Skip to main content
Log in

Levels of problem-solving competency identified through Bebras Computing Challenge

  • Published:
Education and Information Technologies Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

As computational thinking (CT) gains more attention in K-16 education, problem-solving has been more emphasized as a core competency that can be found across various domains. To develop an evaluation framework that reveals students’ problem-solving competency, this study examined solutions for the Bebras Computing Challenge which requires students to utilize problem-solving skills in a CT domain. A total of 246 solutions of three Bebras tasks were analyzed based on a qualitative content analysis method and four levels of solutions were identified. The solution levels revealed how students (1) failed to understand a problem (No solution), (2) solved the problem but failed to identify the pattern (Premature level), (3) identified principles embedded in the problem but failed to apply them to devise an automized solution (Intermediate level), and (4) identified principles and solved the problem by applying them (Advanced level). This study presented solution levels across Bebras tasks and discussed how task difficulty affected student solutions differently. Implications for teaching problem-solving skills were discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

Data availability

No data is publicly available.

References

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kyungbin Kwon.

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval

The study was approved by the University Institutional Review Board (IRB2018-1056) and did not involve any monetary compensation.

Conflict of interest

No potential competing interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Appendix: Bebras tasks

Appendix: Bebras tasks

1.1 Cipher wheel

A secret message was left on a beaver’s gravestone by using a cipher wheel and we want to find out what it means.

The wheel works such that only the inner wheel (with small letters) can be rotated. The outer wheel is for the actual message.

As you can see in the first image, when the key is 0 ‘A’ is encoded as ‘a.’

The second image shows that when the key is 17 (because the inner wheel has been rotated by 17 positions counter-clockwise) 'A' is encoded as 'r'.

figure b

With the key equal to 17, we can encode the message “WHO ARE YOU” as “nyf riv pfl” The message “mgvw ny twao” is received. We know that this was encrypted in a clever way: For the first letter the key was 1, for the second letter the key was 2, the key for the third letter was 3, etc. For instance, “sgg” with the same encryption method would be “RED”.

Question:

Decipher the encrypted message and choose the original message. (PLEASE attach a picture of problem-solving procedure/your work. It could be handwritten or digital).

  1. a.

    LOVE IS HERE

  2. b.

    LIFE IS GOOD

  3. c.

    LOVE IS MINE

  4. d.

    LESS IS MORE

1.2 Red Raider School

Red Raider School encourages its teachers to include games in their lessons.

One teacher invented the following game and he asks his students to play this game. The winner will leave school before dismissal.

Rules of the game:

The school has one hallway with four doors in a row. The students form a queue and take turns to walk down the hallway. When they get to an open door, they must close it and move to the next door. When they get to a closed door, they must open it, go into the classroom, leave the door open and wait there until the teacher dismisses them.

At the start of the game all the doors are closed. For example,

Start:

All doors are closed

1st student:

The first is closed; open and enter

2nd student:

Shut the first door, the second is closed, open and enter

3rd student:

The first is closed, open and enter

 

If a student finds all the doors open, he or she will shut all of them, and leave school early!

Question:

If the students are numbered 1 to 20, which student gets to leave school first? (PLEASE attach a picture of problem-solving procedure/your work. It could be handwritten or digital) *HINT: Use a binary system.

  1. a.

    15th student

  2. b.

    16th student

  3. c.

    17th student

  4. d.

    18th student

1.3 Ballroom dance partners

Andy, Bert, Chris, David, and Eric are professional male ballroom dancers that take part in a TV show. Amy, Brenda, Carol, Dianna, and Emma are female participants that will learn to dance during this show. Each dancer will be assigned a single participant to teach.

Before the show, the producer organizes a party where everybody meets. After the party, the professionals and participants fill out a questionnaire:

  • each professional dancer ranks the participants in the order that he thinks they can be successful

  • each participant ranks the professionals in the order of how fast she can learn from him (1 = 1st choice, 2 = 2nd choice, etc.)

Here are the results of these choices:

Professional Dancers' Preferences

Participants' preferences

 

Amy

Brenda

Carol

Dianna

Emma

 

Andy

Bert

Chris

David

Eric

Andy

2

1

4

5

3

Amy

5

2

3

1

4

Bert

4

5

2

3

1

Brenda

1

3

5

2

4

Chris

5

4

3

2

1

Carol

3

4

1

5

2

David

1

3

2

5

4

Dianna

2

4

1

5

3

Eric

3

5

1

2

4

Emma

5

2

3

4

1

The producers want to match the professionals with their ideal participants so that every participant is satisfied with his/her choice. You are asked to match the professionals with the contestants so that everyone has a perfect partner. You must also make sure that all unmatched pairs would still be happy with their partners.

Question:

When you have finished assigning partners, who is Eric's partner? (PLEASE attach a picture of problem-solving procedure/your work. It could be handwritten or digital).

  1. a.

    Amy

  2. b.

    Brenda

  3. c.

    Carol

  4. d.

    Dianna

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Kwon, K., Cheon, J. & Moon, H. Levels of problem-solving competency identified through Bebras Computing Challenge. Educ Inf Technol 26, 5477–5498 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-021-10553-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-021-10553-9

Keywords

Navigation