Critical Thinking and Computational Thinking in the Learning of Socio-Scientific Issues Related to Genetics?

Cappadocia

Simposio; 15th Conference of the European Science Education Research Association; 2023

European Science Education Research Association

Critical thinking and computational thinking are extremely important skills in science teaching andlearning. In this paper, we analysed the traits of critical thinking and computational thinking in theprogramming of short stories in Scratch about cases of application of genetic engineering in a secondaryschool in the city of Córdoba, Argentina. The study was conducted using a design-based research approach.As for critical thinking, the projects done by the students included mainly arguments with evidence, data,and aspects that allowed for the assessment of information, as well as for the development ofcounterarguments. The main computational thinking skills developed were parallelism and synchronisation.Thus, it can be concluded that a context influenced by programming is suitable for making decisions aboutwhat to make visible, what information to represent and how to do it. In this way, it becomes an instancethat fosters critical thinking and computational thinking traits.