In recent years, the emphasis on computational thinking (CT) has intensified as an effect of accelerated digitalisation. While most researchers are concentrating on defining CT and developing tools for its instruction and assessment, we focus on the characteristics of computational thinking problems (CTPs) -- activities requiring CT to be…

Computational thinking is an essential 21st-century skill that all youth should develop in order to navigate and succeed in an increasingly computational world. For all youth to have hands-on opportunities to develop essential computational thinking skills, libraries and informal learning environments play a critical role. This is especially true…

One of the fundamental obstacles associated with technology integration into educational settings is classroom management problems. In this sense, it is important to delve into the crucial factors playing key role in classroom management in ICT assisted courses. In this study, the relationship between classroom management in technology-enriched…

Theorists and educators increasingly highlight the importance of computational thinking in STEM education. While various scaffolding strategies describe how to best support this skillset (i.e., paired programming, worked examples), less research has focused on the design and development of these digital tools. One way to support computational…

Computational thinking skill is one of the basic skills required for every individual, such as reading and writing. For the development of CT, programming education is seen as the key. In the context of programming and CT relationship, it is very important to model individual characteristics and various affective variables with a holistic approach…

The development of computational thinking skills is attracting attention worldwide. The use of visual or block-based coding in primary schools has gained momentum. Yet, students' acceptance of such coding environments has been neglected in the literature. This study presents a measurement instrument that will allow pursuing such an endeavor. The…

This study examines the effects of plugged and unplugged programming tools used in algorithm teaching at the K-12 level on student computational thinking skills and to determine whether gender is a factor in this process. The study group was designed with a control group pre-test--post-test; quasi-experimental model, that consisted of 109 students…

This emerging technology report introduces the "WearableLearning" (WL) platform as a tool to exercise computational thinking and STEM learning for 5-12th grade students through mobile technology-augmented active game play and game creation. Freely available at "WearableLearning.org," it allows students and teachers to play,…

Since teaching robotics in schools is still new for teachers, studies on how to integrate computational thinking concepts in robotics courses are still rare. In this direction, teacher training sessions for teaching robotics should be visited. Accordingly, in this exploratory case study, a professional development program for teachers was…

The purpose of this study was to examine the pre-service teachers' computational thinking (CT) skills and self-efficacy (SE) towards teaching CT, who attended a course in which educational games were developed in a block-based programming environment and lesson plans were prepared accordingly. The research was conducted with thirty seven…

Computational thinking (CT) is an important 21st-century skill. This paper aims at more useful CT assessment. Available evaluation instruments are reviewed; two generally accepted CT evaluation tools are selected for a comprehensive CT assessment: the CTt, a performance test, and the CTS, a self-assessment instrument. The sample comprises 202 high…

This emerging technology report describes computational toys as tools for learning and building computational thinking (CT) skills in young children. We present both a framework to categorize computational toys as well as a separate framework to evaluate the toys' effectiveness for teaching CT skills. We then apply our frameworks to thirty…

The aim of this research is to determine the effects of Scratch and Alice tools and programming teaching practices on student engagement, reflective thinking and problem-solving skills and computational thinking (CT) comparatively. A quasi-experimental design was used in the research and patterns with pretest-posttest control group were chosen for…

This emerging technology report describes virtual environment interactions an approach for blending movement and computer programming as an embodied way to support girls in building computational thinking skills. The authors seek to understand how body syntonicity might enable young learners to bootstrap their intuitive knowledge in order to…

A science, technology, engineering, and mathematics-influenced classroom requires learning activities that provide hands-on experiences with technological tools to encourage problem-solving skills (Brophy et al. in "J Eng Educ" 97(3):369-387, 2008; Mataric et al. in "AAAI spring symposium on robots and robot venues: resources for AI…