algorithm23ise.com

Developingcomputationalthinkingintheclassroom:aframework!
June2014!
Workinggroupofauthors:!
Prof.
PaulCurzonQueenMaryUniversityofLondon,SchoolofElectronicEngineeringandComputerScienceTeachingLondonComputingProject(http://www.
teachinglondoncomputing.
org/),fundedbytheMayorofLon-donandDepartmentofEducationthroughtheLondonSchool'sExcellenceFund!
MarkDorlingBCS,TheCharteredInstituteforITandComputingAtSchoolNetworkofExcellenceproject(http://www.
com-putingatschool.
org.
uk),fundedbytheDepartmentforEducation,industrypartnersandawardingbodiesDigitalSchoolhouseLondonProject(http://www.
digitalschoolhouse.
org.
uk),fundedbytheMayorofLondonandDepartmentofEducationthroughtheLondonSchool'sExcellenceFund!
ThomasNgWestBerkshireCouncilSchoolImprovementAdviser(ICT&Assessment)!
Dr.
CynthiaSelbyBayHouseSchoolandSixthForm,Gosport,HampshireSouthamptonEducationSchool,UniversityofSouthampton!
Dr.
JohnWoollardSouthamptonEducationSchool,UniversityofSouthamptonBCS,CharteredInstituteforITBarefootComputingproject(http://www.
barefootcas.
org.
uk),fundedbytheDe-partmentforEducation!
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Copyright2014ComputingAtSchoolThisworkislicensedundertheCreativeCommonsAttribution-NonCommerciallicense;seehttp://cre-ativecommons.
org/licenses/by-nc/3.
0/fordetails.
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IntroductionComputationalthinkingsitsattheheartofthenewstatutoryprogrammeofstudyforComputing:"Ahighqualitycomputingeducationequipspupilstousecomputationalthinkingandcreativitytounder-standandchangetheworld"(DepartmentforEducation,2013,p.
188).
Thisdocumentaimstosupportteacherstoteachcomputationalthinking.
Itdescribesaframeworkthathelpsexplainwhatcomputationalthinkingis,describespedagogicapproachesforteachingitandgiveswaystoas-sessit.
PupilprogressionwiththepreviousICTcurriculumwasoftendemonstratedthrough'how'(forexample,asoft-wareusageskill)or'what'thepupilproduced(forexample,aposter).
Thiswaspartlyduetotheneedsofthebusinessworldforofficeskills.
Suchuseofpreciouscurriculumtimehoweverhasseveralweaknesses.
Firstly,thecountry'seconomydependsontechnologicalinnovationnotjustoneffectiveuseoftechnology.
Secondly,thepaceoftechnologyandorganisationalchangeisfastinthattheICTskillslearntareoutofdatebeforeapupilleavesschool.
Thirdly,technologyinvadesallaspectsofourlifeandthetypicallytaughtofficepracticeisonlyasmallpartoftechnologyusetoday.
Incontrast,thenewComputingcurriculumhasanenrichedcomputerscienceelement.
Computerscienceisanacademicdisciplinewithitsownbodyofknowledgethatcanequippupilstobecomeindependentlearners,evaluatorsandpotentiallydesignersofnewtechnologies.
Instudyingcomputerscience,pupilsgainnotonlyknowledgebutalsoauniquewayofthinkingaboutandsolvingproblems:computationalthinking.
Itallowsthepupilstounderstandthedigitalworldinadeeperway:justasphysicsequipspupilstobetterunderstandthephysicalworldandbiologythebiologicalworld.
SimonPeyton-Jonesgivesanaccountofwhylearningcom-puterscienceandcomputationalthinkingisacorelifeandtransferableskillinatalkfilmedatTEDxExeter(Peyton-Jones,2014).
Toprepareourpupilstounderstandtheconsequencesoftechnologicalchange,adaptwhenusingtechnolo-gies,developnewtechnologiesoreventoworkinjobsthathaven'tyetbeeninvented,notonlydoesthe'what'and'how'ofthesubjectneedtobetaught,pupilsalsoneedtodeveloptechniquestoaskandbeabletoanswerthequestion'why'.
