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Creating the computer player: an engaging and collaborative approach to introduce computational thinking by combining ‘unplugged’ activities with visual programming
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Gardeli, Anna Vosinakis, Spyros |
| Copyright Year | 2017 |
| Abstract | Ongoing research is being conducted on appropriate course design, practices and teacher interventions for improving the efficiency of computer science and programming courses in K-12 education. The trend is towards a more constructivist problem-based learning approach. Computational thinking, which refers to formulating and solving problems in a form that can be efficiently processed by a computer, raises an important educational challenge. Our research aims to explore possible ways of enriching computer science teaching with a focus on development of computational thinking. We have prepared and evaluated a learning intervention for introducing computer programming to children between 10 and 14 years old; this involves students working in groups to program the behavior of the computer player of a well-known game. The programming process is split into two parts. First, students design a high-level version of their algorithm during an ‘unplugged’ pen & paper phase, and then they encode their solution as an executable program in a visual programming environment. Encouraging evaluation results have been achieved regarding the educational and motivational value of the proposed approach. |
| Starting Page | 36 |
| Ending Page | 50 |
| Page Count | 15 |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| DOI | 10.17471/2499-4324/910 |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://ijet.itd.cnr.it/article/download/910/877 |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://doi.org/10.17471/2499-4324%2F910 |
| Volume Number | 25 |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
