1 Introduction

Student-centered approaches are available in today’s educational environments. In parallel with this, there is a need for building the information according to the students’ background. It is frequently stated that information acquired in this way will have a potential to solve daily life problems. Students utilizing such an educational environment should have some skills. Examining these skills which are expressed as skills to be specialized by students of the twenty-first century; it is possible to see that they refer to skills, specialities and literacies to be acquired for solving situations that might be encountered in daily life and work environment.

P21 (Partnership for twenty-first Century Skills), which is an organization with members from the U.S. and other countries in the areas of business, government and education, conducts global studies to improve evidence-based educational politics and practice, and make innovative education possible for everyone. As a result of their studies, they have revealed a framework for students of the twenty-first century (P21 Framework for twenty-first Century Learning). According to this framework, twenty-first century student outputs can be analyzed under four main topics, namely, Life and career skills, Learning and innovation skills, Key subjects & twenty-first century themes and Information, media and technology skills (P21, 2018a; P21, 2019).

In the context of Life and career skills, students should have information, skills and social skills that they may need in their daily life and work environment (P 21, 2018b). These skills include Flexibility and adaptability; Initiative and self-direction; Social and cross-cultural skills; Productivity and accountability; Leadership and responsibility (P21, 2019). Learning and innovation skills contain skills that might be used by students in their daily life and work environment which constantly get more and more complicated (P 21, 2018b). They include Creativity and innovation; Critical thinking and problem solving; Communication; Collaboration (P21, 2019). Key Subjects and twenty-first century themes comprise information, skills and specialities required for twenty-first century students to be successful in their working life and daily life (P 21, 2018b). Key subjects within this scope include English; Reading or language arts; World languages; Arts; Mathematics; Economics, Science, Geography, History, Government and civics (P21, 2019). Information, media and technology skills emphasize literacies at the point of accessing to information and keeping pace with the rapid change in technology. They can be expressed under three topics as Information literacy; Media literacy; ICT Literacy (P 21, 2018b). Computational Thinking (CT) is an important twenty-first century skill (Voogt et al. 2015). Among the twenty-first century student outputs, it is seen that especially Learning & innovation skills and Information media & technology skills substantially coincide with CT because CT is consistent with some conceps such as computer literacy, digital literacy, and algorithmic thinking (Moreno-León et al. 2018). Furthermore, CT embrances creativity, algorithmic thinking, critical thinking, problem solving, cooperativity & communication skills (Korkmaz et al. 2017; Doleck et al. 2017) and requires computer using knowledge, skill & attitudes (Korkmaz et al. 2017).

International Society for Technology in Education’s (ISTE) standards, which were about students’ technology literacy in 1998, were transformed into technological use in 2007 and have become transformative learning with technology since 2016. In other words, today’s students should be trained by focusing on developing in the constantly evolving technological area. From this point of view, one of the standards for students is that they should be Computational thinkers. Students with this skill develop and use strategies to understand and solve problems using the power of technological methods (ISTE 2018). CT is considered directly or indirectly as an important skill which is not only designated by organisations with various stakeholders like P21, but also presented by ISTE.

Studies on CT can be examined under the categories of Concepts, Practices and Perspectives (Brennan and Resnick 2012; Lye and Koh 2014; Román-González et al. 2017). The dimension of Concepts includes variables and loops, in other words it is related with the technical dimension of programming. The dimension of Practices examines problem solving procedures in the process of programming. The dimension of Perspectives requires students to develop an understanding for themselves and their relationships with others in the technological world (Lye and Koh 2014). Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) and ISTE offer a framework on how to train pre-service teachers within the context of CT. Methods of collecting, analyzing and summarizing data are described for science classes. In addition, students’ CT can be developed with data collection, analysis and representation concerning social science (Yadav et al. 2017). In other words, CT have fields of application in all levels and areas of educational environments especially in the dimension of Perspectives.

