Digital ink for cognitive assessment of computational thinking

Cognitive testing is concerned with quantitative and qualitative evaluation of an individual´s intellectual functioning in its broad sense. Tests for evaluating cognitive components are based on submitting the subject to a given task and then assessing performance according to an established set of reference parameters. In order to analyze subject´s behavior and test results, a software tool was developed based upon digital ink technology, which permits the digitalization of the assessment procedure, from the undertaking of the test to the production of the assessment results. By doing so, the test procedure is computerized and its data is saved in InkML format and processed to analyze tasks previously defined by the evaluator. We have used this tool to develop a Computational Thinking test defined within the Cattell-Horn-Carroll CHC framework of intelligence. Further investigating the relationship between fluid intelligence and computational thinking allows a better understanding of the main set of cognitive skills which need to be developed by students and professionals that aim to work in this domain. Moreover, it is suggested that assessments, independent of their context, may benefit from using the InkML tool, mainly due to the richer set of information that can be collected.