Abstract: In recent years, Computational thinking (CT) and creativity have been recognized as essential skills to acquire from a young age. Despite the rich and fruitful research efforts to understand these skills, the association between CT and creativity still needs to be fully understood. In this lecture, I will present our research on the connection between CT and creativity among middle school students through designed challenges in a game-based learning environment. I will discuss the impact of our intervention program to promote these skills and describe the practices for collecting and analyzing data from standard creativity tests and the learning environment logfiles.

Bio: Rotem Israel-Fishelson is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Teaching & Learning, Policy & Leadership in the College of Education at the University of Maryland. Her research explores ways to introduce learners to data science using engaging computational learning experiences. She is also interested in assessing computational thinking and creativity skills in game-based learning environments using learning analytics methods. Rotem holds a Ph.D. in Science Education from Tel Aviv University, an M.Sc. in Media Technology from Linnaeus University, and a B.A. in Instructional Design from the Holon Institute of Technology.

Join us in the lab or on Zoom (register here).