Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Computer Science / William H. Hsu / Since the introduction of new curriculum standards at K-12 schools, computational thinking has become a major research area. Creating and delivering content to enhance these skills, as well as evaluation, remain open problems. This work describes different interventions based on the Scratch programming language aimed toward improving student self-efficacy in computer science and computational thinking. These interventions were applied at a STEM outreach program for 5th-9th grade students. Previous experience in STEM-related activities and subjects, as well as student self-efficacy, were surveyed using a developed pre- and post-survey. The impact of these interventions on student performance and confidence, as well as the validity of the instrument are discussed. To complement attitude surveys, a translation of Scratch to Blockly is proposed. This will record student programming behaviors for quantitative analysis of computational thinking in support of student self-efficacy. Outreach work with Kansas Starbase, as well as the Girl Scouts of the USA, is also described and evaluated. A key goal for computational thinking in the past 10 years has been to bring computer science to other disciplines. To test the gap from computer science to STEM, computational thinking exercises were embedded in an electromagnetic fields course. Integrating computation into theory courses in physics has been a curricular need, yet there are many difficulties and obstacles to overcome in integrating with existing curricula and programs. Recommendations from this experimental study are given towards integrating CT into physics a reality. As part of a continuing collaboration with physics, a comprehensive system for automated extraction of assessment data for descriptive analytics and visualization is also described.

Scratch is one of the most popular ways to teach younger children to code in K–8 throughout the U.S. and Europe. Despite its popularity, Scratch lacks a formative feedback tool to inform students and teachers of a student's progress in coding ability. Dr. Scratch was built to fill this need. This study seeks to answer if using Dr. Scratch as a formative feedback tool accelerates the students' progress in coding ability and Computational Thinking (CT). Forty-one 4th-6th grade students participated in a 1-hour/week Scratch workshop for nine weeks. We measured pre- and posttest results of the Computational Thinking Test (CTt) between control (n = 18) and treatment groups (n = 23) using three methods: propensity score matching (treatment = .575; control = .607; p = .696), information maximum likelihood technique (treatment effect = -.09; p = .006), and multiple linear regression. Both groups demonstrated significant increased posttest scores over their pretest (treatment = +8.31%; control = +5.43%), though which group improved the most varied depending on which test was run. We discuss the implications of using Dr. Scratch as a formative feedback tool and recommend further research on the use of such tools in elementary coding experiences.

Programming is a new subject in the Swedish curriculum, as a part in teaching mathematics. Literature studies highlights the need of empirical studies in order to develop computational thinking. “Making” is a pedagogical practice used in teaching programming which, according to previous research, has been successful with the aim of creating code in programming environments. However, there is critical opinions about the use of making and how the use of the practice can enable computational thinking. The purpose has therefore been to investigate the opportunities and difficulties that may arise in the use of making, as well as what active actions students choose to do when they encounter “bugs” when creating code. The aim of the study is therefore to investigate and deepen the understanding of the use to develop computational thinking in programming environments in later years mathematic education. In order to achieve the purpose of the study, participant observations were used as method in two classes in grades 7. Centrally for the method is that the observation amplifies with interviews. The result provides a basis for data which resulted in three subcategories in the material analysis, based on the theoretical framework of the study, which is computational thinking. The categories were named ”everyday examples”, “mathematics and programming syntax” and “endurance” (when student encounter “bugs”). The categories provided a basis for the opportunities and difficulties that can arise when using making and how teachers are supposed to teach to motivate students during bugs while creating code to develop computational thinking.

