Underpinning the teaching of coding with Computational Thinking has proved relevant for diverse learners, particularly given the increasing demand in upskilling for today's labour market. While literature on computing education is vast, it remains unexplored how existing CT conceptualisations relate to the learning opportunities needed for a…

Coding learning can promote the development of computational thinking (CT) in young children. The effect of coding learning on CT may vary between different cultures. However, it lacks studies to evaluate the effect of coding learning on the various dimensions of CT in young Chinese children. To provide insight into this question, we recruited…

Contribution: This study focuses on microcontroller circuits and aims to: 1) investigate the impact of formal reasoning on students' post-knowledge using catastrophe theory; 2) compare the different combination sequences of tangible user interface (TUI) and graphical user interface (GUI); and 3) assess the usability of both interfaces and explore…

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,…

Past efforts to teach novices programming through pair programming and project-based learning utilizing different low floors, high ceilings and wide walls platforms have been successful. Building from related work, this study investigates the effectiveness of Productive Failure (PF) pedagogical design in supporting youth and novices when learning…

In the Winter semester of 2020 during a multimedia design and production class for pre-service teachers, the students were introduced to basic computer coding concepts such as variables, conditional statements, various expressions, logic, and syntax. For their final project, the students were asked to create an interactive instructional app using…

Today, schools are introducing STEM education and robotics to children in ever-lower grades. In "Beyond Coding," Marina Umaschi Bers lays out a pedagogical roadmap for teaching code that encompasses the cultivation of character along with technical knowledge and skills. Presenting code as a universal language, she shows how children…

Making and maker spaces have attracted increasing attention as potential sites for supporting K-12 student learning in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and as a means of competency development for computational and design thinking as well as technological literacy. While interest in making and maker spaces is high, little…

Cross-curricula opportunities afforded by STEM education (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics education), supports an environment where students can develop twenty-first century competencies. One approach to addressing cross-curricula opportunities in STEM education is the introduction of computer science (computer…

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…

In the context of joint decision-making, we investigated whether preschoolers alter the informativeness of their justifications depending on the common ground that they share with their partner. Pairs of 3- and 5-year-olds (N = 146) were introduced to a novel animal with unique characteristics (e.g., eating rocks). In the common ground condition,…

This article describes a research study in which 10 early childhood education students participated in facilitated critical reflection experiences during a 7-week practicum. Students' critical thinking skills were quantitatively assessed using the Cornell Critical Thinking Test and qualitatively documented through analysis of daily, weekly, and…

This paper reports the results of an online survey done by Global Game Jam (GGJ) participants in January 2012. This is an expansion of an earlier survey of a local game jam event and seeks to validate and extend previous studies. The objectives of this survey were collecting demographic information about the GGJ participants, understanding their…

In this study, we analyzed the quality of students' written scientific explanations found in notebooks and explored the link between the quality of the explanations and students' learning. We propose an approach to systematically analyzing and scoring the quality of students' explanations based on three components: claim, evidence to support it,…

In this article, the community of inquiry cognitive presence model was mapped to a recently developed semistructured approach to online discourse called SQUAD to detect aspects of critical or higher-order thinking online by cleaning online message transcript through the use of code-recode. It is argued that using code-recode in the way suggested…