Abstract—Computational Thinking has gained popularity in
recent years within educational and political discourses. It is
more than ever crucial to discuss the term itself and what it
means. In June 2017, Denning articulated that computational
thinking can be viewed as either “traditional” or “new”. New
computational thinking highlights certain skills as desired in
solving problems, whereas traditional computational thinking is
a skill set resulting from engaging in traditional computing
activities. By looking at computational thinking through the
perspective of semiotics, it is possible to dissolve the traditional
vs new distinction and concentrate on computational thinking
having both an explicit and implicit nature. In this perspective,
a computer program becomes an algorithmic sign which can
both be interpreted by humans and machines. The double
interpretation allows for a dialectic relationship between
computing activities and Computational Thinking instead of the
dualistic traditional vs new approach.
Index Terms—Computational thinking, constructionism,
computing education, the notional machine.
The authors are with the Department of Digital Design and Information
Studies, Aarhus University, Denmark (e-mail: tbhs@cc.au.dk,
brynskov@cavi.au.dk).
Cite: Thomas Hvid Spangsberg and Martin Brynskov, "The Nature of Computational Thinking in Computing Education," International Journal of Information and Education Technology vol. 8, no. 10, pp. 742-747, 2018.