This paper reports on CodeOrama, a visualization tool that displays the entire source code in a two-dimensional representation created to support the representation of a complex code in block-based programming environments, like Scratch, by using a two-dimension table. CodeOrama can be used by the students for the development of their programs as…

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) show great interest in technological devices, and especially in robots. Several studies in the field have suggested that socially assistive robotics (SARs) can help children with ASD in the enhancement of their social skills and communication, and in the reduction of their stereotypical behaviors. Few…

The introduction of STEM education, and specifically the implementation of educational robotics (ER), has drawn researchers' attention and has shown that teachers play a crucial role in leading this innovation. The present study concerns in-service and pre-service early childhood teachers, focusing on their perceptions and attitudes about ER use…

Contribution: Prior studies on tangible versus graphical user interfaces have reported controversial findings concerning children's preferences. This paper shows that their preference profiles in the domain of introductory programming are associated with gender and age for both interfaces. Background: The relevant literature mainly consists of…

Programming microworlds are being used for introducing students to programming for many years. Although many professors and school teachers report positive results from using programming microwords, these results are usually based on anecdotal evidence rather than rigorous empirical evaluation. A question that has not been answered yet with…