CT has become a skill just like reading, writing and arithmetic (Wing 2006). In the literature, there are various studies aiming to bring this skill in pre-school students (Bers et al. 2014), elementary school students (Zhong et al. 2016; Chen et al. 2017; Tran 2018), high school students (Atmatzidou and Demetriadis 2016) K-12 students within the scope of math, science, social studies and language arts courses (Barr and Stephenson 2011), high school students within the context of math and science courses in a way to adapt to STEM courses (Weintrop et al. 2016), university students (Chao 2016; Cetin 2016; Günbatar and Bakırcı 2019) and in-service teachers (Marcelino et al. 2017; Angeli et al. 2016). As is aimed in these studies, CT is a skill to be brought in individuals at every age and educational level. Integration of CT into the system of education requires basic transformations in teaching role in the classroom and student experiences in the process of education. Students in this environment can obtain information from both the teacher and the technological environment (Basogain et al. 2018). That is way teachers must update themselves according to twenty-first century professional development (P21, 2019). Having CT skills has become an obligation for teachers who will establish this environment.

CT can be considered a series of problem solving processes that can be applied in all areas and a cognitive skill that is expected to be acquired by an average person (Yadav et al. 2017). It is a process of generating a solution using computers and computational technology when a problem is faced (Grover and Pea 2013). Computer programming is an important tool to develop CT. But according to some computer science educators to develop CT, programming is not essential (Voogt et al. 2015). It is a thinking skill set that does not have to result in computer programming. Thus, it focuses on principles of computing rather than computer programming skills (García-Peñalvo and Mendes 2018). It includes formulating problems so that solutions can be offered with computational steps and algorithms (Aho 2012). When daily life problems are solved using computational tools, students will be able to use technology efficiently besides having a technological literacy (Yadav et al. 2016). It is recommended to design environments that are appropriate for constructivist approach, which is among today’s educational approaches, and may support learning based on problem solving and computational perspectives (Lye and Koh 2014). Similarly, CT can be gained through making students comprehend the steps to be followed in the context of an open-ended problem concerning any area (Anderson 2016; Angeli et al. 2016). CT which can be brought in students as long as the educational content is supportive and sufficient time has passed (Atmatzidou and Demetriadis 2016). It may also be developed by adult individuals in the process of solving problems faced in professional life.

There are various thoughts for bringing CT in future teachers within the context of curriculum reform (García-Peñalvo and Mendes 2018) due to the fact that CT is a skill used in the context of professional life. Individuals who are unable to acquire this skill adequately at the end of the processes of education will have to develop the skill in their daily life and professional life (Korkmaz et al. 2015). However, there is not enough evidence in the lietrature that the professional life has improved this skill. Given the lack of evidence, it is required to determine the level of in-service and pre-service teachers who will help students develop CT, a skill required by our era. Moreover, it is also essential to determine whether or not in-service teachers have developed the CT through their professional life by making comparisons their results with pre-service teachers’ data.

1.1 What is CT?

CT is the new literacy of the twenty-first century (Wing 2011) and has recently been centered upon as an important skill of the twenty-first century for all students (Yadav et al. 2016; Senin and Nasri 2019). However, the concept is not new; it dates back to the 1960s. During these years, it was asserted that university students from all areas needed to learn programming (Grover and Pea 2013) and CT was presented as algorithmic thinking. It was proven to be related with automizing this process with computer by using regular and consecutive steps when necessary (Yadav et al. 2017). The skill used to be defined as thinking like a computer scientist in case of facing a problem has been altered afterwards (Román-González et al. 2017) and is moving to other disciplines now (Anderson 2016; Shute et al. 2017). It has started to be stressed among the twenty-first century literacies after non-computer scientists began to use computational approaches in the problem solving process (Mohaghegh and McCauley 2016). The reason that it used to be interpreted in this way is probably due to using the term “computer” instead of “study of computers” within computer science. Computer science uses computers and computational technology to solve problems (Mohaghegh and McCauley 2016). Thus, CT can be suggested as a universal thinking skill for not only computer scientists, but also for everyone (Weinberg 2013). CT emphasizes conceptualizing. It requires more than writing a computer program (Wing 2006; Voogt et al. 2015). It needs a multi-level abstraction. It is a fundamental skill that contains the things fulfilled by everyone in modern society rather than rote skills. It is people’s way of problem solving; in other words, a way of thinking as a person rather than a computer. It completes and combines mathematical and engineer thinking. It is not only an artifact of software and hardware, but also ideas. It is available everywhere for everyone as long as it is integrated with human effort (Wing 2006).

