Blogs (4) >>
Thu 21 Mar 2024 16:10 - 16:35 at Meeting Room E146 - Miscellaneous online Chair(s): Zhikai Gao

Computational thinking is increasingly introduced into elementary school curricula, usually accompanied by some form of programming activity. However, even a creative and hands-on activity such as programming Ozobot robots with color codes requires elementary school teachers to provide adequate feedback. To support teachers with giving elaborated formative feedback, we developed hint cards that are based on criteria for effective feedback and address common Ozobot “programming through drawing” issues. Based on our experience of using the hint cards in 17 workshops in elementary schools with 328 children and 21 educators, we identify how the hint cards (1) address feedback challenges, (2) support learning, and (3) can be adapted for broader use. We find that hint cards provide benefits at the teacher, learner and organizational level, but also identify possible disadvantageous circumstances. Although the hint cards support learning regarding affective, cognitive and meta-cognitive aspects, strategies for adaptation to the individual classroom use are needed. We discuss how the hint cards can be used in other contexts, and give recommendations on how to use the knowledge of common issues and hint cards for supporting elementary school teachers with teaching programming.

Thu 21 Mar

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