Design And Practice Of Teaching Graphical Programming In High School For The Development Of Computational Thinking

In the development of the era where emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and big data are widely popular,technological innovation has made the requirements for talent training all-round,systematic and multi-dimensional,while enhancing ability literacy and cultivating creative talents are key.Computational thinking cultivation plays a very important role in enhancing ability literacy and cultivating creative talents,and at the same time,computational thinking cultivation is also a top priority in the field of education.The Ministry of Education’s Compulsory Education IT Curriculum Standards(2022 Edition)further clarifies and refines the specific objectives of computational thinking in each school section.The new standards propose to use specific teaching projects as the basis,focus on game-based and life-like learning design,focus on curriculum practice and enrich teaching forms.The development of computational thinking in the GCSE Information Technology Curriculum Standards(2017 Edition)remains the target point for promoting students’digital literacy and skills.At the same time,App Inventor graphical programming as an optional course module is also gradually and widely implemented in the senior secondary IT curriculum,which can extend the effectiveness of teaching and learning in senior secondary IT classrooms in terms of breadth and depth and promote the cultivation of computational thinking skills of secondary school students.Therefore,in the context of the compulsory education curriculum moving with the times and the high requirements of talent training,the design and implementation of teaching activities and teaching projects based on graphical programming to develop students’ computational thinking is still of great relevance and research value.This study focuses on how to design graphical programming instruction to achieve the goal of effectively developing students’ computational thinking.Specific research questions include:(1)How to design high school graphical programming instructional activities geared towards developing computational thinking?(2)How to iteratively improve App Inventor instructional design?(3)What is the effectiveness of App Inventor’s graphical programming instructional design and case studies on students’ computational thinking development?The research questions are based on a literature review using the literature research method,as well as a definition and justification of the scientific connotations of computational thinking,graphical programming and App Inventor;interviews with IT teachers at H Middle School in Concentric County,Wuzhong City,using the survey research method,to understand the content and teaching methods of the IT curriculum at H Middle School,the teachers’attitudes towards programming classes,the development of computational thinking and the At the same time,a pre-test of computational thinking skills was administered to 53 students in Class X of Middle School H to investigate the level of students’ computational thinking skills.Based on the theoretical basis and the findings of the survey,this paper develops an instructional design for the cultivation of computational thinking in high school graphical programming.The students’ computational thinking skills were developed.Students’ work,computational thinking skills and curriculum implementation were analysed through teaching evaluations,classroom records and computational thinking skills scales to test teaching effectiveness and identify problems,so as to reflect on and improve teaching design and practice.The results of the study show that:(1)The graphical programming teaching design can effectively promote the development of students’ computational thinking;(2)The App Inventor teaching design motivates students to learn graphical programming;(3)The project-based teaching method is an effective way to develop computational thinking in the teaching of graphical programming.In conclusion,the graphical programming teaching design for the cultivation of computational thinking improves students’ computational thinking ability to a certain extent,and the project-based teaching method has a good promotion effect on the teaching of graphical programming.This study provides useful reference and inspiration for the empirical study of App Inventor teaching to optimize the cultivation of students’ computational thinking.