Empowerment through computational thinking: A literature survey

TY - JOUR

T1 - Empowerment through computational thinking: A literature survey

AU - Musaeus, Line Have

AU - Van Mechelen, Maarten

AU - Caspersen, Michael E.

AU - Iversen, Ole Sejer

PY - 2022/12

Y1 - 2022/12

N2 - There is a global consensus that computational thinking (CT) should be integrated into education, and empowerment is often used as an argument for why future generations need to be able to think computationally. In this paper we report on a systematic literature survey that categorises various strands of empowerment as they unfold in CT education research. We apply an existing categorisation tool that defines the use of empowerment in relation to five interpretations:management, critical, democratic, functional andeducational empowerment. Our analysis identifies several important limitations in the current literature. First, ‘empowerment’ is frequently used, but seldom defined, in current CT education literature. Second, the understanding of empowerment varies substantially depending on geographic region, which means that empowerment as an end-goal in CT education may differ significantly from region to region. Our study also found that critical and managemental empowerment are under-represented in the international CT education literature, but are more prevalent in research carried out in the Nordic countries. We conclude this paper by suggesting a research agenda to secure a more palpable research literature related to empowerment and to CT in education, to support future research, and to support ongoing policy-making.

AB - There is a global consensus that computational thinking (CT) should be integrated into education, and empowerment is often used as an argument for why future generations need to be able to think computationally. In this paper we report on a systematic literature survey that categorises various strands of empowerment as they unfold in CT education research. We apply an existing categorisation tool that defines the use of empowerment in relation to five interpretations:management, critical, democratic, functional andeducational empowerment. Our analysis identifies several important limitations in the current literature. First, ‘empowerment’ is frequently used, but seldom defined, in current CT education literature. Second, the understanding of empowerment varies substantially depending on geographic region, which means that empowerment as an end-goal in CT education may differ significantly from region to region. Our study also found that critical and managemental empowerment are under-represented in the international CT education literature, but are more prevalent in research carried out in the Nordic countries. We conclude this paper by suggesting a research agenda to secure a more palpable research literature related to empowerment and to CT in education, to support future research, and to support ongoing policy-making.

KW - #CEED

U2 - 10.5617/adno.9152

DO - 10.5617/adno.9152

M3 - Journal article

SN - 2535-8219

VL - 16

JO - Acta Didactica Norden

JF - Acta Didactica Norden

IS - 4

M1 - 1

ER -