Defining and Assessing Students’ Computational Thinking in a Learning by Modeling Environment

Abstract

The challenge of introducing Computation Thinking (CT) education to K-12 is how to evaluate learners' CT development. This study used information from previous studies to identify essential components and methods for evaluation. A review of literature from 2010 onwards aimed to identify all studies related to CT evaluation to contribute to the development of appropriate evaluation components and methods for senior primary school education. To facilitate the design of a comprehensive evaluation approach, the CT framework of concepts, practices and perspectives developed by Brennan and Resnick (2012) was adopted in this study. This study has two highlights: (1) problem formulation is proposed to be included as a component of CT practices and (2) CT perspectives are refined to include computational identity and programming empowerment as components. CT concepts could be evaluated by test designs with multiple choice questions to identify students' learning outcomes. CT practices could be evaluated by designing rubrics to rate programming projects and using test designs with task-based questions to identify learners' learning outcomes. Finally, CT perspectives could be measured by designing survey instruments and administrating surveys to learners."