research-article

Text-based Programming in Elementary School: A Comparative Study of Programming Abilities in Children with and without Block-based Experience

Authors:

Marcos J. Gomez,

Luciana BenottiAuthors Info & Claims

ITiCSE '19: Proceedings of the 2019 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education

Pages 402 - 408

https://doi.org/10.1145/3304221.3319734

Published: 02 July 2019 Publication History

Abstract

This paper describes an elementary school intervention to teach a text-based programming language to 10-11 year old students. We compare students with no previous programming experience with students with 3 semesters of experience with a block-based programming language. We analyze students' performance and learning based on detailed logs in an online programming platform and on multiple choice tests. Although both groups have a similar percentage of syntactical errors, the experienced group showed a better performance on exam scores and a lower number of test case errors. These findings suggest that, 10-11 year old students benefit from block-based experience when learning a new text-based programming language.

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Houchins JOwen RMatlen BKao YStephenson BStone JBattestilli LRebelsky SShoop L(2024)Programming Language Knowledge Transfer that Teachers Observe in their ClassroomsProceedings of the 55th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 210.1145/3626253.3635570(1690-1691)Online publication date: 14-Mar-2024
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Index Terms

Text-based Programming in Elementary School: A Comparative Study of Programming Abilities in Children with and without Block-based Experience

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Published In

cover image ACM Conferences

ITiCSE '19: Proceedings of the 2019 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education

July 2019

583 pages

ISBN:9781450368957

DOI:10.1145/3304221

General Chairs:
Bruce Scharlau
University of Aberdeen, UK
,
Roger McDermott
Robert Gordon University, UK
,
Program Chairs:
Arnold Pears
KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden
,
Mihaela Sabin
University of New Hampshire, USA

Copyright © 2019 ACM.

Publication rights licensed to ACM. ACM acknowledges that this contribution was authored or co-authored by an employee, contractor or affiliate of a national government. As such, the Government retains a nonexclusive, royalty-free right to publish or reproduce this article, or to allow others to do so, for Government purposes only.

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New York, NY, United States

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Published: 02 July 2019

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Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica
Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas

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ITiCSE '19

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SIGCSE

ITiCSE '19: Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education

July 15 - 17, 2019

Aberdeen, Scotland Uk

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Overall Acceptance Rate 552 of 1,613 submissions, 34%

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Tran KBacher JShi YSkripchuk JPrice T(2024)Overcoming Barriers in Scaling Computing Education Research Programming Tools: A Developer's PerspectiveProceedings of the 2024 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research - Volume 110.1145/3632620.3671113(312-325)Online publication date: 12-Aug-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3632620.3671113
Houchins JOwen RMatlen BKao YStephenson BStone JBattestilli LRebelsky SShoop L(2024)Programming Language Knowledge Transfer that Teachers Observe in their ClassroomsProceedings of the 55th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 210.1145/3626253.3635570(1690-1691)Online publication date: 14-Mar-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3626253.3635570
Park HManley EStephenson BStone JBattestilli LRebelsky SShoop L(2024)Programming-Integrated Mathematics Learning for Future Elementary Teachers and Non-STEM MajorsProceedings of the 55th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 110.1145/3626252.3630908(1014-1020)Online publication date: 7-Mar-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3626252.3630908
Fernández GCossio-Mercado C(2024)AelE: A Versatile Tool for Teaching Programming and Robotics Using Arduino2024 L Latin American Computer Conference (CLEI)10.1109/CLEI64178.2024.10700288(1-10)Online publication date: 12-Aug-2024
https://doi.org/10.1109/CLEI64178.2024.10700288
Severance SMiller EKrajcik J(2024)IF science AND making AND computing: Insights for project-based learning and primary science curriculum designStudies in Science Education10.1080/03057267.2024.2397300(1-65)Online publication date: 19-Sep-2024
https://doi.org/10.1080/03057267.2024.2397300
Kalemkuş JKalemkuş F(2024)The Effects of Designing Scientific Experiments with Visual Programming Language on Learning OutcomesScience & Education10.1007/s11191-024-00546-8Online publication date: 17-Jul-2024
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11191-024-00546-8
Negrini LMarras AGiang CBabazadeh M(2024)Exploring Programming Language Choices to Boost Student Interest in Coding and Educational RoboticsHigher Education Learning Methodologies and Technologies Online10.1007/978-3-031-67351-1_1(3-17)Online publication date: 19-Sep-2024
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Obermüller FGreifenstein LFraser GLaakso MMonga MSimon Sheard J(2023)Effects of Automated Feedback in Scratch Programming TutorialsProceedings of the 2023 Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education V. 110.1145/3587102.3588803(396-402)Online publication date: 29-Jun-2023
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Song YXing WBarron AOh HLi CMinces V(2023)M-flow: a Flow-based Music Creation Platform Improves Underrepresented Children’s Attitudes toward Computer ProgrammingProceedings of the 22nd Annual ACM Interaction Design and Children Conference10.1145/3585088.3589383(233-238)Online publication date: 19-Jun-2023
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Gong KYu SFowler ASutherland C(2023)Dancing in a Tutu: Using a Ballet Robot to Encourage Young Girls into Robotics2023 32nd IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN)10.1109/RO-MAN57019.2023.10309440(2549-2554)Online publication date: 28-Aug-2023
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