3. Background:
What are Computational Thinking Skills?
Image from Balanskat, A. & Engelhardt, K. (2015). Computing our future. Computer programming and coding: Priorities, school curricula and initiatives across Europe.
European Schoolnet: Brussles, Belgium. Retrieved from http://www.eun.org/c/document_library/get_ ļ¬le?uuid=521cb928-6ec4-4a86-b522-9d8fd5cf60ce&groupId=43887
6. Study Background
Collaborative study - 2 Brandon high
school teachers & Faculty of
Education Prof.
City of approx. 50, 000 people (2016
census).
22 schools in BSD, area K-8 schools
targeted, 2 taken part so far.
http://ontheworldmap.com/
7. Study Background/Process
Students in a grade 11/12 Computer Science class are recruited
(voluntarily) to take part in teaching Scratch to local grade 7 & 8
students.
Grade 7 & 8 teachers in area schools are recruited to take part in
the project.
Teachers are interviewed.
* Note: this project is still in progress - results presented are tentative.
8. Data Sources
ā Pre & Post Surveys for students (SY & MY)
ā Student focus groups (SY & MY)
ā Teacher interviews
ā In class observations
10. Data to date:
ā 4 classes (grades 7 & 8) in 2 schools
ā Teacher interviews: 3 (one teacher has been involved 2x)
ā 3 SY focus groups
ā 4 MY focus groups
ā Pre-surveys: SY N = 5, MY N = 33
ā Post surveys*: SY N = 14, MY N = 39
ā Classes observed by PI: 3 sessions
11. So what did the high
school students say
about teaching Scratch
to MY students?
14. Post survey/focus group results: Senior Years Students
1) Teaching to MY students did not overall revolutionize what
they already knew about CS concepts.
2) SY students: critical thinking and problem solving skills
were improved.
3) New respect for teachers and learners.
4) MY students beneļ¬ted by practicing how to be
self-motivated learners.
5) MY students beneļ¬ted by being introduced to algorithmic
thinking (a skill they were lacking).
15. āHelped turn the abstract nature of computer science thinking
into concrete terms ā¦ forced us to think of things in a diļ¬erent
way, teaching us new things about something old.ā
āPeople tend to learn at diļ¬erent paces, and explaining it one
way didnāt work for everyone.ā
16. āShowing them the end goal, or end possibilities, is what got
them interested in wanting to learn Scratch.ā
āTeaching kids is less about teaching them than to get them to
teach themselves. They had the ability to do it, you just have to
ļ¬nd a way to make them want to do it.ā
17. āOne of the hardest things was youād teach them something, and
then theyād forget. Or if you changed the context of the problem,
then theyād be lost. A lot of people really needed the step by step
list on how to do something.ā
āI think it teaches more than just computer science, it teaches them
how to work toward an end goal, a step by step process to reach the
goal, and the skills needed to do that. The things they learned in this
course could apply to so many diļ¬erent ļ¬elds, I think.ā
18. So what did the MY
students say about
learning Scratch?
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25. Results from Middle Years Students
1) Most students enjoyed the experience and thought it was
valuable.
2) Most girls decided they were not interested in CS as a
potential ļ¬eld of employment. Male interest also went
down after the teaching.
3) Many students felt their problem solving skills were
increased, or had more conļ¬dence in their abilities to ļ¬nd
solutions to their problems.
26. āWhen you had to code, you had to think, and it was sort of like
a puzzle.ā
āKeeping your code organized.ā
27. āI would test an idea, and if it didnāt work, Iād try something
diļ¬erent, and try again. The puzzle pieces of code really helped
because some things didnāt ļ¬t together and others do.ā
āAt ļ¬rst it was confusing, there were so many diļ¬erent tabs and
buttons, but once we got the hang of it [by about 3rd session] it got
easy.ā
28. So what did the
teachers say about
having SY kids teach
Scratch to MY students?
29. Results from Teachers
Teachers were positive about the project. They told us about ā¦
Students who coded outside of the lessons, even some
continuing after the sessions were completed.
How the MY students were (mostly) engaged and learned to ask
questions, and to help one another.
Some noticed problem solving skills improving in other areas (eg
math class).
30. āI donāt know how to code, so this seemed like a good opportunityā
āThe beneļ¬ts were student engagement, and learning a new
skill. There was a lot of independent learning happening.ā
āA huge skill for the students to learn was being able to do
something step by step.ā
31. āThe high school students were always trying something new,
and tackling the challenges they faced in teaching the middle
years (MY) students. They spoke the same ālanguageā as the MY
students.ā
āSome of my students who were typically very shy actually
became the āgo toā people for help in the class for coding.ā
āKids spent a lot of time being creative, and building diļ¬erent
things in Scratch.ā
32. On algorithmic thinking: āIāve used the examples from Scratch to
demonstrate to my students that you canāt skip a step in an algorithm, or it
doesnāt work. Also the language we learned during Scratch has carried over.ā
āWriting and communication skills--communication skills being the main
one.ā
āFollowing directions, and being able to stay focused--we had kids who
generally canāt stay focused for long periods of time, but during the
Scratch lessons they didnāt want to lose their spot and were focused the
whole timeā.
33. Some Preliminary Conclusions
This approach of āstudents teaching studentsā appears to have
beneļ¬ts for all involved, for example:
ā Can be a way to introduce teachers without a computer science
background to coding/CT.
ā Helps students develop critical thinking skills.
ā SY students solidify their coding skills and learn to plan and
communicate ideas to others.
ā MY students can be introduced to coding in a fun, non threatening
way, this may lead to further interest in coding (Computer Science).