Computational Thinking among High School Students (original) (raw)
Related papers
2020
INTRODUCTION In the 21st century, we would argue that every country wants to create a society that can solve problems by thinking critically, creatively, and innovatively. As a result, many countries have focused on higher-order thinking skills (HOTS) in the education system to compete in the global digital economy. However, based on the results of the Program of International Student Assessment (PISA), Malaysian students exhibit a moderate level of problem-solving skills. As a result, in 2017, the integrated curriculum secondary school (KBSM) curriculum changed to the standard curriculum secondary school (KSSM), and computer science subjects were introduced at the secondary level to equip students with programming skills and an understanding of algorithms to produce creative, innovative, and dynamic students (KPM, 2016a).
Science Education International, 2020
Computational thinking (CT) is often associated with computer science and mathematics in general. However, the involvement of computer science according to gender is seen to be imbalanced. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the level of students' CT skills by gender and their relationship to achievement in mathematics. The study employed survey research design and purposive sampling that involved 128 participants from four science stream students in one of the states in Malaysia (n = 128). The measurement of CT skills was done using a modified CT test adapted from the previous studies. The results of the study were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Spearman correlational analysis was applied to examine the relationship between CT skill and mathematical achievement and students' t-test analysis was used to determine the difference in CT skills across gender. The study found that the students' CT skills were at the honors level. The relationship between CT skills and mathematics achievement was statistically significant, whereas there exist no significant gender differences in CT skills. This study suggests that the teaching of mathematical logic needs to be considered to improve students' CT skills.
Computational Thinking in Secondary and Higher Education
Procedia Manufacturing, 2020
One of the most important challenges of education is the formation of proper computational thinking (CT). In line with K-12 Computer Science Framework (k12cs.org) the term of CT refers to the "thought processes involved in expressing solutions as computational steps or algorithms that can be carried out by a computer". CT is a problem solving process essential to the development of computer applications, but it is also used in supporting problem solving across many other disciplines. It has gained some grounds in secondary education in the last few years and there are ongoing efforts to introduce it to elementary education as well. Taking into consideration that algorithms play a central role in computational thinking, the aim of our research was to assess the skills of secondary school students and university students in this area, CT, that they faced an apparently computer science-free task but with obvious algorithmic background. According to the aims of our research there were two target populations: secondary school students and university students. In order to measure the level of computational thinking we elaborated a worksheet (test with problems to be solved). The tasks contained algorithms that can be applied on computer, and they did not need any IT knowledge, only structured and logical thinking. The results provide a reliable guide regarding those cognitive skills, among secondary school-children and university students, which need improvement, so transfer of knowledge could work in practical, lifelike situations.
Reflecting on Computational Thinking Studies for High School Education
CogITo Smart Journal
Berpikir komputasional telah diakui sebagai suatu kebutuhan dalam menyelesaikan masalah yang kompleks. Beberapa penelitian telah dilakukan untuk memperkenalkan keterampilan ini ke semua tingkat pendidikan. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk meninjau penelitian tentang berpikir komputasi pada tingkat sekolah menengah. Khususnya, penelitian ini mengkaji domain penelitian, mengidentifikasi metode-metode untuk memperkenalkan berpikir komputasional, serta konsep-konsep berpikir komputasional yang diajarkan kepada pelajar. Tinjauan literatur sistematik dilakukan untuk mencapai tujuan tersebut. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan: penelitian berpikir komputasional mencakup kajian teori, pengembangan kurikulum, pengukuran, dan pengembangan alat. Kajian teori ditujukan untuk memformulasikan konsep. Selain keterampilan teknis, soft-skills telah dinyatakan sebagai elemen berpikir komputasional. Namun, perhatian untuk melibatkan soft-skills dalam penelitian masih kurang. Sebagian besar penelitian difokusk...
The Effect of Gender, Grade, Time and Chronotype on Computational Thinking: Longitudinal Study
Informatics in Education, 2021
Problem-solving and critical thinking are associated with 21st century skills and have gained popularity as computational thinking skills in recent decades. Having such skills has become a must for all ages/grade levels. This study was conducted to examine the effects of grade level, gender, chronotype, and time on computational thinking skills. To this end, the study was designed to follow a longitudinal research model. Participants were 436 secondary school students. Computational thinking test scores were collected from the students at certain time intervals. Results indicate that computational thinking skills are independent of gender, time, and chronotype but differ significantly depending on grade level. The interaction between grade level and time of testing also has a significant impact on computational thinking skills. The difference in grade level can be interpreted as taking an information technologies course increases computational thinking. The results suggest that such courses should be promoted to children at a young age. The joint effect of gender, grade level, and chronotype were not statistically significant and it is recommended to conduct future studies to investigate this result.
