How to design activities for learning computational thinking in the context of early primary school in an after-school code club

Abstract. Computational Thinking (CT) and its related concepts have gained a lot of traction within the field of education. Many countries, including Finland and the United Kingdom, are in the process of integrating CT into their national curriculums to equip pupils with much needed 21st century digital skills, including coding (programming). As a result, several programs and activities are being developed to introduce pupils to CT. The need to develop appropriate teaching and learning materials, as well as train teachers to teach, and integrate computational thinking into their lessons is apparent. This thesis seeks to contribute to the body of knowledge on computational thinking by designing and testing instructional materials for early primary school. Computational thinking as a concept, how to integrate its concepts into coding, as well as how pupils understood the concept were explored. This study was conducted in an after-school coding club at an elementary school in the northern part of Finland. The duration for the coding club was 8 weeks. Each lesson lasted for 45 minutes. Participants were selected from among 1st and 2nd grade pupils. In selecting participants for this study, priority was given to pupils with no prior coding experience. 13 out of the selected 17 had no prior experience. The remaining 4 participants were randomly selected from the rest of the applicants who had coding experience. Worksheets and stickers were designed and tested for teaching and learning computational thinking. Lesson plans designed for the coding club included activities for teaching computational thinking using unplugged activities and Scratchjr. The unplugged activities were integrated into coding lessons to enhance the understanding of pupils during the coding lessons. This approach helped to connect theoretical computational thinking to real life practices and its application in the context of coding. Data collected included the unplugged activity worksheets of the participants, their Scratchjr projects, and self-efficacy beliefs regarding their ability to code and think computationally. These work products were evaluated qualitatively for evidence of understanding. The analysis of the self-efficacy beliefs of participants revealed that participants were confident of their computational thinking and coding abilities. The main outcome of this research is the instructional material (stickers, templates, and Scratchjr activities) which was designed for teaching and learning purposes. This unique experiment and pedagogical designs are explained to show how unplugged activities can be used to introduce pupils to computational thinking concepts

Research on reflective-evaluative competence in pupils with intellectual disabilities

The aim is to conduct empirical research on the formation of reflective-evaluative competence in primary pupils with intellectual disabilities and to determine effective methods to develop it. Methods: tests with standardized questionnaires, methods for checking the logic of motivating dialogue, comparative analysis, quantitative and qualitative content-analysis. We established that disorders in the functioning of reflection in primary pupils are observed in changeable or unfamiliar situations: rejection to solve a problem, desire to simplify a task, justification of their inability, avoidance of difficulties. We registered that insufficient development of self-control and self-esteem causes faults in programming and performing activity. We identified difficulties in verbalizing a plan of actions showing the respondents’ inability to compare and substantiate practical and mental operations. Disorders in reflective-evaluative competence are insufficient development of reflection, self-control, self-esteem and self-correction that does not allow primary pupils to organize their mental actions purposefully

Exploring Trends in Middle School Students\u27 Computational Thinking in the Online Scratch Community: A Pilot Study

Teaching computational thinking has been a focus of recent efforts to broaden the reach of computer science (CS) education for today’s students who live and work in a world that is heavily influenced by computing principles. Computational thinking (CT) essentially means thinking like a computer scientist by using principles and concepts learned in CS as part of our daily lives. Not only is CT essential for the development of computer applications, but it can also be used to support problem solving across all disciplines. Computational thinking involves solving problems by drawing from skills fundamental to CS such as decomposition, pattern recognition, abstraction, and algorithm design. The present study examined how Dr. Scratch, a CT assessment tool, functions as an assessment for computational thinking. This study compared strengths and weaknesses of the CT skills of 360 seventh- and eighth-grade students who were engaged in a Scratch programming environment through the use of Dr. Scratch. The data were collected from a publicly available dataset available on the Scratch website. The Mann-Whitney U analysis revealed that there were specific similarities and differences between the seventh- and eighth-grade CT skills. The findings also highlight affordances and constraints of Dr. Scratch as a CT tool and address the challenges of analyzing Scratch projects from young Scratch learners. Recommendations are offered to researchers and educators about how they might use Scratch data to help improve students’ CT skills

Encouraging versatile thinking in algebra using the computer

In this article we formulate and analyse some of the obstacles to understanding the notion of a variable, and the use and meaning of algebraic notation, and report empirical evidence to support the hypothesis that an approach using the computer will be more successful in overcoming these obstacles. The computer approach is formulated within a wider framework ofversatile thinking in which global, holistic processing complements local, sequential processing. This is done through a combination of programming in BASIC, physical activities which simulate computer storage and manipulation of variables, and specific software which evaluates expressions in standard mathematical notation. The software is designed to enable the user to explore examples and non-examples of a concept, in this case equivalent and non-equivalent expressions. We call such a piece of software ageneric organizer because if offers examples and non-examples which may be seen not just in specific terms, but as typical, or generic, examples of the algebraic processes, assisting the pupil in the difficult task of abstracting the more general concept which they represent. Empirical evidence from several related studies shows that such an approach significantly improves the understanding of higher order concepts in algebra, and that any initial loss in manipulative facility through lack of practice is more than made up at a later stage

