Promoting computational thinking with programming

The term computational thinking has received some discussion in the field of computer science education research. The term is defined as the concept of thinking about problems in a way that can be implemented in a computing device. Of course, after having thought about a problem using computational thinking skills, the next step should be to use programming skills to implement the solution. This work in progress is exploring ways in which programming can be employed as a tool to teach computational thinking and problem solving. Data is collected from teachers, academics, and professionals from various industries. They are purposively selected because of their knowledge of or interest in the topics of problem solving, computational thinking, and the teaching of programming. This data is analyzed within the paradigm of the grounded theory approach. The results of an initial analysis imply an ordering of complexity associated with computational thinking skills, imply connections between computational thinking skills and programming activities, and imply a relationship between computational thinking skills and other taxonomies of learning.

[1]  Michael E. Caspersen,et al.  Proceedings of the fifth international workshop on Computing education research workshop , 2009 .

[2]  Mark Guzdial,et al.  EducationPaving the way for computational thinking , 2008, CACM.

[3]  Raymond Lister,et al.  Relationships between reading, tracing and writing skills in introductory programming , 2008, ICER '08.

[4]  Marc Roper,et al.  Investigating and improving the models of programming concepts held by novice programmers , 2011, Comput. Sci. Educ..

[5]  Russell K. Schutt,et al.  Research Methods in Education , 2011 .

[6]  N. Hoffart.  Basics of Qualitative Research: Techniques and Procedures for Developing Grounded Theory , 2000 .

[7]  Anselm L. Strauss,et al.  Basics of qualitative research : techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory , 1998 .

[8]  M Mara Saeli,et al.  Teaching programming for secondary school : a pedagogical content knowledge based approach , 2012 .

[9]  Richard J. Anderson,et al.  Proceedings of the second international workshop on Computing education research , 2006 .

[10]  Mark Guzdial,et al.  A multi-national, multi-institutional study of assessment of programming skills of first-year CS students , 2001, ITiCSE-WGR '01.

[11]  Carsten Schulte,et al.  What do teachers teach in introductory programming? , 2006, ICER '06.

[12]  Brad A. Myers,et al.  Studying the language and structure in non-programmers' solutions to programming problems , 2001, Int. J. Hum. Comput. Stud..

[13]  C. W. Tate.  Solve it. , 2005, Nursing standard (Royal College of Nursing (Great Britain) : 1987).

[14]  Orit Hazzan,et al.  Reducing Abstraction in High School Computer Science Education: The Case of Definition, Implementation, and Use of Abstract Data Types , 2008, JERC.

[15]  Sue Fitzgerald,et al.  Strategies that students use to trace code: an analysis based in grounded theory , 2005, ICER '05.

[16]  John Sweller,et al.  Cognitive Load During Problem Solving: Effects on Learning , 1988, Cogn. Sci..

[17]  Benedict duBoulay,et al.  Some Difficulties of Learning to Program , 1986 .

[18]  Janet Rountree,et al.  Learning and Teaching Programming: A Review and Discussion , 2003, Comput. Sci. Educ..

[19]  Anne Venables,et al.  A closer look at tracing, explaining and code writing skills in the novice programmer , 2009, ICER '09.

[20]  Elliot Soloway,et al.  Studying the Novice Programmer , 1988 .

[21]  Jeffrey Forbes,et al.  (Re)defining computing curricula by (re)defining computing , 2010, SGCS.

[22]  J Sixsmith,et al.  Ethical Issues in the Documentary Data Analysis of Internet Posts and Archives , 2001, Qualitative health research.

[23]  Kathryn E. Sanders,et al.  Proceedings of the seventh international workshop on Computing education research , 2010, ICER 2010.

[24]  SimonBeth,et al.  A multi-national study of reading and tracing skills in novice programmers , 2004 .

[25]  Michael E. Caspersen,et al.  Working group reports from ITiCSE on Innovation and technology in computer science education , 2002 .