Informatics Education - Supporting Computational Thinking

Informatics Education - Supporting Computational Thinking contains papers presented at the Third International Conference on Informatics in Secondary Schools - Evolution and Perspective, ISSEP 2008, held in July 2008 in Torun, Poland. As with the proceedings of the two previous ISSEP conferences (2005 in Klag- furt, Austria, and 2006 in Vilnius, Lithuania), the papers presented in this volume address issues of informatics education transcending national boundaries and, the- fore, transcending differences in the various national legislation and organization of the educational system. Observing these issues, one might notice a trend. The p- ceedings of the First ISSEP were termed From Computer Literacy to Informatics F- damentals [1]. There, broad room was given to general education in ICT. The ECDL, the European Computer Driving License, propagated since the late 1990s, had pe- trated school at this time already on a broad scale and teachers, parents, as well as pupils were rather happy with this situation. Teachers had material that had a clear scope, was relatively easy to teach, and especially easy to examine. Parents had the assurance that their children learn "modern and relevant stuff," and for kids the c- puter was sufficiently modern so that anything that had to do with computers was c- sidered to be attractive. Moreover, the difficulties of programming marking the early days of informatics education in school seemed no longer relevant. Some colleagues had a more distant vision though.

Inhalt

Informatics, a Challenging Topic.- The Challenging Face of Informatics Education in Poland.- Bebras International Contest on Informatics and Computer Literacy: Criteria for Good Tasks.- From Top Coders to Top IT Professionals.- Didactical Merits of Robot-Based Instruction.- Integrating Mathematical Analysis of Sensors and Motion in a Mobile Robotics Course.- Visualization of Program Behaviors: Physical Robots Versus Robot Simulators.- Development of an Educational System to Control Robots for All Students.- Proposal for Teaching Manufacturing and Control Programming Using Autonomous Mobile Robots with an Arm.- Transfer of Knowledge and Concept Formation.- Design Disciplines and Non-specific Transfer.- Like a (School of) Fish in Water (or ICT-Enhanced Skills in Action).- Duality Reconstruction - Teaching Digital Artifacts from a Socio-technical Perspective.- What's My Challenge? The Forgotten Part of Problem Solving in Computer Science Education.- Bringing Abstract Concepts Alive. How to Base Learning Success on the Principles of Playing, Curiosity and In-Classroom Differentiation.- Working with Objects and Programming.- Analysis of Learning Objectives in Object Oriented Programming.- To Have or to Be? Possessing Data Versus Being in a State - Two Different Intuitive Concepts Used in Informatics.- Understanding Object Oriented Programming Concepts in an Advanced Programming Course.- Spiral Teaching of Programming to 10-11 Year-Old Pupils After Passed First Training (Based on the Language C++).- Multi-facet Problem Comprehension: Utilizing an Algorithmic Idea in Different Contexts.- VIPER, a Student-Friendly Visual Interpreter of Pascal.- Analysis of Students' Developed Programs at the Maturity Exams in Information Technologies.- Strategies for Writing Textbooks and Teacher Education.- Creating and Testing Textbooks for Secondary Schools.- Informatics as a Contribution to the Modern Constructivist Education.- New Methodology of Information Education with "Computer Science Unplugged".- Disciplinary-Pedagogical Teacher Preparation for Pre-service Computer Science Teachers: Rational and Implementation.- Algorithm - Fundamental Concept in Preparing Informatics Teachers.- Computer Science Teacher Training at the University of Groningen.- Distance Learning Course for Training Teachers' ICT Competence.- National and International perspectives on ICT Education.- Teaching Information Technology and Elements of Informatics in Lower Secondary Schools: Curricula, Didactic Provision and Implementation.- Spreadsheet Knowledge and Skills of French Secondary School Students.- Harmonization of Informatics Education - Science Fiction or Prospective Reality?.- E-Learning.- Development of E-Learning Design Criteria with Secure Realization Concepts.- On the Technological Aspects of Generative Learning Object Development.- Informational Technologies for Further Education of Latvian Province Teachers of Informatics.