Concepts and practices are widely used to assess students' development in computational thinking (CT). However, less is known about how the development of each construct relates to that of the other. With a sample of 997 grade 6 students (average age = 11.43 at the beginning of the school year) from 14 primary schools, we examined the…

This dissertation examines the response of a group of educators to a state mandate to integrate computational thinking (CT) into all levels of the curriculum. It explores the historical development of CT and its significance within the broader context of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics education, emphasizing the rapid growth and…

Computational thinking (CT) activities are increasingly being integrated into early childhood schools. We focus on studying children's learning using an "unplugged" (non-computational) learning unit that considers a teacher's knowledge and classroom space and affords seamless adaptation into the classroom given the objects used in the…

Computational thinking is an essential 21st-century skill that all youth should develop in order to navigate and succeed in an increasingly computational world. For all youth to have hands-on opportunities to develop essential computational thinking skills, libraries and informal learning environments play a critical role. This is especially true…

Background and Context: Computational thinking (CT) is a critical part of computing education in middle school. The existing practices of collaboration and collaborative design activities at this education level pairs well with CT practices, but this interaction has previously been under-explored in the existing literature. Objective: In this…

Although previous research has provided some insights into the effects of block-based and text-based programming modalities, there is a dearth of a detailed, multi-dimensional analysis of the transition process from different introductory programming modalities to professional programming learning. This study employed a quasi-experimental design…

Middle school students often enter Computer Science (CS) classes without previous CS or Computational Thinking (CT) instruction. This study evaluated how Code.org's block-based programming curriculum affects middle school students' CT skills and attitudes toward CT and CS. Sixteen students participated in the study. This was a mixed methods action…

Background: In order for computational thinking (CT) to be successfully implemented in educational environments, teachers' CT teaching self-efficacy beliefs should be developed. The existing research on this topic is generally focused on training in-service teachers on CT to develop their self-efficacy. Conversely, the current study aims to…

This study explored the effects of a self-adapted mobile concept mapping-based problem-posing (CMPP) approach applied in a virtual museum context. To investigate the effectiveness of the proposed approach, a quasi-experimental design was applied to compare the critical thinking tendency, meta-cognition tendency, problem-solving tendency,…

In the context of digital technologies, computational thinking (CT) is considered a key competence of primary school teachers. However, assessment tools to measure in-service teachers' CT competence are rare. The current study explains the design, development, and validation of a scale to determine the in-service teachers' mastery level of their…

This paper shares a flexible activity for engaging people in mathematical inquiry that does not depend on fixed prior knowledge built on a famous property of Möbius strips. The discussion includes the implementation of the activity and its extensions, facilitator moves and common participant thinking, suggestions for adaptation and integration…

The concept, development and assessment of computational thinking have increasingly become the focus of research in recent years. Most of this type of research focuses on older children or adults. Preschool age is a sensitive period when many skills develop intensively, so the development of computational thinking skills can already begin at this…

Background: There exist shared competencies between computational thinking (CT) and mathematics, and these two domains also mutually benefit from various teaching approaches. However, the linkages between mathematics and computational thinking lack robust empirical support, particularly from student-centered learning perspectives. Our study aimed…

Facilitating Computer Science Unplugged (CS-unplugged) activities with reflective thinking activities lead students to in-depth reviews of their decisions and think of ways to solve the CS-unplugged problems. This study aims to evaluate the instruction enriched with reflective thinking activities to develop computational thinking skills. The study…

Recent US science standards conceptualize science as a set of shared multidisciplinary ideas and practices in common with engineering and computer science (CS). At the core, this portrayal requires an understanding of CS as a viable career path and set of discrete knowledge and skills, including those related to computer programming. However,…