In the literature, there is a tendency concerning six main elements for CT in operational definition that are decomposition, abstraction, algorithm design, debugging, iteration, and generalization (Shute et al. 2017; Román-González et al. 2018). These categories can be explained respectively as; separating the problem into manageable steps using computer and other tools; Analyzing and arranging the data logically; Presenting the data with summarizations like models and simulations; Designing the solution in a systematic way by algorithmic thinking; Identifying, analyzing and applying possible solutions to reach the combination of the most productive and effective steps and sources; Generalizing and transferring this problem solving process to problem statuses that show a large variety (Israel et al. 2015; Román-González et al. 2017; ISTE and CSTA 2011; Csizmadia et al. 2015). The process comprising these statuses can be carried out using thinking skills like Logical Thinking, Algorithmic Thinking, Efficiency and Innovative Thinking which all have strong aspects and applications (Mohaghegh and McCauley 2016). Thus, over time there has been a consensus that CT is a thinking skill related to processing data and proceeding step by step in the problem solving process (Román-González et al. 2017). CT is a solving complex problem by efficient, effective, algorithmically and fairly way (Lu and Fletscher 2009). The definition of CT has not been maturated enough (Román-González et al. 2018b). But, if we need to suggest an up-to-date definition for CT, which has been brought forward once again by Wing (2006) and defined in various ways since then; “Computational Thinking is the thought processes involved in formulating problems and their solutions so that the solutions are represented in a form that can be effectively carried out by an information-processing agent” (Wing 2011).

1.2 Aim

The goal of this study is to compare in-service and pre-service teachers’ CT and if there is a differentiation, reveal the opinions of teachers concerning the possible contribution of professional life to that differentiation. Within the scope of this goal, the research questions are:

  • RQ1: Is there a significant difference between in-service and pre-service teachers’ CT?

What are the opinions of in-service teachers about the changes of;

  • RQ2: creativity,

  • RQ3: algorithmic thinking,

  • RQ4: cooperativity,

  • RQ5: critical thinking,

  • RQ6: problem solving,

  • RQ7: communication skill in the context of professional life?

2 Method

2.1 Research design

Mixed research method was used in the study. The study design is explanatory design. Explanatory design firstly uses quantitative method and then qualitative method to follow up and refine the results obtained (Freankel and Wallen 2009). Within the scope of this study, in-service and pre-service teachers’ CT and the sub dimensions of these skills were compared quantitatively in the first place. As a result of comparisons, it was determined that there were differentiations in favour of in-service teachers. Qualitative data were obtained for the purpose of revealing the reasons of development within the context of professional life and augmenting the results.

2.2 Sample

Quantitative data within the scope of the study were obtained from 870 pre-service teachers and 143 in-service teachers. Qualitative data, on the other hand, were obtained from the interviews conducted with ten in-service teachers. The pre-service teachers were enrolled to Van Yüzüncü Yıl University Faculty of Education in the fall semester of 2017–2018. It was tried to reach as many pre-service teachers as possible from different fields (e.g., social studies education, science education, etc.). Among the pre-service teachers; 540 were female and 311 were male. 19 participants did not specify their gender. Data were obtained from pre-service teachers receiving education in different classes from eight fields. Two people did not specify their graduate level (see Table 1).

