Assessment of computational thinking skills to predict student learning and retention in the subject programming computer in higher education

Authors

DOI: https://doi.org/10.6018/red.409991
Keywords: Computational thinking, higher education, teaching-learning programming

Abstract

The objective of the article is to present the knowledge generated by carrying out an evaluation of specific computational thinking skills from 2016 to 2019. The aforementioned to determine the initial status of new students to the information technology career at the Universidad Tecnológica de Puebla -Mexico and promote academic performance in the Programming Methodology course in higher education. Through the selection of five items corresponding to five computational thinking skills (abstraction, generalization, decomposition, algorithmic design and evaluation) a relationship is established with the thematic contents of the course; therefore, it has been possible to determine what the strengths and weaknesses of students in order to support their academic performance. Two results stand out from the work done. First, the favorable impact on students for the acquisition of skills through surveys requested during each intervention. Second, from the third intervention, obtain a prediction of enrollment retention for at least the first four-month period. Based on the experimental design carried out in Mexico, the design proposal for the Technological University of Chile is also discussed.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Barr, V., & Stephenson, C. (2011). Bringing computational thinking to K-12: what is Involved and what is the role of the computer science education community? ACM Inroads, 2(1), 48-54. doi:10.1145/1929887.1929905

Bureau_of_Labor_Statistics. (2019). U.S. Department of Labor. Obtenido de Occupational Outlook Handbook, Software Developers: https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/software-developers.htm#tab-6

Chen, G.-m. (2017). Programming Language Teaching Model Based on Computational Thinking and Problem-based Learning. Proceedings of the 2017 2nd International Seminar on Education Innovation and Economic Management (SEIEM 2017). Atlantis Press. doi:10.2991/seiem-17.2018.31

Chiazzese, G., Fulantelli, G., Pipitone, V., & Taibi, D. (2017). Promoting computational thinking and creativeness in primary school children. TEEM 2017 Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality (pág. Article No. 6). Cádiz, Spain — October 18 - 20: ACM New York, NY, USA. doi:10.1145/3144826.3145354

Chiazzese, G., Fulantelli, G., Pipitone, V., & Taibi, D. (2018). Involucrando a los niños de educación primaria en el Pensamiento Computacional: diseñando y desarrollando videojuegos. Education in the Knowledge Society, 19(2), 63-81. doi:10.14201/eks20181926381

Chilana, P. K., Alcock, C., Dembla, S., Ho, A., Hurst, A., Armstrong, B., & Guo, P. J. (2015). Perceptions of non-CS majors in intro programming: The rise of the conversational programmer. 2015 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing (VL/HCC) (págs. 251-259). Atlanta, GA, USA: IEEE. doi:10.1109/VLHCC.2015.7357224

Compañ-Rosique, P., Satorre-Cuerda, R., Llorens-Largo, F., & Molina-Carmona, R. (2015). Enseñando a programar: un camino directo para desarrollar el pensamiento computacional. Revista de Educación a Distancia, 46(11). doi:10.6018/red/46/11

Czerkawski, B. C., & Lyman, E. W. (2015). Exploring Issues About Computational Thinking in Higher Education. TechTrends, 59(2), 57–65. doi:10.1007/s11528-015-0840-3

Echegaray, G., Barroso, N., Laskurain, I., Zuza, K., & Barragués, J. I. (2017). Investigación cualitativa para la mejora de los resultados académicos en primer curso en los grados de Ingeniería de la Escuela de Ingeniería de Gipuzkoa. IV Congreso Internacional sobre Aprendizaje, Innovación y Competitividad-CINAIC (Zaragoza 4-6 Octubre 2017). doi:10.26754/CINAIC.2017.000001_093

Espino, E. E., & González, C. S. (2015). Influence of Gender on Computational Thinking. Interacción '15 Proceedings of the XVI International Conference on Human Computer Interaction (pág. art. no. 36). Vilanova i la Geltru, Spain — September 07 - 09: ACM New York, NY, USA. doi:10.1145/2829875.2829904

Gao, Q. (2014). The computational thinking- oriented inquiry teaching mode for advanced programming language course. Bio Technology: A Indian Journal, 10(12), 6588-6595. Obtenido de https://www.tsijournals.com/articles/the-computational-thinking-oriented-inquiry-teaching-mode-for-advanced-programming-language-course.pdf

García-Peñalvo, F. J. (2016). What Computational Thinking Is. Journal of Information Technology Research, 9(3), v-viii.

