Mannila, L., Dagiene, V., Demo, B., Grgurina, N., Mirolo, C., Rolandsson, L., & Settle, A. (2014, June). Computational thinking in K-9 education. In Proceedings of the Working Group Reports of the 2014 on Innovation & Technology in Computer Science Education Conference (pp. 1-29). ACM.

Summary

Type: Empirical,Review Article

Purpose: "In this report we consider the current status of the coverage of computer science in education at the lowest levels of education in multiple countries. Our focus is on computational thinking (CT)... The main goal of this report is to help teachers, those involved in teacher education, and decision makers to make informed decisions about how and when CT can be included in their local institutions. We begin by defining CT and then discuss the current state of CT in K-9 education in multiple countries in Europe as well as the United States. An important contribution of the report is a survey distributed to K-9 teachers, aiming at revealing to what extent different aspects of CT are already part of teachers’ classroom practice and how this is done" (p. 1).

Findings: "The survey findings suggest that teachers, and hence also students, already engage in activities supporting, or having the potential to support, the development of some aspects of CT in the classroom. Not surprisingly, most focus is put on collecting, analysing and representing data. While initiatives introducing programming clearly will deal with the second cluster (problem decomposition, algorithms and abstraction), special attention needs to be paid to also cover the three final skills (automation, simulation, parallelization)" (p. 24). "Similarly, our review of current curricula shows how CT aspects can be introduced in teaching without a need for revising any governing documents, by looking at and interpreting learning objectives through a CT-lens. Introducing CT using tailored activities focusing on different skills and concepts makes it easier to show teachers that integrating CT in education is feasible. (p. 24-25). From the survey: " However, in order to motivate teachers to actually want to learn about CT, they have to feel that doing so will result in positive benefits for both them and their students. Having access to high-quality professional development courses as well as motivating and engaging material is therefore crucial" (p. 25).

Recommendations:


Methodology

Sample Size: 961

Participant Type: Teachers, mainly K-9