CIC: Semester 2, Week 1, Assessing Computational Thinking

In the past 10 years, various standardised tests have been developed to help researchers evaluate whether interventions in CS Education are effective. This week we’ll look at the Computational Thinking Test (CTT), and in a future week we will look at ways to assess programming.  

1. Take the computational thinking test. You can find the answers here. It’s OK, you need never reveal your score…
2. Curious about why the test was designed this way? Read the computational thinking assessment paper (You can get it for free if you are signed in to the UoE library). Don’t worry about the technical details of item response theory – you just need a broad understanding of how the test was developed. Focus on sections 1 and 4.
3. Write a post to the EdStem discussion board about whether you think CTT is a suitable test. Your post should answer these questions:
   1. Does it measure what it intends to? How do you know?
   2. Could this assessment be used to help children learn? Or is it a way to measure their aptitude?
   3. Do you think the assessment can distinguish between poor and good performances?
   4. Under what circumstances would you advise teachers to use this?

Class slides