skills demanded in students to obtain practical and integrated training. For this reason, the educational inclusion of these types of practices, strategies, and skills has been the subject of study in recent years. However, it is equally important to prepare and analyse the initial training of future teachers in this area. This research paper presents an empirical experience in which the degree of development of skills associated with computational thinking in preservice primary teachers is examined. For this purpose, programming practices with Scratch were carried out with a total of 149 students of primary education university degrees as part of their training in mathematics education. An experiment was designed for a control group and an experimental group with initial and final measurements using a validated diagnostic instrument consisting of 30 questions associated with computational concepts and their application: a computational thinking test. The result of the experience is positive, as a more significant improvement was observed in the experimental group, which was also accompanied by the impressions, provided by participants, that point in a positive, useful, and practical direction in terms of the development of this type of educational practice being relevant enough to introduce to the teaching and learning process of mathematics

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

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

How Challenging are Bebras Tasks? : An IRT Analysis Based on the Performance of Italian Students

This paper analyses the results of the 2014 edition of the Italian Bebras/Kangourou contest, exploiting the Item Response Theory statistical methodology in order to infer the difficulty of each of the proposed tasks starting from the scores attained by the participants. Such kind of analysis, enabling the organizers of the contest to check whether or not the difficulty perceived by pupils was substantially different from that estimated by those who proposed the tasks, is important as a feedback in order to gain knowledge to be used both in ranking participants and in organizing future editions of the contest. We show how the proposed analysis essentially highlights that the 63% of tasks was perceived at the same level of difficulty estimated by those who proposed them, but a 37% of tasks were either easier or more difficult than expected

Computational Thinking

In 2009, Godfrey and Hadgraft declared that engineering education research was “coming of age.” That is, it was reaching a state of maturity. Similarly, with the publication of this Handbook, we authors declare that computing education ..

Avaliação de competências de pensamento computacional de alunos no final do 1º CEB

Dissertação de mestrado, Educação (Área de Especialidade em Educação e Tecnologias Digitais), 2023, Universidade de Lisboa, Instituto de EducaçãoO estudo aqui apresentado pretendeu avaliar o nível de desenvolvimento de competências de Pensamento Computacional apresentado pelos alunos do 4.º ano de escolaridade do Agrupamento de Escolas de Vialonga, procurando estabelecer relações entre as características sociodemográficas dos mesmos e o desenvolvimento de intervenções pedagógicas intencionalmente direcionadas ao desenvolvimento dessas competências. De modo a dar resposta a estas questões, desenvolveu-se um estudo de natureza quantitativa, do tipo descritivo e exploratório e utilizou-se como instrumento de recolha de dados o Teste Bebras – Castor Informático, edição de 2020 da categoria castores, aplicado a 159 alunos. Os principais resultados evidenciam um baixo nível global de competências de Pensamento Computacional apresentadas pelos alunos, mas comprovam que o grupo que usufruiu de atividades pedagógicas intencionalmente direcionadas ao desenvolvimento de competências de Pensamento Computacional prolongadas no tempo, obteve resultados superiores, sugerindo a eficácia deste tipo de intervenções. Salienta-se, ainda, que os alunos tiveram mais facilidade nas questões que envolviam maioritariamente as competências de reconhecimento de padrões, representação de dados e depuração e mais dificuldade nas questões que recorriam à abstração, decomposição e algoritmia. Não se identificaram diferenças estatisticamente significativas em relação a características sociodemográficas, não se podendo inferir qualquer tipo de relação entre as mesmas e os níveis de desenvolvimento de competências de Pensamento Computacional. Os resultados sinalizam a importância de um maior investimento no desenvolvimento de iniciativas pedagógicas devidamente estruturadas e continuadas no tempo, com início no Ensino Pré-Escolar, que procurem promover o desenvolvimento de competências de Pensamento Computacional.This study aimed to evaluate the development level of Computational Thinking skills within the context of 4th grade students from the Agrupamento de Escolas de Vialonga, Portugal. It intended to establish relationships in between social-demographic characteristics and pedagogical approaches that were intentionally designed to promote these skills. This study followed a quantitative, descriptive and exploratory research methodology. As for the data collection tool, 159 students answered the Bebras Challenge, 2020’s edition of the Castors group. The main results show a low overall level of Computational Thinking skills among students from the school cluster. Despite these conclusions, it was also possible to verify that the group having benefited for a longer period of time from pedagogical activities with the purpose of developing skills that were related to Computational Thinking obtained higher results. Hence, it suggests that this type of approaches may grant efficacy. It should also be noted that students answered more easily the questions involving patterns recognition, data representation and debugging. Likewise, it’s important to consider that they faced more difficulties with questions involving abstraction, decomposition and algorithms. Taking into account socio-demographic features, there are no statistically significant differences, therefore, not allowing to identify a direct correlation between these features and the development of Computational Thinking skills. The results point to the importance of a greater investment in properly structured and planned pedagogical initiatives for longer periods of time, starting at kindergarten and seeking to promote solid Computational Thinking skills

Computer Science To Go (CS2Go): Developing a course to introduce and teach Computer Science and Computational Thinking to secondary school students

Computer Science To Go (CS2Go) is a course designed to teach Transition Year Students about Computer Science and Computational Thinking. This project has been conducted over two years and this thesis charts the development of the course from the initial research stage, through the lesson creation sections to the testing and evaluation of the course material. Over 80 hours of engaging, informative and challenging material has been developed for use in the classroom. Alongside the lesson plans, assessment and monitoring tools have been created, including a novel tool to assess students Computational Thinking skills. The content was tested in two major studies after an initial pilot study. This initial pilot study proved useful in constructing the full CS2Go course. Overall the course has been well received with teachers and students engaging well with the content. A web portal has also been created to allow for easy dissemination of all the CS2Go material. The further development of this web portal will turn CS2Go into a one-stop shop for teachers and educators hoping to find CS teaching material