Computationalthinkingsupportsdoingso.
Computationalthinkingskillsarethesetofmentalskillsthatconvert"complex,messy,partiallydefined,realworldproblemsintoaformthatamind-lesscomputercantacklewithoutfurtherassistancefromahuman.
"(BCS,2014)Today,however,thereisaninterpretation,ledbythepopularmedia,implyingthatthenewcomputingcurricu-lumfocuseson'coding'(Crow,2014;Nettleford,2013).
Thisgivesamisleadingmessage,especiallytothosenewtothediscipline.
Incontrast,ourframeworkpresentedbelowaimstosupportteachers'understandingofcomputationalthinkingacrossthefullbreadthanddepthofthesubjectofComputingandoffersawaytoeasilyandeffectivelyintegrateitintoclassroompractice.
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TheframeworkTherearefourinterconnectedstagesofdevelopmenttoourcomputationalthinkingframework:Stage1:DefinitionStage2:ConceptsStage3:ClassroomtechniquesStage4:AssessmentWeovervieweachinthesubsequentsections.
Stage1:DefinitionTosupportthesharingofcurriculummaterialsandclassroompractices,anagreeddefinitionthatissuitablefortheclassroomisneeded.
WeusetheinterpretationforwardedbyProfessorJeannetteWing,whooriginallypopularisedtheideaofcomputationalthinking.
Shedefinesitas:"…thethoughtprocessesinvolvedinformulatingproblemsandtheirsolutionssothatthesolutionsarerepresentedinaformthatcanbeeffectivelycarriedoutbyaninformation-processingagent"(Cuny,Snyder,Wing,2010,citedinWing,2011,p.
20).
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"thesesolutionscanbecarriedoutbyanyprocessingagent,whetherhuman,computer,oracombinationofboth"(Wing,2006).
WechosethisdefinitionbecauseitisbasedonWing'soriginaldefinitionandhasgainedconsensusamongstacademics.
Itsemphasisisonpupilsperformingathoughtprocess,notontheproductionofartefactsorevi-dence.
Itthereforefitsthedirectionofchangeinthecurrentcurriculumdevelopment.
Stage2:ConceptsThenextstageistodefinethecoreconceptsinvolvedincomputationalthinking.
Basedonareviewofacade-micreferences,SelbyandWoollard(2013)suggestthefollowingarekey:algorithmicthinkingevaluationdecompositionabstractiongeneralisationWeoutlinetheseconceptswithexamplesbelow,givinglinkedclassroomtechniquesinthenextsection.
Algorithmicthinkingisawayofgettingtoasolutionthroughcleardefinitionofthesteps-nothinghappensbymagic.
Ratherthancomingupwithasingleanswer,like42,thepupilsdevelopasetofinstructionsorrulesthatiffollowedprecisely(whetherbyapersonoracomputer)leadstoanswerstothatandsimilarproblems.
Forexample,wealllearnalgorithmsfordoingmultiplicationatschool.
Ifwe(oracomputer)followtherulesweweretaughtpreciselywecangettheanswertoanymultiplicationproblem.
Oncewehavethealgorithmwedon'thavetoworkouthowtodomultiplicationfromscratcheverytimewearefacedwithanewproblem.
Evaluationistheprocessofensuringanalgorithmicsolutionisagoodone:thatitisfitforpurpose.
Variouspropertiesofalgorithmsneedtobeevaluatedincludingwhethertheyarecorrect,arefastenough,areeconom-icintheuseofresources,areeasyforpeopletouseandpromoteanappropriateexperience.
Trade-offsneedtobemadeasthereisrarelyasingleidealsolutionforallsituations.
Thereisaspecificandoftenextremefo-cusonattentiontodetailincomputationalthinkingbasedevaluation.
Forexample,ifwearedevelopingamedicaldevicetodeliverdrugstopatientsinhospitalweneedtobesurethatitalwaysdeliverstheamountofdrugsetandthatitdoessoquicklyenoughoncestartispressed.
