The Integration of Computational Thinking in Mathematics Education: The Current State of Practices in School, Outreach, and Public Educational Settings
Abstract
This study investigates the integration of computational thinking (CT) in mathematics education by examining current CT practices in school, community outreach, and public educational settings to seek insight into further affordances of CT. A qualitative content analysis through a mix of inductive and deductive approaches is used to analyze online CT resources and computational artifacts. I interpreted the data through Kafai et al.’s (2020) framings of CT and a combination of constructionism, social constructivism, and critical literacy theories of learning. This study revealed that cognitive framing of CT (acquisition) receives greater attention compared to situated framing (participation), whereas the affordances of CT from critical framing (action) receive insufficient emphasis. The findings illustrate that using CT concepts and tools when incorporating real-world problems into mathematics instruction can improve the affordances associated with these three framings. These results will contribute to improvements in the integration of CT in mathematics teaching and learning.