Abstract
Education today can get closer to the real world that surrounds our students. Using technology in the classroom is a winning strategy in order to improve the engagement of students and then, in the end, their performances. And using coding tools based on the metaphor of building blocks is an even better alternative to support education at school in all subjects and to improve the engagement and the performances of the students. But this requires to both students and teachers to spend a non-negligible amount of time on each new topic. However, when we take into account all the steps that are necessary to create a multimedia interactive app that is helpful to better understand a given school topic, acquiring all the necessary elements can be done in a short time if we start from the right tools. A computational pedagogy based on the active usage of tools that allow to solve problems by means of computer programming is within our reach.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Atkinson, R.C.: Optimizing the learning of a second-language vocabulary. J. Exp. Psychol. 96(1), 124–129 (1972)
Bachelor, R.L., Vaughan, P.M., Wall, C.M.: Exploring the effects of active learning on retaining essential concepts in secondary and junior high classrooms, dissertation thesis, School of Education, Saint Xavier University, Chicago, Illinois (2012)
Beatty, K.: Teaching & Researching: Computer-Assisted Language Learning. Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group, New York (2013)
Calao, L.A., Moreno-León, J., Correa, H.E., Robles, G.: Developing mathematical thinking with scratch. In: Conole, G., Klobučar, T., Rensing, C., Konert, J., Lavoué, É. (eds.) EC-TEL 2015. LNCS, vol. 9307, pp. 17–27. Springer, Cham (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24258-3_2
Chang, C.W., Lee, J.H., Chao, P.Y., Wang, C.Y., Chen, G.D.: Exploring the possibility of using humanoid robots as instructional tools for teaching a second language in primary school. J. Educ. Technol. Soc. 13(2), 13–24 (2010)
Costa, S., Gomes, A., Pessoa, T.: Using scratch to teach and learn English as a foreign language in elementary school. Int. J. Educ. Learn. Syst. 1, 207–213 (2016)
Costley, K.C.: The Positive Effects of Technology on Teaching and Student Learning (2014). https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED554557.pdf. Accessed 14 Oct 2019
Federici, S.: A minimal, extensible, drag-and-drop implementation of the C programming language. In: Proceedings of SIGITE 2011, West Point, New York, USA (2011)
Federici, S., Gola, E.: BloP: easy creation of Online Integrated Environments to learn custom and standard Programming Languages. In: Proceedings of SIREM-SIEL 2014, 1st Joint SIREM-SIel conference. The Innovative LEDI Publishing Company (2014)
Federici, S., Gola, E., Brau, D., Zuncheddu, A.: Are educators ready for coding? From students back to teacher: introducing the class to coding the other way round. In: Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Computer Supported Education, Funchal, Madeira; Portugal, vol. 2, pp. 124–133 (2015)
Federici, S., Medas, C., Gola, E.: Who learns better: achieving long-term knowledge retention by programming-based learning. In: Proceedings of 10th International Conference on Computer Supported Education, Funchal, Madeira, Portugal, vol. 2, pp. 124–133 (2018)
Federici, S., Molinas, J., Sergi, E., Lussu, R., Gola, E.: Rapid and easy prototyping of multimedia tools for education. In: Proceedings of the 5th World Conference on Media and Mass Communication, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, vol. 5, issue 1, pp. 12–24 (2019a)
Federici, S., Sergi, E., Gola, E., Zuncheddu, A.: Easy prototyping of multimedia interactive educational tools for language learning based on block programming. In: Proceedings of 11th International Conference on Computer Supported Education, Heraklion, Crete, Greece, vol. 2, pp. 140–153 (2019b)
