Coding introduces students to computational thinking in a creative and interactive way without them even realizing it! Computational thinking facilitates a mindset that requires kids to dive deeper into an activity or discussion and deconstruct their thought processes in a clear and efficient manner. It prompts the “how” and “why” behind every idea or action, which is a critical skill in all subjects. Oftentimes, students are given definitions in school and are expected to take everything at face value. However, definitions are meaningless without analysis and examples. This notion might remind you of the infamous “teaching for memorization vs teaching for understanding” debate. I’ll leave a fantastic breakdown of this debate down below. The goal is to teach for understanding, so, this is where computational thinking comes into play.
Word problems on math tests require you to break down your work into steps that lead to your main goal. In language arts, storytelling requires a cohesive series of events that answer the questions of the readers, and essays require you to formulate your argument and break down each point in order to prove a hypothesis. Evidently, computational thinking is a skill that all students will benefit from, no matter the field they go into later in life.
I will leave my first experience with a Scratch coding project down below.
