Formation of computational thinking skills in the development of computer games for educational purposes

Abstract

The problem and the aim of the study. The problem, to be solved by the study, is proper to the need to expand the goals of the education system, to update tools and methods based on digital technologies, that promote the activation of a sequence of images from a person's memory, formulate a problem, and compose an effective solution algorithm. For the formation of the relevant skills that determine the essence of special computational thinking, the authors propose to include in the educational and cognitive activities of students the practice of developing game educational spaces using digital gamification resources. Research methods. To obtain theoretical generalizations was used the analysis of scientific works on the problem of defining the phenomenon of "computational thinking", the apply of digital resources of gamification in teaching. The HTML 5 language as a software implementation tool was used. The study involved 26 bachelors of the Institute of Mathematics, Informatics and Physics in the direction 01.03.02 Applied Mathematics and Informatics and 13 students in the direction 44.04.01 Pedagogical education (master's level) of Vyatka State University. The experiment used the Student's t-test. Results. The authors clarify the essence of the concept of "computational thinking", includes a system of actions for activating patterns from human memory, connections between them; problem statement into account the uncertainty of the future; drawing up an effective solution algorithm using digital technology tools. The authors described directions of educational and cognitive activities, based on the principles of gamification: obtaining relevant information on advanced technological developments; problem statement and modeling; creation of your own software product. The effectiveness of the proposed approach was assessed and statistically significant differences in qualitative changes in temp> tcrit were revealed at α = 0.05 (8,2> 2,06). In conclusion the authors generalized the conditions that influence the formation of computational thinking: obtaining relevant scientific and theoretical facts, patterns, information on innovative methods and tools; reasoned choice, effective implementation at a high technical level; analysis of the result and its practical application.