The Study of the Needs to Develop Computational Thinking Skills in Computing Science for Junior High School Students

Abstract

The objectives of this research were to study the problems and needs from teachers’ experiences in Computing science for lower secondary students and innovation learning management designers to promote students' computational thinking skills. The target groups included 1) nine teachers teaching Computing science in large schools under the Jurisdiction of The Secondary Educational Service Area Office, Kalasin. 2) thirty students which were purposive sampling selected of Mathayom 1/3 special classroom in Anukoolnaree School. 3) three innovation learning management designers about content, techniques and game creation. The research tools included 1) interview form, and 2) group discussion form. This research used design thinking methods to help lower secondary school students design innovations to promote computational thinking skills. Data were collected in the scope of 5 dimensions: role, emotion, perception, attitude, and behavior. The results of the study found that 1) the needs of teachers and students for developing the innovations to promote computational thinking skills required the game-type media consisting of missions with the content of computational thinking skills. 2) User experience regarding all five dimensions of computational thinking skills found that 2.1) Role dimension: most computing science teachers organized their teaching by their own aptitude, focusing on teaching the content in the book and designed learning plans from the content in the textbook. 2.2) Emotion dimension: the teachers felt that the content for teaching was quite complex, requiring frequent content reviews to ensure student understanding. 2.3) Perception dimension: in the teachers’ opinion, the assessment of computational thinking skills was quite complex, requiring a variety of skill assessments. 2.4) Attitude dimension: the teachers found that each student had different ideas and perceptions, but all students needed hands-on and collaborative activities. 2.5) Behavior dimension: teachers needed attractive activities to get students’ attention and participation. Students wanted easy to use activities with no complexity.