Computational thinking beyond computer science

Abstract

This chapter outlines computational thinking (CT) as a thinking framework that both crosses and goes beyond existing subjects. The chapter sets by introducing the concept of CT and linking it to the German concept of Didaktik, here highlighting both its general and subject-related aspects. Then, a brief historical view of computational thinking up to the present time is offered. A transcurricular approach is identified and associated with Papert, while a crosscurricular approach is associated with more recent, computer science–based conceptions of CT. Both approaches are exemplified by designs for learning, based on Twine (a digital tool for storytelling) and Escape puzzles, respectively. Based on ideas from hermeneutics, we point to the limits of CT as an analytic approach, understood as breaking into parts in order to understand and solve problems.