Entanglement of Computational Thinking and Fairness Reasoning in a Resource Allocation Scenario

• In Event: 61.050 - Constructivist Learning Environments and Participants' Reasoning

Abstract

We explore how children’s computational thinking (CT) intersects with reasoning about fairness in a scenario about resource allocation. Through analysis of video-records of an interview with a 2nd grader, Ollie, we demonstrate entanglement between CT and fairness reasoning in his sensemaking. The back-and-forth between CT and fairness reasoning pushes his sensemaking into new areas and helps sustain it in the face of uncertainty. The long-term motivation behind this work is twofold; 1) showing that CT can provide important tools for reasoning about socioscientific issues, 2) noticing these thinking practices as CT early on, and in tractable scenarios, may be one piece of the puzzle to opening up more pathways for more children to engage in CT, and eventually, computer science.

Authors

• Erin Ronayne Sohr, University of Maryland - College Park

• Jennifer Radoff, University of Maryland - College Park

• Ayush Gupta, University of Maryland - College Park

• Andrew R. Elby, University of Maryland - College Park