TITLE: Portability of transformation of lower secondary ICT education in England into the Czech conditions AUTHOR: Bc. Michal Strnad DEPARTMENT: Department of Information Technology and Technical Education SUPERVISOR: Doc. RNDr. Miroslava Černochová, CSc. ABSTRACT: This thesis deals with teaching Computing subjects at secondary schools in England as a model for transformation of teaching ICT at schools in the Czech Republic. The thesis focuses on the portability of aspects of teaching Computing to the Czech environment and endeavours to identify the possible barriers to implementation processes. The aim of the thesis is to bring new stimuli for changes in the Czech ICT curriculum that are based on the experience of teaching ICT and Computing in the UK. The theoretical part of the thesis consists of the analysis and comparison of the Czech and British curricular documents and the study of academic and journalistic texts. The empirical part uses questionnaires focused on opinions of Czech and English experts on teaching ICT or Computing. It also uses interviews with English teachers of Computing and observations of Computing and ICT lessons at English secondary schools. Based on the results of both parts of the thesis, several recommendations for changes in the ICT study program in Framework Educational...

Sammanfattning Denna studie syftar till att problematisera och diskutera argument som ligger till grund för läroplansförändringar. I följande studie studeras rekommendationer som låg till grund för implementeringen av den nya läroplanen i England 2014, ”The computing curriculum”, då man önskade marknadsanpassa undervisningen inom digital teknik (digitalisering). Studien görs genom en kvalitativ textanalys av två rapporter skrivna 2011–2012. Rapporterna som analyserats är “Next Gen. Transforming the UK into  the world’s leading talent  hub for the video games  and visual effects industries” samt “Shut down or restart? The way forward for computing in UK schools”. För att uppnå syftet har följande frågeställningar formulerats:   På vilka nivåer i skolsystemet läggs ansvaret i rekommendationerna? Finns det förslag på arbetsfördelning eller ekonomiska förutsättningar för att rekommendationerna skall kunna utföras?   Resultatet som framkommit av analysen är att totalt 7 av de 21 analyserade rekommendationerna utgår från formuleringsarenan, 12 från transformeringsarenan och 2 från realiseringsarenan. I diskussionsdelen framkommer också att det i dessa rekommendationer finns förslag på arbetsfördelning och ekonomiska förutsättningar för att rekommendationerna skall kunna utföras.

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The problem addressed in this thesis was identified in a real life context in which an attempt was made to re-constitute a BSc Computer Science degree programme. The curriculum was modelled on the ACM/IEEE Computing Curriculum of 2001. It was further required to comply with accreditation requirements as defined by ABET’s Computing Accreditation Commission. Relying on a spreadsheet, the curriculum was iteratively and manually evaluated against the ACM/IEEE curriculum specification. A need was identified to automate or at least semi-automate this process. In this thesis a generalisation of the problem is presented. Curricula are modelled as directed graphs (digraphs) in which graph vertices represent curriculum elements such as topics, knowledge areas, knowledge units year- levels or modules. Edges in the graph represent dependencies between these vertices such as belonging to grouping or pre-requisites. The task of curriculum comparison then abstracts to a task of digraph comparison. A framework, the Graph Comparison Framework, is proposed. The frame- work comprises of components which are used to guide the digraph comparison process. The so-called Graph Trans-morphism algorithm component is the only component in the framework which is mandatory. The algorithm converts the information from one of the digraphs being compared into the structure of the other. This conversion enables the graphs to be compared as graph isomorphisms. All digraphs are modelled as sets of triples, making it possible to subtract one digraph from another using the set minus operator. The resultant difference sets are used by components defined in the framework to quantify and visualise the differences. By modelling curricula as digraphs and applying the framework to the di-graphs, it is possible to compare curricula. This application of the framework to a real-world problem forms the applications research part of the thesis. In this part, domain knowledge of curriculum design is necessary to apply to the curriculum being developed in order to improve it. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / Computer Science / unrestricted

The fundamentals of computer science are increasingly important to consider as critical educational and occupational competencies, as evidenced by the rapid growth of computing capabilities and the proliferation of the Internet in the 21st century, combined with reimagined national education standards. Despite this technological and social transformation, the general education environment has yet to embrace widespread incorporation of computational concepts within traditional curricular content and instruction. Researchers have posited that exercises in computational thinking can result in gains in other academic areas (Baytak & Land, 2011; Olive, 1991), but their studies aimed at identifying any measurable educational benefits of teaching computational concepts to school age children have often lacked both sufficient experimental control and inclusion of psychometrically sound measures of cognitive abilities and academic achievement (Calao, Moreno-León, Correa, & Robles, 2015). The current study attempted to shed new light on the question of whether using a graphically-based computer coding environment and semi-structured curriculum –the Creative Computing Course in the Scratch programming language –can lead to demonstrable and significant changes in problem solving, creative thinking, and knowledge of computer programming concepts. The study introduced 24 youth in a summer educational program in Philadelphia, PA to the Scratch programming environment through structured lessons and open-ended projects for approximately 25 hours over the course of two weeks. A delayed treatment, control trial design was utilized to measure problem solving ability with a modified version of the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Abilities, Fourth Edition (WJ-IV), Concept Formation subtest, and the Kaufman Tests of Educational Achievement, Third Edition (KTEA-3) Math Concepts and Applications subtest. Creative problem solving was measured using a consensual assessment technique (Amabile, 1982). A pre-test and post-test of programming conceptual knowledge was used to understand how participants’ computational thinking skills influenced their learning. In addition, two questionnaires measuring computer use and the Type-T (Thrill) personality characteristic were given to participants to examine the relationship between risk-taking or differences in children’s usage of computing devices and their problem solving ability and creative thinking skills. There were no differences found among experimental and control groups on problem solving or creative thinking, although a substantial number of factors limited and qualified interpretation of the results. There was also no relationship between performance on a pre-test of computational thinking, and a post-test measuring specific computational thinking skills and curricular content. There were, however, significant, moderate to strong correlations among academic achievement as measured by state standardized test scores, the KTEA-3 Math Concepts and Applications subtest, and both the pre and post Creative Problem Solving test developed for the study. Also, higher levels of the Type T, or thrill-seeking, personality characteristic were associated with lower behavioral reinforcement token computer “chips," but there were no significant relationships among computer use and performance on assessments. The results of the current study supported retention of the null hypothesis, but were limited by small sample size, environmental and motivational issues, and problems with the implementation of the curriculum and selected measures. The results should, therefore, not be taken as conclusive evidence to support the notion that computer programming activities have no impact in other areas of cognitive functioning, mathematic conceptual knowledge, or creative thinking. Instead, the results may help future researchers to further refine their techniques to both deliver effective instruction in the Scratch programming environment, and also target assessments to more accurately measure learning. / Educational Psychology