Three +1 Perspectives on Computational Thinking

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingArticle in proceedingsResearchpeer-review

Computational Thinking (CT) is a highly contentious subject with many diverging meanings and definitions. This study presents a pre- liminary literature review of 71 peer-reviewed articles on CT. The papers indicate the existence of five main aspects that have histori- cally been used in association with its definition: Algorithm, Ab- straction, Modelling, Simulation, and Implementation. Based on this preliminary literature study, semi-structured interviews with eight CT scholars are conducted, in order to evaluate these aspects and to identify qualitatively different perspectives on CT, which integrate the mentioned aspects in different ways. From the interviews, three different perspectives emerged, focusing on: Rea- soning, Simplification, and Automation. Furthermore, the goal of having computationally educated citizens is extrapolated from the interviews, indicating an additional perspective (+1) titled Empowerment, which appears as embedded within all the previ- ous three perspectives. This paper proposes to put these three (+1) perspectives in dialogue, in an effort to support researchers and practitioners working with CT across different fields.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication21st Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research (Koli Calling ’21)
Number of pages17
Place of PublicationUnited States
PublisherAssociation for Computing Machinery, Inc.
Publication date2021
Pages21-37
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2021
Externally publishedYes

    Research areas

  • Computational thinking, literature review, computing education

ID: 318543280