ERIC Number: EJ1256318
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020-Apr
Pages: 17
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-2513-8359
EISSN: N/A
Exploring and Comparing Computational Thinking Skills in Students Who Take GCSE Computer Science and Those Who Do Not
Gillott, Lauren; Joyce-Gibbons, Andrew; Hidson, Elizabeth
International Journal of Computer Science Education in Schools, v3 n4 Apr 2020
This study compares computational thinking skills evidenced by two groups of students in two different secondary schools: one group per school was studying a qualification in Computer Science. The aim was to establish which elements of computational thinking were more prevalent in students studying Computer Science to a higher level. This in turn would evidence those elements likely to be present from their earlier computing education or through their complementary studies in Science or Mathematics, which all students also studied. Understanding this difference was important to identify any increased competence in computational thinking that was present in the Computer Science groups. Interviews involved a set of questions and a maze activity designed to elicit the sixteen students' computational thinking skills based on the Brennan and Resnick (2012) model of computational concepts, practices and perspectives. Analysis of students' responses showed surprisingly little difference between the computational thinking practices of the two groups in relation to abstraction, decomposition, evaluation, generalisation/reusing, logical reasoning and debugging/testing. The study concludes that general computational thinking skills can be developed either at a lower level of study or in cognate curriculum areas, leaving computer science as the rightful locus of computational thinking for automation.
Descriptors: Computation, Thinking Skills, Computer Science Education, Exit Examinations, Secondary School Students, Skill Development, Computer Literacy, Troubleshooting, Foreign Countries, Problem Solving
International Journal of Computer Science Education in Schools. 83 Dollis Road, London N3 1RD, UK. 2-mail: info@ijcses.org; Web site: http://www.ijcses.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: United Kingdom (England)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A