Abstract:

Computational thinking deals with problem solving, systems design, and understanding human behavior, relying on the fundamental concepts of informatics. Currently, computational thinking has crossed the frontiers of informatics and is increasingly seen as a fundamental form of thinking (e.g., scientific thinking) and must be taught from an early age. In this sense, the term 'computational' refers not only to the way of thinking about problems from a computational point of view, but also to the logical and systematic structure of thinking about them. In this perspective, the term ‘computational’ is related to the integrated development of practices such as abstraction, decomposition, pattern recognition, algorithm analysis and definition, and development of debugging habits and process optimization.

Curriculum guidance documents on the idea of learning mathematics in the 21st century, prepared by the Portuguese Ministry of Education, defend educational practices based on a model that encourages students to be active, create, debug, persevere, and collaborate. To accommodate these strategies, the mathematics curriculum is being redesigned, namely with regard to the introduction of computational thinking in basic education, and, among the various challenges that arise, the issue of teacher training presents itself as a central problem.

With the aim of contributing to the training to teachers in the computational thinking area and taking the advantage of the opportunity offered by a national meeting of mathematics teachers, a workshop dedicated to the subject was proposed. Based on the contents of the mathematics programs of the 3rd cycle of basic education and secondary education, this workshop was directed towards the articulation between the contents and learning objectives defined for those education levels, and the learning considered essential in terms of mathematics and computational thinking. The session was streamlined from the exploration of tasks that could be integrated into the teachers' teaching practices. The tasks, usually refered as ‘unplugged tasks’, are based on activities that, by providing tools that allow students to solve problems, promote the teaching of computer concepts without using computers, namely creativity and logical reasoning.

In methodological terms, a step-by-step proposal that leads to the refinement and optimization of solutions to mathematical problems, is presented. Throughout the workshop, various contents and practical examples were worked and discussed, with the aim helping teachers to develop adequate strategies for solving problems in the classroom. During the development of the workshop, the theoretical framework that outlined the tasks selection was discussed.
The workshop was oriented so that teachers could include different tasks and tools in their pedagogical practice that would allow students to think about problems from a logical and systematic structure, thus contributing to greater involvement and satisfaction in teaching and learning mathematics.
This work aims to present a proposal for a workshop for training teachers on computational thinking, having been carried out through a case study of a qualitative nature.

The analysis of the discussions and behaviour of the teachers during the workshop revealed that the activities provoked reflections as well as helped the teachers discover new approaches in the teaching of mathematics.

Acknowledgements:
Vanda Santos: This work is funded by national funds through the FCT - Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P., within the scope of the project UIDB/00194/2020 and in the scope of the framework contract foreseen in the numbers 4, 5 and 6 of the article 23, of the Decree-Law 57/2016, of August 29, changed by Law 57/2017, of July 19.
Margarida Pinheiro: This work is funded by national funds through the FCT - Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P., within the scope of the project UIDB/00194/2020.

Keywords:

In-service teachers, computational thinking, technology.