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International audience; Introductory programming courses (CS1) are difficult for novices. Inspired by Problem solving followed by instruction and Productive Failure approaches, we define an original "necessity driven" learning design. Students are put in an apparently well-known situation, but this time they miss an essential ingredient (the target concept) to solve the problem. Then, struggling to solve it, they experience the necessity of that concept. A direct instruction phase follows. Finally, students return to the problem with the necessary knowledge to solve it. In a typical CS1 learning path, we recognise a challenging "rollercoaster of abstraction". We provide examples of learning sequences designed with our approach to support students when the abstraction changes (both upward and downward) inside the programming language, for example, when a new construct (and the related syntactical, conceptual, and strategic knowledge) is introduced. Also, we discuss the benefits of our design in light of Informatics education literature.

International audience; La cryptographie est un domaine propice pour étudier les interactions entre mathématiques et informatique. Nous présentons la conception d'une situation didactique basée sur un système cryptographique asymétrique. Cette situation a été expérimentée dans une formation d'enseignants.

International audience; We report our experience of an extracurricular online intervention on cryptography in Grade 10. Our first goal is to describe how we taught some fundamental cryptography ideas by making students encounter a progression of representative cryptosystems, from classical to modern, and discover their characteristics and limitations. We used Snap! (a visual programming language) to realize hands-on activities: block-programming playgrounds (a form of task-specific programming languages) to experiment with cryptosystems, and an interactive app to support an unplugged (albeit remote) Diffie-Hellman key agreement. After experimenting with each system, the students were involved in a Socratic discussion on how to overcome the discovered limitations, motivating the introduction of the following system in our path. Our second goal is to evaluate the students' perceptions and learning of cryptography core ideas. They appreciated the course and felt that, despite being remote, it was fun and engaging. According to the students, the course helped them understand the role of cryptography, CS, and Math in society and sparked their interest in cryptography and CS. The final assessment showed that the students well understood the cryptography ideas addressed. Our third goal is to discuss what worked and areas of improvement. The "remote-unplugged" Diffie-Hellman, where the meeting chat was a metaphor for the public channel, engaged the students in understanding this groundbreaking protocol. Overall, they praised the activities as engaging, even when challenging. However, a strong "instructor blindness" induced by remote teaching often prevented us from giving the students the right amount of guidance during the exploration activities.

International audience; In this paper, we reviewed many definitions of computational thinking, finding they share a lot of common elements, of very different nature. We classified them in mental processes, methods, practices, and transversal skills. Many of these elements seem to be shared with other disciplines and resonate with the current narrative on the importance of 21st-century skills. Our classification helps on shedding light on the misconceptions related to each of the four categories, showing that, not to dilute the concept, elements of computational thinking should be intended inside the discipline of Informatics, being its "disciplinary way of thinking".

