This study investigated the role of using unplugged computing activities on developing computational thinking (CT) skills of 6th-grade students. The unplugged computing classroom activities were based on the Bebras challenge, an international contest that aims to promote CT and informatics among school students of all ages. Participants of the study were fifty-three 6th-grade students from two public middle schools in Istanbul. The unplugged computing activities involved the tasks with three different difficulty levels covering the CT processes found to be common in CT definitions in the literature. To evaluate students’ CT skills, two equivalent tests were constructed from Bebras tasks considering the same parameters (difficulty levels and CT processes). The results showed that students’ post-test scores were significantly higher than their pre-test scores. There were not any significant differences between students’ scores in terms of gender, and there was no interaction effect between students’ CT scores and their gender.
The paper focuses on the parallels, which are rooted in the simultaneous development of mathematics and informatics. Both mathematics and informatics are based on problem-solving. However, the approaches to determining problems, solution techniques and interpretation of results are different. The paper shows different approaches of mathematics and informatics for solving a simple problem from the informatics competition. It was presented for students, who would be future informatics teachers, and it has become the beginning of the discovery of unexpected relationships and rules' chain, the source of successive tasks, and various methods of their solution. The paper brings the results of the constructivist teaching of students in the form of a fictional interview of mathematician and informatician. Fictional cooperation of a mathematician and an informatician in analysing and solving problems will allow for a detailed analysis and comparison of both fields, which will lead to determining both common and different elements.
These days ICT has penetrated into almost all sectors of the economy and society of Mongolia. More and more effort and attention is being paid to integrating ICT into the education sector. The current education reforms have a big component related to ICT, which includes the development of a Master plan for ICT in the Education sector, addressing the issues of ICT policy, infrastructure, hardware, software, human resource development and capacity building, content development etc. This paper describes the current state of ICT in general education in Mongolia. The paper also tries to address strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in ICT education.
Mongolia started using Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in secondary education relatively late. The computer training and informatics has been included as a subject in the secondary school curriculum in Mongolia since 1988 and in the university curriculum since 1982. This paper presents current situation of informatics education in Mongolia. SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, and Threat) analysis of Informatics Education in Mongolia, conclusions and future recommendations are also presented.
The article examines update of modules of general IT (Informatics) studies under changes in secondary school programs. It is proposed to create distance-learning courses and use ``tools set'' principles. It will allow broadening the choice of study subjects and will create possibility for students from different faculties to choose the subjects and realization tools that better meet their needs and fields of studies. The developed materials will be available to all students and staff willing to improve IT skills through distance learning. Tasks and knowledge control will be unified in the whole University. The materials of updated Informatics courses will be presented in a virtual learning environment WebCT, including self-control tasks and tests. This will also be very useful for correspondence students.