Clare A. Rumsey
Quinn Burke
ABSTRACT
In an effort to lay a foundational framework for a computer science (CS) middle school curriculum, this research examines youth's use and perception of the introductory programming language Scratch through both the lens of storytelling and game making. Over the course of an academic semester (5 months), two classes of 6th grade students (52 students total) progressed from creating digital stories in Scratch to creating interactive games as teams, enhancing critical thinking skills, beliefs about ability, and overall literacy skills. This poster reports on students' perception of coding both in terms of storytelling as well as in terms of gaming, and how each learning "product" (e.g., stories versus games) affected students' overall perception of coding as as a practice, as well as their own interest in and persistence with such practice. Results are based on pre-and post course student and teacher surveys and interviews, weekly field note observations, and artifact analysis of particular coding scripts. Discussion section points to the wider implications for the growing number of middle school CS in-school and after-school programs nationwide, and the role of stories and games as an effective "hook" to introduce children to CS.
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Digital Library
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Index Terms
- Cracking the Code: Bringing Introductory Computer Science to a Charleston Middle School (Abstract Only)
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