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Using advance organizers to teach BASIC programming to primary-grade children

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Abstract

An advance organizer is introductory material presented prior to accompanying learning material as a means to facilitate learning and retention. Although there have been many studies on using advance organizers to teach children various types of subject matter, none has examined computer programming as the subject matter.

The study reported in this article explored the use of the advance organizer to teachbasic programming to primary-grade children. Results indicate that the advance organizer may have confused rather than clarified the more difficult material for the subjects. It is suggested that the post-organizer may be a more effective tool for enhancing computing instruction in the primary grades, in that it provides learners with a tool for review and recall of learned material.

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Righi, C. Using advance organizers to teach BASIC programming to primary-grade children. ETR&D 39, 79–90 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02296573

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