Howev-er,wealsoneedtobesurethatnurseswillbeabletosetthedosequicklyandeasilywithoutmakingmistakesandthatitwon'tbefrustratingorirritatingforpatientsandnursestouse.
Thereislikelytobeatrade-offtobemadebetweenspeedofenteringnumbersandhelpingavoidmistakesbeingmadewhendoingso.
Thejudgementaboutitbeingquickandeasyhastobemadesystematicallyandrigorously.
Decompositionisawayofthinkingaboutproblems,algorithms,artefacts,processesandsystemsintermsoftheirparts.
Theseparatepartscanthenbeunderstood,solved,developedandevaluatedseparately.
Thismakescomplexproblemseasiertosolveandlargesystemseasiertodesign.
Forexample,ifwearedevelopingagame,differentpeoplecandesignandcreatethedifferentlevelsindepen-dentlyprovidedkeyaspectsareagreedinadvance.
Throughdecompositionoftheoriginaltaskeachpartcanbedevelopedandintegratedlaterintheprocess.
Asimplearcadelevelmightalsobedecomposedintosever-alparts,suchasthelife-likemotionofacharacter,scrollingthebackgroundandsettingtherulesabouthowcharactersinteract.
Abstractionisanotherwaytomakeproblemsorsystemseasiertothinkabout.
Itsimplyinvolveshidingdetail-removingunnecessarycomplexity.
Theskillisinchoosingtherightdetailtohidesothattheproblembe-comeseasierwithoutlosinganythingthatisimportant.
Itisusedasawaytomakeiteasiertocreatecomplexalgorithms,aswellaswholesystems.
Akeypartofitisinchoosingagoodrepresentationofasystem.
Differ-entrepresentationsmakedifferentthingseasytodo.
Forexample,whenweplaycards,weusetheword'shuffle'.
Everyplayerunderstandsthat'shuffle'meansputtingthecardsinarandomorder.
Thewordisanabstraction.
Thesametypeofabstractionworkswhenprogramming.
Implementing'shuffle'inacomputergamemeansgivingawaytorandomisethecards.
Wecanrefertoshufflingthroughouttheprogramandunderstandwhatismeantwithouthavingtothinkabouthowitisactuallydonebytheprogram.
Allthatisneededisthattheprogramdoesincludeadescriptionsomewhereofhowshufflingistobedone.
Asanexampleillustratingthedifferencetherepresentationcanmake,consideranartproject.
PupilsstudyingMonetcouldtakeadigitalpictureofaHaystackpaintinginagallery.
Indoingsotheyhavecreatedarepresen-tationofitonthecomputeraspixels.
Theycantheneasilymanipulatethisdigitalrepresentationinwaysthatwouldbeveryhardwithadifferentrepresentationorintherealworld.
Forexample,thecolourscouldbechangedbyanalgorithm.
Inthiswayaseriesofdifferentbutrelatedversionsofthepaintingcouldbecreated.
Generalisationisawayofquicklysolvingnewproblemsbasedonpreviousproblemswehavesolved.
Wecantakeanalgorithmthatsolvessomespecificproblemandadaptitsothatitsolvesawholeclassofsimilarproblems.
Thenwheneverwehavetosolveanewproblemofthatkindwejustapplythisgeneralsolution.
Forexample,apupilusesafloorturtletodrawaseriesofshapes,suchasasquareandatriangle.
Thepupilwritesacomputerprogramtodrawthetwoshapes.
Theythenwanttodrawanoctagonanda10-sidedshape.
Fromtheworkwiththesquareandtriangle,theyspotthatthereisarelationshipbetweenthenumberofsidesintheshapeandtheanglesinvolved.
Theycanthenwriteanalgorithmthatexpressesthisrelationshipandusesittodrawanyregularpolygon.
Insummary,eachoftheabovetechniquesfitsintothewell-establishedsystemdesignlifecycleofcomputingprojectsinthebusiness,academicandscientificcommunities.
Inpracticetheyareusedtogetherinarichandinterdependentwaytosolveproblems.
Theemphasisintheseconceptsisonpracticaltechniquesorthoughtprocesses,notontheproductionofartefactsorevidence.
