Towards A Teaching Model for Managing Students’ Cognitive Load In Activities That Integrate Computational and Mathematical Thinking

Abstract

This paper proposes a model of teaching computational thinking as a sub-competence of a digital competence framework. This teaching model is based (a) on other models of teaching and learning programming aiming at managing students’ cognitive load, (b) on exploiting the engaging nature of unplugged activities and (c) on using erroneous examples to address students’ common errors and misconceptions. The teaching model emerged from the study of the implementation of the “Reach 20 first” competence assessment educational scenario at a Greek class with 11 students of low motivation and attainment regarding computing and mathematics. We investigated (a) the impact and the key-elements of the aforementioned teaching model on students’ computational and mathematical thinking achievement and (b) the relationship between computational and mathematical thinking in computing activities. We present our findings discussing the possible implications on educational activities design and teacher support.