<p>  </p> <p>The concept of computational thinking (CT) has become more prevalent across the engineering education research and teaching landscape. Yet much of the research to date has been more definitional and has not offered many ways to convert CT theory to practice. One prominent set of tools used across engineering disciplines is modeling and simulation, which allows students to create a representation of the outside world as they understand it. </p> <p>This three-paper dissertation connects modeling and simulation skills with eliciting CT by leveraging model-based reasoning as a theoretical framework. A learning design was created and delivered here via design-based research that includes educational frameworks such as productive failure and model-eliciting activities (MEAs) to structure the modeling activity within a classroom setting. The designed learning intervention used a four-part sequence to scaffold the modeling activity in the classroom: (1) planning the model, (2) building the model, (3) evaluating the model, and (4) reflecting on the model. A case study of a final-year capstone course in biological engineering implemented the four-week designed learning intervention as part of the course. </p> <p>The guiding research question for the study was <em>how do modeling and simulation activities elicit computational thinking practices in the context of undergraduate engineering education? </em>To approach this question, data were collected in audio transcripts and student-generated artifacts to identify areas where the modeling activity elicited different forms of CT in the student work. The first study examined how CT was elicited within the model-building phase and developed an initial codebook for CT practices and outcomes using thematic analysis. The second and third studies built upon that codebook and further the outcomes by analyzing the modeling activity's planning and evaluating/reflecting phases. The results indicate that CT is used throughout the entire modeling and simulation process as students engage in model-based reasoning. The identified CT practices of abstraction, algorithmic thinking, evaluation, generalization, and decomposition emerged from a thematic analysis, and each practice was further characterized and refined into a set of outcomes. Furthermore, each phase of the modeling activity emphasized unique CT outcomes suggesting that students would benefit from enacting the entire modeling and simulation process to acquire and practice a diverse range of CT outcomes. </p>

Educators in the current era face more pressure to meet learners' growing digital age learning needs, which may require fostering more vital computational thinking skills. To ensure the desired learning outcomes are attained, it is critical to know how to provide the appropriate type of guidance and assistance. The findings of this research may be significant to computer science instructors and instructional designers interested in fostering computational thinking skills and improving programming skills by designing effective worked examples. Following the integrative review methodology, the study examined the current literature on worked examples in a programming setting to determine the compelling designs of worked examples. In addition, this study examined the most employed instructional design principles in developing effective worked examples and explored factors and circumstances that may have impacted the effectiveness of those designs. This study's findings indicated several successful designs of worked examples to promote computational thinking skills in programming problems / Doctor of Philosophy / Educators focus on fulfilling learners' expanding digital age learning requirements, which may require developing more critical computational thinking skills. It is vital to understand how to give appropriate guidance and support to achieve the intended learning results in programming courses. The outcomes of this study may be helpful to computer science educators and instructional designers who aim to support learners in gaining more advanced computational thinking skills. The study used the integrative review approach to investigate the current literature on worked examples in a programming context to discover the compelling designs of worked examples. The study provides information about the factors that may affect the design in addition to discuss several instructional design principles in regard to worked examples. The outcomes of this study showed numerous successful designs of worked examples that are helping in enhancing computational thinking skills in programming tasks.

Computadores impactam em quase todos os aspectos de nossas vidas, porém as escolas não conseguem acompanhar esse caminho sem volta. A simples utilização massiva de aparatos tecnológicos na sala de aula não garante a melhoria do ensino, porém pode ser o meio pelo qual os estudantes encontram alternativas para a solução de problemas complexos. O Pensamento Computacional é uma abordagem de ensino que usa diversas técnicas oriundas da Ciência da Computação e vem gerando um novo foco educacional no quesito inovação nas escolas mundiais como um conjunto de competências de solução de problemas que devem ser compreendidos por uma nova geração de estudantes em conjunto com as novas competências do século 21 (i.e., pensamento crítico, colaboração, etc.). Até o momento, não há um consenso de metodologia de ensino e disponibilidade de material para atender as expectativas dos professores. Para auxiliar sanar essa incerteza, esta pesquisa tem como objetivo a verificação da possibilidade de desenvolver o Pensamento Computacional na Educação Básica utilizando exclusivamente atividades desplugadas (sem o uso de computadores) em estudantes da educação primária para que crianças em regiões/escolas onde não há computadores/dispositivos eletrônicos, Internet e até mesmo energia elétrica também possam se beneficiar desse método. Os resultados obtidos através de uma abordagem Quase-Experimental em escolas Espanholas e Brasileiras, apresentam dados estatísticos que apontam uma melhoria significativa no desempenho dos estudantes que tiveram atividades de Pensamento Computacional Desplugado em ambos os países. / Computational thinking is nowadays being widely adopted and investigated. Educators and researchers are using two main approaches to teach these skills in schools: with computer programming exercises, and with unplugged activities that do not require the use of digital devices or any kind of specific hardware. While the former is the mainstream approach, the latter is especially important for schools that do not count with proper technology resources, Internet connections or even electrical power. However, there is a lack of investigations that prove the effectiveness of the unplugged activities in the development of computational thinking skills, particularly in primary schools. This paper, which summarizes a quasi-experiment carried out in two primary schools in Spain and Brazil, tries to shed some light on this regard. The results show that students in the experimental groups, who took part in the unplugged activities, enhanced their computational thinking skills significantly more than their peers in the control groups who did not participate during the classes, proving that the unplugged approach is effective for the development of this ability.

