Who Is a Good Computational Thinker? Mapping Behavioral Dispositions of Middle-School Children Based on Real-Life, Algorithmic Tasks

Abstract

Computational Thinking (CT) is a critical thinking ability we want children to develop for efficient and effective problem-solving. Aligned with the recent unplugged, non-digital approach to developing CT, we show, through this ongoing study, in a low- resource, no-computer context, how behavioral dispositions of children map onto the established facets of being a 'good' computational thinker. Twenty middle-school children (Mean age 14.6 years, 12) volunteered to participate in an experimental study, where they were randomly grouped into one control (n-9) and two experimental groups (n=5, 6). The experimental groups were administered a 'sorting' task and a 'sorting + simulation' task, respectively, and all the groups were administered a standardized CT test (CTt) as the pre and post-test. We use a mixed-method research design to analyze our data. Our quantitative methods revealed no significant difference between the pre and post-CTt scores but better performance on 'arrow' questions than on 'visual-block' questions. Our qualitative methods provide insights into students' problem-solving and learning processes. They reveal their ability to 'persist', 'abstract', 'verify', and render a 'generic' solution mapped onto the established CT skills of iteration, abstraction, debugging, and algorithm generating.