Learning Programming Concepts Through Maze Game in Scratch.
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| Title: | Learning Programming Concepts Through Maze Game in Scratch. |
|---|---|
| Authors: | Ternik, Žan1 zan.ternik@gmail.com, Koron, Anja1 akoron700@gmail.com, Koron, Tine1 tkoron95@gmail.com, Šerbec, Irena Nančovska1 irena.nancovska@pef.uni-lj.si |
| Source: | Proceedings of the European Conference on Games Based Learning. 2017, p661-670. 10p. |
| Subject Terms: | *Computer programming education, *Adult education workshops, *School children, Computer game programming, Computer scientists |
| Abstract: | Computational thinking, according to Wing, is a fundamental skill for everyone, not just for computer scientists. In the last decade, computer scientists and teachers stress that it is important to engage students in developing computational thinking at early age. It is strongly anchored in problem-solving paradigm of learning and could be supported by different activities, e.g., workshop on making maze games in Scratch. In the paper we analyse the projects developed by primary school students during the constructionist workshop. We were interested in how the students understand computational concepts, as a dimension of computational thinking, reflected in their projects. We analyse the computational thinking concepts in the projects in accordance with Brennan and Resnick suggestions and in the context of neo-Piagetian theory of cognitive development according to Lister and Teague. Projects reflect the understanding and use of following concepts: sequences, loops, parallelism, events, conditionals, operators and data. All of the students, no matter what the background knowledge they had, were at the end of the workshop able to understand and use sequences, loops, events and conditionals. Students who had background knowledge in Scratch were also able to include in their project parallelism and variables (data). We quantitatively assessed projects with the tool Dr. Scratch and checked the presence of the previously mentioned concepts. The results of our research will not be helpful only for understanding the development of student's computational thinking but they can also help scholars who use Scratch in process of learning in optional elective course Computer Science in the second three-year cycle of Slovenian primary schools. It was confirmed that the problem-based learning is suitable for students with different background knowledge. At the same time the topic of maze-game in Scratch holds the students' engagement and attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Proceedings of the European Conference on Games Based Learning is the property of Academic Conferences & Publishing International Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Education Research Complete |
| FullText | Links: – Type: pdflink Text: Availability: 0 |
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| Header | DbId: ehh DbLabel: Education Research Complete An: 126280802 AccessLevel: 6 PubType: Conference PubTypeId: conference PreciseRelevancyScore: 0 |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: Learning Programming Concepts Through Maze Game in Scratch. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Ternik%2C+Žan%22">Ternik, Žan</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo><i> zan.ternik@gmail.com</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Koron%2C+Anja%22">Koron, Anja</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo><i> akoron700@gmail.com</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Koron%2C+Tine%22">Koron, Tine</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo><i> tkoron95@gmail.com</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Šerbec%2C+Irena+Nančovska%22">Šerbec, Irena Nančovska</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo><i> irena.nancovska@pef.uni-lj.si</i> – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Proceedings+of+the+European+Conference+on+Games+Based+Learning%22">Proceedings of the European Conference on Games Based Learning</searchLink>. 2017, p661-670. 10p. – Name: Subject Label: Subject Terms Group: Su Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Computer+programming+education%22">Computer programming education</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Adult+education+workshops%22">Adult education workshops</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22School+children%22">School children</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Computer+game+programming%22">Computer game programming</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Computer+scientists%22">Computer scientists</searchLink> – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: Computational thinking, according to Wing, is a fundamental skill for everyone, not just for computer scientists. In the last decade, computer scientists and teachers stress that it is important to engage students in developing computational thinking at early age. It is strongly anchored in problem-solving paradigm of learning and could be supported by different activities, e.g., workshop on making maze games in Scratch. In the paper we analyse the projects developed by primary school students during the constructionist workshop. We were interested in how the students understand computational concepts, as a dimension of computational thinking, reflected in their projects. We analyse the computational thinking concepts in the projects in accordance with Brennan and Resnick suggestions and in the context of neo-Piagetian theory of cognitive development according to Lister and Teague. Projects reflect the understanding and use of following concepts: sequences, loops, parallelism, events, conditionals, operators and data. All of the students, no matter what the background knowledge they had, were at the end of the workshop able to understand and use sequences, loops, events and conditionals. Students who had background knowledge in Scratch were also able to include in their project parallelism and variables (data). We quantitatively assessed projects with the tool Dr. Scratch and checked the presence of the previously mentioned concepts. The results of our research will not be helpful only for understanding the development of student's computational thinking but they can also help scholars who use Scratch in process of learning in optional elective course Computer Science in the second three-year cycle of Slovenian primary schools. It was confirmed that the problem-based learning is suitable for students with different background knowledge. At the same time the topic of maze-game in Scratch holds the students' engagement and attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] – Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright Label: Group: Ab Data: <i>Copyright of Proceedings of the European Conference on Games Based Learning is the property of Academic Conferences & Publishing International Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
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| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Languages: – Code: eng Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 10 StartPage: 661 Subjects: – SubjectFull: Computer programming education Type: general – SubjectFull: Adult education workshops Type: general – SubjectFull: School children Type: general – SubjectFull: Computer game programming Type: general – SubjectFull: Computer scientists Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Learning Programming Concepts Through Maze Game in Scratch. Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Ternik, Žan – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Koron, Anja – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Koron, Tine – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Šerbec, Irena Nančovska IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 01 Text: 2017 Type: published Y: 2017 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 20490992 Titles: – TitleFull: Proceedings of the European Conference on Games Based Learning Type: main |
| ResultId | 1 |
