Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Exploring Issues About Computational Thinking in Higher Education

  • Published:
TechTrends Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The term computational thinking (CT) has been in academic discourse for decades, but gained new currency in 2006, when Jeanette Wing used it to describe a set of thinking skills that students in all fields may require in order to succeed. Wing’s initial article and subsequent writings on CT have been broadly influential; experts in computational thinking have started developing teaching and leadership materials to support integration of CT across the K-12 curriculum. Despite interest at the K-12 level, however, outside of computer science and other science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields there has been less interest in –and research conducted on– the potential of CT in higher education. The purpose of this paper is to review the current state of the field in higher education and discuss whether CT skills are relevant outside of STEM fields.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aho, A. V. (2012). Computation and computational thinking. Computer Journal, 55(7), 832-835.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ames, C., Costopoulos, A., & Wren, C. (2010). 8,000 years of technological change in the Gulf of Georgia: Is there a major transition at 4850 cal B.P.? Canadian Journal of Archaeology, 34(1), 32-63.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anton, G., & Barany, A. (2013). Power of play: Exploring computational thinking through game design. Velvet Light Trap: A Critical Journal of Film & Television, 72, 74-75. doi:10.7560/VLT7207.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barr, V. & Stephenson, C. (2011 March). Bringing computational thinking to K-12: What is involved and what is the role of the computer science education community? ACM Inroads. 2 (1). 48-54.

  • Berland, M., & Lee, V. R. (2011). Collaborative strategic board games as a site for distributed computational thinking. International Journal of Game-Based Learning, 1(2), 65-81. doi: 10.4018/ijgbl.2011040105.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Caballero, M. D., Kohlmyer, M. A., & Schatz, M. F. (2012). Fostering computational thinking in introductory mechanics. AIP Conference Proceedings, 1413(1), 15-18. doi:10.1063/1.3679982.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ch’ng, E., Chapman, H., Gaffney, V., Murgatroyd, P., Gaffney, C., & Neubauer, W. (2011). From sites to landscapes: How computing technology is shaping archaeological practice. Computer, 44(7), 40-46. doi:10.1109/MC.2011.162.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cortina, T. J. (2007). An introduction to computer science for non-majors using principles of computation. SIGCSE Bulletin, 39(1), 218-22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Curzon, P., Peckham, J., Taylor, H., Settle, A., & Roberts, E. (2009). Computational thinking (CT): On weaving it in. SIGCSE Bulletin, 41(3), 201-2. doi:10.1145/1595496.1562941.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cuny, J., Snyder, L. & Wing, J. (2010). Demystifying computational thinking for non-computer scientists. Work in progress.

  • Czerkawski, B., & Xu, L. (2012). Computational thinking and educational technology. Proceedings of World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia and Telecommunications 2012, 2607-2610.

    Google Scholar 

  • Czerkawski, B. (2013). Instructional design for computational thinking. In R. McBride & M. Searson (Eds.), Proceedings of Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference 2013 (pp. 10-17). Chesapeake, VA: AACE.

    Google Scholar 

  • Denning, P. J. (2007). Computing is a natural science. Communications of the ACM, 50(7), 13-18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Denning, P. J. (2009). The profession of IT: Beyond computational thinking. Communications of the ACM, 52(6), 28-30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dodig-Crnkovic, G. (2011). Significance of models of computation, from Turing model to natural computation. Minds & Machines, 21(2), 301-322. doi:10.1007/s11023-011-9235-1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Drucker, J. (2011) Humanities approaches to graphical display. DHQ: Digital Humanities Quarterly 5(1) http://digitalhumanities.org:8080/dhq/vol/5/1/000091/000091.html.

  • Edwards, M. (2011). Algorithmic composition: Computational thinking in music. Communications of the ACM, 54(7), 58-67. doi:10.1145/1965724.1965742

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frohock, F. M. (1997). The boundaries of public reason. The American Political Science Review, 91(4), 833-844.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guzdial, M. (2008). Education: Paving the way for computational thinking. Communications of the ACM, 51(8), 25-27.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hambrusch, S., Hoffmann, C., Korb, J. T., Haugan, M., & Hosking, A. L. (2009). A multidisciplinary approach towards computational thinking for science majors. SIGCSE Bulletin, 41(1), 183-7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Henderson, P. B. (2009). Ubiquitous computational thinking. Computer, 42(10), 100-102.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heuser, R. & Le-Khac. L. (2012). Literary Lab Pamphlet 4: A Quantitative Literary History of 2,958 Nineteenth-Century British Novels: The Semantic Cohort Method. Retrieved from http://litlab.stanford.edu/LiteraryLabPamphlet4.pdf.

