scholarly journals Can Pre-school Children Learn Programming and Coding Through Guided Play Activities? A Case Study in Computational Thinking

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valerie Critten ◽  
Hannah Hagon ◽  
David Messer
Keyword(s):  
Preschool Children ◽  
Action Research ◽  
School Children ◽  
Computational Thinking ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Logical Thinking ◽  
Scoping Study ◽  
Communication Difficulties ◽  
Guided Play

AbstractGuided play activities were developed so that coding clubs could promote computational thinking skills in preschool children. The clubs involved fifteen children aged between 2 and 4 years,  including a group of children with communication difficulties. The children took part in an action-research scoping study over three coding clubs involving six 45–60-min sessions. The activities were developed to teach computational skills and, ultimately, concepts of programming and coding. The findings suggested that the children began to develop many of the skills necessary for programming and coding as well as computational thinking skills such as collaboration, logical thinking and debugging algorithms. However, they found programming specific algorithms into Bee-Bots complicated and they needed support from adults to direct the robots along routes on simple maps. Overall, the guided play activities could be used in nurseries and preschool establishments to teach early computational thinking skills.

scholarly journals Systems Thinking Skills of Preschool Children in Early Childhood Education Contexts from Turkey and Germany

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 1478 ◽  
Author(s):  
Şebnem Feriver ◽  
Refika Olgan ◽  
Gaye Teksöz ◽  
Matthias Barth
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Preschool Children ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Systems Thinking ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Childhood Education

This study presents an attempt to contribute to the field of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) by conceptualizing systems thinking skills of four- to six-year-old preschool children with the role of age in this particular skill. For this purpose, we developed and tested a method and instruments to assess and conceptualize systems thinking skills of 52 preschool children in early childhood education contexts from Turkey and Germany. By employing qualitative case study research, we concluded that the young children showed some signs of complex understanding regarding systems thinking in terms of detecting obvious gradual changes and two-step domino and/or multiple one-way causalities, as well as describing behavior of a balancing loop. However, their capacity was found to be limited when it comes to detecting a reinforcing loop, understanding system mechanisms by acknowledging the unintended consequences, detecting hidden components and processes, demonstrating multi-dimensional perspective, solving problems through high-leverage interventions, and predicting the future behavior of the system. Age had a notable effect on the total systems thinking mean scores of the participants.

scholarly journals How do Teachers Apply Computational Thinking Activities in Elementary School? From Continuing Education to the classroom

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 50
Author(s):  
Suéllen Rodolfo Martinelli ◽  
Luciana Martinez Zaina ◽  
Tiemi Christine Sakata
Keyword(s):  
Elementary School ◽  
Primary School ◽  
Continuing Education ◽  
Teaching Strategies ◽  
School Children ◽  
Classroom Practices ◽  
Computational Thinking ◽  
Primary School Children ◽  
Common Base

INTRODUCTION: There is no consensus of what skills can be developed from the learning of Computation Thinking (CT). However, teachers and researchers agreed that by the learning of CT individuals can acquire and expand many abilities. Courses have been carried out in Brazil and in other countries with the aim of motivating teachers on adding CT to classroom practices. OBJECTIVE: This article to present a case study that investigated the feasibility of introducing activities of CT for primary school children. Such activities were created and mediated by the teachers of Primary School. METHOD: First, a continuing education course about Computational Thinking was conducted with the participation of 14 teachers. The participants could understand the fundamentals of CT, and consequently, became able to planning and conducting CT activities by themselves in their classrooms. After, we analyzed the data gathered during the course under the quantitative and qualitative lenses. RESULTS: The results showed that the participants had a degree of agreement between 56% and 71% regarding the understanding and applicability of CT to developing skills in Primary School. The qualitative findings revealed that the participants could prepare activities that linked CT to topics presented in the subjects of Primary School. Besides, we could identify three patterns of shaping the activities in which this "computational think" were incorporated. CONCLUSION: Practices to stimulate the CT in students are mediated by using different teaching strategies as such Gamification and Culture Maker. These activities also enable the development of skills related to the National Curricular Common Base

scholarly journals PHONOLOGICAL PROCESSES AMONG GHANAIAN PRESCHOOL CHILDREN: A CASE STUDY OF NEW ELITE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Isaac Kwabena Adubofour ◽  
Daniel Afrifa-Yamoah ◽  
Yaa Amponsah Owusu-Afriyie
Keyword(s):  
Preschool Children ◽  
School Children ◽  
International School ◽  
Syllable Structure ◽  
Phonological Processes ◽  
Speech Patterns ◽  
The Right ◽  
Age Range ◽  
Cluster Reduction

The study focused on ascertaining the phonological processes that characterize the speech patterns of some selected preschool children. Data was collected from a sample of ten (10) pupils from ages 1-5 spanning the accepted age range for pupils to be in preschool in Ghana. Productions of the participants on words were recorded and later analyzed to determine the phonological processes present. It was found that the phonological processes that characterized the speech of the sample are syllable structure processes (e.g. cluster reduction); substitutions; and insertions. Further, it was found that age has a role to play in the presence of phonological processes in the speech of an individual. It was found however that some of the pupils were able to correctly articulate sounds when they were repeated to them. The study recommends that this study be extended to other school children in the country as well as teachers and other stakeholders towards ensuring the school-going children learn English pronunciation the right way. <p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0897/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

