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Effective and reliable assessment approaches to computational thinking in secondary education are in demand. This paper uses a guided technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) framework, incorporating a visual execution environment (VEE) and Scratch project for secondary school students as a method to teach and assess computational thinking. The objective is to investigate if computational thinking and programming concepts can be improved upon following this method, and if the K-12 children are able to improve their computational thinking skills. The research study was conducted over 2 years in a school setting using the guided VEE and project developed following the dimensions of Computational Thinking process. The project participants came from two cohorts, an after-school programming camp and an in-school environment. Data was collected over two academic years and a quasi-experimental procedure with pre- and post-test was followed. The results demonstrate knowledge gain on computational and programming concepts and encourages us to convey how students translate (as opposed to transfer) their computational thinking experiences into reality. The results indicate the students achieved significant improvement in their computational thinking development.

Significant interest in teaching children to code since Preschool Education has arisen in recent years. This paper focuses on the benefits of preschoolers learning to code at such short age. The research questions are whether by coding they can improve skills such as sequencing and plotting a route? Which factors influence the learning? And, to what extent? To start coding, preschoolers might use robots such as Cubetto or KIBO, or other unplugged resources such as foam. Moreover, stories could be used to provide a context and a goal for the coding experience. An experiment was carried out with 192 children between 3 and 6 years old in age to gather some data. The hypothesis that the skills were improved by coding was proved; and that age, resources, and initial knowledge influence the learning process. This paper contributes more evidence of the benefits of coding in early years.

Research on the role of mobile learning in computational thinking is limited, and even more so in its use in initial teacher education. Aligned to this there is a need to consider how to introduce and expose pre-service teachers to computational thinking constructs within the context of the subject area they will teach in their future classrooms. This paper outlines a quasi-experimental study to examine the role of mobile learning in facilitating computational thinking development amongst pre-service teachers in initial teacher education. The study enquires if there are significant differences in grades achieved in computational thinking and programming learning when mobile learning is introduced. Findings showed and reaffirmed the positive influence of the mobile applications on the development of computational thinking amongst the pre-service teachers who participated.

Computational Thinking (CT) can be defined as the thought processes involved in formulating problems so that their solutions can be represented as sequential steps and algorithms. It is a key skill for children in the 21st century. However, it is unclear how CT can be developed most effectively in children. Several pedagogical methodologies have been proposed and are being investigated. The main aim of this paper is to test the hypothesis which states that using three‐dimensional (3D) simulated robots helps in the learning of programming and CT concepts, such as directions, loops, conditionals, and functions. The research questions are: Does this hypothesis hold true? Are some concepts easier or better learned than others and to what extent? The goal is to measure and evaluate the effect of using as a learning tool a platform with 3D simulated robots and realistic physics, and compare it with the standard Scratch learning tool which does not use robotics but a two‐dimensional (2D) cartoon avatar they are already familiar with. For practical reasons, a quasiexperimental design with nonequivalent groups and 85 second‐year Secondary Education students (ages 12–13) was performed. They were separated into control and experimental groups and followed a seven‐session intervention with the baseline 2D Scratch and the 3D simulated robots platform, respectively. Both used a visual block programming language and the same activities. To have quantitative and reliable results, a widely accepted CT test has been used, pre‐ and postintervention. Also qualitative feedback is presented. The obtained results show that using the platform with simulated 3D robots significantly helps when developing students' CT. With it, the students do learn basic programming concepts and reach higher scores in the CT test. This improvement applies to all CT‐analyzed concepts except in functions where the grades are maintained. Furthermore, students manage to master the activities on the 3D simulated robots platform, which reflects on the empowerment the platform has got in them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Featured Application: Altogether, UniCTCheck, a method for measuring the main components of computational thinking of CS university students, was employed by using the following two instruments: firstly, a web application, CTScore, to precisely measure seven of the main components of computational thinking (pattern recognition, creative thinking, algorithmic thinking, problem solving, critical thinking, decomposition, and abstraction); secondly, a psychometric scale, CTProg, to measure CT programming concepts skills (basic directions and sequences, conditionals, loops, functions, and data structures). The measurement of computational thinking ability among computer science (CS) university students is of paramount importance. This study introduces UniCTCheck, a novel method designed to assess the main components of computational thinking in CS students. Utilising two key instruments, namely, the web application CTScore and the psychometric scale CTProg, this research aims to precisely evaluate seven core components of computational thinking and six programming concepts skills essential for CS students. The study, conducted at Rey Juan Carlos University and Atlantic Technological University Galway, involved a diverse sample of students from different year levels and programme specialisations. Through a rigorous research design, including sampling strategies and data collection tools, this study seeks to address critical research questions related to the measurement of variations in students' computational thinking and programming skills by gender, university level, and location. By shedding light on the significance of computational thinking and programming in the educational realm, this research contributes to the existing literature and underscores the essential role of computational skills in the modern era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pedagogic Conversational Agents (PCAs) are interactive systems that engage the student in a dialogue to teach some domain. They can have the roles of a teacher, student, or companion, and adopt several shapes. In our previous work, a significant increase of students' performance when learning programming was found when using PCAs in the teacher role. However, it is not common to find PCAs used in classrooms. In this paper, it is explored whether pre-service teachers would accept PCAs to teach programming better if they were co-designed with them. Pre-service teachers are chosen because they are still in training, so they can be taught what PCAs are and how this technology could be helpful. Moreover, pre-service teachers can choose whether they integrate PCAs in the teaching activities that they carry out as part of their degree's course. An experiment with 35 pre-service primary education teachers was carried out during the 2021/2022 academic year to co-design a robotic PCA to teach programming. The experience validates the idea that involving pre-service teachers in the design of a PCA facilitates their involvement to integrate this technology in their classrooms. In total, 97% of the pre-service teachers that stated in a survey that they believed robot PCA could help children to learn programming, and 80% answered that they would like to use them in their classrooms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recursion is one of the most difficult programming topics for students. In this paper, an instructional method is proposed to enhance students' understanding of recursion tracing. The proposal is based on the use of rules to translate linear recursion algorithms into equivalent, iterative ones. The paper has two main contributions: the instructional method itself, and its evaluation, which is based on previous works of other authors on mental models of recursion. As a result, an enhancement was measured in the viability of mental models exhibited by students (both for linear and multiple recursion), but no significant improvement was detected in their skills for designing recursive algorithms. Evidence was also obtained of the fact that many students with (relatively) viable mental models for linear recursion have unviable mental models for multiple recursion. Finally, it was noticed that many students adopt inaccurate mental models if those models are adequate to handle the given algorithm.

