The goal of the NSF project, Computational Thinking Through Mobile Computing, is to introduce undergraduate students to computational thinking (CT) by engaging them to create apps for mobile phones and tablets that are both useful and personally meaningful. CT is a 21st century STEM literacy whose concepts are needed by informed citizens and workers to solve problems and understand complex systems in many domains.
In our project, students learn CT by creating mobile apps using MIT App Inventor , a visual blocks-based programming environment. We are developing online curricular modules that use mobile app programming to teach CT principles and mobile computing design concepts. These modules include web-based tutorials, video lectures, screencasts, programming exercises, and quizzes --- online materials that give students more in-class time to engage in active learning. Several introductory and intermediate courses are being developed based on these modules. We are also devising, testing, and evaluating new techniques for assessing students' CT knowledge in the context of mobile computing and project-based courses.
