Scratch on Road Pedagogical Model: Study of learning perception

This paper presents Scratch on Road pedagogical model, that is been used in several 4th grade classes. This model foresees the participation of both the community and higher education institutions, with active roles in classes and consequently in students’ projects – stories, animations or games. This pedagogical model has an investigation component aiming to comprehend students’ perceptions relating their own learnings. The study, conducted in three classes, reveals that students don’t have a clearly perception relating their learnings, with focus on specific Scratch contents.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Perceptions of Scratch Programming among Secondary School Students in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Scratch programming was designed with the aim of helping students to develop their logical thinking skills as well as enhancing their problem-solving capabilities, without having the technical distractions associated with more advanced programming languages such as Java. This study, guided by the technology acceptance model (TAM), focused on exploring the associations between perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, attitude towards use, and behavioural intention to use the Scratch programming language, with the aim of identifying how Scratch programming was perceived by a group of South African students in Grades 10 and 11 at two high schools. Results indicated, among other things, that Grade 10 students perceived Scratch to be easy to use and useful, and Grade 11 students found it to be easy to use but useful only in learning introductory programming concepts. These and other findings suggest that while Scratch helps students understand logic and problem-solving, it does not assist sufficiently in preparing them for using a higher-level programming language such as Java. The article concludes with recommendations for South African education policymakers, including proposals that a bridging programming language be introduced between Scratch and Java, and that Scratch be introduced much earlier than in Grade 10.CA201

TECHNOLOGY IN A GIFTED AND TALENTED MATH CLASSROOM: HOW IT IMPACTS STUDENTS\u27 PROBLEM SOLVING AND MATHEMATICAL LEARNING

Technology has advanced greatly over the past few decades and the surge in the industry has impacted the workplace. As a result, K-12 education has worked to integrate 21st century skills into curriculum. Many times this is through STEM classes. This study examined the impact technology had on gifted and talented students’ achievement and creative construction. During a unit on Transformations, a control group received traditional instruction, while an experimental group received traditional instruction with an added technology component. A pre and posttest were given to both groups to measure student success with the geometry content. Results indicated that the technology component did not have a major impact on student achievement. Both the control and experimental group showed mastery of the standards and concepts. The technology component did increase students’ use of correct content vocabulary

The cognitive effects of computational thinking: A systematic review and meta-analytic study

In this paper, we review and meta-analyze the findings of experimental studies published between 2006 and 2022 that examined the effects of coding and programming interventions on children's core and higher order executive functions (response inhibition, working memory, cognitive flexibility, planning and problem solving). The systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to address three research questions: 1) Which executive functions are most impacted by the teaching of CT? 2) Which instructional modality (educational robotics/virtual coding/unplugged coding) is most effective in enhancing executive function skills in learners aged 4–16 years? and 3) Does the cognitive effectiveness of coding vary with children's age? A total of 19 studies with 1523 participants met the selection criteria for the systematic review. The meta-analysis included 11 of those studies. The results reveal beneficial effects of structured virtual and tangible coding (educational robotics) activities for preschoolers and first graders, and significant effects of more unstructured virtual coding activities (e.g., Scratch-based) for older students. A multivariate fixed-effects model meta-analysis shows that the teaching of coding significantly improves problem-solving with the highest effect (dppc2 = 0.89), but also planning (dppc2 = 0.36), and inhibition and working memory with lower effects (dppc2 = 0.17, dppc2 = 0.20)

The impact of STEM experiences on student self-efficacy in computational thinking

Citation: Weese, J. L., Feldhausen, R., & Bean, N. H. (2016). The impact of STEM experiences on student self-efficacy in computational thinking.Since the introduction of new curriculum standards at K-12 schools, computational thinking has become a major research area. Creating and delivering content to enhance these skills, as well as evaluation, remain open problems. This paper describes two different interventions based on the Scratch programming language which aim to improve student self-efficacy in computer science and computational thinking. The two interventions were applied at a STEM outreach program for 5th-9th grade students. Previous experience in STEM related activities and subjects, as well as student self-efficacy, were collected using a developed pre- and post-survey. We discuss the impact of our intervention on student performance and confidence, and evaluate the validity of our instrument. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2016

Evaluation Of Efforts To Expose Middle School Students To Computational Thinking: A Report On The Cosmic Program

Computational thinking (CT) is a set of concepts and problem solving skills that are not only imperative for computer scientists, but important and applicable to nearly every discipline. In the past decade, many efforts have been made to develop and evaluate CT in primary and secondary students. This push for CT development in students seeks to prepare their problem-solving skills for a world where technology is ubiquitous, as well as to understand and mitigate the under-representation of women and minorities in STEM careers through exposure to computer science early on. COSMIC is one such effort that took place in Caldwell County middle schools from 2015 through 2017. The COSMIC program was created and supervised by researchers at Appalachian State University who supported teachers in hosting after school clubs and summer camps to teach students CT concepts through the use of the CS First curriculum and Scratch programming language. This thesis analyzes the impact of COSMIC using a mixed-mode approach of quantitative and qualitative data. The COSMIC effort was successful in its efforts to improve student awareness, knowledge, and skill of CT concepts, perspectives, and practices

The Effect of Block Coding (Scratch) Activities Integrated into the 5E Learning Model in Science Teaching on Students’ Computational Thinking Skills and Programming Self-Efficacy

This study was carried out to determine the effect of Scratch-based coding applications integrated into the 5E learning model used in science teaching on students’ computational thinking skills and self-efficacy towards block-based programming. In addition, students’ perceptions of the activity were measured after each Scratch activity, which was applied at different stages of the course and with different difficulty. The study employed the pretest-posttest control group less design, one of the quasi-experimental methods. The study sample consist of 22 6th grade students attending a public school in Turkey located in a district center in the Eastern Black Sea region. The study was carried out in a five-week period in the 2022-2023 academic years. Computational thinking scale and robotics attitude scale, self-efficacy perception scale related to block-based programming and activity perception scale were used as data collection tools. The data were analyzed using the dependent samples t-test. The findings suggest that computational thinking skills level of students and their self-efficacy perception related to block-based programming increased significantly with the Scratch-based activities integrated into 5E learning model applied in science subjects. In addition, students have positive attitudes towards these activities. Thus, it is recommended to apply Scratch-based coding applications in teaching science subjects