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Computational thinking in higher education: A review of the literature
Author(s) -
Lyon Joseph A.,
J. Magana Alejandra
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
computer applications in engineering education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.478
H-Index - 29
eISSN - 1099-0542
pISSN - 1061-3773
DOI - 10.1002/cae.22295
Subject(s) - computational thinking , inclusion (mineral) , computer science , mathematics education , process (computing) , empirical research , population , set (abstract data type) , implementation , management science , psychology , sociology , engineering , mathematics , social science , software engineering , statistics , demography , programming language , operating system
Computational thinking is of growing interest to the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education research community. Calls from national agencies look to increase computation in STEM education. This review identifies key areas for future study by reviewing recent empirical studies that investigate computational thinking in teaching and learning contexts within higher education. Using a systematic process, this review identified four different databases for peer‐reviewed research articles using keywords. Results were evaluated against inclusion and exclusion criteria. Studies were analyzed for types of methods, target population, the role of computational thinking, pedagogical designs used, and significant findings of the study. This process resulted in a final set of 13 studies. The results indicate that computational thinking research in higher education is growing, yet there are opportunities for more research. The findings of this study highlight the need for more concrete definitions and implementations of computational thinking within higher education spaces.