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Robots are a popular and engaging educational tool for teaching computational thinking, but they often have significant costs and limitations for classroom use. Switching to a simulated environment can eliminate many of these difficulties. By also providing students with a block-based programming environment, the barrier to entry can be further reduced. This paper presents a networked virtual robotics platform designed to create an environment which is highly accessible for novice students and their teachers alike, along with components of a curriculum designed to teach computational thinking skills through robotics programming challenges, including autonomous challenges and in-class competitions. Students access this platform through an extension of the same web interface used for programming their robots, which allows students to collaborate on code and view a shared simulated virtual space. Previously, this virtual robotics platform was used only to facilitate distance education. This paper demonstrates its use in an in-person class during the Spring 2022 semester, illustrating the affordances of a virtual robotics environment for face-to-face learning contexts as well. Students' computational thinking skills were evaluated with assessments both before and after the class, along with surveys and interviews given to determine their opinions and outlooks regarding computer science. The results show that students had a significant improvement in both attitudes and aptitudes.
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This content will become publicly available on February 1, 2026
Scaffolding Coding Instruction Through Literacy via the Compose and Code Digital Platform and Curriculum
ABSTRACT BackgroundIn recent years, computer science education has emerged as a necessary part of school curricula for students of all ages. With such momentum in this direction, it is essential that program designers, educators, and researchers ensure that computer science education is designed to be inclusive, effective, and engaging for all students. ObjectiveAccordingly, this paper reports on the design and implementation of an inclusive digital learning platform and accompanying curriculum for scaffolding and integrating coding into writing instruction for elementary‐aged students (approximately ages 9–12). In this paper, we report on teachers' uses of the Compose and Code (CoCo) platform and curriculum, how students used its features, and its influence on students' computational thinking skills and attitudes about coding. MethodData analysed in this mixed‐methods study come from 11 teachers and 595 students in Grades 3–6. Data sources included teacher reflections and interviews, an assessment of computational thinking for students, and a coding attitudes survey for students. Quantitative data were analysed descriptively and using paired samplet‐tests. Qualitative data were analysed inductively using open coding to determine emergent categories. Results and ConclusionFindings indicate that (1) a majority of students effectively used the CoCo platform to plan their work and code in Scratch, with a smaller percentage using the self‐evaluation and self‐monitoring features, (2) teachers indicated overall positive perceptions of the CoCo platform and curriculum, with strong support for using it in the future, (3) students' computational thinking skills improved over the course of the project, with results indicating a large effect size (g = 1.24), and (4) student attitudinal results were mixed, providing insights to the barriers that students face when learning to code. Overall, this study indicates that the CoCo platform and curriculum show promise as a scaffolded, structured, and integrated tool for teaching elementary computer science to elementary grade students.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2313418
- PAR ID:
- 10580798
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Computer Assisted Learning
- Volume:
- 41
- Issue:
- 1
- ISSN:
- 0266-4909
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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