[Back]

G. Futschek:
"Computational Thinking and Creativity";
Keynote Lecture: Constructionism 2018, Vilnius (invited); 2018-08-20 - 2018-08-25; in: "Constructionism 2018 Proceedings", V. Dagiene, E. Jasute (ed.); (2018), ISBN: 978-609-95760-1-5; 38.

Creativity is one of the characteristics in constructionist learning. Creativity is frequently connected to learning by doing and needs a high amount of freedom in choice of activities and learning steps. Basically, Computational Thinking denotes thinking processes that are related to problem solving known from computer science. Computational Thinking does not only involve algorithmic thinking skills that are useful in programming and algorithm design but also integrates skills like abstraction, decomposition, generalization and evaluation that are used in problem definition, system modelling and system evaluation. Since Computational Thinking has become part of informatics school curricula in many countries, the
paradigm of competence orientation has led to very detailed curricula that describe a large variety of detailed competences. The high amount of details can lead to a kaleidoscopic teaching practice. Although, from a constructionist viewpoint it seems more promising to learn with learning settings that allow creativity, fun and sense of achievement. The role of creativity in Computational Thinking Learning is not only in creating a creative output but also in finding new ways of thinking to find solutions to problems. We show several examples of learning settings and didactic projects that allow creativity, fun and sense of achievement in learning Computational Thinking.

computational thinking education ; problem solving ; creativity