Going beyond digital literacy to develop computational thinking in K-12 education,

International audienceIn the past decade, digital learning has contributed to the transformation of K-12 education by using a variety of technology-enhanced pedagogical approaches, and it helps understand the basics of computational thinking (CT). In the area of CT for young learners, educators are experimenting with digital or digital-inspired methods to go beyond digital literacy, towards also improving other skills, such as problem-solving, logical thinking and abstraction. By improving these skills, we aim to empower learners with the required knowledge as technology users and to aid in mastering the technology to develop their creative and citizenship potential through them. This chapter will provide a literature review on studies conducted to teach computer programming and computational concepts to K-12 students using visual programming tools, unplugged activities and educational robotics while evaluating how it can also help improve CT skills

Improving the Computational Thinking Pedagogical Capabilities of School Teachers

The idea of computational thinking as skills and universal competence which every child should possess emerged last decade and has been gaining traction ever since. This raises a number of questions, including how to integrate computational thinking into the curriculum, whether teachers have computational thinking pedagogical capabilities to teach children, and the important professional development and training areas for teachers. The aim of this paper is to address the strategic issues by illustrating a series of computational thinking workshops for Foundation to Year 8 teachers held at an Australian university. Data indicated that teachers\u27 computational thinking understanding, pedagogical capabilities, technological know-how and confidence can be improved in a relatively short period of time through targeted professional learning

Istraživanje postignuća i motivacije učenja tekstualnoga programskog jezika među učenicima osnovnih škola u Republici Srbiji

The introduction of Informatics and Computing as a compulsory subject for students from the fifth to the eighth grade of elementary school, and programming as a basic content of the curriculum represents a major advancement in elementary education in the Republic of Serbia. In this study we conducted research on 58 primary school students in the sixth grade. In the 2016/17 school year, students studied the programming language Scratch, and in the school year 2017/18, they learned the Python programming language. The programming courses took place once a week (45 minutes) over 17 weeks. This study aimed to monitor the flow of learning visual and textual programming language following the new elementary school curriculum in Republic of Serbia, that is, the achievement and motivation of students to continue learning programming. The research instrument used was a questionnaire. The results of this study showed that it was easier for students to master the visual programming language Scratch than the textual programming language Python. However, the research results show that algorithmic way of thinking and motivation to learn by programming a text language are satisfactory, given that students have not had previous experience with it.Uvođenje informatike i računarstva kao obveznoga predmeta za učenike od petog do osmog razreda osnovne škole te programiranja kao osnovnoga sadržaja kurikula predstavlja veliki iskorak u osnovnom obrazovanju u Republici Srbiji. U ovom radu provodeno je istraživanje na N = 58 učenika osnovnih škola šestog razreda. U školskoj godini 2016./17. učenici su učili programski jezik Scratch, a u školskoj godini 2017./18. učili su programski jezik Python. Tečajevi programiranja realizirali su se jednom tjedno (45 minuta) tijekom 17 tjedana. Cilj je ove studije pratiti tijek učenja vizualnoga i tekstualnoga programskog jezika sljedeći novi OŠ kurikul u Republici Srbiji te istražiti postignuće i motivaciju učenika za nastavak učenja programiranja. Korišteni istraživački instrument bio je upitnik. Rezultati ovoga istraživanja pokazali su da je učenicima bilo lakše svladati vizualni programski jezik Scratch nego tekstualni programski jezik Python. Međutim, rezultati istraživanja pokazuju da su algoritamski način razmišljanja i motivacija za učenje programiranjem tekstualnoga jezika zadovoljavajući s obzirom na to da učenici s tim nisu imali prethodno iskustvo

OnCreate and the virtual teammate: an analysis of online creative processes and remote collaboration

This paper explores research undertaken by a consortium of 10 universities from across Europe as part of an EU Erasmus Strategic Partnership project called OnCreate. Recent research and experiences prove the importance of the design and implementation of online courses that are learner-centred, include collaboration and integrate rich use of media in authentic environments. The OnCreate project explores the specific challenges of creative processes in such environments. The first research phase comprises a comparative qualitative analysis of collaboration practices in design-related study programmes at the ten participating universities. A key outcome of this research was in identifying the shortcomings of the hierarchical role models of established Learning Management Systems (such as Moodle or Blackboard) and the tendency towards evolving 'mash-up' environments to support creative online collaboration