Toward a Phenomenology of Computational Thinking in STEM Education

TL;DR

This paper advocates for a shift in understanding computational thinking in STEM education as a phenomenological experience, emphasizing embodied and discursive aspects over purely logical mastery.

Contribution

It introduces a novel phenomenological framework for computational thinking, challenging traditional views and providing new insights for K12 STEM teaching and learning.

Findings

Identifies phenomenological approaches useful for framing computational thinking.

Reviews literature and studies supporting experiential understanding of computing.

Suggests implications for K12 STEM education practices.

Abstract

In this chapter, we argue for an epistemological shift from viewing coding and computational thinking as mastery over computational logic and symbolic forms, to viewing them as a more complex form of experience. Rather than viewing computing as regurgitation and production of a set of axiomatic computational abstractions, we argue that computing and computational thinking, should be viewed as discursive, perspectival, material and embodied experiences, among others. These experiences include, but are not subsumed by, the use and production of computational abstractions. We illustrate what this paradigmatic shift toward a more phenomenological account of computing can mean for teaching and learning STEM in K12 classrooms by presenting a critical review of the literature, as well as by presenting a review of several studies we have conducted in K12 educational settings grounded in this perspective. Our analysis reveals several phenomenological approaches that can be useful for framing computational thinking in K12 STEM classrooms.