Title :
Computational Thinking, Code Complexity, and Prior Experience in a Videogame-Building Assignment
Author :
Boechler, Patricia ; Artym, Corbett ; Dejong, Erik ; Carbonaro, Mike ; Stroulia, Eleni
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Educ. Psychol., Univ. of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
Abstract :
Computational-thinking skills are an essential intellectual amplifier for all scientific and professional disciplines. Embedding these skills in the K-12 and University curricula is necessary for training the next generation of thinkers. A widely adopted approach to doing so is through simple and visual programming languages like Scratch and engaging assignments like video-game construction. In this work, we report on an empirical study we conducted with senior undergraduate education students aiming to understand how prior experience enables students to better develop their computation-thinking skills through a Scratch-based video-game assignment.
Keywords :
computer based training; computer games; further education; visual programming; K-12; Scratch-based video-game assignment; code complexity; computational thinking skill; prior experience; senior undergraduate education students; university curricula; video-game construction; videogame-building assignment; visual programming languages; Complexity theory; Correlation; Education; Games; Measurement; Media; Software; computational thinking; game-based learning; scratch; video-games;
Conference_Titel :
Advanced Learning Technologies (ICALT), 2014 IEEE 14th International Conference on
Conference_Location :
Athens
DOI :
10.1109/ICALT.2014.118
