Abstract
This study aimed to develop an innovative mixed-reality environment to promote early computational thinking skills in young children using augmented reality (AR) technology and a socially interactive robot. The learning objectives were focused on developing STEM problem-solving skills and adeptness in advanced technology use. The environment involved children walking on a chessboard-like grid to assist a robot in finding an optimal path towards a destination while holding a tablet. The robot provided instructions, cues, and motivational encouragement utterances, while the tablet displayed an equivalent map and AR obstacles. Motion capture and logging measures were used to assess children’s learning progress and performance. Results from data collection of seventeen children aged six to eleven, of Caucasian, Asian, and African American ethnicities, revealed a range in abilities and computing experiences. The poster session presents the outcomes of the analysis and discusses the implications of this advanced technology in enabling young children’s effective learning and ecologically valid assessment of computational thinking skills.
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Hwang, J., Lee, S., Kim, Y., Zaman, M. (2023). Evaluating Young Children’s Computational Thinking Skills Using a Mixed-Reality Environment. In: Stephanidis, C., Antona, M., Ntoa, S., Salvendy, G. (eds) HCI International 2023 Posters. HCII 2023. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 1834. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-35998-9_35
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