  Computational Thinking (CT) has been investigated from different
perspectives. This research aims to investigate how secondary school girls
perceive CT practices -- the problem-solving practices that students apply
while they are engaged in programming -- when using the micro:bit device in a
collaborative setting. This study also explores the collaborative programming
process of secondary school girls with the micro:bit device. We conducted
mixed-methods research with 203 secondary school girls (in the state of
Victoria, Australia) and 31 mentors attending a girls-only CT program
(OzGirlsCT program). The girls were grouped into 52 teams and collaboratively
developed computational solutions around realistic, important problems to them
and their communities. We distributed two surveys (with 193 responses each) to
the girls. Further, we surveyed the mentors (with 31 responses) who monitored
the girls, and collected their observation reports on their teams. Our study
indicates that the girls found "debugging" the most difficult type of CT
practice to apply, while collaborative practices of CT were the easiest. We
found that prior coding experience significantly reduced the difficulty level
of only one CT practice - "debugging". Our study also identified six challenges
the girls faced and six best practices they adopted when working on their
computational solutions.