Students in their first year of computer science (CS1) at universities typically struggle to grasp fundamental programming concepts. This paper discusses research carried out using a Java-based visual execution environment (VEE) to introduce fundamental programming concepts to CS1 students. The VEE guides beginner programmers through the fundamentals of programming, utilizing visual metaphors to explain and direct interactive tasks implemented in Java. The study's goal was to determine if the use of the VEE in the instruction of a group of 63 CS1 students from four different groups enrolled in two academic institutions (based in Madrid, Spain and Galway, Ireland) results in an improvement in their grasp of fundamental programming concepts. The programming concepts covered included those typically found in an introductory programming course, e.g., input and output, conditionals, loops, functions, arrays, recursion, and files. A secondary goal of this research was to examine if the use of the VEE enhances students' understanding of particular concepts more than others, i.e., whether there exists a topic-dependent benefit to the use of the VEE. The results of the study found that use of the VEE in the instruction of these students resulted in a significant improvement in their grasp of fundamental programming concepts compared with a control group who received instruction without the use of the VEE. The study also found a pronounced improvement in the students' grasp of particular concepts (e.g., operators, conditionals, and loops), suggesting the presence of a topic-dependent benefit to the use of the VEE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a growing interest in finding new ways to address the difficult task of introducing programming to secondary students for the first time to improve students' computational thinking (CT) skills. Therefore, extensive research is required in this field. Worldwide, new ways to address this difficult task have been developed: visual execution environments and approaches by text programming or visual programming are among the most popular. This paper addresses the complex task by using a visual execution environment (VEE) to introduce the first programming concepts that should be covered in any introductory programming course. These concepts include variables, input and output, conditionals, loops, arrays, functions, and files. This study explores two approaches to achieve this goal: visual programming (using Scratch) and text programming (using Java) to improve CT. Additionally, it proposes an AI recommendation model into the VEE to further improve the effectiveness of developing CT among secondary education students. This integrated model combines the capabilities of an AI learning system module and a personalized learning module to better address the task at hand. To pursue this task, an experiment has been carried out among 23 preservice secondary teachers' students in two universities, one in Madrid, Spain, and the other in Galway, Ireland. The overall results showed a significant improvement in the Scratch group. However, when analyzing the results based on specific programming concepts, significance was observed only in the Scratch group, specifically for the Loop concept. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After a conceptual analysis of numerous frameworks for teachers’ digital competence (TDC), one such framework was selected to be implemented, and the state of development of the TDC and its relationship with the introduction of computer programming have been studied. The hypothesis is that the implementation of a TDC framework within a first-year university class within an Education degree, called Computer Science and Digital Competence would help future teachers to significantly improve their TDC and, specifically, increase their knowledge of computer programming. In order to test this hypothesis, a study has been carried out with 116 students enrolled in the degree programs in Early Childhood and Primary Education at the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos. The results show that the participants were not digitally competent at the beginning of the course but that they had become significantly more so at the end of it, with a large effect size. Additionally, the prospective teachers did not understand the basic concepts of programming at the beginning of the course, but by the end their knowledge of programming concepts had improved significantly, as evidenced by the large effect size, although even by the end of the course they had not reached an adequate level of programming. The most used frequently tools among students are WhatsApp, social networks and email, but many they were not aware of tools such as podcasts or forums. In addition, the motivation of the participants to learn programming seems to be excellent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Significant interest in teaching children to code since Preschool Education has arisen in recent years. This paper focuses on the benefits of preschoolers learning to code at such short age. The research questions are whether by coding they can improve skills such as sequencing and plotting a route? Which factors influence the learning? And, to what extent? To start coding, preschoolers might use robots such as Cubetto or KIBO, or other unplugged resources such as foam. Moreover, stories could be used to provide a context and a goal for the coding experience. An experiment was carried out with 192 children between 3 and 6 years old in age to gather some data. The hypothesis that the skills were improved by coding was proved; and that age, resources, and initial knowledge influence the learning process. This paper contributes more evidence of the benefits of coding in early years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to active learning, students should be responsible for their own learning. Automatic free-text scoring allows teachers to provide open-ended questions with their correct answers to a computer system, so when students answer the questions, they get immediate feedback (a score, a comment, or both). However, teachers are usually overloaded with many tasks, and they may not have time to create the questions with the correct answers. Therefore, in the 2012/2013 academic year, we asked a group of 124 Pre-Primary and Primary Education students to become the creators of the questions and their correct answers in groups in a free-text scoring system, so the questions use learners’ language, not teachers’ language. From them, 41 students (group of involved students, GIS) fulfilled all the requirements during the course. Our hypothesis was that GIS would be able to increase their academic performance and levels of engagement compared to the rest of the students. The results gathered provide statistic evidence to support that hypothesis. This study pretends to help teachers who want to increase the academic performance and levels of engagement of their students in courses that they may find boring and unrelated to the main topic of their degree, or not directly related with their main academic interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

