Peirce’s Semiotic in Computational Thinking for Mathematical Problem-Solving Process

Abstract

Computational thinking is significant in the 21st century, especially for problem-solving. For students, this process requires problem understanding that can apply semiotic perspective. According to Peirce, semiotic components include representament, object, and interpretant, the components that exist in computational thinking as it encourage students to think logically and appropriately. This research is a qualitative case study with one student as its object to receive tasks on problem-solving and interviews. The study results indicate that in semiotics, the object component of the study refers to the ability to understand the given problem, mathematical model, and information that is known from the task given. The representament refers to the student's ability to interpret any given object in computational thinking, such as writing down a function formula and drawing a graph. As for interpretant, students must prove the ability to interpret and give meaning to the problem. Therefore, a semiotic perspective in computational thinking can help identify students' problem-solving.