Exploring Saudi Computer Science Teachers' Conceptual Mastery Level of Computational Thinking Skills

• Published in: Computers in the schools Vol. 36; no. 3; pp. 143 - 166
• Main Authors: Alfayez, Abdulaziz A., Lambert, Judy
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Routledge 03.07.2019; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: and secondary schools; computational thinking; Computer science; computer science curriculum; Computer Science Education; Computer science teachers; Curricula; Foreign Countries; Knowledge Level; Males; Misconceptions; Public School Teachers; Science Curriculum; Science teachers; Secondary School Teachers; Teachers; Thinking Skills; Saudi Arabia
• ISSN: 0738-0569; 1528-7033
• DOI: 10.1080/07380569.2019.1639593

The Ministry of Education in Saudi Arabia implemented a new computer science curriculum in 2008. There was speculation that many computer science teachers did not possess sufficient knowledge of computational thinking needed to teach this subject. To investigate this topic, a quantitative research study was conducted with 55 male computer science teachers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Results of the study revealed that most of the computer science teachers had a low conceptual level of computational thinking, and some of the teachers had misconceptions about the exact nature of computational thinking. Findings indicated that computer science teachers did indeed need more training in what computational thinking means and how to teach this subject.