Exploring the Impact of Open Pedagogy on Minority Students' Motivation, Computational Thinking, and Perceived Learning in Interactive Computer Game Development.

With the increasing use of open educational resources (OERs) in higher education, and the potential of OERs to enhance student learning, this study investigated minority students’ perceptions of using OERs in learning computer programming. The influence of minority students’ OER perceptions on their learning outcomes, as well as the relationships of the perception variables were explored. The participants were minority students from an HBCU institution in the southeastern United States. Quantitative approaches were used to analyze the collected data. The results indicated that the minority students’ perceptions of using OERs had a significant influence on their perceived learning outcomes in learning computer programming. OER self-efficacy did not influence the minority students’ perceived learning for programming. Understanding of OERs, OER interest, and OER self-efficacy significantly predicted the minority students’ perceived value/usefulness of OERs in learning coding.

The study was carried out from 2018 to 2020 with the challenge - how to assess the level of computational thinking. The research design is mixed since the disclosure of mutual influence of the components of the chain ‘learning programming – computational thinking – evaluating computational thinking’ requires the use of both qualitative and quantitative research methods. The conceptualisation of the ‘computational thinking’ idea is based on the premise of the impact of abstract thinking and computers on human thinking evolution. The structural interpretation of ‘computational thinking’, consisting of nine components, reflects the presence of a semantic link between teaching programming and the development of abstract computational thinking. Four levels (phenomenological, analytic–synthetic, set–prognostic and axiomatic) of computational thinking have been identified for each of these nine components. The study involved 102 elementary school students who are learning programming in Scratch. The guiding questions and problems we have developed for elementary school students are designed following the characteristics of the four levels of computational thinking. The results of the study showed that the ratio of ‘structural components’ to different levels of computational thinking, with the corresponding characteristics, allows one to determine the degree of its development or its individual components. Keywords: Computational thinking, educational taxonomies, evaluation methodologies, levels of development;

An increase in open educational practices, such as the use of open educational resources (OER), has caused a wide array of definitions to appear concerning open pedagogy (OP). To help clarify how OP is defined in practice, this study describes the perceptions of instructors who implemented various approaches to OP in post-secondary institutions in the eastern United States. Researchers analysed survey data from faculty who adopted open pedagogy and thematically analysed interviews to understand instructors’ perceptions and implementations of OP. Instructors found value in providing students with more control over class procedures and policies, using and creating OER, and making student learning more visible to the outside world, but voiced concerns regarding the constraints and barriers of OP, the perception of instructors not using OP, and how their OP practices were still developing. These perceptions shaped instructors’ practical definition of OP. Further research is necessary to determine best practices for OP and to better refine OP implementation and definition related to the personnel and resources needed to make pedagogy ‘open.’

This study investigated minority students’ learning in programming. The variables, including self-efficacy, computational thinking, and learning performance were the focus of this study. This study explored the relationships of creative self-efficacy, learning self-efficacy, computational thinking, and learning performance among minority undergraduate students. The influence of creative self-efficacy, learning self-efficacy, and computational thinking on learning performance was explored. The participants were minority students from a HBCU institution in the southeastern United States. Quantitative approaches were performed to analyze the collected data. The results indicated that self-efficacy, learning self-efficacy, and computational thinking were positively correlated with learning performance. Learning self-efficacy and computational thinking were significant predictors of learning performance among minority students.

Covid-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented disruption to education systems worldwide, leading to a paradigm shift to technology enabled learning (TEL) from face-to-face (f2f) interactions. TEL ensured teaching-learning continuity and prevent learning losses without f2f interventions. The pandemic became an opportunity for expansion in creation and use of Open Educational Resources (OER) and marked the beginning of a shift towards Open Educational Practices (OEP). These developments, amidst disruptions created possibilities to harness both OER and OEP to mitigate short term learning loss during Covid-19 and to build education systems that are capable of overcoming adversity and are resilient to future crises and disruptions. This paper explores the theoretical and empirical literature to outline how OER and OEP support open pedagogy as an educational response to Covid-19. It presents a generic OER-OEP framework based on an open pedagogy continuum which includes ‘Enhance’, ‘Extend’ and ‘Empower’. It identifies the barriers faced in respect of OER adoption and OEP engagement, and the perceived impact of OER on teaching practices. Based on this framework and on identified barriers, a set of guidelines for the effective use of OER and OEP for teaching and learning is presented. The findings figured out the importance of OER adoption, especially in times of crises, and an increased engagement with OEP for sustainable learning opportunities, contributing to open education development post pandemic. The study recommends building more focus on scaffolding for faculty and students in the implementation of open pedagogy, as well as more institutional support for better learning experiences and outcomes.

