Innovations and Technologies in Computational Thinking

Call for Contributing to a Special Issue in Computers in Human Behavior

Title of the Special Issue: Innovations and Technologies in Computational Thinking

Nowadays, students need to acquire skills and digital competences in accordance with 21st century needs. The ability to express ideas in a computationally meaningful way is gradually becoming one of the most essential skills for succeeding in the 21st century. Accordingly, computational thinking (CT) is considered as important as the skills of reading, writing, and arithmetic. In light of this growing recognition, ACM, Code.org, Computer Science Teachers Association, Cyber Innovation Center, and National Math and Science Initiative have developed conceptual guidelines for CT education. Research developments over the last few years have proposed new pedagogies, guidelines and resources for the development of computational thinking skills. Intuitive and student-friendly computer programming environments like Alice, Scratch, BlueJay, Greenfoot, Kodu, and educational robotics, as well as new standards and guidelines from CSTA/ACM and ISTE have been widely applied. However, despite the apparent growing body of research in the area, there is limited evidence to support the design of appropriate learning experiences to allow students to adequately develop computational thinking competences.

This special issue intends to attract contributions related to innovations and technologies to support the development of CT. Research areas of particular interest include, but are not limited to:

• Psychological factors affecting the development of CT
• Adaptation and personalization in CT learning environments
• Intelligent support systems for CT
• Design of learning environments fostering CT
• Learning analytics in CT
• Informal learning experiences promoting CT
• Empirical evidence from case studies and evaluation studies ranging from K-12, to tertiary, to lifelong CT education
• Project-based learning/capstone projects in CT education
• Gender equity in CT education
• Experience with innovative pedagogies in learning or/and teaching CT
• Cognitive and metacognitive support in developing CT skills

Timeline

Paper Submission begins: October 1, 2017

End of Paper Submission: December 31, 2017

First Round of Revisions: February 2018

Revised Papers Due: April 2018

Final decisions: July 31, 2018

Anticipated Publication Date: Fall 2018

Paper submission formatting guidelines per the Journal’s Guide for Authors.

Guest editors

Charoula Angeli, Department of Education, University of Cyprus, cangeli@ucy.ac.cy

Michail Giannakos, Department of Computer Science, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), michailg@ntnu.no