Daniel Lessner

ANALÝZA VÝZNAMU POJMU "COMPUTATIONAL THINKING"

The article introduces the concept of computationa l thinking (CT). This ability “to think like a computer scient ist while solving problems” draws more and more attention in relation to computer science education. We show and discuss a few definitions of CT . The concept can then be compared to key competences and literacies as us ed in Czechia. The second half of the article illustrates the theo retical specifications with a variety of examples from both everyday life and s chool education. Our “computer science” classes focus on ICT user skills . CT provides a convenient starting point for the quest for what is mi sing in our education.

Information theory on Czech grammar schools: first findings

Computing science is not a part of standard grammar school (secondary) education in the Czech Republic. As a part of an effort to change this, we have developed an introductory computing science course. It consists of multiple month long modules. The first module deals with the notion of information. Students are expected to understand it sufficiently for comparing informational gain of statements or questions. Along with binary numeral system, they are expected to understand the relation between data length and the amount of information stored. In this paper we describe the module itself and present the results from the first run of experimental teaching. The aim was to find out the limits of such topic on grammar schools and suitability of chosen teaching methods. It turned out that no matter how abstract is the term information itself, students are capable of acquiring it deep enough so that it would be beneficial for them.

Attitudes Towards Computer Science in Secondary Education: Evaluation of an Introductory Course

Computer science (CS) is not being taught at Czech grammar schools (15–18 years old students). In our effort to change that, we developed and piloted a basic CS course. It introduces the fundamental ideas of CS comprehensively and in relation to existing subjects and real world applications. In this paper we describe the course program briefly and present the part of evaluation that focuses on students’ point of view. We assessed how they perceive the subject of CS in context of other school subjects using a questionnaire with a qualitative and a quantitative part.

TEACHING EFFICIENCY OF ALGORITHMS ON CZECH GRAMMAR SCHOOLS

The contribution introduces partial results of experimental computer science education on Czech grammar schools (general secondary education, students are 15–19 years old). Informatics on our grammar schools aims on user skills and misses the scientific aspects, while computer science seems to be promising regarding main educational goals on grammar schools, mainly the key competence to solve problems. Our research is based on the idea of teaching computer science on par with traditional science subjects, such as physics or biology. We have developed an experimental course program and tested it on a group of grammar school students in Prague. In this contribution we describe the Efficiency chapter and its educational results. If the educational goals are set appropriately, even this abstract and demanding topic can be included into grammar school curriculum.