Looi, Chee-Kit

Unlike previous research that focused on transfer of cognitive skills gained in programming to problem solving, we contend that students can learn programming to directly solve mathematics problems. Our study begins a line of inquiry on whether computational thinking (CT) can be considered a distinct approach for mathematics problem solving in schools. This paper presents analysis of an episode that featured two students who conceptualized and coded an algorithmic solution to a textbook word problem. A comparison is made with the standard deductive approach. We generalize the differences in the two approaches in terms of knowledge types. The case is paradigmatic of a broader phenomenon in which CT makes a difference in how students approach problem solving in school mathematics.

The importance of computational thinking (CT) as a 21st-century skill for future generations has been a key consideration in the reforms of many national and regional educational systems. Much attention has been paid to integrating CT into the traditional subject classrooms. This paper describes a scoping review of learning tools for integrating CT and mathematics in current empirical studies published from 2015 to 2021. The review showed that most of the studies implemented CT-intensive Math-connected integration. Five major types of CT tools had been identified, i.e., digital tangibles, apps and games, programming languages, formative or summative assessments, and other technological tools. In many instances, the tools also provide functions of assessment of CT skills. The most assessed CT competencies were including algorithms and algorithmic thinking, abstraction, testing and debugging, loops, and sequences. Geometry and Measurement was the most assessed mathematics topic. Our scoping review is beneficial in the investigation of the literature on CT and mathematics education, as well as guides those who are interested in developing curriculum, programs, or assessments that involve the integration of CT and mathematics.

Studying teacher enactment of an innovation helps us understand the process of effective spread of a curricular innovation to teachers who have differing levels of content readiness, pedagogical orientations, and different student profiles. Towards this, we explore how different teachers in the same grade level appropriated a common science curriculum enabled by mobile technologies in their classrooms. As curriculum designs are not self-sufficient by themselves, the enactments of the teachers differ in how they leverage on students’ artifacts, how they integrate the technology into the class and in which way they interact with students in a mobile learning setting. We draw implications for the innovative curricula implementation and for teacher professional development of such innovations with the ultimate purpose of scaling and sustaining.

As earlier studies highlighted the importance of teachers’ preparedness to develop computational thinking (CT) for students in school education, this study aims to explore the teaching areas involved in the mathematics teachers’ preparedness to integrate CT in classrooms, as well as to investigate the considerations for effective training or professional development activities to prepare mathematics teachers in teaching CT. A total of 16 journal articles from 2015 to 2020 were reviewed in this study. The findings indicated that not all the teaching areas (i.e. classroom management, teaching methods, subject knowledge, technology, planned curriculum, assessing students, and choosing teaching materials) were involved in the teachers’ preparedness for each study. Several considerations for effective training or professional development had been proposed. The results can be utilized to inform initial teacher education plans and ongoing professional development opportunities to better prepare the teacher to teach CT in the mathematics classrooms.

For pedagogical innovation in innovative curriculum design, much attention has been paid to the importance of teachers’ attitudes and beliefs about teaching and learning. However, little research focuses on elucidating the thorough process of teachers’ sensemaking of pedagogical innovation such as integrating computational thinking (CT) into the school curriculum. Therefore, the aim of this study is to explore how mathematics teachers make sense of integrating CT into the mathematics curriculum. This study employed a case-study design with 9 teachers during the 2019-2020 school year using observations of teacher professional development meetings, semi-structured interviews with the teachers, and teacher artifacts. Using Weick’s (1995) properties of sensemaking, our findings indicate that the most prevalent properties of sensemaking for the teachers in this study were social, ongoing, driven by plausibility rather than accuracy, and retrospective. These findings are important to support continuing professional development.