Foerster, K.T.: Integrating programming into the mathematics curriculum: combining scratch and geometry in grades 6 and 7. In: Proceedings of SIGITE 2016, Boston, MA, USA, pp. 91–96 (2016)
Gresse von Wangenheim, C., Cruz Alves, N., Rodrigues, P.E., Hauck, J.C.: Teaching computing in a multidisciplinary way in social studies classes in school – a case study. Int. J. Comput. Sci. Educ. Sch. 1(2) (2017). https://doi.org/10.21585/ijcses.v1i2.9
Han, J.: Robot assisted language learning. Lang. Learn. Technol. 16(3), 1–9 (2012)
Harvey, B., Monig, J.: Bringing “no ceiling” to scratch: can one language serve kids and computer scientists. In: Proceedings of Constructionism 2010, Paris (2010)
Hobenshield Tepylo, D., Floyd, L.: Learning Math Through Coding (2016). http://researchideas.ca/mc/learning-math-through-coding/. Accessed 14 Oct 2019
Kuittinen, M., Sajaniemi, J.: Teaching roles of variables in elementary programming courses. In: Proceedings of the 9th Annual SIGCSE Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education, ITiCSE 2004, Leeds, UK (2004)
Kohn, T.: Variable evaluation: an exploration of novice programmers’ understanding and common misconceptions. In: Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, Seattle, Washington, USA, pp. 345–350 (2017)
Levy, M.: Computer-Assisted Language Learning: Context and Contextualisation. Oxford University Press, New York, Oxford (1997)
Lopez, V., Hernandez, M.I.: Scratch as a computational modelling tool for teaching physics. In: Physics Education, vol. 50, no. 3. IOP Publishing Ltd (2015)
Maloney, J., Resnick, M., Rusk, N., Silverman, B., Eastmond, E.: The scratch programming language and environment. ACM Trans. Comput. Educ. 10(4) (2010). https://doi.org/10.1145/1868358.1868363
Miller, J., Larkin, K.: Using coding to promote mathematical thinking with year 2 students: alignment with the Australian curriculum. In: Downton, A., Livy, S., Hall, J. (eds.) 40 years on: We are still learning! Proceedings of the 40th Annual Conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia, Melbourne, Australia, pp. 381–388 (2017)
Moreno-León, J., Robles, G.: Computer programming as an educational tool in the English classroom. In: Proceedings of IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON 2015), p. 962 (2015)
Pathan, M.M., Aldersi, Z.E.M.: Using games in primary schools for effective grammar teaching: a case study from sebha. Int. J. Engl. Lang. Transl. Stud. 2(2), 211–227 (2014)
Neri, A., Mich, O., Gerosa, M., Giuliani, D.: The effectiveness of computer assisted pronunciation training for foreign language learning by children. J. Comput. Assist. Lang. Learn. 21(5), 393–408 (2008)
Prince, M.: Does active learning work? A review of the research. Res. J. Eng. Educ. 93(3), 223–231 (2004)
Romagosa, B., Rosenbaum, E., Koschitz, D.: From the Turtle to the Beetle (2016). http://openaccess.uoc.edu/webapps/o2/handle/10609/52807. Accessed 14 Oct 2019
Seemüller, A., Müller, E.M., Rösler, F.: EEG-power and -coherence changes in a unimodal and a crossmodal working memory task with visual and kinesthetic stimuli. Int. J. Psychophysiol. 83, 87–95 (2012)
Udomon, I., Xiong, C., Berns, R., Best, K., Vike, N.: Visual, audio, and kinesthetic effects on memory retention and recall. J. Adv. Student Sci. (JASS) 1, 1–29 (2013)
Warschauer, M., Healey, D.: Computers and language learning: an overview. Lang. Teach. 31, 57–71 (1998)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Federici, S., Sergi, E., Medas, C., Lussu, R., Gola, E., Zuncheddu, A. (2020). Computational Pedagogy: Block Programming as a General Learning Tool. In: Lane, H.C., Zvacek, S., Uhomoibhi, J. (eds) Computer Supported Education. CSEDU 2019. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 1220. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-58459-7_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-58459-7_11
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-58458-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-58459-7
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)