Bebras - a Sustainable Community Building Model for the Concept Based Learning of Informatics and Computational Thinking

Dagienė, Valentina; Stupurienė, Gabrielė

doi:10.15388/infedu.2016.02

Cited by 127 publications

(77 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Bebras is an informatics education community-building model and is designed to promote informatics learning in school by solving short concept-based tasks (Dagiene & Stupuriene, 2016). Tasks are the most important component of the Bebras model.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some new informatics curricula have a significant focus on computational thinking skills being developed, for example in England (Brown et al, 2014) and Poland (Syslo & Kwiatkowska, 2015). In the longstanding Bebras contest (Bebras, 2016), tasks are designed which demonstrate computer science principles whilst engaging students in problem-solving in a motivating way.Bebras is an informatics education community-building model and is designed to promote informatics learning in school by solving short concept-based tasks (Dagiene & Stupuriene, 2016). Tasks are the most important component of the Bebras model.…”

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It’s Computational Thinking! Bebras Tasks in the Curriculum

Dagienė

Sentance

2016

Lecture Notes in Computer Science

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Abstract.Bebras is an award-winning, international contest and challenge in informatics that has been running for 12 years in primary and secondary schools, with 50 countries now participating. From a single contest-focused annual event the Bebras developed to a multifunctional challenge; an activitiesbased educational community-building network has grown up where the development of Bebras tasks has taken a very significant role. Bebras tasks present a motivating way to introduce computer science concepts to students as well as developing computational thinking skills. Tasks are categorized in terms of the concepts being covered, and each task includes an explanation of how the task relates to informatics. In this paper we propose that Bebras tasks can be used within the school curriculum (whether it is called informatics, computer science, computing or information technology) to promote computational thinking and provide teaching materials. We give examples of Bebras tasks that could be incorporated into the curriculum, and make recommendations for schools wishing to develop children's computational thinking skills.Keywords: Bebras contest, computational thinking, computer science education, informatics curriculum, informatics education, task solving IntroductionThere is an increasing focus on computational thinking within the teaching of computer science, computing or informatics (from here on referred to as informatics) in school. Computational thinking was only recently popularised as a concept in 2006 by Wing (2006), although the original definition stems from Papert (1996). Wing claims that computational thinking is for everyone and involves "solving problems, designing systems and understanding human behaviour, by drawing on the concepts fundamental to computer science" (Wing, 2006, p. 34). Some new informatics curricula have a significant focus on computational thinking skills being developed, for example in England (Brown et al, 2014) and Poland (Syslo & Kwiatkowska, 2015). In the longstanding Bebras contest (Bebras, 2016), tasks are designed which demonstrate computer science principles whilst engaging students in problem-solving in a motivating way.Bebras is an informatics education community-building model and is designed to promote informatics learning in school by solving short concept-based tasks (Dagiene & Stupuriene, 2016). Tasks are the most important component of the Bebras model. Each Bebras task should include at least one informatics concept, attract children's attention by a story, picture or interactivity, be short (fits in a computer screen), and not require specific technical knowledge. Some countries use the Bebras to strengthen collaborative learning; for example, in Germany pupils solve Bebras tasks in pairs during a contest and discussions are allowed between the pairs.Alongside the initial goal of the Bebras project to motivate pupils to be more interested in informatics topics there is a strong intention to deepen algorithmic, logical and operational thinking and, more recently, c...

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

It’s Computational Thinking! Bebras Tasks in the Curriculum

Dagienė

Sentance

2016

Lecture Notes in Computer Science

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“…Computational thinking is strategically important for dealing with many kinds of problems, and can be specially useful in mathematics, science, and engineering, where models, simulation, experiments are primary learning asset (Dagienė and Stupuriene, 2016).…”

Section: Computation Is An Increasingly Essential Toolmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of Computational Thinking Notions in Secondary School

Bilbao¹,

Bravo²,

García³

et al. 2017

BJMC

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Abstract. New technological developments, the hyperconnectivity and globalization of the economy are raising important opportunities and challenges to the economy. The labour market must also address these opportunities and challenges, to evolve and accommodate future workers and businesses. The introduction of digital technologies in sectors of the economy allows devices and systems collaborate with each other and with other systems allowing to modify the products, processes and business models. The digitization of society and the economy poses challenges and creates opportunities for all sectors must adapt their processes, products and business models. Educational system cannot be left out of this future and new models like Computational Thinking (CT) can help achieve and better prepare future citizens. But when new skills and techniques such as CT are applied, it is necessary to evaluate them. In this paper a model for evaluating the skills and attitudes of CT for subjects of secondary education is presented.

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“…Dagienė and Stupurienė, 2016) enables pupils to experiment with sorting a group of children according to their heights (Fig. 3).…”

Section: Activities and Examplesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Programming in Slovak Primary Schools

KABÁTOVÁ¹,

Kalaš²,

Tomcsányiová³

2016

IOI

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Abstract. In our paper, we want to present the conception of elementary programming in primary Informatics education in Slovakia and the process of its integration into ordinary classrooms. First, we will familiarize the reader with the tradition of so called 'Informatics education' in Slovakia and with the various stages of the process of its integration. We will formulate the learning objectives of the elementary informatics as a school subject in Slovakia (referring to Blaho and Salanci, 2011) and give reasons why we believe that it offers an important opportunity for developing informatics knowledge, computational thinking and problem solving skills. We will primarily focus on the presentation of our arguments why we consider programming (in the form rigorously respecting the age of the primary pupils) to be appropriate and productive constituent of learning already for this age group. Several recent research findings, presented by Ackermann (2012) and others support our position here. In the next chapter, we will present in detail the conception of elementary programming and how it is implemented in the continuing professional development (CPD) of primary teachers in Slovakia. We will examine which programming environments are being used, what kind of pedagogies and which specific learning objectives our teachers apply. We will list programming concepts and identify corresponding cognitive operations, which we find appropriate for primary pupils. Then we will present and analyse the CPD of our in-service teachers (and the position of programming in this process) which we have recently implemented in Slovakia. Another important element of our CPD strategy is the well-known Bebras contest (in Slovakia it is called 'iBobor' or 'Informatics Beaver'). In the next chapter of our paper, we will apply qualitative educational inquiry methods to examine how our conception of elementary programming has really penetrated into primary classes in Slovakia. We are also interested in how it is being received by the teachers and pupils. Through interviews with the teachers we will identify different aspects of the whole process and main risk factors, which may complicate or hinder the implementation. In the final chapter, we will study the tendency to develop informatics and programming at the primary level in the context of various research projects presented in the academic research literature. We will compare various key findings of other research projects with our own experience.

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Bebras - a Sustainable Community Building Model for the Concept Based Learning of Informatics and Computational Thinking

Cited by 127 publications

References 37 publications

It’s Computational Thinking! Bebras Tasks in the Curriculum

It’s Computational Thinking! Bebras Tasks in the Curriculum

Assessment of Computational Thinking Notions in Secondary School

Programming in Slovak Primary Schools

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