A review on the evolvement of computational thinking in Malaysia
VIII INTERNATIONAL ANNUAL CONFERENCE “INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGIES AND ENGINEERING” (ICITE 2021)
Having computational thinking (CT) skills are becoming more critical as computers, algorithms and data become pervasive. This study examines the growing field of CT in education pertaining to its definitions and interventions for improvements. Identifying suitable interventions for applications in Malaysia is of particular importance as CT skills have just been incorporated into the Malaysian Secondary Education curriculum early 2017. Based on the literature reviewed, four CT core skills have been identified namely, decomposition, abstraction, algorithm design, and generalization. Intervention studies focusing on computational practices and computational perspectives are identified to be appropriate for improving CT skills of Malaysian students.
Participatory Educational Research
This study aimed to determine how secondary school students' computational thinking skills changed according to gender, technology use i.e. mobile device ownership, technology competence, daily technology use periods, attitude towards science and attitude towards math. In addition, the relationships between these variables was determined in this study. The research, which was carried out with the participation of 722 secondary school students, was conducted with relational survey model. Convenience sampling method was used to determine the participants. Computational thinking scale, attitudes towards science scale and attitudes towards mathematics scale were used in the study as data collection tools. Descriptive statistics, independent samples t-test, single factor analysis of variance (ANOVA) and multiple regression analysis tests were used in this study. According to results, while computational thinking skills did not significantly differ according to gender; there was a significant difference in computational thinking skills according to mobile device ownership, technology competence, daily technology use periods, attitudes towards science and attitudes towards math. Three of the four models developed as a result of hierarchical regression analysis were found to be statistically significant. Accordingly, it can be argued that attitudes towards science, attitudes towards math and mobile device ownership are important predictors of computational thinking.
Students’ computational thinking
Preparing for Life in a Digital World, 2020
Computational thinking (CT) achievement can be described as increasing according to the following progression: • At the lower region of the scale, students demonstrate a functional working knowledge of computation as input and output. They record data from observed outputs and implement complete solutions to simple coding problems. • At the middle region of the scale, students demonstrate an understanding of computation as enabling practical solutions to real-world problems. They systematically associate inputs with outputs when planning solutions, and implement complete solutions to complex coding using non-linear logic. • At the upper region of the scale, students demonstrate an understanding of computation as a generalizable problem-solving framework. They infer the relationship between observed to complex coding problems using repeat and conditional statements. Eight countries and one benchmarking participant completed the ICILS CT option. Students' CT varied more within countries than across countries. scores within countries varied between 266 scale points (in Portugal) and 371 scale points (in Korea). (Table 4.1) • The difference between the highest and lowest average CT scores across countries was 76 scale points. (Table 4.1) CT achievement tended to be higher among male students.
Computational Thinking Education, 2019
Focusing on increasing relevance of researching teaching and learning computational thinking, this chapter elaborates on the international study ICILS 2018 (International Computer and Information Literacy Study, second cycle). In the scope of this international comparative study, a research module on computational thinking is, for the first time, being realized as an international option. Countries with education systems which are taking part in ICILS 2018 were able to choose whether they wanted to take part in this additional module. The option comprises computer-based tests, two test modules for each student, in the domain of computational thinking for Grade 8 students as well as additional computational-thinking-related questions and items in the study's questionnaires for students, teachers, school principals, and IT coordinators. This chapter introduces the research approach of the study and especially its approach to computational thinking from the perspective of educational school-related research. Since findings of the study will not be available until the end of 2019, the current chapter illustrates the study's theoretical and empirical approach and outlines what kind of results will for the first time feature within the scope of an international large-scale assessment. With regard to the aim of the study to provide, apart from basic research knowledge toward an in-depth understanding of computational thinking, information on the current situation and future perspectives of education systems around the world, examples of potential implications for schools and school systems will also be given.
Computational thinking: the road to success in education
Academia Letters, 2021
Nowadays the education system has been changing on account of a few countries in which Computational Thinking (CT) has become a paramount element that every citizen has to develop and must be carried out since early years. Looking at the results on the last three editions of PISA It's shocking that the top 3 countries are always from the Asian continent (China, Singapore, Japan). One of the main differences between their education system and that of the other countries is that they teach CT since kindergarten. So it seems that teaching CT could be one of the clues in order to achieve school success. It has been proven that CT improves logical-mathematical skills, reasoning, problem solving, as well as academic performance (Korkmaz, 2016; Psycharis y Kallia, 2017). Also, Scherer, Siddiq & Sánchez (2018) added that favors creative thinking and Wong & Cheung (2020) show other areas of knowledge that would be boosted.