An unplugged approach to teaching enables students to explore Computational Thinking without using a computer. It might appear that if students are to learn programming, they should focus on computer-based work; however, it appears that using "unplugged" activities before engaging in computer-based coding (programming) activities for…

Computational Thinking (CT) has become popular in recent years and has been recognized as an essential skill for everyone in the digital age. CT literature, however, is at an early stage of development, and there is no consensus among researchers/scholars in the field. To date, many have been unable to concretely explain what CT is, or how to…

Computational thinking (CT) has emerged as an important method in the United States for helping children learn to solve complex problems and develop skills necessary for coding and other computer science-related endeavors. Research has revealed that CT can be encouraged with children as young as 3-4 years of age. While some preschools and schools…

This article presents the Robobo SmartCity model, an educational resource to introduce students to computational intelligence (CI) topics using educational robotics as the core learning technology. Robobo SmartCity allows educators to train learners in artificial intelligence (AI) fundamentals from a feasible and practical perspective, following…

We report on a case study of eight grade 5 to 6 students (ages 12-14) involved in a three-day "digital-making summer camp" focused on mathematical problem-solving through block-based programming combined with programmable electronics. Data analysis focused on the computational thinking (CT), mathematics, and problem-solving challenges…

This study investigates how digital game co-creation promotes Computational Thinking (CT) skills among children in sub-urban primary schools. Understanding how CT skills can be fostered in learning programming concepts through co-creating digital games is crucial to determine instructional strategies that match the young students' interests and…

This study used fraction number line estimation tasks to evaluate students' developmental patterns, and the relationship of such tasks with whole number bias was explored. In total, 189 fourth-grade students in a northern Taiwan elementary school were followed over 2 years. The results demonstrated that the students' fraction learning development…

Underpinning the teaching of coding with Computational Thinking has proved relevant for diverse learners, particularly given the increasing demand in upskilling for today's labour market. While literature on computing education is vast, it remains unexplored how existing CT conceptualisations relate to the learning opportunities needed for a…

Having students solve shape puzzles, such as with pattern blocks or tangrams, is a popular way to encourage students to compose shapes in different ways and talk about the effects of different compositions (Clements et al., 2004; Clements & Sarama, 2009; Sales, 1994), meeting Common Core geometry standards in kindergarten through second grade…

Computational thinking is a way of thinking that helps people "think like a computer scientist" to solve practical problems. However, practicing computational thinking through programming is dependent on the problem solvers' metacognition. This study investigated students' metacognitive planning and problem-solving performance in…

Latent transition analysis is an informative statistical tool for depicting heterogeneity in learning as latent profiles. We present a Monte Carlo simulation study to guide researchers in selecting fit indices for identifying the correct number of profiles. We simulated data representing profiles of learners within a typical pre- post- follow…

Our study documents how a Spanish-English bilingual elementary teacher learned computational thinking while working to incorporate it into mathematics and language arts lessons in a bilingual classroom. We classified the elements of the teacher's process into two practices: intentional and unintentional use of computational thinking. Intentional…

In order to assess computational thinking (CT) modules embedded into multiple STEM courses for educators, we created a CT rubric which incorporates key CT components using Bloom's Taxonomy. We implemented the rubric in four different courses in our pre-service STEM education program for elementary and middle school teachers. We analyzed our rubric…

The simple average of student growth scores is often used in accountability systems, but it can be problematic for decision making. When computed using a small/moderate number of students, it can be sensitive to the sample, resulting in inaccurate representations of growth of the students, low year-to-year stability, and inequities for…

This paper explores teacher educators' perceptions and overarching approaches to discipline-specific computational thinking (CT) integration in pre-service teacher education courses. To that end, we collaborated with 31 teacher educators from various teaching backgrounds in a university system in the Northeastern United States. As part of the…