Implementing Reflective Thinking in Computer Science Unplugged to Enhance Computational Thinking

Abstract

Facilitating Computer Science Unplugged (CS-unplugged) activities with reflective thinking activities lead students to in-depth reviews of their decisions and think of ways to solve the CS-unplugged problems. This study aims to evaluate the instruction enriched with reflective thinking activities to develop computational thinking skills. The study was carried out as a case study in a Computer Science course. The participants were 24, 5th-grade secondary school students. Students used two-column reflection notes and daily diaries to reflect their thoughts. Data were collected through Computational thinking skills evaluation form (CTEF), interviews, and observations to examine the role of reflective thinking activities during the instruction. Descriptive analysis, the thematic analysis was carried out through interviews was used to analyze data. The use of the two-column reflection notes and diaries positively contributed to the development of students' computational thinking skills. The students who engaged in reflective thinking activities outperformed in exhibiting their computational thinking skills than those who did not engage in. We hope that the findings of this study will assist in the future design and implementation of CS-unplugged activities to improve CT skills.