Teaching Computational Thinking to a Student with Attention Deficit Through Programming

Abstract

This research-to-practice full paper deals with the difficulty that it is possible to teach computational thinking through the teaching of algorithms and programming to a person with ADD. We propose approaches to teach algorithms, knowing that it is a difficult task for many teachers. Likewise, inspiring the student’s interest also has its difficulties. The Brazilian Computer Society (SBC) understands that it is fundamental and strategic for Brazil that computer content is taught in basic education. Considering the 4.0 education of a connected generation, the thinking of computer education is relevant to the construction of youth and adult education. When we include people with ADD, this challenge is not trivial. This work presents a case study carried out with a high school student who has ADD and the techniques that were used to teach him to program to maintain his interest in the area. The method used was divided into three stages: Computer Discovery (1); Introduction to computational thinking through programming (2); Learn by Doing, in line with real-world problem solving using pair programming technique and challenge-based learning strategy (3). In order to investigate the effectiveness of the developed strategies, an experimental case study was carried out with a student who has ADD. The student was introduced to the content and approaches for 34 weeks, totaling 204 hours. The student presented a strong indication of learning and will forever have the ability of computational thinking to program and develop their applications.