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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. Report of a Workshop on the Pedagogical Aspects of Computational Thinking. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13170.
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REPORT OF A WORKSHOP ON THE PEDAGOGICAL ASPECTS OF

COMPUTATIONAL
THINKING

Committee for the Workshops on Computational Thinking

Computer Science and Telecommunications Board

Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences

NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
                         OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS

Washington, D.C.

www.nap.edu

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. Report of a Workshop on the Pedagogical Aspects of Computational Thinking. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13170.
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THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS   500 Fifth Street, N.W.   Washington, DC 20001

NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.

Support for this project was provided by the National Science Foundation under sponsor award number CNS-0831827. Any opinions expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the agencies and organizations that provided support for the project.

International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-309-21474-2
International Standard Book Number-10: 0-309-21474-2

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Copyright 2011 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.

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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. Report of a Workshop on the Pedagogical Aspects of Computational Thinking. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13170.
×

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES

Advisers to the Nation on Science, Engineering, and Medicine

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone is president of the National Academy of Sciences.

The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Charles M. Vest is president of the National Academy of Engineering.

The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg is president of the Institute of Medicine.

The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone and Dr. Charles M. Vest are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council.

www.national-academies.org

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. Report of a Workshop on the Pedagogical Aspects of Computational Thinking. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13170.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. Report of a Workshop on the Pedagogical Aspects of Computational Thinking. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13170.
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COMMITTEE FOR THE WORKSHOPS ON COMPUTATIONAL THINKING

MARCIA LINN, University of California, Berkeley, Chair

ALFRED V. AHO, Columbia University

M. BRIAN BLAKE, University of Notre Dame

ROBERT CONSTABLE, Cornell University

YASMIN B. KAFAI, University of Pennsylvania

JANET L. KOLODNER, Georgia Institute of Technology

LAWRENCE SNYDER, University of Washington, Seattle

URI WILENSKY, Northwestern University

Staff

HERBERT S. LIN, Study Director and Chief Scientist, CSTB

ENITA A. WILLIAMS, Associate Program Officer

SHENAE BRADLEY, Senior Program Assistant

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. Report of a Workshop on the Pedagogical Aspects of Computational Thinking. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13170.
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COMPUTER SCIENCE AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS BOARD

ROBERT F. SPROULL, Oracle, Chair

PRITHVIRAJ BANERJEE, Hewlett Packard Company

STEVEN M. BELLOVIN, Columbia University

SEYMOUR E. GOODMAN, Georgia Institute of Technology

JOHN E. KELLY III, IBM Research

JON M. KLEINBERG, Cornell University

ROBERT KRAUT, Carnegie Mellon University

SUSAN LANDAU, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study

PETER LEE, Microsoft Corporation

DAVID LIDDLE, US Venture Partners

WILLIAM H. PRESS, University of Texas at Austin

PRABHAKAR RAGHAVAN, Yahoo! Research

DAVID E. SHAW, D.E. Shaw Research

ALFRED Z. SPECTOR, Google, Inc.

JOHN SWAINSON, Silver Lake Partners

PETER SZOLOVITS, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

PETER J. WEINBERGER, Google, Inc.

ERNEST J. WILSON, University of Southern California

JON EISENBERG, Director

RENEE HAWKINS, Financial and Administrative Manager

HERBERT S. LIN, Chief Scientist, CSTB

LYNETTE I. MILLETT, Senior Program Officer

EMILY ANN MEYER, Program Officer

VIRGINIA BACON TALATI, Associate Program Officer

ENITA A. WILLIAMS, Associate Program Officer

SHENAE BRADLEY, Senior Program Assistant

ERIC WHITAKER, Senior Program Assistant

For more information on CSTB, see its website at
http://www.cstb.org, write to CSTB, National Research Council,
500 Fifth Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20001, call (202) 334-2605,
or e-mail the CSTB at cstb@nas.edu.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. Report of a Workshop on the Pedagogical Aspects of Computational Thinking. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13170.
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Preface

In 2008, the Computer and Information Science and Engineering Directorate of the National Science Foundation asked the National Research Council (NRC) to conduct two workshops to explore the nature of computational thinking and its cognitive and educational implications. The first workshop focused on the scope and nature of computational thinking and on articulating what “computational thinking for everyone” might mean. A report of that workshop was released in January 2010.1 Drawing in part on the proceedings of that workshop, the present report summarizes the second workshop, which was held February 4-5, 2010, in Washington, D.C., and focused on pedagogical considerations for computational thinking.

Although this document was prepared by the Committee for the Workshops on Computational Thinking based on workshop presentations and discussions, it does not reflect consensus views of the committee. Under NRC guidelines for conducting workshops and developing workshop report summaries, workshop activities do not seek consensus and workshop reports (such as the present volume) cannot be said to represent “an NRC view” on the subject at hand. As with the first workshop, this second workshop revealed a plethora of perspectives on ways to approach pedagogy for computational thinking. The two workshops,

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1National Research Council, 2010, Report of a Workshop on the Scope and Nature of Computational Thinking, Washington, D.C.: The National Academies Press. Available at http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12840. Last accessed February 7, 2011.

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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. Report of a Workshop on the Pedagogical Aspects of Computational Thinking. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13170.
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taken together, call attention to the diversity of views on many aspects of computational thinking as well as its definition, and it is the hope of the committee that the present report, which contains a digest of both presentations and discussion, will serve as a vehicle that increases communication on the topic across the community.

The full workshop agenda is provided in Appendix A, and short biographies of the workshop participants are given in Appendix B.

Marcia C. Linn, Chair
Committee for the Workshops on Computational Thinking

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. Report of a Workshop on the Pedagogical Aspects of Computational Thinking. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13170.
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Acknowledgment of Reviewers

This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the National Research Council’s (NRC’s) Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this report:

Christine Cunningham, Museum of Science

Margaret Honey, New York Hall of Science

Peter Szolovits, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Robert Tinker, The Concord Consortium

Michelle Williams, Michigan State University

Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they did not see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was coordinated by Joseph F. Traub, Columbia University. Appointed by the NRC, he was responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the institution.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2011. Report of a Workshop on the Pedagogical Aspects of Computational Thinking. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13170.
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In 2008, the Computer and Information Science and Engineering Directorate of the National Science Foundation asked the National Research Council (NRC) to conduct two workshops to explore the nature of computational thinking and its cognitive and educational implications. The first workshop focused on the scope and nature of computational thinking and on articulating what "computational thinking for everyone" might mean. A report of that workshop was released in January 2010.

Drawing in part on the proceedings of that workshop, Report of a Workshop of Pedagogical Aspects of Computational Thinking, summarizes the second workshop, which was held February 4-5, 2010, in Washington, D.C., and focuses on pedagogical considerations for computational thinking. This workshop was structured to gather pedagogical inputs and insights from educators who have addressed computational thinking in their work with K-12 teachers and students. It illuminates different approaches to computational thinking and explores lessons learned and best practices.

Individuals with a broad range of perspectives contributed to this report. Since the workshop was not intended to result in a consensus regarding the scope and nature of computational thinking, Report of a Workshop of Pedagogical Aspects of Computational Thinking does not contain findings or recommendations.

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