Table 1 Pre-service teachers’ demographic profiles
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On the other hand, the participant in-service teachers work at government organizations in Van province during the fall semester of 2017–2018. It is tried to reach as many in-service teachers as different branches and characteristics. 73 were female, 67 were male and 3 did not specify their gender. Data were collected from the in-service teachers with different seniorities from 20 branches. Five teachers did not specify their branches and two teachers their seniority year (see Table 2).

Table 2 In-service teachers’ demographic profiles
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With ten volunteer teachers interviews were conducted. Among the in-service teachers from whom the qualitative data were collected; eight were male and two were female. The branch of one of the female teachers is Hand Arts Education and the branch of the other is Computer Education and Instructional Technology. The branch of one of the male teachers is Elementary Mathematics Education, the branch of four is Computer Education and Instructional Technology, the branch of two is English Language Education and the branch of one is Music Education. They have a professional life ranging from 2 to 13 years.

2.3 Data collection instruments

2.3.1 Computational thinking scales (CTS)

Computational Thinking Scale developed by Korkmaz et al. (2017) was used to determine CT of participants. The five-point Likert-type scale consists of 5 factors and 29 items. For each item, the participant picks one of the following options: “Always (5)”, “Generally (4)”, “Sometimes (3)”, “Rarely (2)”, “Never (1)”. The first factor, Creativity, consists of 8 items. Factor loading values of the first factor varies between 0.708 and 0.548. The second factor, Algorithmic thinking, consists of 6 items. Factor loading values of the second factor vary between 0.827 and 0.666. The third factor, Cooperativity, consists of 4 items. Factor loading values of the third factor vary between 0.842 and 0.685. The fourth factor, Critical thinking, consists of 5 items. Factor loading values of the fourth factor vary between 0.764 and 0.533. The fifth factor, Problem solving, consists of 6 items. Factor loading values of the fifth factor vary between 0.720 and 0.494. The scale explains 56.12% of the variance. The Cronbach’s Alpha internal consistency coefficient is α = 0.843 for the first factor, α = 0.869 for the second factor, α = 0.865 for the third factor, α = 0.784 for the fourth factor, α = 0.727 for the fifth factor, and α = 0.822 for the whole scale. Goodness of fit index values are within the boundaries of excellent fitness (X2/sd < 3; 0 < RMSEA<0.05; 0 < S-RMR < 0.05; 0.97 < NNFI<1; 0.97 < CFI < 1; 0.95 < GFI < 1; 0.95 < AGFI<1; 0.95 < IFI < 1).

2.3.2 Teacher interview form

Comparing the in-service and pre-service teachers according to CTS; it was seen that in-service teachers’ CT measurements and four sub dimensions concerning these measurements were statistically higher than pre-service teachers’. On the basis of this data, an interview form was prepared for determining whether or not professional life contributed to teachers’ CT and if it did, it would help reveal the possible reasons. According to ISTE (2015), CT is a common reflection of “creativity, algorithmic thinking, critical thinking, problem solving, cooperative thinking and communication skills”. From this point of view, the interview form was prepared based on the aforementioned skills. The form consists of six questions and probe questions concerning each question were used when necessary. Questions and probe questions within this scope were prepared in the light of the literature. Questions were provided in Appendix Table 10.

2.4 Data collection procedure and analysis

The data were collected with the aforementioned data collection instruments. CT of in-service and pre-service teachers were obtained via CTS in the fall semester of 2017–2018. Measurements of in-service and pre-service teachers concerning CTS and its sub dimensions were compared by running MANOVA analysis. According to the MANOVA results, there were statistically significant differences among pre-and in-service teachers. Then the qualitative data were obtained on the basis of the question, “What might be the reasons of these differences which are in favor of in-service teachers within the context of professional life?” Qualitative data were obtained conducting two different focus group interviews with teacher interview form in the spring semester of 2017–2018. Focus group interviews were voice-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Transcribes were analyzed through content analysis method. By this way, qualitative data of the study were obtained. Codes were determined for the qualitative data concerning the change in CT, themes were presented on the basis of these codes and expression examples regarding the themes were presented in tables.

