Instructional Strategies to Promote Computational Thinking for Young Learners

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Listen and learn : Research paper

Dr. Monica Cardella
Dr. Denise Crawford
Hoda Ehsan
Dr. Denise Lindstrom
Abeera Rehmat
Dr. Ann Thompson
The recent emphasis on integrating computer science into pre-college education has led many states to adopt and implement computer science standards, with a focus on teaching computational thinking (CT). Consequently, there is an increased need to prepare educators with the knowledge, skills, and instructional strategies required to teach CT. In this case study, we present instructional strategies utilized by informal educators (i.e., parents) to facilitate CT amongst five-to-seven-year-old children. Through a two-phase coding process, we identified productive strategies of: Questioning, Modeling, and Motivation/Encouragement to engage children in five CT competencies.

Audience:	Teachers, Teacher education/higher ed faculty, Professional developers
Attendee devices:	Devices not needed
Topic:	Teacher education
Subject area:	Higher education, Career and technical education
ISTE Standards:	For Educators: Learner Stay current with research that supports improved student learning outcomes, including findings from the learning sciences.
Additional detail:	ISTE author presentation