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Computational Thinking, Programming and Robotics in Educational Contexts

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A special issue of Education Sciences (ISSN 2227-7102).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2023) | Viewed by 30563

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Magdalena Ramos Navas-Parejo

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Guest Editor

Department of Didactics and School Organization, Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Granada, 18011 Granada, Spain
Interests: active methodologies; information and communication technologies (ICT) in education; reading promotion for educational inclusion
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Pedro Antonio García-Tudela

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Co-Guest Editor

Department of Didactics and School Organisation, University of Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain
Interests: smart learning environments; robotics and computational thinking; active learning methodologies (gamification, game based learning, etc.); E-assessment

Dr. Lucía Lomba Portela

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Co-Guest Editor

Department of Didactics, School Organisation and Research Methods, University of Vigo, 32004 Vigo, Spain
Interests: educational innovation; learning communities; processes of educational change and improvement

Prof. Dr. Marco Antonio Zamora Antuñano

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Co-Guest Editor

Department of Educational Research, Engineering and Technological Development, University of the Valley of Mexico, Querétaro 25138, Mexico
Interests: development and implementation of quality management systems; training and development of human capital; evaluation of educational programs

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In the 1980s, the importance of computational thinking, programming, and robotics for the integral development of any person began to be alluded to. However, it was not until years later that it became an object of study with a global scope. In fact, there are numerous educational laws that currently make explicit reference to the importance of developing computational thinking at any educational level.

The development of the skills inherent in this type of thinking (abstraction, decomposition, algorithmic thinking, etc.) not only represents an opportunity for future programming or engineering professionals, but the benefits are numerous and transferable to any educational level, even from early childhood education. This monograph aims to highlight this reality, i.e., the possibilities that programming, robotics, and the development of computational thinking can bring to any educational level and context, whether formal or non-formal.

Currently, the promotion of computational thinking is being appreciated as a new form of literacy, or even a branch of digital competence, that any student should develop transversally. For this reason, the commercial catalog of robots with an educational perspective has grown significantly in recent years (mBot Neo, mTiny, Joy-it MB-Joy-Car, etc.). However, this monograph also aims to expose good practices based on unplugged computational thinking (without the need for technology) or experiences supported by open resources, such as the Scratch programming environment.

In addition to research on the implementation of robots or experiences related to programming and computational thinking to achieve various purposes in the educational context, this monograph also expects papers related to continuing or professional training on this topic, papers on ethics and safety in the use of these resources, evaluations of programs or institutional initiatives or research projects, systematic reviews or meta-analysis of the state of the art, and in general, any paper whose object of study is robotics and the development of skills at any age and context.

Dr. Magdalena Ramos Navas-Parejo
Dr. Pedro Antonio García-Tudela
Dr. Lucía Lomba Portela
Prof. Dr. Marco Antonio Zamora Antuñano
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Education Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

computational thinking
programming
robotics
problem solving
educational technology
formal education
non-formal education
digital literacy
digital competence
cross-cutting skills
digital skills
educational experiences
teacher training
ethics and safety
creativity
educational innovation

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Published Papers (9 papers)

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Research

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13 pages, 1093 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Scratch as an Environment for Learning the Coordinate System by Elementary School Students

by Ahlam Anabousy, Wajeeh Daher and Ronit Bassan-Cincinatus

Educ. Sci. 2023, 13(7), 724; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13070724 - 16 Jul 2023

Viewed by 1775

Abstract

The focal point of mathematics education research is to comprehend how students develop and consolidate their abstract mathematical knowledge. As goal of this research, the focus was on exploring the processes that sixth-grade students used to construct mathematical concepts linked to the coordinate system. In this study, a group of eight students was selected for research purposes. Video recordings were used to collect data through observations. The Abstraction in Context (AiC) framework was utilized to analyze the students’ processes that took place within the Scratch environment. The research findings suggested that the grade six students successfully constructed most of the anticipated knowledge components, consolidated their previous knowledge related to the zero concept, and began to develop new ones. Specifically, the students were able to construct the concept of zero as a number that is neither positive nor negative, as well as comprehend the X and Y axes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Computational Thinking, Programming and Robotics in Educational Contexts)

