Why I Do Not Talk About Computational Thinking in Journalism Classes: Sorry (Not Really Sorry)

Q2 Social Sciences Asia Pacific Media Educator Pub Date : 2020-12-01 DOI:10.1177/1326365x20970421
Kayt Davies
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Abstract

Paul Bradshaw nailed it a few years ago when he noted that despite calls as early as 2006 for newsrooms and their training grounds to change the way they think, ‘there is very little evidence of this being seriously addressed. Instead computational thinking is being taught earlier, to teenagers and younger children at school’ (Bradshaw, 2017, p. 1). This essay is a confession, a few excuses, but mainly an explanation why I, and other tertiary journalism educators like me, have not leapt at the opportunity to teach computational thinking and why you should not hate us for it. I remember trying to keep a poker face on, sitting around a table of respectable international colleagues, listening to one advocating passionately for teaching computational thinking to all journalism students. My inner monologue was howling, ‘OMG, No! Not more! My course is full to the brim and bursting’. I looked carefully at the faces around the table. Some were nodding. Others, like me, had tight brows and clenched jaws. We were in Paris at the World Journalism Education Congress in July 2019. The breakout group was the syndicate discussing the topic: ‘Teaching Data Journalism and Computational Skills’. Not a lot of love was shown in the discussion that followed for the idea of wheeling in a barrow-load of computational thinking. We broke it down and talked instead about quantitative literacy; we also talked about math aversion and my poker face dissolved. I am genuinely happy to talk to my students about their learnt number-phobia, experimental design and how to report statistics with confidence (Davies, 2019). Computational thinking felt like a bridge too far though, so I have been pondering why ever since.
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为什么我不在新闻课上谈论计算思维:抱歉(不是真的抱歉)
保罗•布拉德肖(Paul Bradshaw)几年前就指出了这一点。他指出,尽管早在2006年就有人呼吁新闻编辑室和他们的培训场所改变他们的思维方式,但“很少有证据表明这个问题得到了认真解决”。相反,计算思维被更早地教授给学校的青少年和更年幼的孩子”(Bradshaw, 2017,第1页)。这篇文章是一种忏悔,一些借口,但主要是解释为什么我和其他像我这样的高等新闻教育工作者没有抓住机会教授计算思维,以及为什么你不应该为此恨我们。我记得我试着面无表情,坐在一桌受人尊敬的国际同事周围,听一个人热情地倡导向所有新闻系学生教授计算思维。我的内心独白在咆哮,“天哪,不!没有更多!我的航线已经满了,快要溢出来了。”我仔细地看了看桌子周围的面孔。有些人在点头。其他人,像我一样,眉头紧锁,咬紧牙关。2019年7月,我们在巴黎参加世界新闻教育大会。小组讨论的主题是:“教授数据新闻和计算技能”。在随后的讨论中,人们并没有表现出太多的热情来支持将计算思维推入手推车的想法。我们将其分解,转而讨论定量素养;我们还谈到了对数学的厌恶,我的扑克脸消失了。我真的很高兴与我的学生谈论他们学到的数字恐惧症,实验设计以及如何自信地报告统计数据(戴维斯,2019)。然而,计算思维感觉就像一座过远的桥,所以我一直在思考为什么。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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期刊介绍: Asia Pacific Media Educator is an international refereed journal published twice a year by SAGE Publications (New Delhi) in collaboration with the School of the Arts, English and Media, Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts, University of Wollongong in Australia. The journal follows international norms and procedures of blind peer reviewing by scholars representing a wide range of multi-disciplinary areas. APME focuses on generating discussions and dialogues among media educators, researchers and journalists. Content ranges from critical commentaries and essays to research reports and papers that contribute to journalism theory development and offer innovative ideas in improving the standard and currency of media reportage, teaching and training specific to the Asia Pacific region. Papers that integrate media theories with applications to professional practice, media training and journalism education are usually selected for peer review. APME also carries a Q&A section with book authors. APME takes conventional book reviews to a more creative level where reviewers directly engage with authors to understand the process that authors take in researching and writing the book, clarify their assumptions and pose critical questions.
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