Using Computational Thinking as a Metacognitive Tool in the Context of Plugged Vs. Unplugged Computational Activities

EasyChair Preprint 10889

Abstract

This paper explored how K-5 teachers incorporated computational thinking (CT) to support young children’s development of metacognitive knowledge and abilities. Two 4th-grade mathematics teachers’ lesson videos were analyzed to understand how K-5 teachers used CT as a metacognitive tool. One teacher incorporated CT ideas and practices into her teaching without using any computational device (i.e., unplugged), whereas the other used dash and dot robots to engage his students in CT (i.e., plugged). Within those activities, teachers used CT to engage students in a variety of metacognitive processes, such as attending to critical features of a problem, creating a mental of a problem, and monitoring solution paths. Our findings provided insight into how K-5 teachers can leverage CT to enhance their students’ metacognitive knowledge and abilities.

Keyphrases: K-5, computational thinking, mathematics, metacognition, metacognitive strategies, plugged computational thinking, problem solving, unplugged computational thinking

@booklet{EasyChair:10889,
  author    = {Ceren Ocak and Aman Yadav and Victoria Macann},
  title     = {Using Computational Thinking as a Metacognitive Tool in the Context of Plugged Vs. Unplugged Computational Activities},
  howpublished = {EasyChair Preprint 10889},
  year      = {EasyChair, 2023}}