Expanding digital literacies beyond the digital: Infusing computational thinking into unplugged pedagogical tools - Two case studies from mathematics education

Abstract

Computational Thinking (CT), the conceptual foundations required for solving complex problems effectively and efficiently, is an imperative skill for today's learners, across disciplines and across ages. As for its importance in the wide network of digital literacies, CT has been implemented in various educational contexts, however mostly via digital artifacts, specifically in programming-related activities. This approach does not fulfill the potential of such integration for promoting learning. In this paper, we argue that digital literacies should not be bound to the digital realm, and present a novel approach to fully integrate CT into learning and teaching by the development of CT-infused “unplugged” pedagogical tools that are fully embedded in the subject matter. We demonstrate the advantages to student learning of these tools in two case studies from K-12 mathematics education: 1) An assistive tool for function investigation in high-school calculus – in this case, we point out to how CT skills that were implemented in the tool promoted students' problem solving; 2) A teaching unit for pattern sequences in elementary school – in this case, we show how students in the CT research group outperformed students in the other groups, and how they implemented CT to solve pattern sequence problems effectively and efficiently. We highlight that besides enhancing learning, this approach can help address the important issue of equity in education, and suggest ways to promote it via dedicated professional development.