Requirements for developing computational thinking

Buitrago and colleagues (2017) offer several specific recommendations for the use of programming experiences to develop computational thinking skills. These recommendations include:

• A clear statement of objectives so the computational skills to be learned are understood
• the use of educational tools and instructional strategies such as the use of concept mapping before coding as a way to emphasize organization, planning, and other computational thinking tools
• The application of programming skills to authentic tasks such as robotics and game development
• Collaborative team coding activities that encourage communication and discussion of strategies.
• The use of programming languages (the researchers mention LOGO, Scratch, and Python) that scaffold skill development through the simplification of code syntax and limit tasks such as variable definition that are required by other languages.

I have no issues with these ideas and suggestions. My frustration is that both the ideas and suggestions are very similar to what Salomon and Perkins (1987) suggested after analyzing the success of LOGO programming experiences in schools 30 years ago. They did not call it “computational thinking” then, but the suggestion that the thinking involved in programming would transfer to other areas requiring higher order cognitive skills means pretty much the same thing.

The message from researchers to practitioners has been there for a long time.

Buitrago Flórez, F., Casallas, R., Hernández, M., Reyes, A., Restrepo, S., & Danies, G. (2017). Changing a Generation’s Way of Thinking: Teaching Computational Thinking Through Programming. Review of Educational Research. 87(4), 834-860.

Salomon, G., & Perkins, D. N. (1987). Transfer of cognitive skills from programming: When and how?. Journal of educational computing research, 3(2), 149-169.