Cognitive skill

Psychology

Social psychology

Curriculum

Pedagogy

Computational thinking

Neuroscience

Qualitative research

21st century skills

Thematic analysis

Mathematics education

Computer science

Cognition

Skills management

Competence (human resources)

Sociology

Social science

Education Inquiry

Teachers around the world have started teaching programming at the K-9 level, some due to the formal introduction of programming in the national curriculum, others without such pressure and on their own initiative. In this study, we attempted to understand which skills – both CT-related and general – are developed among pupils in the process of working with programming in schools. To do so, we interviewed 19 Swedish teachers who had been teaching programming for a couple of years on their own initiative. The teachers were selected based on their experience in teaching programming. Our thematic analysis of these interviews shed light on what skills teachers perceive pupils develop when programming. This led us to identify three themes related to CT skills and five themes related to general skills. The CT skills identified corresponded well with and were thus thematically structured according to the dimensions of CT proposed in the framework of Brennan and Resnick, namely computational concepts, computational practices and computational perspectives. In addition to the CT skills, our thematic analysis also resulted in the identification of general skills related to digital competency and 21st century skills, namely cognitive skills and attitudes, language skills, collaborative skills and attitudes and creative problem-solving skills and attitudes.

Development of computational thinking, digital competence and 21<sup>st</sup>century skills when learning programming in K-9

Development of computational thinking, digital competence and 21stcentury skills when learning programming in K-9

Development of computational thinking, digital competence and 21^stcentury skills when learning programming in K-9