Computational thinking doesn’t have to be taught in a classroom
Unplugged activities are a great option for students who do not have access to computers at home, and new research shows the benefits of such activities for computational thinking. Many of these can be done with only a pen and piece of paper, an instruction sheet, and a partner—such as a parent or guardian, sibling, or remote classmate. Read the full blog post here. For the original research article, click here.
Programming takes place on a computer, but research has shown the promise of using non-programming activities for teaching important concepts to novice learners. The study, conducted by Grover et al at three urban US schools, was designed with 16 non-programming activities during a 20-day programme. The research team found that the learning gains from students who followed the intervention were significantly higher, in comparison to students who followed the regular computer science curriculum.
You can read the full blog post in Hello World issue 10 here. For the original research article, see.
Thom Kunkeler 