Use Hopscotch to Develop Positive Attitudes Toward Programming For Elementary School Students
Keywords:
Computer science, block-based programming, elementary school students, attitudes toward programming, HopscotchAbstract
With the advancement in technology and the emphasis on computer science education, there has been a strong push for more widespread programming instruction at K-12 and higher education levels. Existing research has mostly focused on students at the secondary and post-secondary levels. Little work has involved students at the elementary school age, which has been considered a critical age to cultivate an interest in programming. The current study aimed to investigate the effects of a block-based programming interface (e.g., Hopscotch) on elementary school students’ attitudes toward programming. In this study, eighteen elementary school students in 4th -5th grades participated in a programming curriculum for about seven weeks in the US. A survey on attitude toward programming was distributed before and after the curriculum, to explore the change in attitudes toward programming. Students’ perception toward the block-based programming interface (e.g., Hopscotch) was also examined after the curricular activities. Students’ activities in lessons and artifacts from the culminating project were observed. The findings indicated that elementary school students had a positive perception of programming in the block-based programming interface. Also, the block-based programming activities contributed to more positive attitudes toward programming. Implications and limitations of the study were discussed.
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References
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Baser, M. (2013). Attitude, gender and achievement in computer programming. MiddleEast Journal of Scientific Research, 14(2), 248–255.
Bishop-Clark, C., Courte, J., & Howard, E. V. (2006). Programming in pairs with Alice to improve confidence, enjoyment, and achievement. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 34(2), 213–228.
Bowman, D. D. (2018). Declining talent in computer related careers. Journal of Academic Administration in Higher Education, 14(1), 1–4.
Brennan, K., & Resnick, M. (2012). New frameworks for studying and assessing the development of computational thinking. Proceedings of the 2012 Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Vol. 1, 25.
Burke, Q., & Kafai, Y. B. (2012). The writers’ workshop for youth programmers: digital storytelling with scratch in middle school classrooms. 43rd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, 433–438.
Cetin, I. (2016). Preservice teachers’ introduction to computing: exploring utilization of scratch. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 54(7), 997–1021.
Chen, C., Haduong, P., Brennan, K., Sonnert, G., & Sadler, P. (2019). The effects of first programming language on college students’ computing attitude and achievement: a comparison of graphical and textual languages. Computer Science Education, 29(1), 23–48.
Clements, D. H., & Gullo, D. F. (1984). Effects of computer programming on young children’s cognition. Journal of Educational Psychology, 76(6), 1051.
Computer Science Teachers Association [CSTA]. (2011). Introduction to the national standards for K-12 computer science. In The CSTA Standards Task Force (Ed.), CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards (pp. 1–12).
Denner, J., Werner, L., & Ortiz, E. (2012). (2012). Computer games created by middle school girls: Can they be used to measure understanding of computer science concepts? Computers & Education, 58(1), 240–249.
Ericsson, K. A., & Simon, H. A. (1998). How to study thinking in everyday life: Contrasting think-aloud protocols with descriptions and explanations of thinking. Mind, Culture, and Activity, 5(3), 178–186.
Fessakis, G., Gouli, E., & Mavroudi, E. (2013). Problem solving by 5–6 years old kindergarten children in a computer programming environment: A case study. Computers & Education, 63, 87–97.
Google Gallup. (2015). Images of computer science: Perceptions among students, parents and educators in the US.
Grover, S., & Pea, R. (2013). Computational thinking in K–12: A review of the state of the field. Educational Researcher, 42(1), 38–43.
Grover, S., Pea, R., & Cooper, S. (2015). Designing for deeper learning in a blended computer science course for middle school students. Computer Science Education, 25(2), 199–237.
Gunbatar, M. S., & Karalar, H. (2018). Gender differences in middle school students’ attitudes and self-efficacy perceptions towards MBlock programming. European Journal of Educational Research, 7(4), 925–933. https://doi.org/10.12973/eu-jer.7.4.923
Guzdial, M., & Morrison, B. (2016). Growing computer science education into a STEM education discipline. Communications of the ACM, 59(11), 31–33.
Hoegh, A., & Moskal, B. M. (2009). Examining science and engineering students’ attitudes toward computer science. 39th IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference, 1–6.
