Computational Thinking Interventions in Higher Education: A Scoping Literature Review of Interventions Used to Teach Computational Thinking

Abstract

Computational Thinking is seen as a crucial skill in an increasingly digital society. Researchers and educators in higher education therefore aim to improve the Computational Thinking (CT) skills of students using appropriate interventions. However, there is currently no overview of interventions used to teach CT and how effective they are. With this scoping literature review, we provide such an overview by identifying articles that discuss interventions used to teach CT in higher education. We identify the teaching approaches used in these interventions, and discuss their effectiveness and how this is assessed. Furthermore, we look at the use of adaptive interventions. Our search of three academic databases (Scopus, ACM and ERIC) resulted in 1839 articles. After screening, 49 articles remained. A detailed examination of the interventions discussed in these articles showed that CT is still often taught through programming assignments. The interventions are evaluated in a myriad of ways, making it difficult to compare the effectiveness of interventions. We therefore suggest making use of more standardized instruments to evaluate the effectiveness. Finally, although scaffolding is applied, interventions are not often adapted to the actual proficiency level of a student.