scholarly journals The Effect of Robotics-Based Storytelling Activities on Primary School Students’ Computational Thinking

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 10
Author(s):  
Karin Tengler ◽  
Oliver Kastner-Hauler ◽  
Barbara Sabitzer ◽  
Zsolt Lavicza
Keyword(s):  
Primary School ◽  
Fourth Graders ◽  
Computational Thinking ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Educational Robotics ◽  
School Students ◽  
Technological Environment ◽  
Primary School Teachers ◽  
Post Test

Robotics is needed as education keeps up with challenges students are facing in a technological environment. A long-term research project focuses on developing a feasible robotics-based learning environment that enables primary school teachers to introduce computer science education. This paper shows educational robotics combining storytelling to promote computational thinking through the method of Tell, Draw, and Code. The study was conducted via pre–post test, using the Beginners Computational Thinking test (BCTt), with third and fourth graders (N = 40) to determine if the integration of robotics-based storytelling activities enhances computational thinking skills. Results show that an increase in computational thinking is evident after the intervention is implemented. The approach of combining stories, texts, and literature with educational robotics seems to be a promising concept to equip students with the required skills.

scholarly journals Impact of health education on preventive measures of Rabies among primary school teachers in Mandalay, Myanmar

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 1558
Author(s):  
Ei Ei Phyo Aung ◽  
Nang Mie Mie Htun ◽  
Pa Pa Soe
Keyword(s):  
Health Education ◽  
Primary School ◽  
Educational Intervention ◽  
Preventive Measures ◽  
Major Public Health Problem ◽  
Primary School Students ◽  
School Teachers ◽  
School Students ◽  
Primary School Teachers ◽  
Post Test

Background: Rabies is an exceptionally fatal zoonotic disease and major public health problem in developing countries. Health knowledge of preventive measures of rabies among primary school teachers is paramount to cultivate their students and create a secure and safe environment since primary school students are the most vulnerable group. The study aimed to assess the effect of health education on knowledge of preventive measures of rabies among primary school teachers.Methods: A pre and post-test intervention study was conducted among randomly selected 64 primary school teachers from 7 Townships in Mandalay from July to October, 2020. An educational intervention was conducted by contributing 4 sheets of pamphlets and appearing 5 minutes education video record and reassessment was done one month later.Results: The mean knowledge scores before and after intervention were 40.59±4.85 and 47.75±4.02 showing statistically significant improvement (p<0.001). Mean of the improvement percentage was 19.38±5.06. Out of 64 participants, 37.5% had good knowledge in pre-test which improved to 95.3% in post-test (p<0.05). Although, age, marital status, having children and having stray dogs near school compound were adjusted in multiple linear regression, there was no statistical significance association with improvement percentage.Conclusions: There is improvement of knowledge status, which is not influenced by sociodemographic factors, following educational intervention. This highlights the need of continuing medical education for preventive measures of rabies for both primary school teachers and primary school students.

scholarly journals Robotics to develop computational thinking in early Childhood Education

Comunicar ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (59) ◽  
pp. 63-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana García-Valcárcel-Muñoz-Repiso ◽  
Yen-Air Caballero-González
Keyword(s):  
Computational Thinking ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Kindergarten Students ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Educational Robotics ◽  
Control Groups ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
Programming Skills ◽  
And Control