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15 pages, 1884 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Influence of Absorption and Need for Cognition on Students’ Learning Outcomes in Educational Robot-Supported Projects

by Nikolaos Pellas and Katerina Tzafilkou

Educ. Sci. 2023, 13(4), 379; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13040379 - 7 Apr 2023

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2226

Abstract

The field of educational technology has made significant strides, offering cost-effective multimedia tools and physical resources to facilitate both formal and informal teaching methods in computer science, with a particular emphasis on the development of computational thinking (CT) and programming skills. However, there is a lack of research focusing on practice-based tasks, such as Internet of Things (IoT) projects, for undergraduate students to demonstrate and program educational robots using digital and physical-supported instructional approaches. Specifically, there have been no studies examining the association between students’ learning outcomes and their absorption and need for cognition on different platforms, such as Scratch and LEGO^® WeDo. This study aims to provide empirical evidence by comparing the impact of two different platforms commonly used in programming courses to teach undergraduate students how to design, develop, and program IoT projects using educational robots. A quasi-experimental study was carried out to examine whether there were any significant variations in students’ CT skills and programming development, as well as to evaluate their learning outcomes with regard to their need for cognition and absorption when they applied their coding expertise to real-world IoT projects. As a point of reference (control condition), twenty students (n = 20) utilized LEGO^® WeDo robotics kits and Scratch for coding tasks, which is the most familiar instructional approach. In the intervention approach (experimental condition), thirty-seven students (n = 37) used LEGO^® WeDo robotics kits and their software to learn how to code their educational robots. Participants from the latter group learned how to design and demonstrate the program and showed superior CT skills and programming skills development than their counterparts in the control group who used Scratch. Furthermore, the results indicate that students with higher levels of CT skills and programming execution reveal lower absorption but a higher need for cognition in educational robot-supported IoT projects. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Computational Thinking, Programming and Robotics in Educational Contexts)

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13 pages, 438 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Using Robotics in the Learning of Computer Programming: Student Experiences Based on Experiential Learning Cycles

by Reginald Gerald Govender and Desmond Wesley Govender

Educ. Sci. 2023, 13(3), 322; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13030322 - 21 Mar 2023

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2575

Abstract

The understanding of basic constructs in computer programming has always been seen by students as challenging, especially for novice programmers with no prior exposure at the school level. This paper emanates from a larger study and sets out to explore the use of robotics to enhance the learning of computer programming by asking: what are students’ experiences of using robotics when learning to program? Guided by Kolb’s Experiential Learning Cycle, a series of workshops were conducted that promotes hands-on learning and encourages the use of tools in the learning process for knowledge development. The site for this study was a university campus in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The sample was composed of 75 students, most of whom were first-year students who had just started a computer course and had no prior exposure to Computer Programming. The findings showed that the meaningful adoption of Kolb’s experiential learning has proven to be successful in the progressional development of computer programming constructs when using a physical component such as a robot. The use of microcontrollers that provide a robotic element offering a physical attribute during the learning of code proves to be affective. It is hoped that the findings of this study will contribute to the development of innovative methods to introduce computer programming through the use of robotics. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Computational Thinking, Programming and Robotics in Educational Contexts)

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16 pages, 1619 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Complementary View to Computational Thinking and Its Interplay with Systems Thinking

by Ali Hamidi, Anita Mirijamdotter and Marcelo Milrad

Educ. Sci. 2023, 13(2), 201; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13020201 - 13 Feb 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2808

