Comparing learning ecologies of primary graphical programming: create or fix?

In the last few years, programming, computational thinking, and robotics are more frequently integrated into elementary education. This integration can be done in many different ways. However, it is still unclear which teaching methods work in which situations. To provide some clarity in this area, we compared two methods of integrating programming into a primary robotics workshop for learners aged ten to twelve. In one method, students create programs from scratch; in the other, they start with a faulty program they have to fix. These teaching methods were evaluated using the framework of learning ecology, which provides a holistic framework for assessing complex learning environments. We identified different indicators of learning ecology and assessed our workshops using a mixed‐methods approach. Our results showed no difference between the groups on the intrinsic dimension of a learning ecology. However, on the experiential dimension, the learners in the create group scored better on all tests. Our results show the value of a multidimensional assessment of learning ecology to understand different teaching techniques. Additionally, the results provide us with important insights on how to integrate programming into a primary robotics curriculum enabling teachers to select better methods for teaching computing in their classroom. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic?: More and more countries are adding programming and computational thinking to their primary school curriculaTeacher need practical, efficient and effective ways to integrate programming into their coursesTeachers often opt for scaffolding techniques when teaching programming, however there is no conclusive research about which techniques work in which situations What this paper adds?: This research compares two methods for integrating programming into primary roboticsThese methods are evaluated using the intrinsic and experiential dimensions of learning ecology to get a deeper understanding of the underlying learning processesWe show that using learning ecology as a framework for learning can give deeper insights into learning practiceOur experiments show that integrating programming should preferably be done by letting learners create programs from scratch and not fix programs with errors Implications for practice and/or policy: Provide teachers with insights into the effects of different integration methods for programmingAllowing teachers to reason about why certain techniques are less effective than othersHanding teachers a framework for assessing the way they choose to integrate programming into their curriculum [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]