Algorithmic Abstraction in Computer Science Curricula for Primary Schools: The Case of a National Curriculum for 4th Grade

We currently conduct an extensive research project that investigates the implementation of a national computer science (CS) curriculum for the 4th grade. This research explores the curriculum's evolution, from the policymakers' visions, through the formal (intended) curriculum, teachers' training, and the actual implementation in class, to the educational outcomes (attained curriculum). As part of this research, we identified the educational goals of the policymakers who initiated this curriculum and examined how their goals were reflected in the formal curriculum. This paper focuses on one of the policymakers' goals-The development of algorithmic abstraction. To this end, we developed a method to investigate how algorithmic abstraction is addressed in the formal curriculum. In a recent paper, we focused on one facet of this method. Here, we will complete the presentation of this method by describing its two other facets and present the corresponding findings. Our findings indicate that the formal curriculum emphasized programming, whereas the more abstract concept of an algorithm was not sufficiently stressed. This was reflected in three ways: Most of the algorithmic problems included in the curriculum were presented using programming-related terms; algorithms and algorithm-related terms comprised a notably smaller part of the curriculum; and CS concepts were mostly introduced in terms of programming. We generalized our method to obtain a framework for assessing CS introductory curricula through the lens of algorithmic abstraction. Since abstraction is widely acknowledged as a CS fundamental idea, such a framework has significant merit for the CS educational research community.