3 Findings

3.1 RQ1: Is there a significant difference between in-service and pre-service teachers’ CT?

MANOVA analysis was conducted to determine whether the in-service and pre-service teachers differentiated according to the common effect of the sub dimensions of CTS or not. According to the common effect of the sub dimensions of CTS; the in-service and pre-service teachers differentiate significantly (F(1,1011) = 3.78, p = 0.001; Wilks’ Lambda(˄) = 0.978; Partial eta squared = 0.022). This differentiation is in favor of in-service teachers. In addition, Table 3 shows the data concerning the comparisons that were made according to the sub dimensions of the scale and total scale scores.

Table 3 Mean, standard deviation values and ANOVA results of pre-service and in-service teachers according to CT
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Tablo 3 includes the ANOVA data examining dependent variables separately according to being an in-service or a pre-service teacher. Accordingly, the participants show a significant difference according to all measurements, except for the sub dimension of Problem Solving (p < 0.05). In-service teachers’ Creativity, Algorithmic Thinking, Cooperativity, Critical Thinking and Total Scale measurements are significantly higher than those of pre-service teachers.

3.2 RQ2: What are the opinions of in-service teachers about the creativity changes of them in the context of professional life?

The question, “Do you think you have made any progress in suggesting distinctive ideas against any problem after going into your professional life?” was asked concerning the change in participants’ creativity. Participants’ opinions about this matter were separated into themes and analyzed. Figure 1 briefly shows the themes and frequencies of expressions concerning the relevant theme.

Fig. 1
figure 1

Summary display of themes for creativity

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When examining Fig. 1; it is possible to see that there are seven themes concerning the change in participant teachers’ creativity. Six of these themes refer to the positive contribution of professional life, whereas one refers to its negative effect. Theme 1, “Contribution of the process of education” was expressed six times, which is the highest frequency. Theme 7, “Negative contribution of managerial problems” was expressed twice. Expressions concerning the positive contribution of professional life were explained 23 times in total; whereas expressions concerning the negative effects once. The following Table 4 shows the themes and relevant expression examples.

Table 4 Themes related to the changes in creativity
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3.3 RQ3: What are the in-service teachers’ opinions about the algorithmic thinking changes of them in the context of professional life?

The question, “Do you think you have made any progress in acting determined or patient at the point of realizing the procedures to be conducted step by step after going into your professional life?” was asked concerning the change in participants’ algorithmic thinking. Figure 2 briefly shows the themes and frequencies of expressions concerning the relevant theme.

Fig. 2
figure 2

Summary display of themes for algorithmic thinking

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When examining Fig. 2; it is possible to see that participant teachers’ opinions about algorithmic thinking are examined under four themes. Expressions concerning the positive contribution of algorithmic thinking were mentioned 10 times; whereas expressions concerning the zero/negative effects were mentioned four times. The following Table 5 shows the themes and relevant expression examples.

Table 5 Themes related to the changes in algorithmic thinking
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3.4 RQ4: What are the in-service teachers’ opinions about the cooperativity changes of them in the context of professional life?

The question, “Do you think you have made any progress in your ability of conducting a common project/work with people of different characteristics (ability/skill/personality)?” was asked concerning the change in participants’ cooperativity. Figure 3 briefly shows the themes and frequencies of expressions concerning the relevant theme.

Fig. 3
figure 3

Summary display of themes for cooperativity

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When examining Fig. 3; it is possible to see that opinions of participant teachers about cooperativity are examined under five themes. Expressions concerning the positive contribution of professional life were explained 11 times; whereas expressions concerning the negative effects four times. The following Table 6 shows the themes and relevant expression examples.

