research-article

A Comparison of Preschool and Elementary School Children Learning Computer Science Concepts through a Multilanguage Robot Programming Platform

Authors:

Cecilia Martinez,

Marcos J. Gomez,

Luciana BenottiAuthors Info & Claims

ITiCSE '15: Proceedings of the 2015 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education

Pages 159 - 164

https://doi.org/10.1145/2729094.2742599

Published: 22 June 2015 Publication History

Abstract

This paper describes a school intervention to teach fundamental Computer Science (CS) concepts to 3-11 year old students with a multilanguage robot programming platform (using drag and drop, Python and C++ languages) in Argentina. We analyze students' performance and learning process based on multiple choice test and classroom observations. Data show that all students can intuitively learn sequence, conditional, loops and parameters and that girls performed slightly better than boys. Older students can easily combine these concepts to write a program. The multilanguage platform promotes student spontaneous exploration of more sophisticated CS concepts and languages. These findings imply that introducing CS in mandatory schooling from an inquiry based approach is both achievable and beneficial.

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Index Terms

A Comparison of Preschool and Elementary School Children Learning Computer Science Concepts through a Multilanguage Robot Programming Platform
1. Social and professional topics
  1. Professional topics
    1. Computing education
      1. Computing education programs
        Computer science education

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Published In

cover image ACM Conferences

ITiCSE '15: Proceedings of the 2015 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education

June 2015

370 pages

ISBN:9781450334402

DOI:10.1145/2729094

Conference Chair:
Valentina Dagienė
Vilnius University, Lithuania
,
Program Chairs:
Carsten Schulte
Berlin Freie University, Germany
,
Tatjana Jevsikova
Vilnius University, Lithuania

Copyright © 2015 ACM.

Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than the author(s) must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected].

Sponsors

Bilkent University: Bilkent University
SIGCSE: ACM Special Interest Group on Computer Science Education

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Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 22 June 2015

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Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica

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ITICSE '15

Sponsor:

Bilkent University
SIGCSE

ITICSE '15: Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education Conference 2015

July 4 - 8, 2015

Vilnius, Lithuania

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ITiCSE '15 Paper Acceptance Rate 54 of 124 submissions, 44%;

Overall Acceptance Rate 552 of 1,613 submissions, 34%

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Cited By

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https://doi.org/10.23887/paud.v12i1.76895
Windayani NDewi N(2024)Instilling Hindu Character Values through The Development of E-Comic Based Balinese Satua in KindergartenJurnal Pendidikan Anak Usia Dini Undiksha10.23887/paud.v12i1.6884112:1(70-79)Online publication date: 8-Jun-2024
https://doi.org/10.23887/paud.v12i1.68841
Syahidul Haq MSetyowati NAshadi F(2024)Laravel Framework-Based Parenting ApplicationJurnal Pendidikan Anak Usia Dini Undiksha10.23887/paud.v11i3.6412311:3(383-392)Online publication date: 3-Jan-2024
https://doi.org/10.23887/paud.v11i3.64123
Seraj MVerano Merino MRahimi EOchoa Venegas LHermans FBohrer R(2024)Programming Smart Objects: How Young Learners’ Programming Skills, Attitudes, and Perception Are InfluencedProceedings of the 2024 ACM SIGPLAN International Symposium on SPLASH-E10.1145/3689493.3689982(45-55)Online publication date: 17-Oct-2024
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Dong JMitchell JYu SHarmon MHolstein AShim JChoi KZhu QJeon MGrollman DBroadbent EJu WSoh HWilliams T(2024)Promoting STEAM Education and AI/Robot Ethics in a Child-Robot Theater Afterschool ProgramCompanion of the 2024 ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction10.1145/3610978.3641110(1284-1286)Online publication date: 11-Mar-2024
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Severance SMiller EKrajcik J(2024)IF science AND making AND computing: Insights for project-based learning and primary science curriculum designStudies in Science Education10.1080/03057267.2024.2397300(1-65)Online publication date: 19-Sep-2024
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Metin ŞKalyenci DBaşaran MRelkin EBilir B(2024)Design-Based Digital Story Program: Enhancing Coding and Computational Thinking Skills in Early Childhood EducationEarly Childhood Education Journal10.1007/s10643-024-01728-3Online publication date: 23-Aug-2024
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Metin SBasaran MKalyenci D(2023)Examining coding skills of five-year-old childrenPedagogical Research10.29333/pr/128028:2(em0154)Online publication date: 2023
https://doi.org/10.29333/pr/12802
Yang DSnelson CFeng S(2023)Identifying computational thinking in students through project-based problem-solving activitiesInformation Discovery and Delivery10.1108/IDD-09-2022-009151:3(293-305)Online publication date: 4-Jan-2023
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Fanchamps Nvan Gool ESlangen LHennissen P(2023)The effect on computational thinking and identified learning aspects: Comparing unplugged smartGames with SRA-Programming with tangible or On-screen outputEducation and Information Technologies10.1007/s10639-023-11956-629:3(2999-3024)Online publication date: 16-Jun-2023
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