Tatjana Jevsikova

Critical Thinking in Informatics Education: Developing Computational Thinking

Critical Thinking in Informatics Education: Developing Computational Thinking 

Tatjana Jevsikova 

Vilnius University, Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics, Institute of Data Science and Digital Technologies,

Lithuania 

Critical thinking is considered one of the core components of 21st-century skills, encompassing a broad range of abilities and competencies essential for success in the modern world. Even in its early stages, informatics (or computer science) education has naturally contributed to developing students’ critical thinking through the subject’s primary goals of information processing with information technologies and developing complex information systems (Fagin et al., 2006). Students’ development of multiple skills, including critical thinking, creativity, communication, collaboration, problem-solving and decision-making, learning to learn, ICT literacy, and personal and social responsibility, can be facilitated by implementing programming instruction as part of informatics education (Hu et al., 2024). 

In recent years, students’ computational thinking (CT) in education has been stressed as “thought processes involved in formulating problems and their solutions so that the solutions are represented in a form that an information-processing agent can effectively carry out” (Cuny et al., 2010). CT has expanded beyond informatics as it allows us to solve problems using computers and understand social and natural phenomena (Denning & Tedre, 2022). 

In this presentation, we look at the development of critical thinking through the lens of informatics education and computational thinking at different levels of education. Recent national Lithuanian initiatives and historical perspectives are presented. Various ways of thinking developed within informatics education (critical thinking, computational thinking, design thinking) and their relationships are discussed. 

Keywords: informatics education, computational thinking, digital literacy, critical thinking, design thinking 

References 

Cuny, J., Snyder, L., & Wing, J.M. (2010). Demystifying computational thinking for non-computer scientists. Unpublished manuscript in progress, referenced in http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~CompThink/resources/TheLinkWing.pdf 

Denning, P. J., & Tedre, M. (2022). Computational Thinking: A Disciplinary Perspective. Informatics in Education, 20(3), 361–390. https://doi.org/10.15388/infedu.2021.21  

Hu, L. (2024). Programming and 21st century skill development in K-12 schools: A multidimensional meta-analysis. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 40(2), 610–636. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcal.12904 

Fagin, B., Harper, J., Baird, L., Hadfield, S., & Sward, R. (2006). Critical thinking and computer science: implicit and explicit connections. Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges, 21(4), 171–177. 

Biography 

Tatjana Jevsikova is a Senior Researcher and Associate Professor at the Institute of Data Science and Digital Technologies, within the Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics at Vilnius University, Lithuania. She holds a Ph.D. in informatics. Her primary research interests encompass informatics education, the development of computational thinking, STEM education, e-learning, teacher training, and the cultural aspects of human-computer interaction. Dr. Jevsikova has authored over 40 research papers, along with several methodological works and educational books. ORCID 0000-0002-6253-7941