Abstract

Computational Thinking (CT) pervasively shares its methods, practices, and dispositions across other disciplines as a new way of thinking about problem-solving. Few studies have been carried out studying CT from an Information Systems (IS) perspective. This study elaborates on how systems thinking (ST), an acknowledged theory in the IS field, bonds to CT to address some well-known common issues related to CT such as reductionism and dogmatism, and to supplement the computing nature of CT with behavioral and societal facets involved in its implications. We studied how ST is applied to CT research in the literature. To do so, two primary approaches have been identified that link ST and CT. First, ST is embedded in CT practices meaning that ST is considered as a component of CT. Second, ST and CT are parallelly studied, and ST is considered as a supplementary concept to CT. Correspondingly, we propose a complementary approach that looks at CT from the ST lenses to provide a clearer picture of CT in an educational context. Moreover, we expect this new perspective can help to broaden the development of educational CT concepts and scenarios by including new notions such as framework, interpretation, norms, paradigm, and context. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Computational Thinking, Programming and Robotics in Educational Contexts)

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13 pages, 280 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Computational Thinking in Preschool Age: A Case Study in Greece

by Zoi Kourti, Christos-Apostolos Michalakopoulos, Pantelis G. Bagos and Efrosyni-Alkisti Paraskevopoulou-Kollia

Educ. Sci. 2023, 13(2), 157; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13020157 - 2 Feb 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3470

Abstract

This study aims to investigate Computational Thinking (CT) in preschool age children. We tried to assess the ability of developing CT skills in kindergarten, as well as to illustrate parents’ and preschool teachers’ directly involved aspects on CT. More specifically, we investigated the readiness of preschool children to engage in activities that develop CT by using Scratch Jr. Moreover, via individual interviews, the research sheds some light on preschool children’s parents’ perceptions on personal computers use, digital media, CT and programming. Finally, we investigated the views and perceptions of preschool teachers through an electronic questionnaire about CT and its entry in kindergarten. The kindergarteners’ interactive stories were evaluated with the use of a rubric which indicates the extremely high percentage of readiness to deal with CT and programming activities in kindergarten. The analysis of the parents’ interviews shows their distrust on readiness regarding children’s engagement in CT. Finally, the majority of preschool teachers uses personal computers in kindergarten to a different degree depending on their age, experience and training to develop a variety of learning areas. Regarding CT, kindergarten teachers’ aspects appear to be swayed from positive to neutral considering its introduction in the kindergarten classroom. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Computational Thinking, Programming and Robotics in Educational Contexts)

12 pages, 262 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Effect of Robotics Education on Gender Differences in STEM Attitudes among Dutch 7th and 8th Grade Students

by Nora van Wassenaer, Jos Tolboom and Olivier van Beekum

Educ. Sci. 2023, 13(2), 139; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13020139 - 29 Jan 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2487

Abstract

Because of its hands-on and integrative approach to STEM, educational robotics has become increasingly popular in recent years. Yet, a gender gap still exists in attitudes towards STEM studies and careers, especially among middle and high school students, potentially resulting in a lack of women in the STEM workforce. This study explores the effect of a robotics curriculum on Dutch 7th- and 8th-grade students’ attitude towards STEM subjects and careers, as assessed by the S-STEM survey. The results revealed no difference between the pre-test and post-test in attitudes toward STEM for both boys and girls. However, boys scored significantly higher than girls on attitude towards technology, engineering and future STEM studies on the post-test. A post hoc analysis revealed a significant difference between boys and girls on their attitude towards engineering and technology during the pre-test. These results demonstrate the difference between boys and girls in their attitudes towards STEM subjects and careers within the context of robotics education. Considering the lack of research on educational robotics among young teenagers, this field needs to be further studied to assess its effect on gender differences within attitudes towards STEM. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Computational Thinking, Programming and Robotics in Educational Contexts)