Stage3:ClassroomTechniquesThedescriptionsoftheconceptsabovearehigh-level.
Althoughimportant,ontheirowntheydon'texplainhowcomputationalthinkingcanbeembeddedintotheclassroomandintegratedintopedagogy.
Therefore,ournextstep(Table1)istoidentifylearnerbehavioursassociatedwitheach.
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Table1:Computationalthinkingconceptsandassociatedtechniques.
Examplesofalgorithmicthinking,evaluation,decomposition,generalisationandabstraction,arefoundatallstages;itisthecontextthatdeterminestherelevanceandchallengeoftheactivity.
Wehavethereforetriednottoattributecomputationalconceptsandlearnerbehaviourstoparticularkeystages(phasesofeducation)be-causedoingsowouldimplythattheyareage-dependentinawaythattheyarenot:theyarecapabilitydepen-dent.
Itisalsoimportanttoemphasisethatcomputationalthinkingconceptsarenotthecontentforthesubjectof'Computing'.
Thesubjectcontentissetoutinthenationalcurriculumprogrammeofstudy.
Computationalthinkingskillsenablelearnerstoaccesspartsofthatsubjectcontent.
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Stage4:AssessmentThefinalstageneededisawaytoassesstheincreasingcompetenceofpupilsincomputationalthinking.
Thiscanbedoneusinganadaptedversionoftheexistingsubjectframeworkforthecomputingsubjectitself.
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Tosupportclassroomteachers,ComputingAtSchoolpublishedanassessmentframeworkcalled'ComputingProgressionPathways'(DorlingandWalker,2014a).
Itsetsoutthemajorknowledgeareasofcomputingandgivesspecificindicatorsofincreasinglevelsofmasteryofthesubjectinthoseareas.
Thisassessmentframe-workwasproducedbyasmallteamofauthorsandreviewers(allteachersandacademics)basedontheirclassroomexperiences.
Itisaninterpretationofthebreadthanddepthofthecontentinthe2014nationalcur-riculumforthecomputingprogrammeofstudy.
Thisbreadthaffordsanopportunitytoviewthesubjectofcom-putingasawhole,ratherthantheseparatesubjectstrandsofcomputerscience,digitalliteracyandinformationtechnologyproposedbytheRoyalSociety(2012).
Theassessmentframeworkidentifiesthedependenciesandinterdependenciesbetweenconceptsandprinciplesaswellasbetweenthethreesubjectstrands.
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Separatepathwaysaregivenfortheareasofalgorithms,programming&development,dataanddatarepre-sentation,hardware&processing,communication&networksandinformationtechnology.
Forexample,thepathwayaroundthesubjectareaofalgorithmsatitslowestlevelinvolvesunderstandingofwhatanalgorithmisandanabilitytoexpresssimplelinearalgorithmswithcareandprecision.
Itthenmovesthroughlevelsofbeingabletoexpressmorecomplicatedalgorithmsusingselectionandloops,toatthehigh-estlevelbeingabletodesignalgorithmsthatmakeuseofrecursionaswellashavinganunderstandingthatnotallproblemscanbesolvedcomputationally.
Theassessmentframeworkisalsopresentedwherethelearningoutcomesareorganisedbytheseparatesub-jectstrandsofcomputerscience,digitalliteracyandinformationtechnology(DorlingandWalker,2014b).
Afur-therversionhasbeendevelopedtoincorporateprovisionfortheconceptsofcomputationalthinking(Selby,DorlingandWoollard,2014).
Itnowincludesadescriptionofhowitcanbeusedtoacknowledgeprogressionandrewardperformanceinmasteringboththecontentofthecomputingprogrammeofstudyandtheideasofcomputationalthinking(Dorling,Walker,2014c).
Forexample,algorithmicthinkingisdemonstratednotjustintheAlgorithmsandProgramming&Developmentpathways,butalsoinconstructingappropriatesearchfilters(Data&DataRepresentation)andindemonstratingunderstandingofthefetch-executecycle(Hardware&Processing).
SeeFigure1asanexampleofwhatyoucanexpecttoseeinComputingProgressionPathwayswithcomputationalthinking.
