Decomposition as Design-Based Intervention for Problem Based Learning

Abstract

Combining Problem-Based and Computational Thinking in teaching can benefit both teachers and students. The decomposition from computational thinking skill can help computer science students break down complex system design problems into smaller, manageable parts, while considering social factors and different roles of each part. This study proposes a research question to use decomposition as an intervention to observe its effectiveness in problem-solving scenarios. And also observe how structured instructions can impact students' ability to build system design models within problem solving environments. Decomposition is used as a design-based intervention in the process. With Activity theory as a conceptual framework, this work compares the influence of decomposition on modeling problems. This study used a multimethod research approach. Participants were selected using a self-selection method from students who took a modeling course offered jointly by a Knit Space and KLE Technological University. System design problems can play a major impact in designing such problem scenarios. Two social media platforms were given as modeling problems which also have the social context and component roles. 50 student answer sheets were evaluated qualitatively and quantitatively for the study analysis. The collected data was analyzed using various methods, including descriptive statistics, paired t-tests, student feedback, in-vivo coding, and process coding. This analysis focused on both statistical measures and the themes that emerged from the study, particularly higher-order thinking skills. The results support the conclusion that decomposition can help students create better models.