Table 6 Themes related to the changes in cooperativity
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3.5 RQ5: What are the in-service teachers’ opinions about the critical thinking changes of them in the context of professional life?

The question, “Do you think you have made any progress in your critical thinking skill, in other words at the point of arriving at a judgment or decision based on your own thoughts evaluating the analysis and measurement results after going into your professional life?” was asked concerning the change in participants’ critical thinking. Figure 4 briefly shows the themes and frequencies of expressions concerning the relevant theme.

Fig. 4
figure 4

Summary display of themes for critical thinking

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When examining Fig. 4; it is possible to see that opinions of participant teachers about the effect of professional life on critical thinking are examined under four themes. Expressions concerning the positive contribution of professional life were explained 12 times; whereas expressions concerning the negative effects once. The following Table 7 shows the themes and relevant expression examples.

Table 7 Themes related to the changes in critical thinking
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3.6 RQ6: What are the in-service teachers’ opinions about the problem solving changes of them in the context of professional life?

The question, “Do you think you have made any progress in your problem solving skills after going into your professional life?” was asked concerning the change in participants’ problem solving. Figure 5 briefly shows the themes and frequencies of expressions concerning the relevant theme.

Fig. 5
figure 5

Summary display of themes for problem solving

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When examining Fig. 5; it is seen that expressions concerning the positive contribution of professional life to problem solving were mentioned four times under two themes; whereas expressions concerning the negative effects were mentioned 11 times under two themes. The following Table 8 shows the themes and relevant expression examples.

Table 8 Themes related to the changes in problem solving
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3.7 RQ7: What are the in-service teachers’ opinions about the communication skill changes of them in the context of professional life?

The question, “Do you think you have made any progress in your communication skills after going into your professional life?” was asked concerning the change in participants’ communication skills. Figure 6 briefly shows the themes and frequencies of expressions concerning the relevant theme.

Fig. 6
figure 6

Summary display of themes for communication skills

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When examining Fig. 6; it is seen that expressions concerning the positive contribution of professional life to communication skills of participant teachers were explained nine times in total; whereas expressions concerning the negative effects twice. The following Table 9 shows the themes and relevant expression examples.

Table 9 Themes related to the changes in communication skills
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To summarize the qualitative data of the study, in-service teachers mentioned the contribution of people (i.e., administrative personel and students), education process and technology in relation to creativity changes. For algorithmic thinking changes, they emphasized the positive contributions of the professional discipline and professional independence. Some of them also talked about professional dependence as negative effect; having already the skill also as zero contribution. For cooperativity changes, they mentioned the positive contribution of cooperation with other people (i.e., colleagues, administration and students), on the other hand they mentioned about zero contribution by lack of cooperativity in working environment and obtaining the skill during undergraduate education. For critical thinking changes, they predominantly mentioned the positive contributions of communication with other people as a teacher. For problem solving changes, they mosly emphasized neutral contributions. They mentioned about it as a previous personality trait and they think that limitations arising from other people hinder the development of problem solving skill. They also think some positive contributions of professional life to problem solving skill. They mentioned inclass activities and limitations arising from other people but it is in low rate. For communication skill changes they mostly think official communication with people (i.e., students and others) has positive contribution.

4 Discussion and conclusion

Many studies conducted in the literature emphasize that CT is necessary for all educational grades. It is a skill to be acquired by people from all areas (Bers et al. 2014; Chen et al. 2017; Atmatzidou and Demetriadis 2016; Barr and Stephenson 2011; Weintrop et al. 2016; Chao 2016; Marcelino et al. 2017; Ling et al. 2017). In the study, CT development was examined within the context of professional life. Because CT is defined based on several concepts and becomes increasingly popular (Haseski et al. 2018), suggestions were offered for future studies based on the results obtained. According to the findings of this study, regarding common effect of the sub dimensions of CTS, it was determined that in-service teachers’ measurements were significantly higher than those of pre-service teachers. So, the professional life may probably bring this skill to teachers, which is a desired result in one aspect because teachers have an important position bringing CT to students. There have been studies in the literature supporting this finding. For instance, Senin and Nasri (2019) revelaed that teachers are interested in how to apply CT in teaching environment. Likewise, Kong et al. (2017) stated that teachers’ CT content knowledge can be improved. Furthermore, if the required technological infrastructure is provided and supported, teachers’ pedagogical capabilities of CT can be improved (Bower et al. 2017).

