Abstract:

The research areas of computational thinking and metacognition have recently gained momentum within computer science and psychology (respectively), in part due to their potential in understanding highly valued workplace skills such as problem solving, task decomposition, and planning. Several new research efforts in these fields focus on their potential to contribute to improved pedagogical strategy. A missing piece for both fields of research is the lack of tools and processes to measure the extent to which a learn exhibits computational thinking or metacognition. A crucial first tool is a well-defined observational protocol based on the current literature, and because of the similarities in the two fields, a generic observational protocol is possible. Without such a protocol, studies into mechanisms for improving computational thinking are difficult and not comparable to one another, which limits the impact of the research. The human tasks of problem decomposition, problem solving, and planning are core components of both computational thinking and metacognition, and they represent skills that are crucial for employees in the STEM workplace. This paper presents a learner observation protocol that can be used to measure and monitor qualitative social and pedagogical responses associated with the computational thinking components of problem-solving and planning as the learner progresses through a task. The observational protocol can also be used to assess the learner’s facility with computational or metacognitive thinking. The design of this observational protocol is supported by a thorough literature review of metacognitive research as well as computational thinking research, a discussion of trial uses of the protocol and an exploration of how the protocol can be used to support the teaching and learning of crucial skills in post-secondary education.

Keywords:

Computational thinking, metacognition, pedagogy, observational protocol, problem-solving, planning, task decomposition.