Figure1:MappingthelearningoutcomesfromComputingProgressionPathwaystotheconcepts(fromStage2)ofcomputationalthinking.
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UsingtheframeworktoplanlessonsWhenplanningandteachingaschemeofworkinanysubject,teachersrefertotheplanning-teaching-evaluat-ingcycle.
Computationalthinkingcanbeincludedintheplanningstageinfourstepswithintheplanningphaseofeachlessonintheplanning-teaching-evaluatingcycle,seeFigure2.
Step1:Determinethe'why'atthestartoftheunitofstudy(Stage1)aswellasthepossibletopics(thecol-umnheadernamesfromtheProgressionPathwaysAssessmentFramework)thattheschemeofworkwillbecovering.
Repeatsteps2-4whenplanningeachlessoninaunitofstudyStep2:Decide'what'thelearningoutcomesareforthelessonfromtheComputingProgressionPathwaysAs-sessmentFramework(Stage4),whichenablethepupilstomoveclosertocompletingorachievingthe'why'.
Step3:UsethepredefinedmappingintheComputingProgressionPathwaysAssessmentFrameworktoiden-tifythepossibleassociatedcomputationalthinkingconcepts(Stage2).
Step4:Usethecomputationalthinkingconceptstoidentifypossibletechniques'how'toincorporateintoandhighlightaspartofthechosenclassroomactivities(Stage3).
Figure2:Mappingthe4stagesoftheframeworkto'why','how'and'what'.
Itisimportanttonotethatthemostimportantstepinthisprocessisthelaststep(step4).
JustbecausepupilscanevidencelearningintheComputingProgressionPathwaysAssessmentFrameworkandthatthelearningoutcomeismappedtocomputationalthinking,itdoesnotnecessarilymeanthatthepupilswillhaveperformedcomputationalthinking.
Completionofanactivity,initself,isnotevidencethatcomputationalthinkinghasoc-curred.
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ACaseStudyBelow,weillustratetheapplicationoftheaboveframeworkwithacasestudy,basedaroundalessononeoftheauthors(Dorling)hasusedinhisclassroom.
Inthesub-sectionofeachactivity,wehighlighthowdifferentpartsoftheactivitydrawonthecomputationalthinkingconcepts(CT).
Intheclassroom,theseconceptscouldbedrawnoutexplicitlyin,forexample,adiscussionattheendwherethepupilsreflectonthecomputationalthinkingskillstheyhaveusedthroughtheactivity.
TopicNetworking&Communications-usingabinaryprotocoltotransferinformationWhyIfirstleadagroupdiscussionaimingtodrawoutwhynetworksareimportant.
Wediscusstheapplicationspupilsuseonaregularbasis,suchasasearchengineornetworkfilesharesandhowtheseapplicationshavecompletelychangedthewaywedothings.
Ileadpupilstoask"whatactuallyhappensinthewiretomakein-formationgobackandforth"HowActivity1)Recap-Iremindthepupilsthattheyhavepreviouslystudiedandunderstoodthedifferentlayersinvolvedincomputerarchitecture:applications,theoperatingsystemandthehardware.
(CT)AbstractionoffunctionalityAswemovefromhardwaretooperatingsystemtoapplicationswemovethroughincreasinglayersofsystemabstractionaseachhidesthemessydetailsofthelevelbelow.
Activity2)Iintroducethepupilstothelayersofnetworkarchitecture:application,transportandnetworkandpointoutthesimilaritytothecomputerarchitecturelayers.
(CT)AbstractionoffunctionalityInasimilarwaywemoveupthroughsimilarlayersofabstractionfromthenetworktotransportlayertoapplicationsaseachhidesthemessyde-tailsofthelevelbelow.
(CT)Generalisationofsolution(applyingthesametechniquetoasimilarprob-lem)Wehavetransferredthetechniqueofanalysisbylayersfromcomputerarchitecturetonetworkarchitecture.
Activity3)Iremindpupilsoftheirunderstandingofdenary(decimal)numbersstoredasbinarynumbers,thatisdenarynumbersareanabstractionofthebinarycode.