Computadores impactam em quase todos os aspectos de nossas vidas, porém as escolas não conseguem acompanhar esse caminho sem volta. A simples utilização massiva de aparatos tecnológicos na sala de aula não garante a melhoria do ensino, porém pode ser o meio pelo qual os estudantes encontram alternativas para a solução de problemas complexos. O Pensamento Computacional é uma abordagem de ensino que usa diversas técnicas oriundas da Ciência da Computação e vem gerando um novo foco educacional no quesito inovação nas escolas mundiais como um conjunto de competências de solução de problemas que devem ser compreendidos por uma nova geração de estudantes em conjunto com as novas competências do século 21 (i.e., pensamento crítico, colaboração, etc.). Até o momento, não há um consenso de metodologia de ensino e disponibilidade de material para atender as expectativas dos professores. Para auxiliar sanar essa incerteza, esta pesquisa tem como objetivo a verificação da possibilidade de desenvolver o Pensamento Computacional na Educação Básica utilizando exclusivamente atividades desplugadas (sem o uso de computadores) em estudantes da educação primária para que crianças em regiões/escolas onde não há computadores/dispositivos eletrônicos, Internet e até mesmo energia elétrica também possam se beneficiar desse método. Os resultados obtidos através de uma abordagem Quase-Experimental em escolas Espanholas e Brasileiras, apresentam dados estatísticos que apontam uma melhoria significativa no desempenho dos estudantes que tiveram atividades de Pensamento Computacional Desplugado em ambos os países. / Computational thinking is nowadays being widely adopted and investigated. Educators and researchers are using two main approaches to teach these skills in schools: with computer programming exercises, and with unplugged activities that do not require the use of digital devices or any kind of specific hardware. While the former is the mainstream approach, the latter is especially important for schools that do not count with proper technology resources, Internet connections or even electrical power. However, there is a lack of investigations that prove the effectiveness of the unplugged activities in the development of computational thinking skills, particularly in primary schools. This paper, which summarizes a quasi-experiment carried out in two primary schools in Spain and Brazil, tries to shed some light on this regard. The results show that students in the experimental groups, who took part in the unplugged activities, enhanced their computational thinking skills significantly more than their peers in the control groups who did not participate during the classes, proving that the unplugged approach is effective for the development of this ability.

