Computer Science and Computational Thinking in the Curriculum: Research and Practice

Abstract

Computer science education, including computational thinking, has received considerable attention over the last few years as more and more countries are expanding or starting efforts in the primary and secondary schools. In this chapter, we provide examples of computer science efforts in a number of countries, including the United States, and discuss how these efforts to increase the role of computing in schools gives us a unique opportunity to expand computing education research, which has significantly lagged the rapid growth of computer science. We have laid out directions for future research under two broad areas of teaching training and student learning. Specifically, we discuss potential research areas around knowledge teachers need to teach computing ideas and factors that influence students learning to program.