The paper introduces the competence framework produced by the OpenGame project, that includes the attitudes, knowledge and skills that educators need to master in order to work with Open Educational Practices (OEP). With this outcome, the OpenGame research team aims at closing the gap between the expanded interest of researchers and practitioners towards a holistic vision of open education and the absence of a shared competence framework that can cover both the creation and/or use of Open Educational resources (OER) and the broader realm of OEP. Starting from literature review complemented with the analysis of 24 open teaching practices, 8 competences have been defined, related to both OER and open pedagogies. The competences relating to OER are: use open licences; search for OER; create, revise, and remix OER; and share OER. The competences relating to open pedagogy are: design open educational experiences; guide students to learn in the open; teach with OER; and implement open assessment. The framework details the knowledge and skills that correspond to each competence and can serve both as a starting point to build educators’ capacities to work with open approaches and as a reflexion tool to better understand what it means to be an Open Educator in the 21st century.

The examination of teacher educators’ own practices through self-study research has been well established and self-study aligns with the growing interest in open educational resources (OER) and open pedagogy. This research used a self-study method of a Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics (STEAM) OER project, Form and Function(s): Sustainable Design meets Computational Thinking. Two research questions were pursued: How do open pedagogy attributes contribute to a transdisciplinary STEAM OER pedagogical stance? And how can one apply visual artifact self-study as intentional critical friends to examine professional value and to enhance pedagogical self-understanding? The researcher analyzed visual artifacts of created and documented images that supported the process of her interrogations of transdisciplinary curriculum development and open pedagogy. The sites and modalities of the artifacts were questioned and answers recorded using a critical visual methodology. Klein’s (2008, 2018) transdisciplinary thinking and the eight attributes of Hegarty’s (2015) open pedagogy frame the interrogation of the images and the connections made to curriculum theorizing. The self-study provides conclusions to the role of visual artifacts when conceptualizing the gestalt of complex ideas and relations. The self-study provides warranted assertions for open educators and researchers interested in the practices of transdisciplinary, open curricular and pedagogical processes alongside the eight attributes of open pedagogy, and the role of critical self-reflection.

A transformation in teaching and learning happens when students move from being consumers to creators of knowledge. While there is a growing body of research available on the use of open education resources by faculty and students, there is comparatively little research available with regards to open pedagogy (OP) in higher education. The few studies that have explored the perceptions of OP have focused on one specific OP practice in a small context (one or two course sections). The present review study surveyed the perceptions of faculty and students at a Canadian university across several courses and a range of types of OP. Quantitative and qualitative analyses revealed students and faculty alike were positive about the benefits and impacts of engaging in OP, but each expressed challenges with needing greater time for OP. Additionally, while students experienced challenges with process, faculty experienced challenges with supports. Recommendations are provided for ways faculty can support students when engaging in OP and ways institutions can support faculty who engage in OP. Ultimately, knowing more about the experiences and perspectives of students and faculty could help inform the development of best practices for faculty who wish to use OP with students.

Entering the 21st century, computational thinking has become a basic skill that all students must have. This research aims to determine gender differences in learning outcomes to solve social problems, differences in students' levels of computational thinking by gender, and the influence of students' levels of computational thinking on learning outcomes in solving social problems. This research uses a descriptive verification method with a quantitative analysis approach. The number of research subjects was 256 students, who came from the Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Sebelas Maret University. The quantitative data analysis used is based on the results of computational thinking ability tests using the Wilcoxon Test. Further analysis of this research uses K-Means for clustering, while analysis of the relationship between variables uses Spearman's rho. This research shows that there is an influence of gender on learning outcomes for solving social problems, there is no significant relationship between students' level of computational thinking and gender, and there is a significant influence of students' level of computational thinking on learning outcomes for solving social problems. The results of this research show that the two factors above play a large role in influencing student learning outcomes. This capability works in synergy with the computational level of thinking. With the right efforts, growing computational thinking skills can improve students' ability to solve various learning problems.

Open educational practices (OEP) is an umbrella term that includes the creation, use, and reuse of open educational resources (OER); pedagogical practices encouraging peer learning, collaborative knowledge creation, sharing, and empowerment of learners; and systemic and structural initiatives to support and embed openness. The underlying values of OEP match those of open education more broadly, i.e. enabling educational access, ensuring inclusivity, and furthering equity. Examples of OEP include using OER, renewable/non-disposable assignments (where students publish work openly), collaborative annotation, Wikipedia editing, open courses, and engaging in open learning/teaching communities, among many others. Some people use the terms 'OEP' and 'open pedagogy' interchangeably, while others consider OEP to be a broader concept, inclusive of open pedagogy, as the latter focuses primarily on teaching practices (see Open Pedagogy). OEP can be enacted at the level of individual artifacts, modules or programs (via OER, open pedagogy, open textbooks, open learning design) as well as systemically across institutional structures (via open education policies, open publishing practices, reward/recognition structures). Recent OEP research focuses on the importance of critical and social justice approaches, reflecting wider trends in digital and higher education. Such approaches acknowledge the importance of context and power relations and encourage diverse, inclusive, and equitable approaches to openness.

