Understanding and Measuring Computational Thinking: A Tripartite View of Competence

Computation is critical to social development for information processing in today’s digital world. Computational Thinking (CT), the underlying cognitive functioning of designing computation, has been under heated discussion. However, the conceptualization of CT and its measurements still require improvement when discussing CT as a competence for problem-solving. This study first conceptualizes CT in problem-solving context by identifying the framework of competence based on a tripartite view and applying it to clarify that CT competence consists of CT knowledge, skills, and attitudes. It then aims to develop a self-reported scale for complementing CT measurements based on the tripartite view. This work contributes to CT theories and measures through a more precise conceptual framework and an instrument developed based on it. It enriches IS studies by a new perspective that humans form their cognitive process for problem-solving under digital technologies, especially computational tools