An Examination of Abstraction in K-12 Computer Science Education

Computer scientists have been working towards a common definition of abstraction; however, the instruction and assessment of abstraction remain categorically under-researched. Abstraction is often cited as a component of computational thinking and can be likened to a higher order thinking skill. Most K-12 educators have studied critical thinking (e.g., Bloom's taxonomy, Marzano & Kendall's new taxonomy) more than computational thinking. Overlapping characteristics of abstraction and critical thinking can provide educators with instructional guidance. The qualitative examination of how teachers determine curriculum, deliver instruction, and design assessments in K-12 computer science education contributes insights into current instructional practices and variables for future quantitative study. The instructional strategies, objectives, and assessments of 12 K-12 computer science teachers from three states in the United States were examined in this descriptive qualitative examination of instruction using thematic coding analysis. The majority of teachers interviewed had little to no professional development regarding teaching abstraction. All teachers in the study were unsure what student abstraction abilities should be according to grade level. Teachers' understanding of abstraction ranged from very little knowledge to very knowledgeable. The majority of teachers interviewed did not assess abstraction intentionally. Teachers described successfully teaching abstraction through multiple instructional practices and spiraling curriculum. This examination of abstraction in K-12 computer science education offers practical descriptive insights and illuminates additional variables for researching the instruction of abstraction qualitatively and quantitatively. Anecdotal instructional successes are included in the results.