Abstract: The emergence of big data and the development of smart technology have promoted the intelligent educational practice and the systematic change of its research paradigm. The development of computing theories, technology and big data in education laid the foundations for computational education. Based on the analysis framework of subject construction, computational education is a new subject which use computing technology on quantified educational data to explore the real problems in education. It values practices and cross-disciplinary research. It has a unique research paradigm, based on computing techniques, shifting from top-down research tradition to combined research methods. Nowadays, the main research methods include both computing simulation experiments and data-intensive scientific discovery. This paper argues that computational education still lacks knowledge construction and social construction of the subject. It then puts forward a framework for systematized construction of subject knowledge from the aspects of breakthrough in subject theory and key technologies, research paradigm and generation of subject knowledge, interactive environment and construction of teaching application, and also from the aspects of building professional societies, personnel training plans and academic evaluation. Finally, some constructional suggestions on the subject development of computational education in China are put forward. It is not limited to the development of educational research paradigm based on data science. As an independent, emerging and application-oriented interdisciplinary discipline, computational education needs to systematically strengthen basic theoretical research, applied research, establish professional societies and an integrated platform of production, learning, research and use, and gather the strength of all sectors of society to promote the development of this subject.

Key words: academic subject, computational education, educational big-data, data science