Enrico Fermi is remembered for his many contributions to theoretical and experimental physics, but from an educational point of view he also popularized the use of the kind of questions we now call "Fermi problems" (or "Fermi questions"). Fermi problems (FPs) are back-of-envelope problems that arose from the need to make order…

The close relationship between working memory and maths problem solving is generally accepted, but the specifics of how working memory and its subcomponents contribute to maths problem solving remain poorly understood. Tests of working memory, maths problem problem solving, calculation, and intelligence were administered to 246 university…

Research shows that though some students can easily find the correct solutions to the problem(s) at hand, the algorithms that these students create are not always ones that would, when implemented, produce the correct solution(s). Towards shedding light on this phenomenon, the present study explicates a mechanism--accounting for features of the…

The study focuses on the identification of relationships and/or rules between computational thinking (CT) concepts among the undergraduate students of Applied Informatics due to their attitudes towards mathematics. We analyze three CT concepts -- decomposition, pattern recognition, and algorithmic thinking. We assume that students who have a…

Algebra has been identified as a gatekeeper to careers in STEM, but little research exists on how algebra appears for practitioners in the workplace. Surveys and interviews were conducted with 77 STEM practitioners from a variety of fields, examining how they reported using algebraic functions in their work. Survey and interview reports suggest…

Computing has become essential in modern-day problem-solving, making computational literacy necessary for practicing scientists and engineers. However, K-12 science education has not reflected this computational shift. Integrating computational thinking (CT) into core science courses is an avenue that can build computational literacies in all…

A growing emphasis on computational thinking worldwide necessitates student proficiency in creating algorithms. Focusing on the use of counterexamples for developing student-invented algorithms, I reanalyze two pieces of data from previously published research, pertaining to two different cases of students' algorithmatizing activity. In both…

Virtual resources team up to create a computational grid, which is used in computation-intensive problem solving. A majority of these problems require high performance resources to compute and generate results, making grid computation another type of high performance computing. The optimization in computational grids relates to resource…

Over its short disciplinary history, computing has seen a stunning number of descriptions of the field's characteristic ways of thinking and practicing, under a large number of different labels. One of the more recent variants, notably in the context of K-12 education, is "computational thinking", which became popular in the early 2000s,…

Network analysis is a topic in secondary mathematics education of growing importance because it offers students an opportunity to understand how to model and solve many authentic technology and engineering problems. However, very little is known about how students make sense of the algorithms typically used in network analysis. In this study, I…

This review study synthesises the literature on how computational thinking (CT) and mathematical thinking (MT) are integrated into mathematics education research with a focus on tasks. A review of 28 relevant articles on the Web of Science Core Collection database indicated that (1) CT helps students develop and apply mathematical concepts and…

The purpose of this study is to introduce a developed activity which is named "CityMap" and to present an example of the implementation and evaluation process of a computer science unplugged activity through this activity. The aim of this activity is to write algorithms of going from one place to another using step by step instructions.…

The field of computational thinking (CT) is developing rapidly, reflecting its importance in the global economy. However, most empirical studies have targeted CT in K-12, thus, little attention has been paid to CT in higher education. The present scoping review identifies and summarizes existing empirical studies on CT assessments in…

Computational thinking (CT) is considered a group of problem-solving skills that the next generations are expected to possess. The most efficient way to make them acquire these skills is to incorporate CT into K-12 education. To this end, various education programs have been designed to improve teachers' and prospective teachers' competence in CT.…

As a theory of skill acquisition, the instance theory of automatization posits that, after a period of training, algorithm-based performance is replaced by retrieval-based performance. This theory has been tested using alphabet-arithmetic verification tasks (e.g., is A + 4 = E?), in which the equations are necessarily solved by counting at the…