  • Hong Qin. (2009). Teaching computational thinking through bioinformatics to biology students. SIGCSE Bulletin, 41(1), 188-91.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kazimoglu, C., Kiernan, M., Bacon, L., & MacKinnon, L. (2011). Understanding computational thinking before programming: Developing guidelines for the design of games to learn introductory programming through game-play. International Journal of Game-Based Learning, 1(3), 30-52. doi:10.4018/ijgbl.2011070103.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kazimoglu, C., Kiernan, M., Bacon, L. & Mackinnon, L. (2010). Developing a game model for computational thinking and learning traditional programming through game-play. In J. Sanchez & K. Zhang (Eds.), Proceedings of World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, and Higher Education 2010 (pp. 1378-1386). Chesapeake, VA: AACE. Retrieved from http://www.editlib.org.ezproxy1.library.arizona.edu/p/35747.

  • Kilpelainen, P. (2010). Do all roads lead to Rome? (or reductions for dummy travelers). Computer Science Education, 20 (3), 181-199.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu, C., Cheng, Y., & Huang, C. (2011). The effect of simulation games on the learning of computational problem solving. Computers & Education, 57(3), 1907-1918.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Margolis, J., Goode, J., Holme, J. J. & Nao, K. (2010). Stuck in the shallow end: Education, race, and computing. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mishra, P. & Yadav, A. (2013). Rethinking technology & creativity in the 21st century. TechTrends: Linking Research & Practice to Improve Learning, 57(3), 10-14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller, C. S., & Settle, A. (2011). When practice doesn’t make perfect: Effects of task goals on learning computing concepts. ACM Transactions on Computing Education, 11(4).

  • Moretti, F. (2011). Literary Lab Pamphlet 2: Network Theory, Plot Analysis Retrieved from: http://litlab.stanford.edu/LiteraryLabPamphlet2.pdf.

  • Navlakha, S., & Bar-Joseph, Z. (2011). Algorithms in nature: The convergence of systems biology and computational thinking. Molecular Systems Biology, 7, 546.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Papert, S. (1980). Mindstorms: Children, computers, and powerful ideas. New York, NY: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pearson, K. (2009). From a usable past to a collaborative future: African American culture in the age of computational thinking. Black History Bulletin, 72(1), 41-44.

    Google Scholar 

  • Perlis, A. (1962). The Computer in the University. In M. Greenberger, Ed. Computers and the World of the Future (pp. 180-219). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Perry, R., Turkle, S., & Papert, S. (1990). Epistemological pluralism: Styles and voices within the computer culture. Signs, 16(1), 128.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Petrovic, V., Gidding, A., Wypych, T., Kuester, F., DeFanti, T., & Levy, T. (2011). Dealing with archaeology’s data avalanche. Computer, 44(7), 56-60. doi:10.1109/MC.2011.161.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rödelsperger, C., & Sommer, R. J. (2011). Computational archaeology of the pristionchus pacificus genome reveals evidence of horizontal gene transfers from insects. BMC Evolutionary Biology, 11(1), 239-249. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-11-239.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shell, D. F., & Soh, L. (2013). Profiles of motivated self-regulation in college computer science courses: Differences in major versus required non-major courses. Journal of Science Education and Technology, doi:10.1007/s10956-013-9437-9

    Google Scholar 

  • Soh, L-K., Samal, A., Scott, S., Ramsay, S., Moriyama, E., Meyer, G., Moore, B., T.G. Thomas & Shell, D. F. (2009). Renaissance computing: An initiative for promoting student participation in computing. SIGCSE Bulletin, 41(1), 59-63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Varma, R. (2006). Making computer science minorityfriendly. Communications of the ACM 49(2) 129-134.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wing, J. M. (2006). Computational thinking. Communications of the ACM, 49(3), 33-35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wing, J. (2010). Computational thinking: What and why? Retrieved from http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~CompThink/resources/TheLinkWing.pdf.

  • Xu, L., & Czerkawski, B. (2012). Designing online course components to infuse computational thinking in computer science. Proceedings of World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, and Higher Education 2012, 459-464.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Arizona, South Campus, Tucson, AZ, USA

    Betul C. Czerkawski & Eugene W. Lyman III

Authors
  1. Betul C. Czerkawski
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Eugene W. Lyman III
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Betul C. Czerkawski.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Czerkawski, B.C., Lyman, E.W. Exploring Issues About Computational Thinking in Higher Education. TECHTRENDS TECH TRENDS 59, 57–65 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-015-0840-3

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-015-0840-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation