Learner's conceptions of computing: some thoughts on refocussing ICT pedagogy

Co-presenter: Roland Gesthuizen

Over the last 25 years or so, there has been a major shift in science education attributable to science educators taking constructivist ideas seriously. This paper argues that whilst computers have been increasingly used in classrooms over this same period, and there have been some efforts to portray learner’s understandings of computing concepts, remarkably little attention has been paid to how people learn information technology from the point of view cognitive development. A number of approaches for understanding learner’s conceptions of information technology are presented, and it is suggested that our research and pedagogy could be greatly enriched by making learners' conceptions of information technology the object of study. Specifically, we report on a small-scale trial where a variant of the Predict-Observe-Explain protocol was used to probe understanding of a word processing task, and student responses were analysed using a knowledge framework. The results of the trial raise some challenges in terms of the content and pedagogy of ICT classes, and more carefully scaffolded probes to elicit learner understanding.

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