Theyhidethedetailofhowthenumbersareactuallystored.
Isuggestthattheycouldusethisknowledgetoinventtheirowntransportationlayerprotocol.
(CT)AbstractionofdataDenarynumbersconcealthecomplexityofthebinaryrepresentationActivity4)Igivethepupilsasimplecircuit,i.
e.
abattery,wiresandalamp,andaskthemtotransferadecimalnumberacrosstheroomtoafriendusingthelamp.
Itisuptothelearnerstoperformtheconversionintobinaryandtransferitacrosstheroom.
Iencouragethemtothinkofthedifferenttasksinvolved.
Thesenderandreceiverdodifferentthoughrelatedthings.
Therecipientwillreceivethenumber,assemblethestringofbinaryandconvertthebinarybackintoadenarynumber.
(CT)DecompositionofaproblemIdentificationofthehigh-levelstepsnecessarytoaccomplishthewholetask(CT)AlgorithmicthinkingDevelopmentoftheorderingofthehigh-levelstepsnecessarytoac-complishwholetaskandworkingoutthedetailedstepsforeach.
Obviouslywithoutanagreedprotocolthereiscompletemayhem.
Pupilshavetoworktogethertoagreeapro-tocolfor1(lighton)and0(lightoff).
Theconfusioncontinuesuntilthepupilsrealisethetimeorclockelementthatisneededsothestartpointisknownandthelightiseitheronorofffortwosecondswithaonesecondpausebetweeneachonoroff.
(CT)EvaluationoffunctionalcorrectnessPupilsreflectontheproblems(evenmayhem)ofinitialsolutionsandrealisetheneedtoimprovethem(CT)AlgorithmicthinkingThetrialandfeedbackdevelopmentloopusedbetweenpupilsistheheuristicdevelopmentofanalgorithmAnalternativeactivityforpupilswhohavenotyetfullygraspedbinaryistohavethemlookathistoricalcom-municationmethodstheyhaveheardofsuchasMorsecodeorsmokesignalswithaviewtoidentifyingsimilar-itiesbetweenthemandthecurrentchallenge.
(CT)GeneralisingasolutionfromoneproblemtoanotherIdentifyingthatineachcaseonerepresentation(aletter)istransformedintoanother(Morsecode),recognisingapatterninthesolutions.
Activity5)Astandardprotocolisagreedamongstthewholeclass,thiswasachievedthroughadiscussionoftheproblemsofinteroperabilityifeverypairhaschosenadifferentwayofcommunicating.
Theyarethengivenaseriesofnumbersthefirsttwoidentifyingtheperson(e.
g.
table-individual)andthenexttwobeingthemes-sagetothatperson(ratherthananactualIPaddressatthisstageoflearning)(CT)AbstractionofdataUnderstandingthatanIPaddressisanameforamachinePupilsagainstrugglewiththisasitcanbedifficultwithalongstringofbinary,sotheyarelikelytocomeupwithanideatochunkorgroupthebinary.
Thisisanalogoustoapacket.
(CT)AbstractionofdataInventingtheconceptofachunkorpacket,withchunksbeingsent,receivedandreassembled.
(CT)AlgorithmicthinkingWorkingoutthedetailedinstructionstomakethechunkingwork.
Activity6)Havingmasteredtheseconcepts,wediscussIPaddressingasanalogoustotheUKpostcodesys-tem.
(CT)GeneralisingasolutionfromoneproblemareatoanotherRecognisingapatterninthesolutionstonetworkpacketsendingandsendingaletterbypostFuturelearningopportunitiescanbebuiltonthesefoundations.
Forexample,visualpackettracingtoolscanbeusedtoconsiderthelocationofwebserversaroundtheworld.
DigitalliteracyquestionscanbeposedaboutbreakingthelawwhenusingtheInternetandconsideringinwhichcountryacrimemayhavebeencommitted.
WhatFromtheactivitiesdiscussedhere,thepupilshavehadopportunitiestousetechniquesassociatedwithcom-putationalthinkingconceptsasindicatedinordertodemonstratetheirunderstandingoftheprogrammeofstudycontent.
