Although digital technology is an important part of young people's lives, previous research implies that they have a limited understanding of what programming is and its connection to the digital devices they encounter every day. In order to create conditions for meaningful teaching in and about programming in technology education, more knowledge…

Due to swift technological changes in society, programming tasks are proliferating in formal and informal education around the globe. However, challenges arise regarding the acquisition of programming skills. Many students are unequipped to develop programming skills due to limited instruction or background and therefore feel insecure when…

This study examined the effects of embodied learning experiences on students' understanding of computational thinking (CT) concepts and their ability to solve CT problems. In a mixed-reality learning environment, students mapped CT concepts, such as sequencing and loops, onto their bodily movements. These movements were later applied to robot…

Background and Context: Historically, women have been underrepresented in computer science. To address this gender gap, researchers advocate for high-quality computer science programs for early childhood. Objectives: This study examines gender differences in coding performance before and after implementing a 24-lesson visual programming curriculum…

Computer programming for young children has grown in popularity among both educators and product developers, but still relatively little is known about what skills children are developing when they code. This study investigated N = 57 Kindergarten through second grade children's performance on a programming assessment after engaging in a 6-week…

While programming was introduced to mathematics classrooms in the 1980s, emerging robotic technologies have encouraged more widespread integration of these technologies to support the development of K-12 students' mathematical reasoning. The recent emphasis of programming and computational thinking in K-12 education has highlighted the need to…

The current quantitative study, a naturalistic field experiment, was conducted in a public primary school in Soweto, Johannesburg, with the objective to examine how children's achievement on four assessments at the beginning of Grade R, namely their numeracy, their mathematics-specific vocabulary, their executive functions, and their logical…

This paper seeks to contribute to the growing literature on children and computer programming by focusing on a programming language for children in Kindergarten through second grade. Sixty-two students were exposed to a 6-week curriculum using ScartchJr. They learned foundational programming concepts and applied those concepts to create personally…

Tangible programming tools enable children to easily learn the programming process, previously considered to be difficult for them. While various tangible programming tools have been developed, there is still a lack of available tools to help students experience the general programming process. This study therefore developed a tool called…

Prior work demonstrates the importance of introducing young children to programming and engineering content before gender stereotypes are fully developed and ingrained in later years. However, very little research on gender and early childhood technology interventions exist. This pilot study looks at N = 45 children in kindergarten through second…

The aim of the 2018 International Association for Development of the Information Society (IADIS) Cognition and Exploratory Learning in the Digital Age (CELDA) conference was to address the main issues concerned with evolving learning processes and supporting pedagogies and applications in the digital age. There have been advances in both cognitive…