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The 4 Educational Science International Conference
Towards a Sustainable Future of Education: Preparing Teachers and Prospective Teachers for the Digital Age

ELED-01

Computational Thinking For Primary School Teachers: A Pilot Study On Building
Problem-Solving And Literacy Skills

Maria Teodora Ping, Yuni Utami Asih, Ida Wardani
Mulawarman University, Indonesia
mariateodoraping@fkip.unmul.ac.id

Abstract

Problem-solving is one of the skills that is crucial to equip students to face a variety of
challenges in the future as well as related to the development of their lifelong literacy skills. A
number of studies conducted in the Indonesian primary education contexts such as by
Trisniawati (2017) and Herlita, Sofiyan and Putra (2019) reveal that most primary school
students are still unable to plan effective problem-solving strategies. One of the potential
solutions for promoting students’ problem-solving skills is introducing Computational
Thinking, which facilitates students to look at problems, understand those problems as well as
develop possible solutions (Hoppe dan Werneburg, 2019). However, particularly in the
context of schools in East Kalimantan, both teachers and students have not been familiar with
Computational Thinking. Therefore, this current pilot study would like to respond to this need
by introducing Computational Thinking to teachers, especially primary school teachers, by
developing a workshop and a module suitable to the local contexts and needs. This study
involved 30 primary school teachers from Kutai Kartanegara Regency who had no prior
knowledge and experience concerning Computational Thinking. The teachers were trained the
basic concepts of CT and how to implement CT in the class especially in relation to literacy
aspects. Afterwards, the teachers practiced using CT in their class and did a self-reflection on
the process. The final findings and outputs of this current study are expected to be obtained
completely in November 2021.

Keywords: computational thinking, primary education, problem-solving, literacy

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