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 A PRELIMINARY STUDY TOWARDS DESIGNING A COMPUTATIONAL THINKING SKILLS BASED MODEL FOR THE DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (22) ◽  
pp. 115-127
Author(s):  
Rahimah Ismail ◽  
Azlina Ahmad ◽  
Halimah Badioze Zaman
Keyword(s):  
Primary School ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Computational Thinking ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Design And Technology ◽  
Project Development ◽  
School Students ◽  
Problem Solving Skills ◽  
Preliminary Study ◽  
And Mathematics

21st century learning requires students to master a variety of future skills. This is important to increase their creativity and ability in solving problems systematically and creatively both in learning and in daily life. In improving thinking and problem-solving skills, Computational Thinking (CT) skills are important skills that need to be mastered by students. They are applicable not only in computer science but can also be applied in various other fields, especially Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). A preliminary study was conducted to identify the requirements to develop a model based on CT skills across STEM for the subject Design and Technology (RBT) in primary school. Results of the preliminary study show that the inability of students to think creatively and solve problems systematically is a contributing factor to problems faced by students in the Project Development part of RBT Year 5. This study explored RBT learning from the perspective of teachers and students. A survey was conducted using an instrument developed to further explore the problems faced by primary school students in the Project Development part of the RBT subject. Data of the survey were analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) software, version 23.0, for data descriptions.

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.

scholarly journals Playing Entropy Mastermind can Foster Children’s Information-Theoretical Intuitions

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elif Özel ◽  
Jonathan D. Nelson ◽  
Lara Bertram ◽  
Laura Martignon
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Mathematics Education ◽  
Probability Distribution ◽  
Primary School ◽  
Probability Distributions ◽  
Modern Science ◽  
School Intervention ◽  
Science And Society ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
Information Today

Conceptual descriptions and measures of information and entropy were established in the twentieth century with the emergence of a science of communication and information. Today these concepts have come to pervade modern science and society, and are increasingly being recommended as topics for science and mathematics education. We introduce a set of playful activities aimed at fostering intuitions about entropy and describe a primary school intervention that was conducted according to this plan. Fourth grade schoolchildren (8–10 years) played a version of Entropy Mastermind with jars and colored marbles, in which a hidden code to be deciphered was generated at random from an urn with a known, visually presented probability distribution of marble colors. Children prepared urns according to specified recipes, drew marbles from the urns, generated codes and guessed codes. Despite not being formally instructed in probability or entropy, children were able to estimate and compare the difficulty of different probability distributions used for generating possible codes.

scholarly journals HISTORY OF MATHEMATICS EDUCATION IN PRIMARY SCHOOL AND IN TEACHER TRAINING IN BRAZIL

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wagner Rodrigues Valente ◽  
Maria Célia Leme da Silva
Keyword(s):  
Mathematics Education ◽  
Teacher Training ◽  
Primary School ◽  
Mathematics Teaching ◽  
History Of Mathematics ◽  
Theoretical Hypothesis ◽  
Disciplinary Field ◽  
History Of ◽  
The 19Th Century ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract This article discusses results from research developed on the transformations in mathematics teaching in primary school and the mathematics in teacher training from the 19th century to the mid-20th century in Brazil. We have analyzed the understanding of the relationship between the mathematical disciplinary field and pedagogy in order to confirm the theoretical hypothesis that the interactions between the two fields produce mathematics of different natures, which are interconnected.

Computational Thinking and Participatory Teaching as Pathways to Personalized Learning

2018 ◽  
pp. 212-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Hamilton ◽  
Aileen M. Owens
Keyword(s):  
Learning Strategy ◽  
Computational Thinking ◽  
Personalized Learning ◽  
Collaborative Problem Solving ◽  
Video Production ◽  
Historical Trends ◽  
International Group ◽  
Collaborative Problem ◽  
And Mathematics

This chapter discusses personalized learning by briefly outlining historical trends and deficiencies associated with what can be referred to as production style or assembly line approaches to education before contrasting personalized learning definitions. The chapter extends those definitions. It discusses participatory teaching as a personalized learning strategy by which students take on roles of co-teaching, co-designing lessons, or co-designing curriculum with adult teachers. One participatory teaching example involves an international group of students who help one another learn science and mathematics through shared video production. This example involves a US school involved in a larger districtwide effort comprehensively designed to involve each student. Organized around computational thinking, multidisciplinary innovation, arts integration, and collaborative problem-solving, the district may be viewed as a case study in implementing personalized learning. The chapter furnishes several examples that blend participatory teaching and computational thinking.

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