17 pages, 5571 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Use of Augmented Reality to Strengthen Competence in Data Analysis and Problem Solving in Engineering Students at the Universidad del Valle de México

by Marco Antonio Zamora-Antuñano, Rossana Barros-Baertl, Belzabeth Tovar-Luna, Carlos Alberto González-Gutiérrez, Nestor Efren Mendez-Lozano and Miguel Ángel Cruz-Perez

Educ. Sci. 2022, 12(11), 755; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci12110755 - 27 Oct 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2101

Abstract

The objective of this research was to analyze the improvement in the data analysis and problem-solving competence of students of industrial and systems engineering (IIS) and mechatronics engineering (IMEC) through the use of this technology and its impact on the results of the undergraduate general examination (EGEL). A training course was held for teachers and students for the design of learning objects (LO), and a questionnaire on the use of AR and the improvement in learning was administered. AR is a technology that has begun to be introduced in different contexts and at different educational levels. The results obtained through the Wilcoxon test and the multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) showed that there were improvements in academic performance with the use of AR and an interest in this tool being used during the academic training process. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Computational Thinking, Programming and Robotics in Educational Contexts)

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29 pages, 1656 KiB

Open AccessSystematic Review

Computational Literacy as an Important Element of a Digitized Science Teacher Education—A Systematic Review of Curriculum Patterns in Physics Teacher Education Degrees in Germany

by Daniel Braun and Johannes Huwer

Educ. Sci. 2023, 13(10), 1063; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13101063 - 23 Oct 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1898

Abstract

Computational literacy (CL) has become indispensable for teachers and learners as part of 21st-century skills. Therefore, corresponding models for teacher education are being further developed internationally from a scientific perspective. In parallel, content and competencies are being enhanced in the respective subjects at the curricular level of teacher training. In this context, we consider it important to examine the current status of this development. Since, to our knowledge, there are no comparable scientific studies, we have taken Germany as a representative example of the international education system and systematically analyzed the module handbooks of the physics teacher training courses at methodically selected universities. For this analysis, we used three research questions focusing on CL: In which physics content does CL play a role? Which computer science competencies or knowledge can be identified or derived? Are they described implicitly or explicitly? Our results suggest that CL is integrated very differently in terms of quantity and depth of content among the universities we examined. For example, there is often a very strong focus on computer-based data acquisition, but few programs also have specialized courses addressing CL more explicitly or integrate additional computer science competencies. CL is primarily taught in laboratory courses and frequently in subject-didactic courses. Nevertheless, the depictions presented in the purely subject-oriented and basic lectures lack specific computational literacy skills or knowledge. Furthermore, the fact that many programs only offer implicit descriptions of CL skills indicates that the integration of these skills has not progressed very far in practice. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Computational Thinking, Programming and Robotics in Educational Contexts)

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13 pages, 1826 KiB

Open AccessSystematic Review

Use of Arduino in Primary Education: A Systematic Review

by Pedro Antonio García-Tudela and José-Antonio Marín-Marín

Educ. Sci. 2023, 13(2), 134; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13020134 - 28 Jan 2023

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 8832

Abstract

In the last two decades, technological advances have been spectacular, and their transcendence has touched all areas of society. Specifically, in the field of education, these advances have allowed projects and approaches such as computational thinking to be taken up more strongly through interdisciplinary visions such as the STEM subjects and technological devices such as Arduino. The main objective of this article is to analyse the uses of Arduino and the achievements it has attained at primary-education level. To this end, a systematic review was carried out in the SCOPUS and Web of Science databases. The methodology used was the PRISMA statement and the SALSA framework. In accordance with the exclusion criteria applied, nine scientific papers from the last seven years were obtained. The qualitative software ATLAS.ti was used to extract the results. These papers reveal that the most commonly used methodology for incorporating the Arduino board into teaching is problem based learning (PBL) in the context of STEM subjects. In addition, programming environments, such as Scratch, and other electronic components have been used, which have enabled the development of computational thinking and the acquisition of technological knowledge, among other achievements. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Computational Thinking, Programming and Robotics in Educational Contexts)

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