scholarly journals INVESTIGATING K-2 STUDENTS’ COMPUTATIONAL THINKING SKILLS DURING A PROBLEM-SOLVING ACTIVITY ABOUT THE WATER CYCLE USING EDUCATIONAL ROBOTICS

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charoula Angeli ◽  
Eftychia Xerou ◽  
Maria Nicolaou
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Water Cycle ◽  
Computational Thinking ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Educational Robotics

scholarly journals Improving Novice Students’ Computational Thinking Skills by Problem-Solving and Metacognitive Techniques

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 88-108
Author(s):  
Nor Hasbiah Ubaidullah ◽  
Zulkifley Mohamed ◽  
Jamilah Hamid ◽  
Suliana Sulaiman ◽  
Rahmah Lob Yussof
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Intervention Program ◽  
Computational Thinking ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Metacognitive Skills ◽  
Thinking Skill ◽  
Novice Students ◽  
Programming Courses

Admittedly, the teaching and learning of programming courses in the computer science and information technology programs have been extremely challenging. Currently, most instructors depend on either the problem-solving technique or the metacognitive technique to help students develop a range of cognitive skills, including metacognitive skills, which are important in the development of a strong computational thinking skill required for 21st-century learning. Studies focusing on the practices of instructors in using both techniques are scarce, thus motivating the researchers to carry out this study. This study was based on a qualitative approach involving a case-study design in which five (5) male and five (5) female instructors were selected from 10 pre-university centers in Malaysia as the respondents and participants in an intervention program. The research instruments used were an interview checklist and intervention guidelines. As anticipated, the findings showed that the activities of each technique could only help students develop certain sub-skills of the computational thinking skill, thus underscoring the need for instructors to integrate both techniques in their teaching practices. Thus, it could be reasoned that using either the metacognitive technique or the problem-solving technique alone would not be sufficient to help students develop strong computational thinking skills, as each technique has its strengths and weaknesses. Therefore, it becomes imperative for instructors to leverage the strengths of both techniques by integrating both of them in the teaching and learning of programming courses.

Educational Robotics for Creating Effective Computer Science Learning for All

2021 ◽  
pp. 44-69
Author(s):  
Amy Eguchi
Keyword(s):  
Computer Science ◽  
Effective Teachers ◽  
Computational Thinking ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
People Of Color ◽  
Underrepresented Minorities ◽  
Educational Robotics ◽  
Learning Tool ◽  
Real Picture ◽  
K 12

President Obama's initiative, “computer science for all,” has been a rallying slogan for promoting computer science in K-12 education. Although the participation of people of color in computer science (CS) has increased in the past several years, it is still drastically low and does not reflect the real picture of our society. This chapter explores how educational robotics as a learning tool can inspire underrepresented minorities including females and students of color to become interested in CS. Supported by Papert's constructionism theory, educational robotics effectively facilitates students' learning of various concepts in CS and STEM. Educational robotics is a learning tool which inspires students' interest in learning. It provides a learning environment that promotes students' learning of various CS concepts and computational thinking skills. Although robots naturally spark students' interests, to make it most effective, teachers are required effortfully to create learning opportunities that are authentic and meaningful for individual students.

Educational Robotics for Creating Effective Computer Science Learning for All

2022 ◽  
pp. 756-781
Author(s):  
Amy Eguchi
Keyword(s):  
Computer Science ◽  
Effective Teachers ◽  
Computational Thinking ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
People Of Color ◽  
Underrepresented Minorities ◽  
Educational Robotics ◽  
Learning Tool ◽  
Real Picture ◽  
K 12

President Obama's initiative, “computer science for all,” has been a rallying slogan for promoting computer science in K-12 education. Although the participation of people of color in computer science (CS) has increased in the past several years, it is still drastically low and does not reflect the real picture of our society. This chapter explores how educational robotics as a learning tool can inspire underrepresented minorities including females and students of color to become interested in CS. Supported by Papert's constructionism theory, educational robotics effectively facilitates students' learning of various concepts in CS and STEM. Educational robotics is a learning tool which inspires students' interest in learning. It provides a learning environment that promotes students' learning of various CS concepts and computational thinking skills. Although robots naturally spark students' interests, to make it most effective, teachers are required effortfully to create learning opportunities that are authentic and meaningful for individual students.

