Computational Thinking in University
Education

Darwin Augusto Moscoso Montoya

Short Communication

Computational Thinking in University Education

Darwin Augusto Moscoso Montoya*

Universidad Nacional de San Agustín de Arequipa, Peru

Corresponding Author

Received Date:February 24, 2025; Published Date:April 01, 2025

Introduction

It is currently recognized that computational thinking is a vital skill that must be developed within the teaching and learning process that takes place in university education, because this will allow students in general, regardless of the discipline or career they study, to better develop their abilities to be able to succeed in this world in which there are varied complexities to which they must be prepared to face them. It is essential that higher education institutions consider and study integrating computational thinking into the curricula; To this end, the methodologies and contexts that will highlight the importance and factors that lead to a better application of this thinking in academic and professional life must be adequate.

A first element to consider is that of the educational level, since at the time of making use of this capacity there should be no differences in terms of the people who use them, so it is necessary to enable programs that lead to a reduction in the gaps that may exist between users who have differences in their educational levels. tending to make it the same for everyone, be it teaching staff, students, workers, etc. A second element to consider is that the skills that are achieved with computational thinking can vary significantly according to the different academic disciplines and the levels that are achieved, that is, undergraduate or graduate. According to Tarigan et al. (2024), those students who are doing their academic work and belong to science programs have a greater development of their computational thinking [1]. In the same way, it can be found that those who are at the postgraduate level have a higher development of this capacity. It should also be mentioned that another element to consider is that of the specific educational content and how these are being applied, applying specific teaching and learning methods that can lead to easier learning, since AI can be used in specific branches of knowledge and where students have greater knowledge of these digital tools [2].

Third, making an adequate measurement and evaluation of computational thinking skills is of vital importance because it will allow us to know what is the level of understanding and improvement in their academic results that students are having as part of their educational process and also of training their computational thinking [3]. Fourth, Computational Thinking must be integrated into university curricula, which will lead to an analysis of educational objectives and to see if teaching methodologies are the most appropriate (Moscoso, 2024). All higher education institutions must adapt their educational curricula to the new requirements and include digital and programming skills in their courses and from the first semesters. To this end, various activities can be integrated, among which we can mention: Transversal Courses regardless of the student’s degree of studies; Integrated Modules, in which the concept of computational thinking is incorporated in all courses, but which are contextualized to each discipline of the knowledge that is being learned; Interdisciplinary Projects, in which activities are promoted that will require the implementation of computational techniques that help solve real problems, for which multidisciplinary work can be used.