Impact of intensive programming training on the development of Computational Thinking in prospective teachers

Abstract

Training pre-service teachers in their own Computational Thinking (CT) is essential to build with them the discourse of CT didactics and its inclusion in the classroom with children in early childhood and primary education. This research proposes possible solutions to this challenge and analyses the results of an intervention carried out with 71 students from two different cohorts of 2nd year teacher training students. This intervention is based on the intensive practice of coding using visual blocks through a Scratch project during the first part of a semester course. After analyzing the previous and subsequent levels of CT (pre-experimental strategy) by means of a standardized test for its measurement (CTt), it is confirmed that the intensive training experience allows all future teachers to reach a sufficient level of CT, regardless of their previous experience in programming and their initial level of CT (they all end up learning, either by increasing their level of CT or by improving their efficiency). On the other hand, measuring the learning outcomes in the Scratch project, we see a clear relationship between a high resulting CTt level (POST) and a good performance in the block programming learning task, which is evidence that the Scratch project helps to develop the future teachers’ CT.