As a result of comparisons made for the basic effect of the sub dimensions of the scale and total scale scores, it was also observed that there were differences in favor of in-service teachers according to all measurements, except for the sub dimension of Problem Solving. In order to reveal the possible reasons of this result in detail, focus group interviews were conducted with in-service teachers. Teachers were interviewed concerning whether professional life contributed to Creativity, Algorithmic Thinking, Cooperativity, Critical Thinking, Problem Solving and Communication skills or not.

The themes obtained after analyzing the qualitative data were examined. Concerning the contribution of professional life to Creativity; the in-service teachers indicated that activities conducted in the process of education made positive contributions to some problems that they faced with. In addition, they believe that opportunities provided by technology also make a positive contribution. This result consistent with the literature regarding that today’s problem solving and technology terms come forward concerning CT (Haseski et al. 2018). A few of the participants believe that limitations arising from the administration hinder the development of creativity. In the general sense, they think that professional life helps to develop their creativity. As a result of comparing the creativity of in-service and pre-service teachers quantitatively with CTS; it was also determined that in-service teachers had higher levels of creativity. Thus, the qualitative data obtained within the scope of the study concerning this dimension support the quantitative data. This differentiation between the in-service and pre-service teachers might be associated with the aforementioned professional life experiences. In other words, some problems faced by teachers in their professional life, practical solutions that they generate in the process of education and technological opportunities develop their creativity. The spread of technological access has made CT skill a skill to be acquired in all disciplines and age groups (Kalelioglu et al. 2016). In addition, IT usage experience is one of the variables that can estimate CT (Durak and Saritepeci 2018). But CT is more than technology literacy. It requires using computational tools to solve problems (Yadav et al. 2016), and individual creativity is crucial for organisational innovation (Amabile 1988). On the basis of this result, it is recommended to compare CT skills in terms of the dimension of Creativity according to the technological infrastructure in the working environment of future studies.

According to the interviews conducted with in-service teachers concerning whether the Algorithmic Thinking skill develops within the process of professional life or not; working with discipline and managing the tasks independently, which are required by professional life, contribute to this skill. On the other hand, it is thought that there are no progresses in Algorithmic Thinking skill within the context of professional life according to the interruption of individual plans as a result of the intervention of superiors from the outside and the state of having already had the skill. Algorithmic thinking is also necessary to find solutions to daily life problems (Mumcu and Yıldız 2018). It is usual to undevelopment of the skill because of obstacles. Considering the qualitative data, it is possible to see that the thoughts about the positive contribution of professional life are expressed two times greater than the thoughts about no contribution. According to this comparison, it is possible to state that professional life contributes to algorithmic thinking. The quantitative data obtained from CTS also show that this skill is higher in in-service teachers than in pre-service teachers. In other words, the qualitative data support the quantitative data in this respect. In-service teachers believed that the power of independently conducting the disciplines provided by professional life and the works contributes to Algorithmic Thinking, which is one of the most important skills for CT (Kalelioglu et al. 2016). According to Román-González et al. (2018), there is a significant correlation between Conscientiousness, which is related with dimensions like autonomy, dependability, orderliness, precision, persistence and fulfilling of commitments, and CT skills (r = 0.27). In other words, Conscientiousness can be considered a sense of responsibility. A similar result was obtained as in the finding of this study, “Professional responsibilities provide a progress within the scope of the sub dimension of Algorithmic thinking in CT”.