Dependinguponthelevelofunderstandingexpressedorobservedinthepupilbehaviours,itispossibletoawardprogressinthesubjectcontentfromthecomputingpathwaysatthefollowinglevels:PinkLevelAlgorithms:Understandswhatanalgorithmisandisabletoexpresssimplelinear(non-branching)al-gorithmssymbolically;Demonstratescareandprecisiontoavoiderrors.
InformationTechnology:Talksabouttheirworkandmakeschangestoimproveit.
YellowLevelAlgorithms:Designssimplealgorithmsusingloopsandselectioni.
e.
ifstatements;useslogicalreason-ingtopredictoutcomes;detectsandcorrectserrorsi.
e.
debugging,inalgorithms.
InformationTechnology:Talksabouttheirworkandmakesimprovementstosolutionsbasedonfeed-backreceivedOrangeLevelAlgorithms:Recognisesthatsomeproblemssharethesamecharacteristicsandusethesamealgo-rithmtosolveboth.
Data&DataRepresentation:Understandsthedifferencebetweendataandinformation.
Communications&Networks:Understandsthedifferencebetweentheinternetandinternetservice,forexample,worldwideweb.
InformationTechnology:Makesappropriateimprovementstosolutionsbasedonfeedbackreceivedandcancommentonthesuccessofthesolution.
BlueLevelAlgorithms:Designssolutionsbydecomposingaproblemandcreatesasub-solutionforeachoftheseparts.
PurpleLevelData&DataRepresentation:Understandshowbitpatternsrepresentnumbersandimages;knowsthatcomputerstransferdatainbinary.
Communications&Networks:Understandsdatatransmissionbetweendigitalcomputersovernet-works,includingtheinterneti.
e.
IPaddressesandpacketswitchingAlgorithms:Canidentifysimilaritiesanddifferencesinsituationsandcanusethesetosolveproblems.
InformationTechnology:Usescriteriatoevaluatethequalityofsolutions,canidentifyimprovementsmakingsomerefinementstothesolutionandfuturesolutions.
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SummaryToengagepupilsinlessonsandsogetthebestoutofthem,itisimportantthattheyunderstandwhytheyarelearningtopics.
SomematerialssupportingthepreviousICTcurriculumfocusedonwhatwasbeingtaught,(perhapsaskill)andwhatthepupilsproduced(perhapsaspreadsheetmodel).
Thinkingabout'what'and'how'thepupilswereproducinganartefactbut'why'theywerelearningagivenskillweresecondaryconsider-ations.
The'why'wasoftenanassessmentobjectiveoraqualificationexaminationinsteadofareal-worldrea-son.
Criticismofthisapproachidentifiedalackoffocusonunderstandingthedeeper'how'and'why'(prob-lemsaresolved,systemsaremade,…)(RoyalSociety,2012).
Thefour-stepframeworkwehavesetoutgivesapracticalwaytobothunderstandcomputationalthinkingandintroducetheideasintotheclassroomcontext.
Itcanbeusedbothtosupporttheplanningofactivitiestoin-creasetheopportunitiesforpupilstodevelopcomputationalthinkingskillsandtoassesstheirprogressindo-ingso.
Thiscanbeachievedbyconsideringthe'why'ofthechallengetheyaresettingforthelearnersattheoutset.
PupilsshouldthenemployavarietyoftheircomputationalthinkingabilitiesasdescribedinTable1(the'how')todevelopunderstandingorsolvetheprobleminhand.
The'what'isexpressedintheevidenceoftheactualsubjectlearning.
Thiscouldbewhatthepupilsproduce(artefact),whatthepupilsunderstandorexpress(write,test,verbalise),orwhatbehaviourisobserved(generalising).
The'what'matchesthelearningoutcomestatementsfromtheComputingProgressionPathwaysAssessmentFramework.
Figure3mapsthefourstagesofdevelopmentdescribedabovetothenotionoffocusingonthe'why','how'and'what'.
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Figure3:Mappingthe4stagesoftheframeworkto'why','how'and'what'.
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