International audience

urn:nbn:it:unibo-25909; Introduction of scientific and cultural aspects of Computer Science (CS) (called "Computational Thinking" - CT) in K-12 education is fundamental. We focus on three crucial areas. 1. Historical, philosophical, and pedagogical aspects. What are the big ideas of CS we must teach? What are the historical and pedagogical contexts in which CT emerged, and why are relevant? What is the relationship between learning theories (e.g., constructivism) and teaching approaches (e.g., plugged and unplugged)? 2. Cognitive aspects. What is the sentiment of generalist teachers not trained to teach CS? What misconceptions do they hold about concepts like CT and "coding"? 3. Affective and motivational aspects. What is the impact of personal beliefs about intelligence (mindset) and about CS ability? What the role of teaching approaches? This research has been conducted both through historical and philosophical argumentation, and through quantitative and qualitative studies (both on nationwide samples and small significant ones), in particular through the lens of (often exaggerated) claims about transfer from CS to other skills. Four important claims are substantiated. 1. CS should be introduced in K-12 as a tool to understand and act in our digital world, and to use the power of computation for meaningful learning. CT is the conceptual sediment of that learning. We designed a curriculum proposal in this direction. 2. The expressions CT (useful to distantiate from digital literacy) and "coding" can cause misconceptions among teachers, who focus mainly on transfer to general thinking skills. Both disciplinary and pedagogical teacher training is hence needed. 3. Some plugged and unplugged teaching tools have intrinsic constructivist characteristics that can facilitate CS learning, as shown with proposed activities. 4. Growth mindset is not automatically fostered by CS, while not studying CS can foster fixed beliefs. Growth mindset can be fostered by creative computing, leveraging on its constructivist aspects.; [Traduction automatique] : L'introduction des aspects scientifiques et culturels de l'informatique (CS) (appelée "Computational Thinking" - CT) dans l'enseignement de la maternelle à la 12e année est fondamentale. Nous nous concentrons sur trois domaines essentiels. 1. Les aspects historiques, philosophiques et pédagogiques. Quelles sont les grandes idées de la CS que nous devons enseigner ? Quels sont les contextes historiques et pédagogiques dans lesquels la TC a émergé, et pourquoi sont-ils pertinents ? Quelle est la relation entre les théories de l'apprentissage (par exemple, le constructivisme) et les approches pédagogiques (par exemple, branché et débranché) ? 2. Aspects cognitifs. Quel est le sentiment des enseignants généralistes qui ne sont pas formés pour enseigner la CS ? Quelles idées fausses entretiennent-ils sur des concepts tels que la CT et le "codage" ? 3. Aspects affectifs et motivationnels. Quel est l'impact des croyances personnelles sur l'intelligence (mentalité) et sur la capacité à enseigner la CS ? Quel est le rôle des approches pédagogiques ? Cette recherche a été menée à la fois par une argumentation historique et philosophique, et par des études quantitatives et qualitatives (à la fois sur des échantillons nationaux et sur de petits échantillons significatifs), en particulier à travers la lentille des affirmations (souvent exagérées) sur le transfert de la CS vers d'autres compétences. Quatre affirmations importantes sont justifiées. 1. La culture scientifique devrait être introduite de la maternelle à la terminale comme un outil pour comprendre et agir dans notre monde numérique, et pour utiliser la puissance du calcul pour un apprentissage significatif. Le TC est le sédiment conceptuel de cet apprentissage. Nous avons conçu une proposition de programme d'études dans ce sens. 2. Les expressions CT (utile pour se distancier de la culture numérique) et "codage" peuvent être à l'origine d'idées fausses chez les enseignants, qui se concentrent principalement sur le transfert vers des compétences de réflexion générale. Une formation disciplinaire et pédagogique des enseignants est donc nécessaire. 3. Certains outils pédagogiques branchés et débranchés ont des caractéristiques constructivistes intrinsèques qui peuvent faciliter l'apprentissage de la CS, comme le montrent les activités proposées. 4. L'esprit de croissance n'est pas automatiquement favorisé par les CS, alors que le fait de ne pas étudier les CS peut favoriser des croyances fixes. L'esprit de croissance peut être favorisé par l'informatique créative, en tirant parti de ses aspects constructivistes.Traduit avec www.DeepL.com/Translator (version gratuite)

National audience

National audience; Questo capitolo descrive le esperienze svolte da docenti e ricercatori del Dipartimento di Informatica - Scienza e Ingegneria (DISI) dell’Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna nell’ambito di alcuni progetti di disseminazione dei principi di base dell’Informatica (pensiero computazionale) nelle scuole primarie bolognesi.L’approccio che caratterizza i progetti presentati è l’utilizzo, sequenziale o intervallato, di attività sia “unplugged” sia “plugged”. Le prime - svolte senza l’utilizzo di un calcolatore, ma con materiali e oggetti di uso comune - sono state in parte tratte dal libro CS Unplugged, e in parte ideate dagli autori; le seconde hanno fatto uso del linguaggio visuale a blocchi Scratch.Con riferimento alla Proposta di Indicazioni Nazionali per l’Informatica nella Scuola [CINI17], tali attività hanno coperto soprattutto gli ambiti prettamente informatici di rappresentazione dell’informazione (es. numeri binari), algoritmi (es. massimo) e loro descrizione in uno pseudolinguaggio, programmazione; ma non hanno tralasciato quelli di creatività digitale (realizzare un progetto personale con Scratch) e consapevolezza digitale (es. regole di comportamento sulla community online di Scratch).

