https://par.nsf.gov/servlets/purl/10054119

Demystifying computational thinking

https://jnnp.bmj.com/content/jnnp/26/5/476.1.full.pdf

The perception of causality

It represents a universally applicable attitude and skill set everyone, not just computer scientists, would be eager to learn and use.

/pdf/computational-thinking-ji-suan-lun-de-si-kao-3qvv34ha3s.pdf

Computational Thinking 計算論的思考

Computational Thinking (CT) is seen as an important competence that is required in order to adapt to the future. However, educators, especially K-12 teachers and researchers, have not clearly identified how to teach it. In this study, a meta-review of the studies published in academic journals from 2006 to 2017 was conducted to analyze application courses, adopted learning strategies, participants, teaching tools, programming languages, and course categories of CT education. From the review results, it was found that the promotion of CT in education has made great progress in the last decade. In addition to the increasing number of CT studies in different countries, the subjects, research issues, and teaching tools have also become more diverse in recent years. It was also found that CT has mainly been applied to the activities of program design and computer science, while some studies are related to other subjects. Meanwhile, most of the studies adopted Project-Based Learning, Problem-Based Learning, Cooperative Learning, and Game-based Learning in the CT activities. In other words, such activities as aesthetic experience, design-based learning, and storytelling have been relatively less frequently adopted. Most of the studies focused on programming skills training and mathematical computing, while some adopted a cross-domain teaching mode to enable students to manage and analyze materials of various domains by computing. In addition, since the cognitive ability of students of different ages varies, the CT ability cultivation methods and content criteria should vary accordingly. Moreover, most studies reported the learners' CT performance and perspectives, while their information society ability was seldom trained. Accordingly, the research trends and potential research issues of CT are proposed as a reference for researchers, instructors, and policy makers.

How to learn and how to teach computational thinking: Suggestions based on a review of the literature

There has been considerable interest in examining the educational potential of playing video games. One crucial element, however, has traditionally been left out of these discussions—namely, children's learning through making their own games. In this article, we review and synthesize 55 studies from the last decade on making games and learning. We found that the majority of studies focused on teaching coding and academic content through game making, and that few studies explicitly examined the roles of collaboration and identity in the game making process. We argue that future discussions of serious gaming ought to be more inclusive of constructionist approaches to realize the full potential of serious gaming. Making games, we contend, not only more genuinely introduces children to a range of technical skills but also better connects them to each other, addressing the persistent issues of access and diversity present in traditional digital gaming cultures.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00461520.2015.1124022

Constructionist Gaming: Understanding the Benefits of Making Games for Learning

An educated citizenry that participates in and contributes to science technology engineering and mathematics innovation in the 21st century will require broad literacy and skills in computer science (CS). School systems will need to give increased attention to opportunities for students to engage in computational thinking and ways to promote a deeper understanding of how technologies and software are used as design tools. However, K-12 students in the United States are facing a broken pipeline for CS education. In response to this problem, we have developed the Scalable Game Design curriculum based on a strategy to integrate CS education into the regular school curriculum. This strategy includes opportunities for students to design and program games and science technology engineering and mathematics simulations. An approach called Computational Thinking Pattern Analysis has been developed to measure and correlate computational thinking skills relevant to game design and simulations. Results from a study with more than 10,000 students demonstrate rapid adoption of this curriculum by teachers from multiple disciplines, high student motivation, high levels of participation by women, and interest regardless of demographic background.

Scalable Game Design: A Strategy to Bring Systemic Computer Science Education to Schools through Game Design and Simulation Creation

Visual programming in 3D sounds much more appealing than programming in 2D, but what are its benefits? Here, University of Colorado Boulder educators discuss the differences between 2D and 3D regarding three concepts connecting computer graphics to computer science education: ownership, spatial thinking, and syntonicity.

Beyond Minecraft: Facilitating Computational Thinking through Modeling and Programming in 3D

Designing programming languages that are accessible to elementary school children is a complex task. Programming languages that contain visual elements provide a good starting point, because they are inherently appealing to many children. As novice users, however, children require additional support to use programming languages effectively. In this paper, we describe five principles for designing end-user programming languages which address some of the obstacles we have observed when students attempt to create sophisticated programs. The principles are based on extensions we have made to Visual AgentTalk, the tactile programming component of the Agentsheets system. Although our research has centered on children, we believe that the discussion may be widely applicable to languages for novice users of any age.

Designing mixed textual and iconic programming languages for novice users

Building a classroom environment based on student-led, meaningful collaboration is an ideal being promoted by educators and administrators seeking to equip students with 21st century workforce skills. More and more often, teachers are challenged to design lessons that utilize students' innate desire to communicate with one another rather than more traditional direct instruction. With a heavy focus on student-driven instruction and a reduced role for direct instruction, Carson Middle School's Game Design I course is able to utilize collaboration as a means for allowing students to not only learn but master and retain Computational Thinking Patterns and apply them in formal summative assessments. Through the collection of these data points throughout the course of a semester of learning, an educator can fully appreciate the learning of Computational Thinking skills that occurs as students build a sequence of games and simulations.

Collaboration and Computational Thinking: A classroom structure

Computational thinking (CT) involves a broadly applicable and complex set of processes that are often explained by way of the knowledge, attitudes, and general practices that they entail. However, to become facile with CT, learners require instruction that is grounded in concrete, relevant experiences. This paper examines teacher practices that are intended to promote CT skill acquisition through instruction that takes place in two framing contexts. The phenomenological context, which is based on observable patterns of object interaction that recur in games and simulations, is particularly valuable for developing the capacity to think abstractly. Abstraction is the key to recognizing analogous conditions, an ability that is the basis for transferring learning to new situations. The disciplinary context describes areas of application within and across subject areas, including computer science, that can foster proficiency with data representation, problem decomposition, and other CT skills. Using the Scalable Game Design curriculum as a lens to examine classroom practices, we find that teachers both plan and enact CT instruction in these contexts.

Catharine Brand

Papers

Scalable Game Design: A Strategy to Bring Systemic Computer Science Education to Schools through Game Design and Simulation Creation

Beyond Minecraft: Facilitating Computational Thinking through Modeling and Programming in 3D

Designing mixed textual and iconic programming languages for novice users

Collaboration and Computational Thinking: A classroom structure

Grounding Computational Thinking Skill Acquisition Through Contextualized Instruction