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Best of The Netherlands: How children use computational thinking skills when they solve a problem using the Ozobot
PROCEEDING

, , Windesheim University of Applied Sciences, Netherlands ; , University of Amsterdam/ Windesheim University of Applied Sciences, Netherlands

BEST Award

EdMedia + Innovate Learning, in Amsterdam, Netherlands Publisher: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE), Waynesville, NC

Full Text

Abstract

An observation study has been conducted to find out which computational thinking skills children use when solving a programming task. The main question was “What are the thinking processes of young children in the age of 6-12 years old (grade 2-6), working in pairs when trying to program a small robot (Ozobot) to solve a given problem (programming task).” The pairs (n=42) were asked to think out loud when solving the problem and were video-taped. Five sub-skills of computational thinking skills were evaluated: problem decomposition, abstracting, data ordering, testing and debugging & solving problems. Findings showed that slightly less than half of the pairs successfully solved the task. Lower grade boy duos scored higher on the sub-skills than girl or mixed duos from the same grade. In the higher grades this difference disappeared. Successful pairs structure their work, eliminate options, take the time to test the solution and work accurately.

Citation

van der Linde, D., van der Aar, N. & Voogt, J. (2018). Best of The Netherlands: How children use computational thinking skills when they solve a problem using the Ozobot. In T. Bastiaens, J. Van Braak, M. Brown, L. Cantoni, M. Castro, R. Christensen, G. Davidson-Shivers, K. DePryck, M. Ebner, M. Fominykh, C. Fulford, S. Hatzipanagos, G. Knezek, K. Kreijns, G. Marks, E. Sointu, E. Korsgaard Sorensen, J. Viteli, J. Voogt, P. Weber, E. Weippl & O. Zawacki-Richter (Eds.), Proceedings of EdMedia: World Conference on Educational Media and Technology (pp. 2151-2157). Amsterdam, Netherlands: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). Retrieved June 9, 2023 from .

© 2018 Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE)

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