The full text of this article hosted at iucr.org is unavailable due to technical difficulties.

Journal of Computer Assisted Learning

Volume 32, Issue 6
Original article

An analysis of young students' thinking when completing basic coding tasks using Scratch Jnr. On the iPad

G. Falloon

Corresponding Author

E-mail address: falloong@waikato.ac.nz

The Faculty of Education, University of Waikato, , Hamilton, New Zealand

Correspondence: Garry Falloon, The Faculty of Education, University of Waikato, Hillcrest Rd, Hamilton, New Zealand. Email:

falloong@waikato.ac.nz

Search for more papers by this author
First published: 21 August 2016
https://doi.org/10.1111/jcal.12155
Cited by: 10

Abstract

Recent government moves in many countries have seen coding included in school curricula, or promoted as part of computing, mathematics or science programmes. While these moves have generally been associated with a need to engage more young people in technology study, research has hinted at possible benefits from learning to program including fostering general thinking skills. However, little research has been carried out exploring these ideas. This study analysed data collected while 5‐ and 6‐year‐old students in a New Zealand primary school were using Scratch Jnr. to learn about basic shapes, as part of a numeracy topic. Analysis combined Brennan and Resnick's (2012) computational thinking skills framework and Krathwohl's (2002) revision of Bloom's Taxonomy to evaluate any role general thinking skills played in these students' coding work. Results suggest including basic coding in primary curricula provides teachers with an effective means of exercising their students' general and higher order thinking skills. They build on Brennan and Resnick's (2012) framework by including conceptualization as an important element in students' computational work and highlight the role of predictive thinking in debugging code. Findings support historical arguments that more needs to be done to investigate students' cognitive processes when undertaking computational work.

Lay description

What is already known about the topic:

  • Computational learning is an emerging area of school curricula;
  • Limited research exists exploring thinking processes within computational learning;
  • Early studies challenge more recent claims of thinking skill transfer from computational work.

What this paper adds:

  • Computational work supports a range of general and higher order thinking skills;
  • Task design and teacher skills are critical to achieving higher order thinking outcomes from computational work;
  • Computational work in teams can support collaborative, cooperative and self‐management key competencies.

Implications for practice and/or policy:

  • Findings broaden the base of empirical support for including computational work in school curricula;
  • Coding provides an engaging means of exercising complex thinking skills and key competencies in students;
  • The data methods used provide teachers with visible evidence of students' thinking processes during computational work.

Number of times cited: 10

  • Louise Starkey and Glenn Finger, Information and Communication Technology in Educational Policies in Australia and New Zealand, Handbook of Information Technology in Primary and Secondary Education, 10.1007/978-3-319-53803-7_87-1, (1-20), (2017).
    Crossref
  • Julien Bugmann and Thierry Karsenti, Learning to Program a Humanoid Robot: Impact on Special Education Students, Research on e-Learning and ICT in Education, 10.1007/978-3-319-95059-4_20, (323-337), (2018).
    Crossref
  • Yu-Hui Ching, Yu-Chang Hsu and Sally Baldwin, Developing Computational Thinking with Educational Technologies for Young Learners, TechTrends, 10.1007/s11528-018-0292-7, 62, 6, (563-573), (2018).
    Crossref
  • Rolando Chacón, Hector Posada, Álvaro Toledo and Maria Gouveia, Development of IoT applications in civil engineering classrooms using mobile devices, Computer Applications in Engineering Education, 26, 5, (1769-1781), (2018).
    Wiley Online Library
  • Gary Wong, Shan Jiang and Runzhi Kong, Computational Thinking and Multifaceted Skills, Teaching Computational Thinking in Primary Education, 10.4018/978-1-5225-3200-2.ch005, (78-101)
    Crossref
  • Shahira Popat and Louise Starkey, Learning to code or coding to learn? A systematic review, Computers & Education, 10.1016/j.compedu.2018.10.005, (2018).
    Crossref
  • Jacqueline Leonard, Monica Mitchell, Joy Barnes-Johnson, Adrienne Unertl, Jill Outka-Hill, Roland Robinson and Carla Hester-Croff, Preparing Teachers to Engage Rural Students in Computational Thinking Through Robotics, Game Design, and Culturally Responsive Teaching, Journal of Teacher Education, (002248711773231), (2017).
    Crossref
    • 2017 6th ICT International Student Project Conference (ICT-ISPC) Johor, Malaysia 2017 6th ICT International Student Project Conference (ICT-ISPC) IEEE , (2017). 978-1-5386-2996-3 Nurul Faizah Rozali and Norasykin Mohd Zaid Code puzzle: ActionScript 2.0 learning application based on problem based learning approach , (2017). 1 4 8075329 , 10.1109/ICT-ISPC.2017.8075329 http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8075329/
  • Sarah E. Vaala and Amy B. Jordan, Children's Learning in a Mobile Media Environment: Policies, Practices, and Possibilities, Cognitive Development in Digital Contexts, 10.1016/B978-0-12-809481-5.00015-8, (305-324), (2017).
    Crossref
  • Gary Ka-Wai Wong and Ho-Yin Cheung, Exploring children’s perceptions of developing twenty-first century skills through computational thinking and programming, Interactive Learning Environments, 10.1080/10494820.2018.1534245, (1-13), (2018).
    Crossref