Computadores impactam em quase todos os aspectos de nossas vidas, porém as escolas não conseguem acompanhar esse caminho sem volta. A simples utilização massiva de aparatos tecnológicos na sala de aula não garante a melhoria do ensino, porém pode ser o meio pelo qual os estudantes encontram alternativas para a solução de problemas complexos. O Pensamento Computacional é uma abordagem de ensino que usa diversas técnicas oriundas da Ciência da Computação e vem gerando um novo foco educacional no quesito inovação nas escolas mundiais como um conjunto de competências de solução de problemas que devem ser compreendidos por uma nova geração de estudantes em conjunto com as novas competências do século 21 (i.e., pensamento crítico, colaboração, etc.). Até o momento, não há um consenso de metodologia de ensino e disponibilidade de material para atender as expectativas dos professores. Para auxiliar sanar essa incerteza, esta pesquisa tem como objetivo a verificação da possibilidade de desenvolver o Pensamento Computacional na Educação Básica utilizando exclusivamente atividades desplugadas (sem o uso de computadores) em estudantes da educação primária para que crianças em regiões/escolas onde não há computadores/dispositivos eletrônicos, Internet e até mesmo energia elétrica também possam se beneficiar desse método. Os resultados obtidos através de uma abordagem Quase-Experimental em escolas Espanholas e Brasileiras, apresentam dados estatísticos que apontam uma melhoria significativa no desempenho dos estudantes que tiveram atividades de Pensamento Computacional Desplugado em ambos os países. / Computational thinking is nowadays being widely adopted and investigated. Educators and researchers are using two main approaches to teach these skills in schools: with computer programming exercises, and with unplugged activities that do not require the use of digital devices or any kind of specific hardware. While the former is the mainstream approach, the latter is especially important for schools that do not count with proper technology resources, Internet connections or even electrical power. However, there is a lack of investigations that prove the effectiveness of the unplugged activities in the development of computational thinking skills, particularly in primary schools. This paper, which summarizes a quasi-experiment carried out in two primary schools in Spain and Brazil, tries to shed some light on this regard. The results show that students in the experimental groups, who took part in the unplugged activities, enhanced their computational thinking skills significantly more than their peers in the control groups who did not participate during the classes, proving that the unplugged approach is effective for the development of this ability.

Because it is a fundamental skill to develop in education, computational thinking (CT) has become a growing field in education. The ability to solve algorithmic problems and reuse solutions from one concept to another is the definition of CT(J.Shute et al. p.142).  In this study, the goal was to investigate the CT knowledge between countries such as Sweden and South Africa. With both countries adopting different ways of teaching CT to their students. Sweden uses the method of implementing programming through the STEM(science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects. While South Africa uses a separate subject called Coding and Robotics to teach their students. Using the Computational thinking test(CTt) and Bebras task as the method of choice to conduct the study on 22 students from Sweden and South Africa. By comparing the results from the students there were conclusions that could be drawn on how the differences in teaching had an impact on their gained CT knowledge. As well as if there were different concepts within the CTt where either country excelled over the other. The tests were conducted online and for the students from South Africa it was also conducted at home during their holiday break and it was concluded that there were no differences between the two countries since there was not enough evidence to support  a median other than 0 at the ∝ = 0.05 significance level. The results indicate that the difference in how CT is implemented in school made no difference for the results as well as the experience in block based and text based programming.

This study explores the phenomenon of computational thinking indicated by the use of Bloom's taxonomy's cognitive domain verbs in the Scratch community, the online, collaborative environment for the Scratch Visual Programming Language (VPL). A corpus of 660,984 words from three Scratch community sub-forums provide the data for this study. By semantically aligning cognitive domain verbs of Bloom's revised taxonomy to computational thinking (CT) dimensions, the occurrences of the verbs in Scratch community sub-forums are used to indicate instances of computational thinking. The methodology utilizes qualitative coding and analysis with R® and RStudio®. The findings show language attributes such as expressions of imagination, sharing of creative details, collaborative development ideas, teaching, modeling, innovating, solutions focused, and technical support to be indicative of computational thinking and CT dimensions. The computational thinking dimension referred to as computational perspectives occurs most frequently within Scratch community participant discourse. The environmental factors found to contribute to computational thinking and the CT dimensions are supporting tools, personalized learning, supportive organizational culture, social learning, and organizational support. Common among the three computational dimensions is the contributing environmental factor described as supportive organizational culture, with the computational perspectives dimension prevailing among the corpora. The characteristics of computational perspectives and supportive organizational culture suggest a desire for human connection in the attainment of technological skills and knowledge.