First-year computer science (CS1) university students traditionally have difficulties understanding how to program. This paper describes research introducing CS1 students to programming concepts using a Scratch programming language guided visual execution environment (VEE). The concepts addressed are those from an introductory programming course (sequences, variables, operators, conditionals, loops, and events and parallelism). The VEE guides novice students through programming concepts, explaining and guiding interactive exercises executed in Scratch by using metaphors and serious games. The objective of this study is, firstly, to investigate if a cohort of 124 CS1 students, from three distinct groups, studying at the same university, are able to improve their programming skills guided by the VEE. Secondly, is the improvement different for various programming concepts? All the CS1 students were taught the module by the same tutor in four 2-h sessions (8 h), and a qualitative research approach was adopted. The results show students significantly improved their programming knowledge, and this improvement is significant for all the programming concepts, although greater for certain concepts such as operators, conditionals, and loops than others. It also shows that students lacked initial knowledge of events and parallelism, though most had used Scratch during their high school years. The sequence concept was the most popular concept known to them. A collateral finding in this study is how the students' previous knowledge and learning gaps affected grades they required to access and begin study at the university level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A reduced interest and low motivation in learning amongst vocational students has become a challenge with many traditional strategies not capable of providing a solution to motivation and encouraging participation in learning. The use of elements of games in non-recreational environments (gamification) may be a possible solution, since research indicates an improvement in user experience and engagement, with possibilities of improved motivation and behavioral results. However not all studies obtain positive results, the success of gamification is influenced by the design, the sample, and the context. This study analyzes a gamification design with the most common elements in three methodological approaches (teacher-centered, student-centered, and mixed) in three different periods throughout a program of study with vocational training students. The results indicate that the mixed approach performed worse than the other two. Carrying out a greater number of tasks did not imply a better result in the subject marks, but rather paying more attention to each task influences the result positively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]