Computational Thinking and Mathematics

2016 ◽  
pp. 853-865
Author(s):  
Thiago Schumacher Barcelos ◽  
Ismar Frango Silveira
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Computer Science ◽  
Basic Education ◽  
National Curriculum ◽  
Computational Thinking ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Educational Systems ◽  
Curriculum Guidelines ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
The One

On the one hand, ensuring that students archive adequate levels of Mathematical knowledge by the time they finish basic education is a challenge for the educational systems in several countries. On the other hand, the pervasiveness of computer-based devices in everyday situations poses a fundamental question about Computer Science being part of those known as basic sciences. The development of Computer Science (CS) is historically related to Mathematics; however, CS is said to have singular reasoning mechanics for problem solving, whose applications go beyond the frontiers of Computing itself. These problem-solving skills have been defined as Computational Thinking skills. In this chapter, the possible relationships between Math and Computational Thinking skills are discussed in the perspective of national curriculum guidelines for Mathematics of Brazil, Chile, and United States. Three skills that can be jointly developed by both areas are identified in a literature review. Some challenges and implications for educational research and practice are also discussed.

scholarly journals Robotics to develop computational thinking in early Childhood Education

Comunicar ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (59) ◽  
pp. 63-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana García-Valcárcel-Muñoz-Repiso ◽  
Yen-Air Caballero-González
Keyword(s):  
Computational Thinking ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Kindergarten Students ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Educational Robotics ◽  
Control Groups ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
Programming Skills ◽  
And Control

The development of programming skills is currently promoting from an early school age, trying to get children to take an active and creative role in the use of technologies. The objective of this article is to verify the repercussion of educational robotics activities on kindergarten students in the acquisition of computational thinking and programming skills. The research design is quasi-experimental, with pre-test and post-test measures, using experimental and control groups. The sample consists of 131 students from the second cycle of early education (between 3 and 6 years old), all from the same Spanish school. Computational thinking is measured through three dimensions: sequences (algorithms), action-instruction correspondence and debugging. The intervention sessions, as well as the structure of the challenges that were used in the pre- and post-test evaluations, were designed based on the reference program of robotics studies called “TangibleK”. The intervention, carried out doing learning activities using educational robotics resources, presents positive results in relation to the computational thinking skills achieved. The differences between the pre-test and the post-test in the experimental and control groups are statistically significant, in that children engaged in robotics program achieves a greater advance in the three dimensions of computational competence through this method. Actualmente se promueve el desarrollo de habilidades de programación desde una edad escolar temprana, tratando de que los niños adquieran un rol activo y creativo en el uso de las tecnologías. El objetivo de este trabajo es comprobar la repercusión del desarrollo de actividades de robótica educativa en la adquisición de habilidades de pensamiento computacional y programación en escolares de educación infantil. El diseño de la investigación es de tipo cuasi-experimental, con medidas pretest y postest, utilizando grupo experimental y control. La muestra la conforman 131 estudiantes del segundo ciclo de educación infantil (entre 3 y 6 años de edad) de un centro educativo español. El pensamiento computacional se mide a través de tres dimensiones: secuencias (algoritmos), correspondencia acción-instrucción y depuración. Las sesiones de intervención, así como la estructura de los retos que se utilizaron en las evaluaciones pre y postest fueron diseñadas tomando como base el programa de estudios en robótica denominado «TangibleK». La intervención, centrada en actividades de aprendizaje mediante recursos de robótica educativa, presenta resultados positivos en relación a las habilidades de pensamiento computacional logradas. Las diferencias encontradas entre el pre y postest en el grupo experimental son estadísticamente significativas y superiores a las presentadas en el grupo control, de modo que se concluye que los niños que realizan el programa de robótica consiguen un mayor avance en las tres dimensiones de la competencia computacional.

Computational Thinking and Mathematics

2014 ◽  
pp. 922-934
Author(s):  
Thiago Schumacher Barcelos ◽  
Ismar Frango Silveira
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Computer Science ◽  
Basic Education ◽  
National Curriculum ◽  
Computational Thinking ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Educational Systems ◽  
Curriculum Guidelines ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
The One

On the one hand, ensuring that students archive adequate levels of Mathematical knowledge by the time they finish basic education is a challenge for the educational systems in several countries. On the other hand, the pervasiveness of computer-based devices in everyday situations poses a fundamental question about Computer Science being part of those known as basic sciences. The development of Computer Science (CS) is historically related to Mathematics; however, CS is said to have singular reasoning mechanics for problem solving, whose applications go beyond the frontiers of Computing itself. These problem-solving skills have been defined as Computational Thinking skills. In this chapter, the possible relationships between Math and Computational Thinking skills are discussed in the perspective of national curriculum guidelines for Mathematics of Brazil, Chile, and United States. Three skills that can be jointly developed by both areas are identified in a literature review. Some challenges and implications for educational research and practice are also discussed.

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