Middle school students often enter Computer Science (CS) classes without previous CS or Computational Thinking (CT) instruction. This study evaluated how Code.org's block-based programming curriculum affects middle school students' CT skills and attitudes toward CT and CS. Sixteen students participated in the study. This was a mixed methods action…

In order to teach Computational Thinking (CT) skills to young students, Block-Based Programming Environments (BBPEs) are integrated into secondary school computer science (CS) education curricula. As a CT skill, abstraction is one of the prominent skills, which is difficult to enhance and measure. Researchers developed some scales for measuring…

Computational thinking is a means to understand and solve complex problems through using computer science concepts and techniques. While there is an increase in the number of initiatives focusing on coding, whether they (a) address computational thinking and problem-solving skills and (b) use methods of teaching problem solving is yet to be…

Although abstraction is widely understood to be one of the primary components of computational thinking, the roots of abstraction may be traced back to different fields. Hence, the meaning of abstraction in the context of computational thinking is often confounded, as researchers interpret abstraction through diverse lenses. To disentangle these…

A number of efforts have focused on preparing teachers to integrate CT within secondary disciplinary subject areas; however, there is little research on how CT ideas could be embedded within elementary subjects. We designed a professional development activity for elementary teachers to embed CT within science and examined how their understanding…

The IADIS CELDA 2012 Conference intention was to address the main issues concerned with evolving learning processes and supporting pedagogies and applications in the digital age. There had been advances in both cognitive psychology and computing that have affected the educational arena. The convergence of these two disciplines is increasing at a…