Does Everyone Use Computational Thinking?: A Case Study of Art and Computer Science Majors

In this digital age, being computer literate and having computer science skills are essential, especially since most real-life solutions are technology-driven. Many K-12 and higher education institutions, states, and countries incorporate computational thinking (CT) into their curriculum. Although Wing describes CT as a problem-solving approach that utilizes fundamental computing concepts, which is applicable not only for scientists but everyone, most of the computational thinking instructional approaches are related to computer programming. Unfortunately, it is also unclear whether people use CT when solving non-programming problems. This study aims to answer two research questions: (1) In what ways do students use computational thinking skills when solving non-programming problems if any?; and (2) If students use CT when solving non-programming problems, in what ways do their approaches differ from computer science students? We conducted a qualitative multiple within-site case study research with three units of analysis. We recruited two students from computer science, a civil engineering student, an instructional design student, and an art student as cases, and asked them to think aloud while solving three problems. The collected think aloud data was transcribed and qualitatively coded to identify various CT skills. Our preliminary analysis of a computer science student and an art student reveals that they used various CT skills when solving all problems, and the application of CT skills was influenced by their background, experiences, and goals. Furthermore, we found that the art student was capable of utilizing various CT skills despite her lacked prior exposure to CS or CT, which shed new light on the nature of CT.