Bebras - a Sustainable Community Building Model for the Concept Based Learning of Informatics and Computational Thinking

• Published in: Informatics in education Vol. 15; no. 1; pp. 25 - 44
• Main Authors: Dagienė, Valentina, Stupuriene, Gabriele
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Vilnius Vilniaus Universiteto Leidykla 01.01.2016; Vilnius University Press; Institute of Mathematics and Informatics; Vilnius University Institute of Mathematics and Informatics, Lithuanian Academy of Sciences; Vilnius University
• Subjects: 21st Century Skills; Academic Accommodations (Disabilities); Basic Skills; Bebras challenge; Buildings; Communities; Communities of Practice; Community; Community Relations; Competition; Computation; Computational Thinking; Computer science; Computer Science Education; Computers; Constructivism (Learning); contest; Democracy; democratic education; Democratic Values; Education; Educational Technology; Elementary School Students; Essay|Book Review |Scientific Life; Foreign Countries; Inclusion; Informal Education; Informatics; informatics concepts; informatics education; Information Science; Information Science Education; Learning; Literature Reviews; Lithuania; Scientific papers; Secondary School Students; Secondary Schools; Sustainability; Tasks; Teacher Workshops; Teaching Methods; Workshops; Lithuania; computational thinking; informatics education; contest; democratic education; Bebras challenge; systematic literature review; informatics concepts
• DOI: 10.15388/infedu.2016.02
• ISSN: 1648-5831

As an international informatics contest, or challenge, Bebras has started the second decade of its existence. The contest attracts more and more countries every year, recently there have been over 40 participating countries. From a single contest-focused annual event Bebras developed to a multifunctional challenge and an activities-based educational community building model. This paper aims to introduce the Bebras model using ten years of observations in implementing the contest in different countries. The model is essentially based on democratic and inclusive education values. Systematic literature review of research papers concerning Bebras activities has made an integral background for this model. The model is represented both at international and national levels and consists of several components where the development of Bebras tasks has taken a very significant role. Reasoning on innovated learning informatics and strengthening computational thinking by utilising carefully selected informatics concepts is discussed as well.