scholarly journals Fostering Computational Thinking Skills: A Didactic Proposal for Elementary School Grades

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 518
Author(s):  
Ricardo Silva ◽  
Benjamim Fonseca ◽  
Cecília Costa ◽  
Fernando Martins
Keyword(s):  
Elementary School ◽  
Collaborative Learning ◽  
Computational Thinking ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Educational Robotics ◽  
School Students ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
School Teaching ◽  
Learning Scenarios ◽  
Collaborative Learning Environment

There is a growing presence of technology in the daily lives of elementary school students, with a recent exponential rise due to the constraints of remote teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is important to understand how the education system can contribute to helping students develop the required skills for technological careers, without neglecting its obligation to create conditions that allow them to acquire transversal skills and to enable them to exercise full citizenship. The integration of Educational Robotics and block programming activities in collaborative learning environments promotes the development of computational thinking and other ICT skills, as well as critical thinking, social skills, and problem solving. This paper presents a theoretical proposal of a didactic sequence for the introduction to educational robotics and programming with Scratch Jr. It is composed of three learning scenarios, designed for elementary school teaching. Its main goal is to create conditions that favour the development of computational thinking in a collaborative learning environment. With increasing complexity and degree of difficulty, all the tasks root from a common problem: How can we create an algorithm that programs the robot/sprite to reach a predetermined position?

scholarly journals The Effect of Robotics-Based Storytelling Activities on Primary School Students’ Computational Thinking

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 10
Author(s):  
Karin Tengler ◽  
Oliver Kastner-Hauler ◽  
Barbara Sabitzer ◽  
Zsolt Lavicza
Keyword(s):  
Primary School ◽  
Fourth Graders ◽  
Computational Thinking ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Educational Robotics ◽  
School Students ◽  
Technological Environment ◽  
Primary School Teachers ◽  
Post Test

Robotics is needed as education keeps up with challenges students are facing in a technological environment. A long-term research project focuses on developing a feasible robotics-based learning environment that enables primary school teachers to introduce computer science education. This paper shows educational robotics combining storytelling to promote computational thinking through the method of Tell, Draw, and Code. The study was conducted via pre–post test, using the Beginners Computational Thinking test (BCTt), with third and fourth graders (N = 40) to determine if the integration of robotics-based storytelling activities enhances computational thinking skills. Results show that an increase in computational thinking is evident after the intervention is implemented. The approach of combining stories, texts, and literature with educational robotics seems to be a promising concept to equip students with the required skills.

Measuring the Impact on Student's Computational Thinking Skills Through STEM and Educational Robotics Project Implementation

2020 ◽  
pp. 238-288
Author(s):  
Avraam Chatzopoulos ◽  
Michail Kalogiannakis ◽  
Michail Papoutsidakis ◽  
Sarantos Psycharis ◽  
Dimitrios Papachristos
Keyword(s):  
Pilot Study ◽  
Computational Thinking ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Educational Robotics ◽  
Project Implementation ◽  
School Students ◽  
Engineering Mathematics ◽  
High Participation ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Educational Robots

In this chapter, the authors present their research on how P12 students apply computational thinking (CT) skills when they are assigned simple science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM) problems, which they are called upon to solve with the help of educational robotics (ER) activities. The reason for this research was the high participation and increased interest shown in an ER event, where distributed questionnaires recorded students' views on ER, STEM, and CT. Their answers were the spark to conduct a pilot study on primary school students in the form of an experiential seminar to investigate the possibility of developing their CT skills by applying ER activities when they are asked to solve authentic STEM problems. The results showed that students may develop CT skills when involved in ER activities and that educational robots enhance students' engagement with programming and create a more favorable environment for developing students' CT skills.

scholarly journals Berpikir Kritis dan Komputasi: Analisis Kebutuhan Media Pembelajaran di Sekolah Dasar

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 234-242
Author(s):  
Windi Fitriani* ◽  
Suwarjo Suwarjo ◽  
Muhammad Nur Wangid
Keyword(s):  
Elementary School ◽  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Data Analysis ◽  
Interactive Multimedia ◽  
Computational Thinking ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Research Subjects ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
School Students ◽  
Inquiry Method

Critical thinking and computational thinking are important abilities to have in this century. The reality showed that learning of critical thinking and computational thinking have not been optimally accommodated. This study aims to analyze the learning needs in improving the critical thinking and computational thinking skills of elementary school students. The research subjects consisted of 144 grade IV students and 38 grade IV elementary school teachers spread across 12 districts in Kebumen Regency. Data collection was carried out using a questionnaire on student and teacher needs as well as semi-structured interviews with grade IV teachers. The data analysis technique was carried out in a descriptive qualitative manner. The results of data analysis showed that 65.7% of teachers wanted interactive multimedia and 77.1% agreed that meaningful learning could be created using the inquiry method. Based on these needs, the media to be developed is a combination of interactive multimedia and inquiry method namely inquiry based interactive multimedia.

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