The term "coding" is more and more used to talk about the diffusion of computer science in school. While computer scientists, computing professionals, and educators consider this term very close or even equivalent to "programming", media tend to use it to describe something new and different from the "old boring CS". We provide here the main results of a large-scale investigation among primary school teachers (N=972) exploring their viewpoint on coding and its relation to programming. We asked to describe what coding is for them: only 40% of the relevant answers used terms explicitly mentioning programming. An additional 19%, while not directly mentioning programming, made reference to an information processing agent executing instructions. An additional small subset of teachers, while considering coding different from programming, described such difference using "tolerable" characterizations. We also analyzed the (sometime conflicting) misconceptions of teachers trying to explain why coding and programming are different.

International audience; The commentaries provide useful questions and responses that help us understand better how unplugged activities serve as scaffolding to engage students in computer science. They help us to consider how activities relate to computational thinking, particularly by connecting the scaffolding in the activities to the limits of computation. This in turn helps us to navigate the somewhat disputed boundary between activities that clearly use computation as it occurs on physical devices, and metaphors that could potentially be misleading.

National audience; In questo lavoro risaliamo alle origini dell'espressione "pensiero computazionale", calandola nel contesto originale (la teoria costruttivista di Seymour Papert) che ha portato a coniarla. Analizziamo poi le eredità di tale contesto (apprendimento creativo e informatica creativa), per trarne utili princìpi, validi ancora oggi. Presentiamo poi un esempio (i club di programmazione CoderDojo) in cui tali princìpi sono visibili. Concludiamo osservando che l'origine dell'espressione mette in luce aspetti culturali diversi (ma non necessariamente contrapposti) rispetto a quelli cui di solito si fa riferimento oggi parlando di pensiero computazionale.

National audience; We discuss if and to what extent we need the expression " computational thinking ". We argue that looking for a precise, operational definition could be misleading, and that this expression should not be used everywhere instead of " informatics ". " Computational thinking " , instead, is an instrumental expression which may help in suggesting that informatics is a new and distinct scientific discipline, and in motivating why it should be taught in the schools of any level.; Esaminiamo in che misura sia necessaria l'espressione " pensiero computazionale " ed argomentiamo che può essere controproducente usarla in modo eccessivo insistendo a cercarne una definizione operativamente precisa. Questo termine dovrebbe servire, in modo strumentale, per spiegare sinteticamente perché l'informatica è una disciplina scientifica nuova e distinta dalle altre e perché dovrebbe essere insegnata a scuola a tutti i livelli.

Il concetto di pensiero computazionale è stato risaltato nel 2006 da Jeannette Wing, che ha mostrato come l'informatica abbia portato alla scienza non solo strumenti (computer e linguaggi di programmazione) ma anche innovazioni nel modo di pensare. Viene proposta una definizione di pensiero computazionale originata da una review della letteratura. Grazie all’utilizzo della Psicologia della Programmazione (studi sulle misconcezioni, che si occupano di individuare i concetti che sono compresi male dai programmatori novizi, e studi sul commonsense computing, che cercano di capire come persone che non hanno mai ricevuto nozioni di programmazione esprimano concetti e processi computazionali), si forniscono una serie di consigli per insegnare al meglio il pensiero computazionale (con i linguaggi attuali, con nuovi linguaggi appositamente progettati, con l'aiuto di strumenti ed ambienti ad-hoc o con una serie di attività estranee alla programmazione) al più ampio pubblico possibile.

International audience; This poster illustrates how we redesigned the CS1 course for Math undergraduates to be held online but reflecting the face-to-face (F2F) experience as much as possible. We describe the course structure and the strategies we implemented to maintain the benefits of a synchronous experience. We present the positive and negative aspects that emerged from the students' opinion analysis. We highlight what worked, what did not, and what can be improved to strengthen the perception of a F2F experience and mitigate the "presence paradox" we found: although students are enthusiastic about the online format, most would still prefer a F2F course.

International audience; Many arguments are used to advocate for the introduction of Computer Science (CS) / Computational Thinking / "coding" in K-12 education. Growth mindset theory (GM) is also becoming very popular among educators and researchers. Some claims stating that studying CS can foster a GM have emerged. However, educational research shows that transfer of competences is hard. Very little research has been conducted on the relationship between GM and CS learning, with conflicting results. We measured some indicators (e.g., mindset, computer science mindset) at the beginning and the end of a high school year in five different classes: three CS oriented , one Chemistry oriented, and one Transportation&Logistics oriented. In one of the CS oriented classes, we did a very brief GM intervention. At the end of the school year, none of the classes showed a statistically significant change in their mindset. Interestingly , non-CS oriented classes showed a significant decrease in their computer science growth mindset. In the intervention class, students suggested, to stimulate a GM, the need for activities that are more creative, engaging, and related to the real world and their interests.