García-Peñalvo, F. J. (2018). Computational thinking. IEEE Revista Iberoamericana de Tecnologías del Aprendizaje (IEEE RITA), 13(1), 17-19. doi:10.1109/RITA.2018.280993

García-Peñalvo, F. J., & Cruz-Benito, J. (2016). Computational thinking in pre-university education. En F. J. García-Peñalvo (Ed.), TEEM '16 Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality (págs. 13-17). Salamanca, Spain: ACM, New York, NY, USA. doi:10.1145/3012430.3012490

García-Peñalvo, F. J., & Mendes, A. J. (2018). Exploring the computational thinking effects in pre-university education. Computers in Human Behavior, 80, 407-411. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2017.12.005

García-Peñalvo, F. J., Reimann, D., & Maday, C. (2018). Introducing Coding and Computational Thinking in the Schools: The TACCLE 3 – Coding Project Experience. En M. Khine (Ed.). Computational Thinking in the STEM Disciplines, Springer, Cham. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-93566-9_11

García-Peñalvo, F. J., Reimann, D., Tuul, M., Rees, A., & Jormanainen, I. (2016). An overview of the most relevant literature on coding and computational thinking with emphasis on the relevant issues for teachers. Belgium: TACCLE 3 Consortium. doi:10.5281/zenodo.16512

García-Vega, M. Á. (2019). Automatización: así es la batalla entre trabajo y tecnología. Revista Retina. Obtenido de https://retina.elpais.com/retina/2019/05/24/tendencias/1558680372_855666.html?id_externo_rsoc=TW_CM

Google for Education. (2016). Exploring Computational Thinking. Obtenido de https://www.google.com/edu/resources/programs/exploring-computational-thinking/

Hamlin, B., Riehl, J., Hamlin, A. J., & Monte, A. (2010). Work in progress — What are you thinking? Over confidence in first year students. 2010 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE) (págs. F2H1-F2H2). Washington, DC, USA: IEEE. doi:10.1109/FIE.2010.5673354

Huang, W., Deng, Z., & Rongsheng, D. (2009). Programming Courses Teaching Method for Ability Enhancement of Computational Thinking. 2009 International Association of Computer Science and Information Technology - Spring Conference (págs. 182-185). Singapore, Singapore: IEEE. doi:10.1109/IACSIT-SC.2009.52

Kazimoglu, C., Kiernan, M., Bacon, L., & MacKinnon, L. (2012). Learning Programming at the Computational Thinking Level via Digital Game-Play. Procedia Computer Science, 9, 522-531. doi:10.1016/j.procs.2012.04.056

Larkins, D. B., & Harvey, W. (2010). Introductory computational science using MATLAB and image processing. Procedia Computer Science, 1(1), 913-919. doi:10.1016/j.procs.2010.04.100

Lingling, Z., Xiaohong, S., & Tiantian, W. (2015). Bring CS2013 Recommendations into c Programming Course. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 176, 194-199. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.01.461

Lye, S. Y., & Koh, J. H. (2014). Review on teaching and learning of computational thinking through programming: What is next for K-12? Computers in Human Behavior, 41, 51-61. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2014.09.012

Mazaika, K. (2017). Will The Demand For Developers Continue To Increase? Forbes. Obtenido de https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2017/01/20/will-the-demand-for-developers-continue-to-increase/#1272429e33ee

Michaelson, G. (2015). Teaching Programming with Computational and Informational Thinking. Journal of Pedagogic Development, 5(1). Obtenido de https://www.beds.ac.uk/jpd/volume-5-issue-1-march-2015/teaching-programming-with-computational-and-informational-thinking

Milne, I., & Rowe, G. (2002). Difficulties in Learning and Teaching Programming—Views of Students and Tutors. Education and Information Technologies, 7(1), 55-66. doi:10.1023/A:1015362608943

Ni, Z. (2017). Discussion on Case Teaching Method Based on Computational Thinking in Programming Teaching. 2017 International Conference on Social science, Education and Humanities Research (ICSEHR 2017). Atlantis Press. doi:10.2991/icsehr-17.2017.9

Olivares, J. C., Jiménez, J. A., Ortiz, O., & Rodríguez, N. (2015). Desarrollo de una aplicación para fortalecer el aprendizaje de los fundamentos de programación. Revista de ciencia e ingeniería del instituto tecnológico superior de Coatzacoalcos, 2(2).

Pólya, G. (1957). How to solve it. United States of America: Anchor books edition.

Ramirez-Lopez, A., & Muñoz, D. F. (2015). Increasing Practical Lessons and Inclusion of Applied Examples to Motivate University Students during Programming Courses. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 176, 552-564. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.01.510

Rojas-López, A., & García-Peñalvo, F. J. (2018). Learning Scenarios for the Subject Methodology of Programming from Evaluating the Computational Thinking of New Students. IEEE Revista Iberoamericana de Tecnologías del Aprendizaje, 13(1), 30-36. doi:10.1109/RITA.2018.2809941

Román, M., Pérez, J. C., & Jiménez, C. (2015). Test de Pensamiento Computacional: diseño y psicometría general Computational Thinking Test: design & general psychometry. III Congreso Internacional sobre Aprendizaje, Innovación y Competitividad (CINAIC 2015), Octubre 14-16. Madrid, ESPAÑA.

