This CISE special project award provides funding to the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board of the National Academy of Sciences to hold two workshops to explore the nature of computational thinking and its cognitive and educational dimensions. The first workshop focuses on the nature of computational thinking. The second workshop focuses on the cognitive and educational dimensions of computational thinking, particularly for K-12 students and teachers. A report for each workshop is to be developed to summarize and synthesize discussions, compare and contrast the views of the invited expert participants, and identify common ground and areas for moving forward. The reports are to be disseminated widely in both computing and educational communities.
The intellectual merit lies in the importance of the topic of computational thinking to the computing and education communities and the potential to advance discovery and transformative research based on the outcomes of the meeting. The National Academy of Sciences has an outstanding track record in promoting this kind of national dialogue and engaging individuals with significant expertise to address and move forward issues and concepts critical to the scientific community. The project develops a clear understanding of the central elements of computational thinking as well as the cognitive aspects, thus forming the basis for new research in an area critical to computing and education.
The broader impacts lie in sound development of a fundamental analytical skill that is ultimately relevant to everyone. Progress toward incorporating computational thinking into K-12 education could impact not only on the future development of K-12 education but also on the skill set of future members of the workforce, both in the sciences and more broadly.
