Computational Thinking in K-9 Education

Abstract

In this report we consider the current status of the coverage of computer science in education at the lowest levels of education in multiple countries. Our focus is on computational thinking (CT), a term meant to encompass a set of concepts and thought processes that aid in formulating problems and their solutions in different fields in a way that could involve computers \cite{Wing-2011}. \ud The main goal of this report is to help teachers, those involved in teacher education, and decision makers to make informed decisions about how and when CT can be included in their local institutions. We begin by defining CT and then discuss the current state of CT in K-9 education in multiple countries in Europe as well as the United States. Since many students are exposed to CT outside of school, we also discuss the current state of informal educational initiatives in the same set of countries. \ud An important contribution of the report is a survey distributed to K-9 teachers, aiming at revealing to what extent different aspects of CT are already part of teachers' classroom practice and how this is done. The survey data suggest that some teachers are already involved in activities that have strong potential for introducing some aspects of CT. In addition to the examples given by teachers participating in the survey, we present some additional sample activities and lesson plans for working with aspects of CT in different subjects. We also discuss ways in which teacher training can be coordinated as well as the issue of repositories. We conclude with future directions for research in CT at school

It’s Computational Thinking! Bebras Tasks in the Curriculum

“…There are differences between these two definitions in that Wing's definition is more focused on problem solving and Papert's definition is more focussed on ideas and analysis (Mannila et al, 2014). Subsequent research has expanded and interpreted the term further (Lu et al, 2009, Grover & Pea, 2013, Selby & Woollard, 2013.…”

Pensamento Computacional sob a visão dos profissionais da computação: uma discussão sobre conceitos e habilidades

“…Outras argumentam que PC é uma atividade que possui orientação processual e formal, enfatizando processos e estratégias para resolução de problemas (Walden et al, 2013). Já outra afirma que PC é um termo que engloba um conjunto de conceitos e processos da Ciência da Computação, os quais auxiliam na formulação de soluções em diferentes campos do saber (Mannila et al, 2014).…”

“…Abstração, decomposição e construção de algoritmos são habilidades em que há consenso de significação e aparecem com maior frequência (Selby e Woollard, 2014) (Mannila et al, 2014) (Barr e Stephenson, 2009). Abstração consiste na ideia de identificar o essencial do que se está observando.…”

“…Esses versam sobre propostas de atividades, relatos de experiências e pesquisas empíricas sobre adoção e avaliação do pensamento computacional nos diversos níveis de ensino (Mannila et al, 2014) (Walden et al, 2013) (Barr e Stephenson, 2009). Outros investigam a respeito da definição formal para o PC (Selby e Woollard, 2014) (Hu, 2011).…”

Computing at School in Sweden – Experiences from Introducing Computer Science within Existing Subjects

“…[2,16]) we use the term "computational thinking", rather than coding or programming, to refer to this set of skills and practices. Teachers already engage in several of these practices in their teaching, even without knowing it [7]. By making explicit what teachers already do, we can reduce the feelings of threat to teachers who may feel that they need to learn a lot of new things, many of which can be perceived as technically advanced.…”