Assessing Computational Thinking: Development and Validation of the Algorithmic Thinking Test for Adults

This study describes the development and validation process of a computational thinking (CT) test for adults. The team designed a set of items and explored a subset of those through two qualitative pilots. Then, in order to provide validity evidence based on the test content, a team of 11 subject-ma...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of educational computing research Vol. 60; no. 6; pp. 1436 - 1463
Main Authors Lafuente Martínez, Marc, Lévêque, Olivier, Benítez, Isabel, Hardebolle, Cécile, Zufferey, Jessica Dehler
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.10.2022
Subjects
Adults
Cognitive Tests
Computation
Factor Analysis
Psychometrics
Test Construction
Test Reliability
Test Validity
Thinking Skills
computational thinking
evaluation
algorithms
assessment
higher education
algorithmic thinking
Online AccessGet full text
ISSN0735-6331
1541-4140
DOI10.1177/07356331211057819

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Summary:This study describes the development and validation process of a computational thinking (CT) test for adults. The team designed a set of items and explored a subset of those through two qualitative pilots. Then, in order to provide validity evidence based on the test content, a team of 11 subject-matter experts coded the initial pool of items using two different systems of categories based on CT components and contents. Next, the items were piloted on a sample of 289 participants, 137 experts in CT, and 152 novices. After a series of confirmatory factor analyses, a unidimensional model that represents algorithmic thinking was adopted. Further analyzing the psychometric quality of the 27 items, 20 of them with excellent reliability indices were selected for the test. Thus, this study provides a tool to evaluate adults’ CT: the Algorithmic Thinking Test for Adults (ATTA), which was developed according to psychometric standards. This article also reflects on the nature of CT as a construct.
ISSN:0735-6331
1541-4140
DOI:10.1177/07356331211057819