The development of programming skills is currently promoting from an early school age, trying to get children to take an active and creative role in the use of technologies. The objective of this article is to verify the repercussion of educational robotics activities on kindergarten students in the acquisition of computational thinking and programming skills. The research design is quasi-experimental, with pre-test and post-test measures, using experimental and control groups. The sample consists of 131 students from the second cycle of early education (between 3 and 6 years old), all from the same Spanish school. Computational thinking is measured through three dimensions: sequences (algorithms), action-instruction correspondence and debugging. The intervention sessions, as well as the structure of the challenges that were used in the pre- and post-test evaluations, were designed based on the reference program of robotics studies called “TangibleK”. The intervention, carried out doing learning activities using educational robotics resources, presents positive results in relation to the computational thinking skills achieved. The differences between the pre-test and the post-test in the experimental and control groups are statistically significant, in that children engaged in robotics program achieves a greater advance in the three dimensions of computational competence through this method. Actualmente se promueve el desarrollo de habilidades de programación desde una edad escolar temprana, tratando de que los niños adquieran un rol activo y creativo en el uso de las tecnologías. El objetivo de este trabajo es comprobar la repercusión del desarrollo de actividades de robótica educativa en la adquisición de habilidades de pensamiento computacional y programación en escolares de educación infantil. El diseño de la investigación es de tipo cuasi-experimental, con medidas pretest y postest, utilizando grupo experimental y control. La muestra la conforman 131 estudiantes del segundo ciclo de educación infantil (entre 3 y 6 años de edad) de un centro educativo español. El pensamiento computacional se mide a través de tres dimensiones: secuencias (algoritmos), correspondencia acción-instrucción y depuración. Las sesiones de intervención, así como la estructura de los retos que se utilizaron en las evaluaciones pre y postest fueron diseñadas tomando como base el programa de estudios en robótica denominado «TangibleK». La intervención, centrada en actividades de aprendizaje mediante recursos de robótica educativa, presenta resultados positivos en relación a las habilidades de pensamiento computacional logradas. Las diferencias encontradas entre el pre y postest en el grupo experimental son estadísticamente significativas y superiores a las presentadas en el grupo control, de modo que se concluye que los niños que realizan el programa de robótica consiguen un mayor avance en las tres dimensiones de la competencia computacional.

scholarly journals DuinoBlocks4Kids: Using Free Technology and Low-Cost Materials for the Exercise of Computational Thinking in Primary School via Programming and Educational Robotics

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (02) ◽  
pp. 167
Author(s):  
Rubens Lacerda Queiroz ◽  
Fábio Ferrentini Sampaio ◽  
Mônica Pereira Dos Santos
Keyword(s):  
Primary School ◽  
Error Detection ◽  
Computer Programming ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Computational Thinking ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Primary School Children ◽  
Conditional Logic ◽  
Educational Robotics ◽  
Purely Sequential

This paper presents a case study about the development of Computational Thinking in primary school children (3st to 4th grade) via the teaching of programming abilities with the use of educational robotics, free technology and recyclable, low cost materials. We aimed at raising some hypotheses on whether there is a straight relationship between some cognitive aspects of children aged 8-10 (such as the ability to put events and ideas in sequence, the ability to execute mental operations on the basis of concrete experience, among others) and the ability to execute activities that may be linked to the learning of computer programming. The observed results indicated (from the use of a didactic kit developed for the accomplishment of this study) the possibility to develop the following computational thinking skills: abstract thinking ability, understanding of flows of control, Debugging and systematic error detection, iterative thinking, use of conditional logic and problem decomposition.  Regarding the investigations related to cognitive maturity, we found evidence of a correlation between the cognitive characteristics analyzed and the performance of certain tasks related to computer programming, such as the development of purely sequential programs and understanding of processing idea.

scholarly journals Educational Robotics in Primary School: Measuring the Development of Computational Thinking Skills with the Bebras Tasks

Informatics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiazzese ◽  
Arrigo ◽  
Chifari ◽  
Lonati ◽  
Tosto
Keyword(s):  
Primary School ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Computational Thinking ◽  
Fourth Grade ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Research Field ◽  
Primary School Children ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Educational Robotics ◽  
K 12

Research has shown that educational robotics can be an effective tool to increase students’ acquisition of knowledge in the subjects of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics and promote, at the same time, a progression in the development of computational thinking (CT) skills in K–12 (kindergarten to 12th grade) education. Within this research field, the present study first sought to assess the effect of a robotics laboratory on the acquisition of CT-related skills in primary school children. The study also aimed to compare the magnitude of the effect of the laboratory across third- and fourth-grade students. For the purpose of the study, a quasi-experimental post-test-only design was adopted, and a group of 51 students, from third- and fourth-grade classrooms, participating in the robotics laboratories, were compared to a control group of 32 students from classrooms of the same grades. A set of Bebras tasks was selected as an overall measure of CT skills and was administered to children in both the intervention and control groups. Overall, the results showed that programming robotics artefacts may exert a positive impact on students’ learning of computational thinking skills. Moreover, the effect of the intervention was found to be greater among third-grade children.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document