Computational Thinking in Mathematical Modeling Projects. A Case Study with Future Mathematics Teachers

Computational thinking has been a topic of debate in research in different STEM areas. This type of thinking is considered one of the vital skill sets for societies’ technological and scientific development. This document presents the results of a study that investigates the computational thinking skills embedded in a mathematical modeling project. The project was developed by three future math teachers who participated in a mathematical modeling course. Analyzing students’ documents, videos, and materials made it possible to identify actions associated with decomposition, abstraction, algorithms, representation/modeling, and generalization. The components of computational thinking observed in this study show the opportunities that mathematical modeling offers to the development of computational thinking skills; however, new studies are required on the guidelines and conditions necessary for teachers to recognize the importance of the components they use and to be able to explain them to their students through modeling projects.