The eight papers presented in this monograph are a result of the Problem Solving and Critical Thinking Research Workshop that was held in conjunction with the 1990 National Educational Computing Conference (NECC). The intent of the workshop was to provide a unique forum for researchers to share ideas in a special area of educational computing. The monograph provides an overview of the general issues of problem solving and critical thinking in education as well as specialized areas of interest in intelligent tutoring and program construction. The papers included in this monograph are: (1) "Problem Solving, Critical Thinking, and Computing: An Overview" (Cathleen A. Norris and James L. Poirot); (2) "'Mindstorms' Revisited: Computers, Problem Solving, and Knowledge-based Instruction" (Karen Swan); (3) "Defining Programming and Logo as Vehicles for Developing Higher Order Thinking Skills" (Jim Dunne); (4) "Abstracted Knowledge: A Mid-Road Transfer Approach to Critical Thinking" (Clifton S. Harris); (5) "Resolving the Impasse in Software Engineering: Problem Solving in Program Construction" (Warren Moseley); (6) "Critical Thinking and Intelligent Tutoring Systems" (James T. Streib); (7) "Critical Thinking and Open Courseware" (Eduardo Rivera); and (8) "'What Can We Learn from Each Other's Experiences?': Observations of a Research-Oriented Workshop by a Classroom Teacher" (Sylvia Robinson). References are included with most papers. (ALF)

Students often face challenges in a swiftly advancing Computer Science Education (CSE), where technologies evolve rapidly, and concepts unfold with overwhelming intricacies. As society becomes interwoven with technology, how essential is the integration of CSE into the educational framework to adequately equip future generations for the complexities of the digital era? Navigating Computer Science Education in the 21st Century advocates integrating CSE into curricula, underlining its crucial role in early childhood development. The book grapples with the challenge of introducing children to technology responsibly, addressing concerns about unmonitored screen time while emphasizing the necessity of evidence-based approaches for educators. Within these pages, effective teaching strategies are linked to successes in CSE. The book explores learner-centered teaching methodologies in computer science, emphasizing individualized instruction, active learning, and collaborative approaches. It evaluates the effectiveness of traditional lecture-based teaching against more innovative strategies such as game-based learning and collaborative approaches. By presenting studies that delve into the impact of these strategies on student engagement and motivation, the book equips educators with the insights needed to make informed decisions tailored to diverse learning environments.

Learning strategies for critical thinking are a vital part of today’s curriculum as students have few additional opportunities to learn these skills outside of school environments. Therefore, it is essential that educators be given practical strategies for improving their critical thinking skills as well as methods to effectively provide critical thinking skills to their students. The Research Anthology on Developing Critical Thinking Skills in Students is a vital reference source that helps to shift and advance the debate on how critical thinking should be taught and offers insights into the significance of critical thinking and its effective integration as a cornerstone of the educational system. Highlighting a range of topics such as discourse analysis, skill assessment and measurement, and critical analysis techniques, this multi-volume book is ideally designed for teachers/instructors, instructional designers, curriculum developers, education professionals, administrators, policymakers, researchers, and academicians.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the Third International Conference on Informatics in Secondary Schools - Evolution and Perspectives, ISSEP 2008, held in Torun, Poland in July 2008. The 28 revised full papers presented together with 4 invited papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 63 submissions. A broad variety of topics related to teaching informatics in secondary schools is addressed ranging from national experience reports to paedagogical and methodological issues. The papers are organized in topical sections on informatics, a challenging topic, didactical merits of robot-based instruction, transfer of knowledge and concept formation, working with objects and programming, strategies for writing textbooks and teacher education, national and international perspectives on ICT education, as well as e-learning.

Global awareness and competency has become an essential part of higher education and professional development. Expanding beyond the traditional ideas of learning and education, it is important to provide research that will help students prepare for the global future. The Handbook of Research on Promoting Higher-Order Skills and Global Competencies in Life and Work is a pivotal reference source that provides vital research on the intersection of life and work skills in higher education and professional development. While highlighting topics such as research engagement, learning assessment, and multicultural competence, this publication explores the preparation of twenty-first century learners, as well as the methods of promoting critical and creative thinking. This book is ideally designed for educators, academicians, education administrators, researchers, and upper-level students seeking current research on global knowledge and skills in contemporary education and organizations.

