Paper-and-Pencil Programming Strategy toward Computational Thinking for Non-Majors: Design Your Solution

Abstract

The paper-and-pencil programming strategy (PPS) is a way of representing an idea logically by any representation that can be created using paper and pencil. It was developed for non-computer majors to improve their understanding and use of computational thinking and increase interest in learning computer science. A total of 110 non-majors in their sophomore year were assigned to either a Logo or a PPS course with attendance being 2 hours per week for 15 weeks. To measure the effectiveness of PPS, the Group Assessment of Logical Thinking and a self-assessment survey preand post-test were used. Findings indicated that PPS not only improved students' overall logical thinking as much as did Logo programming learning, but also increased scores on one more subscale of logical thinking than did the Logo course. In addition, PPS significantly helped students understand the concept of computational thinking and increased their interest in learning computer science.Computer science (CS) has led to innovations in society and daily life. However, the public's interest in CS has decreased (Carter

Defining a New 21st Century Skill-Computational Thinking: Concepts and Trends

“…It was considered that this was due to the perception that CT was associated with computer sciences (Israel, Pearson, Tapia, Wherfel, & Reese, 2015; B. Kim, T. Kim, & J. Kim, 2013;Pellas & Peroutseas, 2016), although it was stated in the literature that CT is a skill for all, not only for those who are computer science professionals (Willamon, 2016;Wing, Henderson, Hazzan, & Cortina, 2005). This finding was consistent with Özcınar's (2017) claim that CT studies were predominantly published in computer science resources.…”

Publication Trends Over 10 Years of Computational Thinking Research

“…However, based on the findings of the current study, majority of the studies on CT in the literature concentrated on education and technology. Furthermore, study findings demonstrated that CT was mostly discussed based on computer technologies (Israel et al, 2015;Kim, Kim, & Kim, 2013;Pellas & Peroutseas, 2016). It was considered that this finding was due to the low level of perception of the significance of CT in other fields.…”

Exploring problem decomposition and program development through block-based programs

“…We often observed that students started programming without a clear plan and tinkered with code blocks by trial and error. We suggest that students need to learn how to sketch out their story, and that it should be the first step to design a program after learning the core concepts of programming (Kim, Kim, & Kim, 2013). Instructional strategies for planning, such as creating a story synopsis or storyboard by writing or drawing, can be adopted (Brennan & Resnick, 2012).…”

“…As the elaboration theory advocates (Reigeluth, 1999), students need to practice simple tasks involving a specific reasoning skill earlier. Also, a condition chart or pseudo code could aid with logical reasoning to structure decomposed tasks and determine relevant conditions (Kim et al, 2013).…”