Background: Computational thinking (CT) is crucial to fostering critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Many elementary schools have been cultivating students' CT through block-based programming languages such as Scratch using traditional teacher-centered teaching methods. However, the approach excessively relies on teacher lectures, so the…

Background: In the digital age, fostering young children's computational thinking (CT) and executive functions (EFs) through programming has emerged as a significant research issue. While unplugged programming activities are commonly adopted in preschools, robot programming activities have recently gained attention for the potential to enhance…

Fostering students' competence in applying interdisciplinary knowledge to solve problems has been recognized as an important and challenging issue globally. This is why STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) education has been emphasized at all levels in schools. Meanwhile, the use of robotics has played an important role in STEM…

Background: Unplugged programming is proved to be an effective means to foster the learner-centered programming learning. In addition to the final tests, learners' programming knowledge, skills, and capacities are primarily demonstrated throughout the programming process, particularly in the situation when they encounter challenges and problems.…

Background: Robotics competitions are increasingly popular and potentially provide an on-ramp to computer science, which is currently highly gender imbalanced. However, within competitive robotics teams, student participation in programming is not universal. This study gathered surveys from over 500 elementary, middle, and high school robotics…