The use of a pedagogical approach mediated transfer with the bridging method has been successful in facilitating the transitions from block-based to text-based programming languages. Nevertheless, there is a lack of research addressing the impact of this transfer on programming misconceptions during the transition. The way programming concepts are…

We present a Scratch task we designed and implemented for teaching and learning coordinates in a dynamic and engaging way. We use the 5Es framework to describe the students' interactions with the task and offer suggestions of how other teachers may adopt it to successfully implement Scratch tasks.

The purpose of this study was to investigate how the 8th graders interpreted the equal sign in the pan balance activities they created on Scratch. Five eighth graders (4 girls and 1 boy) in Turkey participated in this study. Case study was employed as a qualitative research method. Data was gathered through the Scratch files created by the…

Programming has recently become part of Swedish technology education; pupils should now be able to analyse existing programmed technological solutions, and be able to design new ones. Teachers facing this curriculum change need guidance on how to teach and what to address, based on how pupils understand the content. The aim of this study is to…

Despite the importance of computer science education and computational thinking, there have been limited examples of computer science education at K-12 classrooms that authentically represents the work of computer scientists, especially programming. One reason is the lack of a measurable definition of computational thinking and a programming…

Data science surrounds us in contexts as diverse as climate change, air pollution, route-finding, genomics, market manipulation, and movie recommendations. To open the "data-science-black-box" for lower secondary school students, we developed a data science teaching unit focusing on the analysis of environmental data, which we embedded…

Abstraction is one of the most fundamental ideas in computer science (CS), and as such, according to Bruner, it should be taught spirally, starting as early as possible and revisited at every level of education. However, teaching CS abstraction to novices is a very challenging task, and CS educational research has often demonstrated students'…

The aim of this article is to inspire more teachers to explore the use of codable robots for teaching mathematics. The authors begin by discussing four benefits experienced by incorporating robots into middle school mathematics classes: (1) reasonable time frames; (2) authentic purposes for mathematics; (3) visual and nonevaluative feedback; and…

Purpose of this study is determined effects of different teaching approaches on programming skills. Therefore, the effect of three different types of activities prepared with Scratch on 423 sixth grade students' attitudes towards computer technologies, algorithmic thinking skills and reflective thinking skills on problem solving were investigated.…

Learning programming is a painful process for most students, especially those learning text- based programming languages. In this study, based on the principle of Bandura's social learning theory, the vicarious real-life experiences of several pioneers in the field of IT and programming were presented as 15-minutes stories to a group of 9th…

This study aims to explore an educational learning environment that supports students to learn conceptual modelling with the unified modelling language (UML). In this study, we call the describing models "UML programming." In this paper, we show an educational UML programming environment for science, technology, engineering, art, and…

This paper describes a 54-hour summer institute for grades 6-12 mathematics and science teachers (N = 19) with a comprehensive approach to preparing teachers to use computational thinking (CT) in their classrooms, including training in Python computer programming with Lego® Mindstorms® robotics, mathematics content sessions, and opportunities to…

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts over 8 million job openings in IT and computing, including 1 million cybersecurity postings, over the current five-year period. This paper presents lessons learned in preparing middle-school students in rural Georgia for future careers in computer science/ IT by teaching computer programming in the free,…

In recent years, the number of students who have chosen computer science related undergraduate departments has decreased rapidly. Moreover, students who prefer computer science and programming departments appear to be unsuccessful in programming classes due to the complexity and frustrating difficulties of programming learning. One of the…

This study was conducted to examine the effect of in-service training of computer science teachers in Scratch language using an electronic learning platform on acquiring programming skills and attitudes towards teaching programming. The sample of this study consisted of 40 middle school computer science teachers. They were assigned into two…