Teaching computer programming with PRIMM: a sociocultural perspective

Background and Context: With computing now becoming a mandatory subject in school in many countries, there is a need for clearly defined pedagogical strategies to support all learners; this is particularly pertinent when teaching computer programming, which novice adults have struggled with for decades. Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory emphasises the importance of language, mediation, and the transfer of skills and knowledge from the social into the cognitive plane. This perspective has influenced the development of PRIMM (Predict, Run, Investigate, Modify, Make), a structured approach to teaching programming. Objective: The objective of the study was to find out if using PRIMM to teach programming had an impact on learner attainment in secondary school, and the extent to which it was a valuable method for teachers. Method: We evaluated the use of PRIMM in 13 schools with 493 students aged 11-14 alongside a control group, using a mixed-methods approach. Teachers delivered programming lessons using the PRIMM approach for 8-12 weeks. Data were collected via a combination of a baseline test, a post-test to compare control and experimental groups, and teacher interviews. Findings: Learners who participated in the PRIMM lessons performed better in the post test than the control group. Teachers reported several benefits of the PRIMM approach, including that PRIMM helped them to teach effectively in mixed-ability classes, enabling all learners to make progress. Implications: We hope that PRIMM makes a contribution to programming education research, as it builds on previous work in effective pedagogy for teachers, and encourages the use of language and dialogue to facilitate understanding. Through our evaluation of PRIMM and engagement with classroom teachers, we propose a framework for understanding the learning of programming in the classroom, and present this as an avenue for further research

Análise da implementação da medida a alunos do 3.º ano

Do lazer ao trabalho, os meios tecnológicos estão enraizados no nosso dia a dia e são inúmeras as ferramentas que podemos encontrar. O ensino das Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação, no nosso país, tem acompanhado esta tendência, quer em termos de conteúdos, quer na dinamização de projetos, como os clubes de robótica ou o ensino da programação. Esta investigação foca-se num desses projetos, a “Iniciação à Programação no 1.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico”, apresentando uma proposta concreta a desenvolver no âmbito do mesmo e avaliando o seu impacto em termos de pensamento computacional e de autoeficácia, domínios que têm surgido na literatura como um forte preditor de motivação, persistência e desempenho ao longo do tempo. Nos estudos de validação dos instrumentos que aqui se apresentam participaram 329 alunos, do 3.º e do 4.º ano de escolaridade, pertencentes a três Agrupamentos de Escolas da região centro. Das análises efetuadas, e apesar da diversidade e heterogeneidade presentes em cada grupo/sala de aula, salienta-se o impacto positivo do projeto no pensamento computacional havendo, como seria de esperar, conceitos em que os alunos revelam maior dificuldade em adquirir e consolidar e, portanto, deixa-se o repto de se desenvolver novas estratégias/metodologias no ensino da programação. Foi ainda desenvolvido um programa de intervenção como proposta curricular que qualquer professor responsável por este projeto poderá implementar e desenvolver. Se, por um lado, damos resposta à necessidade que todos os professores envolvidos sentem na planificação e organização das suas aulas, por outro lado, ao avaliarmos o impacto do mesmo, estamos a validar a proposta aqui apresentada e a promover as competências dos alunos a que se propõe o projeto do Ministério da Educação. O programa de intervenção, composto por 21 sessões, com aulas orientadas, através de um ensino e aprendizagem centrada no aluno, recorre à ferramenta Scratch para que, de uma forma lúdica, sejam explorados diversos conceitos básicos de computação. Através de um modelo quasi-experimental, com avaliação de um pré-teste e de um pós-teste, em alunos do 3.º ano, os resultados evidenciam um incremento significativo no domínio do pensamento computacional. O trabalho que aqui se apresenta poderá dar um contributo importante para esta área específica das ciências da computação e, sobretudo, o programa proposto poderá ser uma ferramenta importante à qual, qualquer professor da área possa recorrer para promover a aprendizagem dos alunos no domínio da programação. Este trabalho teve a anuência da Associação Nacional de Professores de Informática e hoje há já uma equipa de trabalho a aperfeiçoar o programa de intervenção aqui proposto com a utilização da versão atual do Scratch. Estes recursos estão disponíveis em www.programacao1ciclo.pt, que se encontra em constante atualização.From leisure to work, technological capabilities are ingrained into our daily lives surrounded by countless tools we can resort to. The teaching of Information and Communication Technologies in Portugal has been keeping pace with this trend, both concerning contents and stimulating projects like robotics clubs or programming teaching. This research is focused in one of these projects, the Initiation to Programming in Primary Education, presenting a concrete proposal to be developed in the aforementioned context and evaluating its impact concerning computational thought and self-efficiency, domains that have emerged in the literature as a strong predictor of motivation, persistence and performance over time. 329 students of the third and fourth grades of primary school, belonging to three School Groupings of the Centre region, participated in the validation studies of the instruments here presented. Of the analyses made, and despite the diversity and heterogeneity present in each group/classroom, a positive effect, stemming from the project, in computational thinking was revealed, expectedly there being concepts in which students revealed a greater difficulty in assimilating and consolidating, and thus leaving the challenge of developing new strategies/methodologies in teaching programming. It was also developed an intervention programme as a curricular proposal that any teacher responsible for this project will be able to implement and develop. If, on the one hand, we answer to the need felt by every teacher involved in planning and organising their classes, on the other hand, whilst evaluating its impact, we are validating the proposal presented here and promoting the students’ skills as they are set in the Ministry of Education’s project. The intervention programme, composing of 21 sessions, with classroom orientation, through a student-centred teaching and learning, makes used of the Scratch programme so that, in a ludic fashion, various basic concepts of computing can be explored. Through a quasi-experimental model, evaluated through a pre-test and a posterior test on third grade students, results evidenced a significant increment in the mastery of computational thinking. The work here presented could give an important contribution to this specific field of computing sciences and, above all, the proposed programme could constitute an important tool with which any teacher on this field can resort to, in order to promote the students’ learning in the programming field. This work had the consent of the National Association of IT Teachers and already today there is a work team perfecting the intervention programme here proposed with the current version of Scratch. These resources are available in www.programacao1ciclo.pt, which is constantly updated