The Effect of Using STEAM Approach on Developing Computational Thinking Skills among High School Students in Jordan

The Effect of Using STEAM Approach on Developing Computational Thinking Skills among High School Students in Jordan

KeywordsـــــComputational thinking skills

(STEAM) approach

algorithmic thinking

abstraction

decomposition

generalization

Jordan.

The growing demand for combining digital technology with learning practices has surpassed the use of technology or learning how to use it into the process of enhancing learners’ intellectual levels and scaffolding their understanding by focusing on skills that include thought processes gathered in what is called computational thinking. On the other hand, educational challenges promote the search for new instructional tools and approaches. Consequently, learning shall be extended by superimposing science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) approach in the instructional practices. The aim of this paper is to show how STEAM approach can develop the computational thinking among high school learners in Jordan. The main skills of computational thinking included: algorithmic thinking, abstraction, decomposition, and generalization. The sample of this study involved 32 high school students in a private school in Amman. The experimental group studied geography skills in a STEAM approach that included the use of online resources such as LightBot maze and the Ordnance Survey maps (OS) website. The control group studied the same content but through conventional method. Findings showed a significant development in the computational thinking especially in algorithmic thinking and abstraction. Thus a STEAM approach learning environment is one of the effective methods of teaching that improved computational thinking.

Al-Haj Bedar, Rana

Al-Shboul, Muhannad Anwar

International Journal of Interactive Mobile Technologies (iJIM); Vol. 14 No. 14 (2020); pp. 80-94

1865-7923

International Association of Online Engineering (IAOE), Vienna, Austria

2020-08-28

Copyright (c) 2020 Rana Rana Al-Haj Bedar, Dr. Muhannad Anwar Al-Shboul

application/pdf

eng

info:eu-repo/semantics/article

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Peer-reviewed Article