Educational guidelines and social representations of computational thinking: Evidence from students in São Paulo and Portugal in physics and chemistry education
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This study analyses social representations of Computational Thinking (CT), also considering the evocations related to the automation of data collection as a didactic resource associated with CT. The results reveal asymmetries: Portuguese master’s students present a structured representation, integrating CT into the pedagogical dimension, while undergraduate students from São Paulo exhibit a technicist representation, marked by formative gaps and a high incidence of ‘I don’t know’, problematized as a zone of theoretical muteness. The research discusses the hypothesis that the greater normative coherence in Portugal favours the appropriation of CT, recognising, however, that this relationship is mediated by institutional dynamics. The study indicates that the misalignment of educational guidelines can impact the transition between instrumental practice and critical reflection, with automation being an element that, when perceived only as a technique, limits a broader understanding of CT.
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