Romero, M., Lepage, A., & Lille, B. (2017). Computational thinking development through creative programming in higher education. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 14-42. doi:10.1186/s41239-017-0080-z

Royal Society. (2012). Shut down or restart: The way forward for computing in UK schools. Obtenido de https://royalsociety.org/~/media/education/computing-in-schools/2012-01-12-computing-in-schools.pdf

Sakhnini, V., & Hazzan, O. (2008). Reducing Abstraction in High School Computer Science Education: The Case of Definition, Implementation, and Use of Abstract Data Types. Journal on Educational Resources in Computing (JERIC), 8(2), 1-13. doi:10.1145/1362787.1362789

Selby, C. C. (2015). Relationships: computational thinking, pedagogy of programming, and Bloom's Taxonomy. WiPSCE '15 Proceedings of the Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education (págs. 80-87). London, United Kingdom: ACM New York, NY, USA. doi:10.1145/2818314.2818315

Shiflet, G. W., & Shifleta, A. B. (2012). Introducing Life Science Doctoral Students in Oz to the Wizardry of Computational Modeling: Introducing Computational Thinking with CellDesigner™. Procedia Computer Science, 9, 1753-1762. doi:10.1016/j.procs.2012.04.193

Swaid, S. I. (2015). Bringing Computational Thinking to STEM Education. Procedia Manufacturing, 3, 3657-3662. doi:10.1016/j.promfg.2015.07.761

Talent Search. (2015). Elite: Grade 12+, Institute of IT Professionals South Africa. Obtenido de http://www.olympiad.org.za

UK Bebras Computational Thinking Challenge. (2015). answers (2015), University of Oxford. Obtenido de http://www.bebras.org

Walker, H. M. (2015). Computational thinking in a non-majors CS course requires a programming component. ACM Inroads, 6(1), 58-61. doi:10.1145/2727126

Weese, J. L. (2016). Mixed Methods for the Assessment and Incorporation of Computational Thinking in K-12 and Higher Education. ICER '16 Proceedings of the 2016 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research (págs. 279-280). Melbourne, VIC, Australia — September 08 - 12: ACM New York, NY, USA. doi:10.1145/2960310.2960347

Wing, J. M. (2006). Computational thinking. Communications of the ACM, 49(3), 33-35. doi:10.1145/1118178.1118215

Wing, J. M. (2011). Research Notebook: Computational Thinking--What and Why? Obtenido de The Link, The magazine of the Carnegie Mellon University School of Computer Science: https://www.cs.cmu.edu/link/research-notebook-computational-thinking-what-and-why

Xia, A. (2016). On the Basis of the Program Design Teaching and Research of Cultivation of Computational Thinking Ability. Proceedings of the 2016 2nd International Conference on Social Science and Higher Education. Atlantis Press. doi:10.2991/icsshe-16.2016.83

Ying, L., & Pingping, L. (2017). Research on the teaching of programming language based on Computational Thinking. Proceedings of the 2017 International Conference on Social science, Education and Humanities Research (ICSEHR 2017). Atlantis Press. doi:10.2991/icsehr-17.2017.17

Yinnan, Z., & Chaosheng, L. (2012). Training for computational thinking capability on programming language teaching. 2012 7th International Conference on Computer Science & Education (ICCSE) (págs. 1804-1809). Melbourne, VIC, Australia : IEEE. doi:10.1109/ICCSE.2012.6295420

Zapata-Ros, M. (2015). Pensamiento computacional: Una nueva alfabetización digital. Revista De Educación a Distancia, 46. Obtenido de https://revistas.um.es/red/article/view/240321

Zhang, C., Chen, X., & Li, J. (2011). Research of VB programming teaching mode based on the core of computational thinking ability training. 2011 6th International Conference on Computer Science & Education (ICCSE) (págs. 1260-1263). Singapore, Singapore: IEEE. doi:10.1109/ICCSE.2011.6028861

Zhi-Mei, C., & Xiang, L. (2016). The PBL teaching method research based on computational thinking in C programming. 2nd International Conference on Modern Education and Social Science, (págs. 405-409). doi:10.12783/dtssehs/mess2016/9624

Published
30-04-2020
How to Cite
Rojas-López, A., & García-Peñalvo, F. J. (2020). Assessment of computational thinking skills to predict student learning and retention in the subject programming computer in higher education. Distance Education Journal, 20(63). https://doi.org/10.6018/red.409991
Issue
Section
Computational Thinking

Most read articles by the same author(s)