Online Learning Using Block-based Programming to Foster Computational Thinking Abilities during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Virawan Amnouychokanant,Saranya Chuathong,Kuntida Thamwipat,Surapon Boonlue

doi:10.3991/ijet.v16i13.22591

Abstract

The COVID 19 pandemic has affected global education. In Thailand, all educational institutions temporarily closed to prevent the spread of COVID-19. However, teaching and learning still need to be continued. It is necessary to switch the learning activities to online learning. In this study, we designed online learning activities for developing computational thinking (CT) of students and carried out an experiment with 90 participants (first-year students enrolled in a Bachelor of Education Program in educational technology and communications at King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi). At the beginning of the experiment, all participants were asked to take a CT test to measure their CT. The test is consistent with other CT tests under validation. During the sessions, all participants were taught by Thunkable. After the experiment, they took the CT test again. The results show that by improving CT through block-based programming projects, students’ performance improved significantly. In conclusion, block-based programming and working in pairs are combinations that can potentially help students to perform better, in turn affecting their performance in projects.

Highlights

The recent global pandemic was caused by the appearance of the coronavirus in December 2019, which was discovered in Wuhan, the capital city of Hubei, China
The purpose of this study is to provide empirical evidence that can help to answer a set of research questions: What are the computational thinking (CT) abilities of the participants after online learning activities? What are the CT abilities of the participants who have different genders after online learning activities? What are the CT abilities of the participants who have different performances after online learning activities? This paper is organized as follows: Section 2 reviews background literature on CT and online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic; Section 3 outlines the methodology, including the participants, procedure, and measuring tool; Section 4 presents the results of the experiment; and Section 5 summarizes the discussion and conclusion
A project that obtains from 12 to 15 points is evaluated as developing level, and those that obtain more than 15 points are evaluated as proficiency level

Summary

Introduction

The recent global pandemic was caused by the appearance of the coronavirus in December 2019, which was discovered in Wuhan, the capital city of Hubei, China. All educational institutions temporarily closed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and reduce the risk of infection to students [2]. The pandemic has presented a challenge to educational institutions to improve their modes delivery and to transfer iJET ‒ Vol 16, No 13, 2021. Their attention to emerging technologies [4]. Universities across different countries have measures for all instructors to switch from classroom teaching (face to face) to various forms of online learning amid the COVID-19 pandemic [5]. A critical challenge is how to design online learning to attract students' attention because they always lack focus during online classes.

Objectives

Results

Discussion

Conclusion