Teaching programming and mathematics in practice: A case study from a Swedish primary school

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 483-496
Author(s):  
Henrik Stigberg ◽  
Susanne Stigberg
Keyword(s):  
Mathematics Education ◽  
Primary School ◽  
Computational Thinking ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
First Semester ◽  
Elementary School Education ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
Ninth Grade Students ◽  
The Relationship

Programming and computational thinking have emerged as compulsory skills in elementary school education. In 2018, Sweden has integrated programming in mathematics education with the rationale that it fosters problem solving and logical thinking skills and motivates students to learn mathematics. We investigated how teachers introduce programming in mathematics education in a Swedish primary school using an explorative case study. We followed four mathematics teachers during the first semester in which programming was mandatory. They taught second-, sixth- and ninth-grade students. Our contributions are threefold: we provide an account of how programming is taught in mathematics education; we discuss how teachers reflect on the challenge of teaching programming in mathematics; and we report on students’ understanding of programming and their view on the relationship between programming and mathematics.

scholarly journals PENERAPAN METODE PENEMUAN TERBIMBING DALAM MENINGKATKAN KEMAMPUAN BERPIKIR LOGIS ANAK USIA 3-4 TAHUN DI PPT TERATAI KENJERAN SURABAYA

MOTORIC ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 130-138
Author(s):  
Sri Karmiati
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Key Words ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Logical Thinking ◽  
Guided Discovery ◽  
Thinking Ability ◽  
Classroom Action Research ◽  
Discovery Method

Abstract This study aims to determine the increase in the ability to think logically children aged 3-4 years in PPT Kenjeran Surabaya through the application of the Guided Discovery Method. This type of research is classroom action research with subjects of 15 children aged 3-4 years and the object is the application of guided discovery methods in improving logical thinking skills. Data collection using the method of observation, interviews and documentation. The data collected is analyzed and reflected descriptively quantitatively. The results showed that in the first cycle of action as many as 4 children (25%) the ability of logical thinking children develop very well (BSB) this shows that the level of children's logical thinking ability is still low. Actions in cycle II have an increase in the ability to think logically by 13 children (80%) with very well developed criteria (BSB). So it can be concluded that the application of the Guided Discovery Method in improving the logical thinking ability of children aged 3-4 years in PPT Lotus Surabaya can be applied with good results. Key words: Guided Discovery Method, logical thinking

scholarly journals On Teaching Programming Fundamentals and Computational Thinking with Educational Robotics: A Didactic Experience with Pre-Service Teachers

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 214 ◽  
Author(s):  
João Piedade ◽  
Nuno Dorotea ◽  
Ana Pedro ◽  
João Filipe Matos
Keyword(s):  
Computational Thinking ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Significant Finding ◽  
Self Confidence ◽  
Design Learning ◽  
Science Technology ◽  
Learning Scenarios ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
The Impact

This study aims to analyze how pre-service informatics teachers design learning scenarios with robotics to teach programming fundamentals and to promote computational thinking skills. A descriptive and exploratory case study design was implemented with 26 pre-service informatics teachers. Data were collected from the participants using qualitative and quantitative instruments. The main results pointed out the affordances and possibilities of the use of learning scenarios with robotics to teach programming fundamentals and to promote computational thinking skills as well as a strong path to promote the application of contents of the other Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) areas. Another significant finding was the impact of the didactic experience on the level of interest and self-confidence of the pre-service teachers in using robotics for teaching purposes. The results showed the importance of these didactics experiences to the pre-service teachers preparation and to apply the pedagogic approaches they have learned in theory in practical activities and to transfer this knowledge to new pedagogical situations and problems.

scholarly journals Fostering Computational Thinking skills in the Last Years of Primary School

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 101-115
Author(s):  
Laura Freina ◽  
Rosa Bottino ◽  
Lucia Ferlino
Keyword(s):  
Primary School ◽  
Computational Thinking ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
School Students ◽  
Learning Path ◽  
Grade 5 ◽  
One Year ◽  
The Right ◽  
Compulsory Schools

The introduction of Computational Thinking (CT) in Italian compulsory schools is on the way, and there is a general need for new methodologies to support teachers’ work. A one-year long learning path supporting the development of CT skills in primary school students through game making activities was defined and tested in a case study with one grade 5 class. All students in the class were actively involved regardless of their personal interest, their participation was generally high, their skills increased along the project, and the main objectives were reached. Nevertheless, results suggest that a longer time span is needed for students to master deeply the new concepts and tools, class organization proved to be crucial and this confirms the need for an adequate teachers’ training before introducing CT in classroom activities. Students demonstrated to be on the right path to approach CT through game making, but they still need to be guided in taking the player’s perspective and making their games easy to be understood and played. At the end of the case study, the learning path was revised and is now in use in a three-year long project in a primary school.

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