International audience; Teacher training in computational thinking (CT) is becoming more and more important, as many countries are introducing CT at all K-12 school levels. Introductory programming courses are known to be difficult, and some studies suggest they foster an entity theory of intelligence (fixed mindset), reinforcing the idea that only some people have so-called "geek gene". This is particularly dangerous if thought by future primary school teachers. We analyzed the effects of an introductory course about computational thinking and creative computing with Scratch, and observed a statistically significant increase of pre-service teachers' growth mindset while observing a statistically significant decrease in their computer anxiety. The structure of the course is detailed, with particular emphasis on some characteristics that may have determined growth mindset increase. Limitations of this exploratory study are discussed, and future work is depicted.

International audience; In order to bring informatics, its ideas and ways of thinking of major educational value to all primary and secondary school students, the Italian Inter-universities Consortium for Informatics (CINI), in collaboration with the academic associations who gather together researchers in informatics (GRIN) and computer engineering (GII), has recently proposed a core informatics curriculum for all the levels of compulsory school. This paper summarizes the proposed curriculum, highlights the key underlying motivations, and outlines a possible strategy to ensure that its implementation in schools can be effective.

International audience; This paper reports the results of an investigation involving almost a thousand primary school teachers in Italy, to explore their views on the terms "coding" and "programming", and how they are related to their ideas on "computational thinking". When directly asked "if coding is different from writing programs", roughly 2 out of 3 teachers answered "no". Among the teachers who answered "yes", almost 160 tried to motivate the difference: a few of them gave admissible explanations, while the others showed various misunderstandings , which we classify and discuss. By contrast, when asked about their idea of "what coding is", only 4 out of 10 of the teachers explicitly linked coding to programming, but an additional 2 out of 10 cited an information processing agent executing instructions. The remaining part of the sample did not provide explicit or implicit links between coding and programming. Our investigation shows that untrained teachers hold misconceptions regarding CS and its related terms. Given the general public and media attention on "coding" in schools, currently taught by existing teachers-mostly not appropriately trained, professional development actions fo-cusing on CS scientific principles and methods are therefore a top priority for the effectiveness of CS education in schools.

International audience; Teacher training in computational thinking is becoming more and more important, as many countries are introducing it at all K-12 school levels. Introductory programming courses are known to be difficult and some studies suggest they foster a fixed-mindset views of intelligence, reinforcing the idea that only some people have the so called "geek gene". This is particularly dangerous if thought by future school teachers. Interventions to stimulate "CS growth mindset" in students and their teachers are fundamental and worth CS education research.

International audience; Many advanced countries are recognizing more and more the importance of teaching computing, in some cases even as early as in primary school. "Computational thinking" is the term often used to denote the conceptual core of computer science or "the way a computer scientist thinks", as Wing put it. Such term - given also the lack of a widely accepted definition - has become a "buzzword" meaning different things to different people. We investigated the Italian primary school teachers' conceptions about computational thinking by analyzing the results of a survey (N=972) conducted in the context of "Programma il Futuro" project. Teachers have been asked to provide a definition of computational thinking and to answer three additional related closed-ended questions. The analysis shows that, while almost half of teachers (43.4%) have included in their definitions some fundamental elements of computational thinking, very few (10.8%) have been able to provide an acceptably complete definition. On a more positive note, the majority is aware that computational thinking is not characterized by coding or by the use of information technology.

International audience; In this paper the first two years of activities of "Programma il Futuro" project are described. Its goal is to disseminate among teachers in Italian primary and secondary schools a better awareness of informatics as the scientific basis of digital technologies. The project has adapted Code.org learning material and has introduced it to Italian schools with the support of a dedicated web site. Response has been enthusiastic in terms of participation: in two years more than one million students have been engaged and have completed a total of 10 million hours of informatics in schools. Almost all students found the material useful and were interested, teachers have reported. They have also declared to have experienced high satisfaction and a low level of difficulty. A detailed analysis of quantitative and qualitative data about the project is presented and areas for improvement are identified. One of the most interesting observations appears to corroborate the hypothesis that an exposure to informatics since the early age is important to attract students independently from their gender.