A performance-based assessment platform for developing computational thinking concepts and practices: EasyCode

Computational Thinking (CT) concepts and practices involve higher-order cognitive skills. Higher-order cognitive skills can be assessed using a performance-based assessment of programming processes. This study presents EasyCode, a performance-based assessment platform for developing CT in students. Distinct from existing methods that rely on the static code analysis of students’ artifacts, EasyCode conducts a dynamic code analysis, enabling the assessment of CT practices throughout the programming process. EasyCode aids student learning by setting performance tasks and providing an online judgment service, which tests the functionality of students’ submitted code and provides immediate feedback. For students with needs, EasyCode provides a support mode with tailor-made toolboxes and decomposed subtasks to help them develop CT concepts and practices. The performance tasks on EasyCode are categorized into three difficulty levels to provide a progressing ladder for students. A sample CT performance task is provided to illustrate how EasyCode facilitates students’ learning of CT concepts and practices. Copyright © 2020 IEEE. All rights reserved.