How Is Computational Thinking Assessed in European K-12 Education? A Systematic Review

Computational thinking (CT) is seen as a key competence of the 21st century and different countries have started to integrate it into their compulsory school curricula. However, few indications exist on how to assess CT in compulsory school. This review analyses what tools are used to assess CT in European schools and which dimensions are assessed. We analysed 26 studies carried out in K-12 between 2016 and 2020 in Europe. The results indicate that 18 different tools have been used and they can be categorized into five groups: questionnaires, tests/tasks, observations, interviews and analysis of products. From the tools we analysed, more than 50 dimensions were assessed and the vast majority of those were closer to programming skills rather than CT per se. Based on these results it seems that a common operational definition of CT, a competence model that indicates which competences students should reach at which age, and a tool that allows all different facets of CT to be assessed are currently missing.