Computational Thinking: A Disciplinary Perspective
Over its short disciplinary history, computing has seen a stunning number of descriptions of the field's characteristic ways of thinking and practicing, under a large number of different labels. One of the more recent variants, notably in the context of K-12 education, is "computational th...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Vilnius University
2021-09-01
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| Series: | Informatics in Education |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://infedu.vu.lt/doi/10.15388/infedu.2021.21 |
| _version_ | 1819113209242583040 |
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| author | Peter J. DENNING Matti TEDRE |
| author_facet | Peter J. DENNING Matti TEDRE |
| author_sort | Peter J. DENNING |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Over its short disciplinary history, computing has seen a stunning number of descriptions of the field's characteristic ways of thinking and practicing, under a large number of different labels. One of the more recent variants, notably in the context of K-12 education, is "computational thinking", which became popular in the early 2000s, and which has given rise to many competing views of the essential character of CT. This article analyzes CT from the perspective of computing's disciplinary ways of thinking and practicing, as expressed in writings of computing's pioneers. The article describes six windows into CT from a computing perspective: its intellectual origins and justification, its aims, and the central concepts, techniques, and ways of thinking in CT that arise from those different origins. The article also presents a way of analyzing CT over different dimensions, such as in terms of breadth vs. depth, specialization vs. generalization, and in terms of skill progression from beginner to expert. Those different views have different aims, theoretical references, conceptual frameworks, and origin stories, and they justify their intellectual essence in different ways. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-22T04:25:46Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4a304891fd9f4235bbd94e9f4801a87d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1648-5831 2335-8971 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-22T04:25:46Z |
| publishDate | 2021-09-01 |
| publisher | Vilnius University |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Informatics in Education |
| spelling | doaj.art-4a304891fd9f4235bbd94e9f4801a87d2022-12-21T18:39:10ZengVilnius UniversityInformatics in Education1648-58312335-89712021-09-0120336139010.15388/infedu.2021.21Computational Thinking: A Disciplinary PerspectivePeter J. DENNING0Matti TEDRE1Naval Postgraduate School, USAUniversity of Eastern Finland, FinlandOver its short disciplinary history, computing has seen a stunning number of descriptions of the field's characteristic ways of thinking and practicing, under a large number of different labels. One of the more recent variants, notably in the context of K-12 education, is "computational thinking", which became popular in the early 2000s, and which has given rise to many competing views of the essential character of CT. This article analyzes CT from the perspective of computing's disciplinary ways of thinking and practicing, as expressed in writings of computing's pioneers. The article describes six windows into CT from a computing perspective: its intellectual origins and justification, its aims, and the central concepts, techniques, and ways of thinking in CT that arise from those different origins. The article also presents a way of analyzing CT over different dimensions, such as in terms of breadth vs. depth, specialization vs. generalization, and in terms of skill progression from beginner to expert. Those different views have different aims, theoretical references, conceptual frameworks, and origin stories, and they justify their intellectual essence in different ways.https://infedu.vu.lt/doi/10.15388/infedu.2021.21Computational ThinkingCTComputing as a DisciplineHistoryProfessionalsAdvanced |
| spellingShingle | Peter J. DENNING Matti TEDRE Computational Thinking: A Disciplinary Perspective Informatics in Education Computational Thinking CT Computing as a Discipline History Professionals Advanced |
| title | Computational Thinking: A Disciplinary Perspective |
| title_full | Computational Thinking: A Disciplinary Perspective |
| title_fullStr | Computational Thinking: A Disciplinary Perspective |
| title_full_unstemmed | Computational Thinking: A Disciplinary Perspective |
| title_short | Computational Thinking: A Disciplinary Perspective |
| title_sort | computational thinking a disciplinary perspective |
| topic | Computational Thinking CT Computing as a Discipline History Professionals Advanced |
| url | https://infedu.vu.lt/doi/10.15388/infedu.2021.21 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT peterjdenning computationalthinkingadisciplinaryperspective AT mattitedre computationalthinkingadisciplinaryperspective |