Physics Computational Literacy: An Exploratory Case Study Using Computational Essays

TL;DR

This paper explores undergraduate physics students' computational literacy through a new teaching tool, computational essays, revealing practices, beliefs, and challenges to inform better physics education involving computation.

Contribution

It adapts the theory of computational literacy to physics education and introduces computational essays as a novel method to assess and understand student learning.

Findings

Identified student practices, knowledge, and beliefs in computational literacy.

Demonstrated how computational essays can diagnose student difficulties.

Highlighted benefits and limitations of open-ended computational projects.

Abstract

Computation is becoming an increasingly important part of physics education. However, there are currently few theories of learning that can be used to help explain and predict the unique challenges and affordances associated with computation in physics. In this study, we adapt the existing theory of computational literacy, which posits that computational learning can be divided into material, cognitive, and social aspects, to the context of undergraduate physics. Based on an exploratory study of undergraduate physics computational literacy, using a newly-developed teaching tool known as a computational essay, we have identified a variety of student practices, knowledge, and beliefs across these three aspects of computational literacy. We illustrate these categories with data collected from students who engaged in an initial implementation of computational essays in an introductory electricity and magnetism class. We conclude by arguing that this framework can be used to theoretically diagnose student difficulties with computation, distinguish educational approaches that focus on material vs. cognitive aspects of computational literacy, and highlight the benefits and limitations of open-ended projects like computational essays to student learning.