As technology continues to develop and prove its importance in modern society, certain professions are acclimating. Aspects such as computer science and computational thinking are becoming essential areas of study. Implementing these subject areas into teaching practices is necessary for younger generations to adapt to the developing world. There is a critical need to examine the pedagogical implications of these technological skills and implement them into the global curriculum. The Handbook of Research on Integrating Computer Science and Computational Thinking in K-12 Education is a collection of innovative research on the methods and applications of computer science curriculum development within primary and secondary education. While highlighting topics including pedagogical implications, comprehensive techniques, and teacher preparation models, this book is ideally designed for teachers, IT consultants, curriculum developers, instructional designers, educational software developers, higher education faculty, administrators, policymakers, researchers, and graduate students.

Computer science has emerged as a key driver of innovation in the 21st century. Yet preparing teachers to teach computer science or integrate computer science content into K-12 curricula remains an enormous challenge. Recent policy reports have suggested the need to prepare future teachers to teach computer science through pre-service teacher education programs. In order to prepare a generation of teachers who are capable of delivering computer science to students, however, the field must identify research-based examples, pedagogical strategies, and policies that can facilitate changes in teacher knowledge and practices. The purpose of this book is to provide examples that could help guide the design and delivery of effective teacher preparation on the teaching of computer science. This book identifies promising pathways, pedagogical strategies, and policies that will help teacher education faculty and pre-service teachers infuse computer science content into their curricula as well as teach stand-alone computing courses. Specifically, the book focuses on pedagogical practices for developing and assessing pre-service teacher knowledge of computer science, course design models for pre-service teachers, and discussion of policies that can support the teaching of computer science. The primary audience of the book is students and faculty in educational technology, educational or cognitive psychology, learning theory, teacher education, curriculum and instruction, computer science, instructional systems, and learning sciences.

While the growth of computational thinking has brought new awareness to the importance of computing education, it has also created new challenges. Many educational initiatives focus solely on the programming aspects, such as variables, loops, conditionals, parallelism, operators, and data handling, divorcing computing from real-world contexts and applications. This decontextualization threatens to make learners believe that they do not need to learn computing, as they cannot envision a future in which they will need to use it, just as many see math and physics education as unnecessary. The Handbook of Research on Tools for Teaching Computational Thinking in P-12 Education is a cutting-edge research publication that examines the implementation of computational thinking into school curriculum in order to develop creative problem-solving skills and to build a computational identity which will allow for future STEM growth. Moreover, the book advocates for a new approach to computing education that argues that while learning about computing, young people should also have opportunities to create with computing, which will have a direct impact on their lives and their communities. Featuring a wide range of topics such as assessment, digital teaching, and educational robotics, this book is ideal for academicians, instructional designers, teachers, education professionals, administrators, researchers, and students.

Taking a future-oriented approach, this book addresses students’ ways of thinking in STEM-based problem solving. It provides a rich set of chapters that explore how we can advance important thinking skills in STEM education for K-12 students. STEM education is essential to understanding and solving many of the world’s major challenges. However, the kind of interdisciplinary modes of thinking required to tackle such unforeseen problems is lacking in most STEM education delivery. This book examines the various ways of thinking that can be applied to effective STEM-based problem solving across K-12 education. These include design and design-based thinking, systems thinking and modeling, critical thinking, innovative and adaptive thinking, intuition in problem solving, and computational and algorithmic thinking. Across the chapters, the authors’ interdisciplinary perspectives give further depth to understanding how students learn and apply their thinking to solve STEM-based problems. The book also provides guidance on how to assess ways of thinking in STEM education, to ensure educators can recognize students’ progress and development. Bringing together a team of international experts, this book is essential reading for pre-service teachers, teacher educators, and researchers in STEM education.