The Role of Computational Thinking Practices in Making: How Beginning Youth Makers Encounter & Appropriate CT Practices in Making

Abstract

1There are increasing calls to introduce computational thinking (CT) practices at the K-12 level. These calls are motivated by a consensus that CT practices can be valuable for everyone. This work is based on the assertion that making, or the personal construction of objects employing digital and/or analog technologies, can provide a rich context for enacting CT practices. This paper investigates the activities of a group of beginning youth makers creating an interactive digital/ physical water piano to ask: What forms of CT practices do they enact, and in what ways are these practices further developed in their work? Data includes qualitative ethnographic data including observations, recordings and interviews. We explore the ways youth encounter new, yet relatable and intriguing practices---like debugging to isolate an issue---and appropriate them within particular contexts and for particular goals, often to deal with the immediate challenges they are facing. We end by offering conjectures for ways to support beginning youth makers in appropriating CT practices.