Abstract:

As a result of the dynamic development of Information Technologies and the shortened appearance cycle of newer and newer versions of the studied software instruments, learners and teachers encounter a significant problem: learning content and acquired knowledge become outdated too quickly. Forming Computational Thinking in IT training would help students save time and efforts to update the necessary knowledge and skills in this area after a long time – no matter what new technologies, software systems and interface tools have appeared. The last makes it necessary for the basic learning materials to emphasize only those aspects of the knowledge and skills that are “invariant” (independent of the current state of technologies, systems and applications). As evidence of the versatility and usefulness of the proposed framework for forming computational thinking skills in IT training, the paper presents an online course for Spreadsheet training. This course allows trainers to formulate skills for pattern recognition, abstraction and focusing on the important information. So far, the course has been experimented during IT training among STEM students. The quality of the learning materials and the chosen learning approach are evaluated by students through an anonymous survey conducted after the end of the training.

Keywords:

Computational thinking, IT training, Long-term knowledge.