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This study is implemented with a focus of discovering how students use the practice of embodied learning to gain knowledge of computational thinking (CT). An intervention was executed at an elementary school in a midwestern state, where students used a marker free virtual reality system to engage in a task that requires them to use the CT concepts and skills. Students participated in the path finding activity within the AR system, and demonstrated accounts of how they use their body to express their understanding of abstract CT concepts. Moreover, the affordances of the AR system were integrated to the student’s learning experience, furthering the discussion of how student’s embodied movement within the virtual world influences their learning outcomes of CT concepts. As an attempt to analyze the embodied learning experience of abstract notions, the researchers developed a coding framework that introduces the mapping of abstract CT concepts and the tangible embodied action that reflects each concept. This short paper thus presents the framework for embodied computational thinking skills, and further elaborates on the future implications of the on-going work. 

This study investigates the effects of embodied learning experiences in learning abstract concepts, such as computational thinking (CT), among young learners. Specifically, it examines whether the benefits of embodied learning can be replicated within a mixed-reality setting, where students engage with virtual objects to perform CT tasks. A group of ten first-grade students from an elementary school participated, engaging in embodied learning activities followed by assessments in CT. Through the analysis of video recordings, it was observed that participants could effectively articulate CT concepts, including the understanding of programming code meanings and their sequences, through their bodily movements. The congruence between students’ bodily movement and CT concepts was found to be advantageous for their comprehension. However, the study also noted instances of incongruent movements that did not align with the intended CT concepts, which attracted researchers’ attentions. The study identified two distinct types of embodiment manifested in the mixed-reality environment, shedding light on the nuanced dynamics of embodied learning in the context of CT education.