This study examined the developmental process of children's computational thinking using block-based programming tools, specifically algorithmic thinking and debugging skills. With this aim, a group of children (N = 191) from two primary schools were studied for two years beginning from the fourth grade, as they engaged in our block-based…

This paper considers how a curricular design that integrated computer programming and creative movement shaped students' engagement with computing. We draw on data from a camp for middle schoolers, focusing on an activity in which students used the programming environment NetLogo to re-represent their physical choreography. We analyze the extent…

Teaching programming and computational thinking to young students has gained increasing attention in recent years. This great attention is attributed partially to the emergence of easy-to-use visual programming environments. These environments help students focus on the logic and concepts of programming and at the same time enhance their…

This dissertation follows a manuscript-style format, beginning with an introduction and literature review, followed by three distinct studies and a concluding section. All three studies use "Lucky Codes," an educational board game designed to foster computational thinking skills in elementary students, as the intervention. The first…

The ability to properly evaluate one's own academic progress has long been considered a predictor of academic success. However, its distinctive role in the context of computational mathematics remains underexplored. Grounded in social cognitive theory, this study investigates the critical role of self-regulated learning (SRL) strategies in…

Different instructional strategies have been drawn to assist elementary school students in improving computational thinking (CT) skills and student engagement (SE) in unplugged programming activities. This paper aimed to explore how the interactive strategies of unplugged programming affect CT skills and SE. The study was conducted based on a…

The purpose of the qualitative study was to investigate experiences of first-time board-game users (29 elementary school students) in playing "Coding Ocean" (CO) to learn computational thinking. CO was a two-team strategy board game and was designed for children developing basic understanding of computational thinking. Participation…

This study highlights the importance of an educational design that includes robotics and programming through a visual programming language as a means to enable students to improve substantially their understanding of the elements of logic and mathematics. Gaining an understanding of computational concepts as well as a high degree of student…

Over the past 7 years, we pioneered the development of a program blending dance choreography, computer programming, and a virtual environment to teach computational thinking, broadening pathways for more diverse students. We investigated the ways in which upper elementary and middle school students creating dance performances for virtual…

This article builds on prior work that aims to measure computational learning (CL) during middle school. Since game computational sophistication (GCS) has been used as a proxy for a student's engagement in CL we build on their model to more completely describe the relationship between different types of building blocks of computer games and GCS.…

This paper aims at exploring students' experiences when engaging in mathematical problem-solving through computational thinking and programming by a combination of theoretically derived insights and task-based activities. The main method used is a semi-structured interview with two undergraduate students who were presented with a mathematical task…

Background: With the increasing interdisciplinarity between computer science (CS) and other fields, a growing number of non-CS students are embracing programming. However, there is a gap in research concerning differences in programming learning between CS and non-CS students. Previous studies predominantly relied on outcome-based assessments,…

Computational thinking can be defined as "solving problems, designing systems, and understanding human behaviour, by drawing on the concepts fundamental to computer science" (Wing, 2006, p. 33). There are strong links between computational thinking associated with coding and mathematical thinking (Wing, 2006). The digital technologies…

This research explored the creative thinking, learning achievement, and engagement of students when they integrated the application of the personal audio classifier (PAC) into the competition of a computational thinking (CT) board game (i.e., the experimental group), or did not integrate it into the competition but only collaborated with peers to…

Effectiveness of program visualization tools in teaching and learning programming is well documented. However most of program visualization tools are desktop applications, this study aims at investigating students' perception of program visualization on Android smartphones. Study result shows that program visualization using smartphones can arouse…