KnitxCode: Exploring a Craftsmanship-driven Approach to Computational Thinking

Abstract

In recent years, computational thinking (CT) has focused on how children and citizens develop basic computing skills which empower them to participate in a digitised society and broaden participation and engagement with CT. We present the exploration of a craftsmanship-driven approach to engage people in CT. To explore this approach a team of knitters, a computer scientist and a computing education expert iteratively designed the KnitxCode workshop. KnitxCode utilises knitting in combination with CT concepts as the foundation for the activities. The workshop was evaluated by 12 participants with no programming experience and with knitting experience ranging from 2-25 years (M = 6). From the evaluation we found that the craftsmanship-driven approach seemed to provide the participants with confidence to learning CT, as shared concepts and practices between knitting and computing supported transitioning from knitting craftsmanship to computing and in this way served to demystify computing.