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1. Toward a Block-Based Programming Approach to Interactive Storytelling for Upper Elementary Students

   https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-62516-0_10  

   Smith, Andy; Mott, Bradford; Taylor, Sandra; Hubbard-Cheuoua, Aleata; Minogue, James; Oliver, Kevin; Ringstaff, Cathy (October 2020, International Conference on Interactive Digital Storytelling)

   null (Ed.)

   Developing narrative and computational thinking skills is crucial for K-12 student learning. A growing number of K-12 teachers are utilizing digital storytelling, where students create short narratives around a topic, as a means of creating motivating problem-solving activities for a variety of domains, including history and science. At the same time, there is increasing awareness of the need to engage K-12 students in computational thinking, including elementary school students. Given the challenges that the syntax of text-based programming languages poses for even novice university-level learners, block-based programming languages have emerged as an effective tool for introducing computational thinking to elementary-level students. Leveraging the unique affordances of narrative and computational thinking offers significant potential for student learning; however, integrating them presents significant challenges. In this paper, we describe initial work toward solving this problem by introducing an approach to block-based programming for interactive storytelling to engage upper elementary students (ages 9 to 11) in computational thinking and narrative skill development. Leveraging design principles and best practices from prior research on elementary-grade block-based programming and digital storytelling, we propose a set of custom blocks enabling learners to create interactive narratives. We describe both the process used to derive the custom blocks, including their alignment with elements of interactive narrative and with specific computational thinking curricular goals, as well as lessons learned from students interacting with a prototype learning environment utilizing the block-based programming approach. 

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2. Enhancing middle school students’ computational thinking competency through game-based learning

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-024-10400-x  

   Pan, Yanjun; Adams, Elizabeth_L; Ketterlin-Geller, Leanne_R; Larson, Eric_C; Clark, Corey (July 2024, Educational technology research and development)

   Abstract Computational thinking is acknowledged as an essential competency for everyone to learn. However, teachers find it challenging to implement the existing learning approaches in K-12 settings because the existing approaches often focus on teaching computing concepts and skills (i.e., programming skills) rather than on helping students develop their computational thinking competency—a competency that can be used across disciplinary boundaries in accordance with curriculum requirements. To address this need, the current study investigated how game-based learning influenced middle school students’ learning processes, particularly on the development of computational thinking competency, self-efficacy toward computational thinking, and engagement during gameplay. Additionally, the study examined how these outcomes were moderated by individual differences. We observed evidence that the gaming experience influenced students’ computational thinking self-efficacy, but not computational thinking competency or game-based engagement. Compared to age (grade) and prior gaming experience, gender tended to play a more important role in moderating students’ computational thinking competency, self-efficacy toward computational thinking competency, and game-based engagement. Implications and possible directions for future research regarding using game-based learning to enhance computational thinking competency are discussed. 

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3. Integrating Parsons Puzzles within Scratch Enables Efficient Computational Thinking Learning

   Bender, Jeff; Dziena, Alex; Zhao, Bingpu; Kaiser, Gail (January 2023, Research and practice in technology enhanced learning)

   A literature review revealed that students learning computational thinking via Scratch often require substantial teacher support. We surveyed grade 6-9 teachers to learn their perceptions of student engagement with computational thinking (CT) and how well their needs are met by existing CT learning systems. The results led us to extend the trend of balancing Scratch’s agency with structure to better serve learners and reduce burden on teachers aiming to learn and teach CT. In this paper, we review architecture and implementation strategies developed to integrate Parsons Programming Puzzles (PPPs) with Scratch, and then analyze their effects on adults, who crucially influence the education of their children. The results from our pilot study suggest PPPs catalyze CT motivation, reduce extraneous cognitive load, and increase learning efficiency without jeopardizing performance on transfer tasks. 

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4. Teacher Perspectives on a Narrative-Centered Learning Environment to Promote Computationally-Rich Science Learning through Digital Storytelling

   Houchins, J and (January 2021, Proceedings of Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference)

   null (Ed.)

   Elementary school teachers are increasingly looking to incorporate computational thinking (CT) into their practice. Unlike middle and high school where CT is often integrated into a single subject, elementary school teachers have the unique opportunity to integrate CT across multiple content areas. However, there is little research on the in-platform supports elementary teachers need to accomplish this integration successfully. To investigate this integration, we are iteratively developing a narrative-centered learning environment to facilitate learning outcomes in physical science via the creation of digital narratives that elicit CT. The learning environment enables students to use their science understanding to propose a solution to a problem through story creation using custom narrative-centered programming blocks that set a story’s scene, selects characters, and controls the story’s unfolding dialogue and actions. We have engaged with four upper elementary teachers to gather their perspectives on the usability of the learning environment and input on future design iterations. In this paper, we report results from a focus group study with the teachers that examines their perceptions on whether and how the learning environment facilitates story creation and if the learning environment provides learning supports for integrated science, language arts, and CT. Initial results suggest that teachers found the environment to be engaging and supportive of students’ creativity. 

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5. Teacher Perspectives on a Narrative-Centered Learning Environment to Promote Computationally-Rich Science Learning through Digital Storytelling

   Houchins, J; Cully, K.; Boulden, D.C.; Oliver, K.; Smith, A.; Minogue, J.; Mott, B.; Elsayed, R.; Cheuoua, A.H.; Ringstaff, C. (March 2021, Proceedings of Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference)

   null (Ed.)

   Elementary school teachers are increasingly looking to incorporate computational thinking (CT) into their practice. Unlike middle and high school where CT is often integrated into a single subject, elementary school teachers have the unique opportunity to integrate CT across multiple content areas. However, there is little research on the in-platform supports elementary teachers need to accomplish this integration successfully. To investigate this integration, we are iteratively developing a narrative-centered learning environment to facilitate learning outcomes in physical science via the creation of digital narratives that elicit CT. The learning environment enables students to use their science understanding to propose a solution to a problem through story creation using custom narrative-centered programming blocks that set a story’s scene, selects characters, and controls the story’s unfolding dialogue and actions. We have engaged with four upper elementary teachers to gather their perspectives on the usability of the learning environment and input on future design iterations. In this paper, we report results from a focus group study with the teachers that examines their perceptions on whether and how the learning environment facilitates story creation and if the learning environment provides learning supports for integrated science, language arts, and CT. Initial results suggest that teachers found the environment to be engaging and supportive of students’ creativity. 

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