Enhancing elementary school students' computational thinking and programming learning with graphic organizers

PurposeSharing and developing digital educational resources and open educational resources has been proposed as a way to harmonize and improve clinical pharmacology and therapeutics (CPT) education in European medical schools. Previous research, however, has shown that there are barriers to the adoption and implementation of open educational resources. The aim of this study was to determine perceived opportunities and barriers to the use and creation of open educational resources among European CPT teachers and possible solutions for these barriers.MethodsCPT teachers of British and EU medical schools completed an online survey. Opportunities and challenges were identified by thematic analyses and subsequently discussed in an international consensus meeting.ResultsData from 99 CPT teachers from 95 medical schools were analysed. Thirty teachers (30.3%) shared or collaboratively produced digital educational resources. All teachers foresaw opportunities in the more active use of open educational resources, including improving the quality of their teaching. The challenges reported were language barriers, local differences, lack of time, technological issues, difficulties with quality management, and copyright restrictions. Practical solutions for these challenges were discussed and include a peer review system, clear indexing, and use of copyright licenses that permit adaptation of resources.ConclusionKey challenges to making greater use of CPT open educational resources are a limited applicability of such resources due to language and local differences and quality concerns. These challenges may be resolved by relatively simple measures, such as allowing adaptation and translation of resources and a peer review system.

This study aims to assess the extent to which teachers' technology literacy skills contribute to their ability to implement innovative teaching methods through computational thinking. This study used a quasi-experimental method with a 2x2 factorial design. This research used 84 samples of prospective teacher students from the Educational Technology Study Program. The instrument used questionnaires to assess the level of instructional innovation demonstrated by aspiring teachers, utilizing three indicators: the utilization of interactive learning media, the incorporation of information technology, and the diversity of learning resources. The statistical method employed to examine the hypothesis is a two-way analysis of variance (two-way ANOVA). The results of this study showed significant correlation between the level of students' Instructional Learning Innovation skills and Computational Thinking; the statistical analysis reveals a p-value greater than 0.05. Additionally, the research findings indicate that the level of Technological Literacy Skills has an impact on Instructional Innovation Learning skills. This research made significant contributions, such as the introduction of the Computational Thinking Level, which enables teachers to enhance their capacity to create effective learning strategies that align with the most recent advancements in technology. Technological Literacy Skills assist educators in incorporating digital tools and resources into the educational process, fostering a cutting-edge and dynamic classroom setting.

The article examines the impact of using the Scratch program on the development of computational thinking in younger schoolchildren. The purpose of this study was to teach primary school students the subject of "Digital literacy" tasks "Creating an online game with codes" on the topic "Logical operators" were proposed, and studies on the development of students' computational thinking were developed. Task execution planning provides for the desire to create independently created games, successfully complete the stage of their execution in the Scratch program, and share your tasks in the Scratch program with classmates, introducing them to the network. Some elementary school students got acquainted with the tasks shared by their classmates and showed a high level of computational thinking and motivation to create additional games from them for the online platform. As a result, the influence of students on the skills of computational thinking, communication and independent development is shown. Due to the development of information technology, learning programming at an early age is important because they should not have problems understanding the logic of programming when they reach the age of a bachelor's degree. Using visual, two-dimensional Scratch for this purpose allows children to express their ideas and thoughts interactively. They can create their own projects using blocks with various functions such as motion, sound and animation. This teaching of children to present their ideas and concepts in a certain form shows the impact on the development of their representational abilities, that is, on their computational thinking.

This study aimed to investigate college of education students’ level of computational thinking proficiency and the differences in their level based on their demographic characteristics, i.e., gender, program, and age. The study used a descriptive research design in which 190 students in the College of Education completed a computational thinking questionnaire. The computational thinking scale consisted of five dimensions, i.e., creativity, algorithmic thinking, cooperativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. The results showed that the level of computational thinking among students was diverse and fell within a moderate range. Gender-based analysis indicated a significant difference in only one dimension of computational thinking, i.e., algorithmic thinking, with females scoring lower than males. In addition, based on students’ academic program, significant variations were observed in algorithmic thinking and overall computational thinking levels, particularly between Bachelor and PhD programs, with PhD students scoring higher than Bachelor students. Additionally, the age-based analysis highlights significant differences, with older students consistently outperforming younger ones across various computational thinking dimensions. Based on the findings a set of recommendations was provided.