Elementary Students’ First Approach to Computational Thinking and Programming
Digital competence and programming are actively highlighted areas in education worldwide. They are becoming part of curricula all over the world, including the Swedish elementary school curriculum, Children are expected to develop <i>computational thinking</i> through programming activit...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2021-02-01
|
| Series: | Education Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/11/2/80 |
| _version_ | 1797396036588666880 |
|---|---|
| author | Susanne Kjällander Linda Mannila Anna Åkerfeldt Fredrik Heintz |
| author_facet | Susanne Kjällander Linda Mannila Anna Åkerfeldt Fredrik Heintz |
| author_sort | Susanne Kjällander |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Digital competence and programming are actively highlighted areas in education worldwide. They are becoming part of curricula all over the world, including the Swedish elementary school curriculum, Children are expected to develop <i>computational thinking</i> through programming activities, mainly in mathematics—which are supposed to be based on both proven experience and scientific grounds. Both are lacking in the lower grades of elementary school. This article gives unique insight into pupils’ learning during the first programming lessons based on a group of Swedish pupils’ experiences when entering school. The goal of the article is to inform education policy and practice. The large interdisciplinary, longitudinal research project studies approximately 1500 students aged 6–16 and their teachers over three years, using video documentation, questionnaires, and focus group interviews. This article reports on empirical data collected during the first year in one class with 30 pupils aged 6–7 years. The social semiotic, multimodal theoretical framework “<i>Design for Learning</i>” is used to investigate potential <i>signs of learning</i> in pupils’ multimodal <i>representations</i> when they, for example, use block programming in the primary and <i>secondary transformation unit</i>. We show that young pupils have positive attitudes to programming and high self-efficacy, and that pupils’ signs of learning in programming are multimodal and often visible in social interactions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T00:44:31Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3b41c14052c8468fa36f786c97b9bc79 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2227-7102 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T00:44:31Z |
| publishDate | 2021-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Education Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-3b41c14052c8468fa36f786c97b9bc792023-12-11T17:34:50ZengMDPI AGEducation Sciences2227-71022021-02-011128010.3390/educsci11020080Elementary Students’ First Approach to Computational Thinking and ProgrammingSusanne Kjällander0Linda Mannila1Anna Åkerfeldt2Fredrik Heintz3Department of Child and Youth Studies, Stockholm University, 10691 Stockholm, SwedenDepartment of Computer and Information Science, Linköping University, 58183 Linköping, SwedenDepartment of Mathematics and Science Education, Stockholm University, 10691 Stockholm, SwedenDepartment of Computer and Information Science, Linköping University, 58183 Linköping, SwedenDigital competence and programming are actively highlighted areas in education worldwide. They are becoming part of curricula all over the world, including the Swedish elementary school curriculum, Children are expected to develop <i>computational thinking</i> through programming activities, mainly in mathematics—which are supposed to be based on both proven experience and scientific grounds. Both are lacking in the lower grades of elementary school. This article gives unique insight into pupils’ learning during the first programming lessons based on a group of Swedish pupils’ experiences when entering school. The goal of the article is to inform education policy and practice. The large interdisciplinary, longitudinal research project studies approximately 1500 students aged 6–16 and their teachers over three years, using video documentation, questionnaires, and focus group interviews. This article reports on empirical data collected during the first year in one class with 30 pupils aged 6–7 years. The social semiotic, multimodal theoretical framework “<i>Design for Learning</i>” is used to investigate potential <i>signs of learning</i> in pupils’ multimodal <i>representations</i> when they, for example, use block programming in the primary and <i>secondary transformation unit</i>. We show that young pupils have positive attitudes to programming and high self-efficacy, and that pupils’ signs of learning in programming are multimodal and often visible in social interactions.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/11/2/80K-12 educationcomputational thinkingprogrammingdesignmultimodalitylearning |
| spellingShingle | Susanne Kjällander Linda Mannila Anna Åkerfeldt Fredrik Heintz Elementary Students’ First Approach to Computational Thinking and Programming Education Sciences K-12 education computational thinking programming design multimodality learning |
| title | Elementary Students’ First Approach to Computational Thinking and Programming |
| title_full | Elementary Students’ First Approach to Computational Thinking and Programming |
| title_fullStr | Elementary Students’ First Approach to Computational Thinking and Programming |
| title_full_unstemmed | Elementary Students’ First Approach to Computational Thinking and Programming |
| title_short | Elementary Students’ First Approach to Computational Thinking and Programming |
| title_sort | elementary students first approach to computational thinking and programming |
| topic | K-12 education computational thinking programming design multimodality learning |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/11/2/80 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT susannekjallander elementarystudentsfirstapproachtocomputationalthinkingandprogramming AT lindamannila elementarystudentsfirstapproachtocomputationalthinkingandprogramming AT annaakerfeldt elementarystudentsfirstapproachtocomputationalthinkingandprogramming AT fredrikheintz elementarystudentsfirstapproachtocomputationalthinkingandprogramming |