Filiz Kalelioğlu

A new way of teaching programming skills to K-12 students: Code.org

This study attempts to investigate the effect of teaching code.org site on reflective thinking skills towards problem solving. More specifically, this study attempts to investigate whether there is a gender difference in terms of students’ reflective thinking skills towards problem solving. This triangulation study was conducted with 32 primary school students. The quantitative part of the study was conducted in pre-test/post-test comparison design of quasi-experimental design. The scores of reflective problem solving skills were gathered through the reflective thinking skill scale towards problem solving and the students’ performances in the code-org site were examined. In the qualitative part of the research, after the five-week experimental process, focus group interviews were conducted with ten students and a reflection paper from the IT teacher was analysed. According to the t-test results, teaching programming to primary school students in the code.org site did not cause any differences in reflective thinking skills towards problem solving. However, there is a slight increment in the means of female students’ reflective thinking skills towards problem solving over the males’ reflective thinking skills towards problem solving. On the other hand, qualitative data provided more information about the students’ experiences. Students developed a positive attitude towards programming, and female students showed that they were as successful as their male counterparts, and that programming could be part of their future plans.

A new way of teaching programming skills to K-12 students

This study attempts to investigate the effect of teaching code.org site on reflective thinking skills towards problem solving. More specifically, this study attempts to investigate whether there is a gender difference in terms of students’ reflective thinking skills towards problem solving. This triangulation study was conducted with 32 primary school students. The quantitative part of the study was conducted in pre-test/post-test comparison design of quasi-experimental design. The scores of reflective problem solving skills were gathered through the reflective thinking skill scale towards problem solving and the students’ performances in the code-org site were examined. In the qualitative part of the research, after the five-week experimental process, focus group interviews were conducted with ten students and a reflection paper from the IT teacher was analysed. According to the t-test results, teaching programming to primary school students in the code.org site did not cause any differences in reflective thinking skills towards problem solving. However, there is a slight increment in the means of female students’ reflective thinking skills towards problem solving over the males’ reflective thinking skills towards problem solving. On the other hand, qualitative data provided more information about the students’ experiences. Students developed a positive attitude towards programming, and female students showed that they were as successful as their male counterparts, and that programming could be part of their future plans.

A Snapshot of the First Implementation of Bebras International Informatics Contest in Turkey

Computing was perceived as an essential skill for computer scientists, engineers, mathematicians and those from similar disciplines. Today, to the contrary, people of most ages are expected to possess basic computing skills in parallel with the requirements of up-to-date technological tools. To equip students with the necessary skills, computer science courses need to be delivered compulsorily, or at least delivered as a part of another course for almost all age groups and levels. Besides delivering these courses, awareness of this valuable skill is also essential, and for this aim, Olympiads or contests are now held in many countries. Bebras International Contest is one such organisation. In December 2014, Turkey also participated in this contest with 1,788 elementary students from different cities. This paper examines the student performance of the 2014 Bilge Kunduz (the Turkish term for Bebras) International Informatics Contest and explores coordinators’ perceptions about the contest. Based on the student performance and overall success, the average score in Turkey was 65.01 (where scores varied between 0 and 135). According to the perceptions of coordinators, it can be said that the contest was favoured by all coordinators, but that some enhancements to the contest platform are needed.

Characteristics of Studies Conducted on Computational Thinking: A Content Analysis

The skill of computational thinking (CT) is important both in computer science education and in the teaching of programming skills. This skill, which has been taught since early childhood for some, continues to be taught to different age groups via different approaches and methods. For this reason, the skill has been the subject of many research studies for academics working in this field. The purpose of the current study is to examine studies in computational thinking in a systematic way and to present a history of such research, together with new research trends in the area. In this context, keywords in the concept of computational thinking were systematically searched in databases and digital libraries of ScienceDirect and the IEEE Xplore Digital Library. The study described in this paper explored the literature on computational thinking and described the demographic characteristics of this literature in terms of its characteristics, methods, design and data analysis. According to the results, the number of studies mostly increases in parallel with the year of publication. The sample in the study shows that studies were performed with any group directly related to this topic. When the keywords were examined, it was seen that ‘computational thinking’ was the most preferred keyword, the second was ‘programming’ and third was ‘teaching and learning strategies’. When studies on the instructional methods and tools of CT were examined, it was found that most of them were about STEAM, block-based and robotic applications. The most used method in the various studies was that of case study. In addition to this method, experimental designs, survey type and qualitative studies were the other types of methods used.

Competencies of High School Teachers and Training Needs for Computer Science Education

The computer science discipline is evolving with problems in both technological and pedagogical aspects almost worldwide. With the advent of new technologies and approaches for teaching programming at all ages, many countries including Turkey have revised their computer science curriculum. These revisions have resulted in serious training needs being highlighted for teachers with inadequate competencies to meet the expected learning outcomes. Hence, the purpose of this study was to explore; (a) the self-perceived competencies of teachers about the topics in the curriculum, (b) perceptions about programming, programming tools and approaches, and (c) contribution of university education to their teaching profession. The findings revealed that most teachers believe they are not sufficiently competent to be an effective computer science teacher. Related to this finding, most of them especially mentioned their training needs for programming, emerging tools and technologies. Plus more than half of the participants think that the higher education curriculum is inadequate to meet teacher expectations and to create competent teachers.