During the interviews that were carried out for the sub dimension of Cooperativity in CTS, the in-service teachers mainly used positive expressions concerning the contribution of professional life. Expressions concerning the positive contribution of professional life to cooperativity were approximately three times greater than expressions concerning no contribution. The in-service teachers believed that common working and idea exchange environment with colleagues, students and administration provided by professional life contributed to cooperativity. On the other hand, they expressed that there was no cooperation-based environment in the working environment and professional life made no contribution to this skill which is gained in student life. These results support the quantitative data.

There is a significant correlation between Openness to Experience, which corresponds to the broadness or narrowness of cultural interests especially in school environment, and CT (r = 0.41). This feature signifies the interest especially in other people (Román-González et al. 2018) and can also be expressed as communication established in school environment. Teachers who are accustomed to collaborative environments can reflect this to their lessons (Veenman et al. 2002). According to the teacher views obtained from the study; the common working and idea exchange environment that can be provided within the scope of professional life also makes a positive contribution to cooperativity and thus, CT. Considering these results, the future studies can compare teachers’ CT skills in terms of the dynamics (i.e., communication with administration and colleagues) in school environment.

During the interviews conducted with the teachers, they stated that professional life made a positive contribution to Critical Thinking. They believed that the skill developed based upon managing students and other colleagues, the role attributed to them by their profession and considering the thoughts of other people. Only one person stated that their critical thinking did not develop so much compared to their undergraduate years. However, there is a consensus that professional life makes a positive contribution to critical thinking. The data acquired show a parallelism with the quantitative data acquired from the sub dimension of Critical Thinking in CTS.

According to teacher views obtained from the study; Critical Thinking and consequently CT may develop as a result of the effort of managing the colleagues and other people and understanding their thoughts. In parallel with this result, Román-González et al. (2018) report that Extraversion which is related with dimensions like sociability, activity, enthusiasm, assertiveness, and self confidence is significantly related with CT skills. Thus, teachers’ behavioural patterns displayed in their professional life and their attitudes of understanding other people are important for CT skill. Future studies can focus on comparing teachers’ CT skills based on their personality traits.

As a result of the interviews, it was determined that professional life did not make sufficient contribution to Problem Solving in general. This condition shows a consistency with problem solving sub-factor measurement of CTS. In other words, the teachers believed that they had as much problem solving skill as they did in their undergraduate years. They revealed that they had acquired the skill long before and it could not develop due to the limitations by other people. On the other hand, they believed that inclass activities and communication with other people made some positive contributions to their problem solving skills. However, they generally stated that (i.e., almost three times greater than positive expressions) the skill did not develop.

Even though there is a consistent increase in the popularity of the concept of CT which can be considered a process of thinking including the formulization of problems (Aho 2012), there is no sufficient number of experimental studies on this subject (Weinberg 2013). One of the most important variables for CT is Problem solving (Kalelioglu et al. 2016). There is a significant relationship between CT and problem solving ability (problem solving ability; r = 0.67) (Román-González et al. 2017) and CT can provide the competence of solving not only practical problems, but also theoretical problems (Shute et al. 2017). Considering these data, CT is considered as a variable that may affect problem solving skill. Thus, the fact that in-service and pre-service teachers who do not differentiate in terms of problem solving ability but differentiate in terms of CT skill should be embraced carefully. Future studies can reveal the effect of CT on problem solving skill.

Evaluating the effect of proffessional life on CT skill in general; it is believed that profession of teaching contributes to CT development by establishing communication with other people. Thus, communication is considered as an important variable for CT. Qualitative data were collected concerning the change in Communication skills, although it is not a sub dimension of CTS. Regarding this point, teachers emphasized the positive contributions of professional life. They indicated that they developed an official communication skill with people due to the effect of teaching role provided by professional life and also due to their communication with students. On the other hand, a few of them stated that insufficient communication with administration and colleagues in work environment could not maintain this skill.