Kalelioglu, F., & Gülbahar, Y. (2014). The effects of teaching programming via scratch on problem solving skills: A discussion from learners’ perspective. Informatics in Education, 13(1), 33–50.
Kaucic, B., & Asic, T. (2011). Improving introductory programming with Scratch? 2011 Proceedings of the 34th International Convention MIPRO, 1095–1100.
Korkmaz, Ö. (2016). The effect of scratch-based game activities on students’ attitudes, self-efficacy and academic achievement. International Journal of Modern Education and Computer Science, 8(1), 16–23. https://doi.org/10.5815/ijmecs.2016.01.03
Lai, A. F., & Yang, S. M. (2011). The learning effect of visualized programming learning on 6th graders’ problem solving and logical reasoning abilities. 2011 International Conference on Electrical and Control Engineering, ICECE 2011 - Proceedings, 6940–6944.
Law, K. M., Lee, V. C., & Yu, Y. T. (2010). Learning motivation in e-learning facilitated computer programming courses. Computers & Education, 55(1), 218–228.
Liao, Y. K. C., & Bright, G. W. (1991). Effects of computer programming on cognitive outcomes: A meta-analysis. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 7(3), 251–268.
Lye, S. Y., & Koh, J. H. L. (2014). Review on teaching and learning of computational thinking through programming: What is next for K-12? Computers in Human Behavior, 41, 51–61.
Meerbaum-Salant, O., Armoni, M., & Ben-Ari, M. (2013). Learning computer science concepts with scratch. Computer Science Education, 23(3), 239–264.
Miller, R. B., Kelly, G. N., & Kelly, J. T. (1988). Effects of Logo computer programming experience on problem solving and spatial relations ability. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 13(4), 348–357.
Mladenović, M., Krpan, D., & Mladenovi, S. (2017). Learning programming from scratch. Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology, November Special Issue, 419–427.
Papert, S. (1996). An exploration in the space of mathematics educations. Int. J. Comput. Math. Learn, 1(1), 95–123.
Price, T. W., & Barnes, T. (2015). Comparing textual and block interfaces in a novice programming environment. Proceedings of the Eleventh Annual International Conference on International Computing Education Research, 91–99.
Robins, A., Rountree, J., & Rountree, N. (2003). Learning and teaching programming: A review and discussion. Computer Science Education, 13(2), 137–172.
Rubio, M. A., Romero-Zaliz, R., Mañoso, C., & Angel, P. (2015). Closing the gender gap in an introductory programming course. Computers & Education, 82, 409–420.
Sáez-López, J. M., Román-González, M., & Vázquez-Cano, E. (2016). Visual programming languages integrated across the curriculum in elementary school: A two year case study using “Scratch” in five schools. Computers & Education, 97, 129–141.
Seehorn, D., Carey, S., Fuschetto, B., Lee, I., Moix, D., O’Grady-Cunniff, D., ... & Verno, A. (2011). CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards: Revised 2011.
Wing, J. (2006). Computational thinking. Communications of the ACM, 49(3), 33–35.
Wing, J. (2011). Research notebook: Computational thinking-What and why. The Link Magazine, 6.
Xu, Z., Ritzhaupt, A. D., Tian, F., & Umapathy, K. (2019). Block-based versus text-based programming environments on novice student learning outcomes: a meta-analysis study. Computer Science Education, 29(2–3), 177–204.
Yukselturk, E., & Altiok, S. (2017a). An investigation of the effects of programming with Scratch on the preservice IT teachers’ self-efficacy perceptions and attitudes towards computer programming. British Journal of Educational Technology, 48(3), 789–801. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.12453
Yukselturk, E., & Altiok, S. (2017b). An investigation of the effects of programming with Scratch on the preservice IT teachers’ self‐efficacy perceptions and attitudes towards computer programming. British Journal of Educational Technology, 48(3), 789–801.
Published
2021-09-18
How to Cite
Wang, J. (2021). Use Hopscotch to Develop Positive Attitudes Toward Programming For Elementary School Students . International Journal of Computer Science Education in Schools, 5(1), 48–58. https://doi.org/10.21585/ijcses.v5i1.122
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