Abstract
The authors decided to investigate the impact of the lockdown period and the resulting limitations in informatics education, especially programming, in out-of-school electronics courses using traditional and distance learning modes in primary school COVID-19 pandemic settings. Two extracurricular courses were held successively; the first electronics course was performed in a traditional out-of-school learning mode using Arduino kits, while the other was held using the TinkerCad circuits virtual environment in distance learning mode. A structured questionnaire was administered to students to map their knowledge of programming. The questionnaire consists of three emotional dimensions: enjoyment, satisfaction and motivation. The fourth dimension was dedicated to the students’ programming outcomes. Three emotional dimensions were addressed to primary school students, while the fourth dimension was addressed to the tutors’ observations toward the students’ programming outcomes. The obtained results revealed that learning modes have no significant impact on students perceiving the programming issues. However, three emotional dimensions revealed a significant difference in the students’ enjoyment, satisfaction and motivation in favor of the traditional learning mode. Our findings are of particular interest in light of possible crisis-prompted distance education in the future but can also serve to inform government institutions and policymakers seeking to develop effective concepts for successful distance learning.
Highlights
Learning programming is important and essential from an early age
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all primary school students are forced to stay at home, and teachers, headmasters and organizers of out-of-school activities changed the formula of the previously traditional informatics education to the version with the use of the Internet
Processing sensor data and events in both electronics courses were central from a technical perspective but have not been discussed enough in the Polish informatics Core Curriculum in primary school
Summary
Learning programming is important and essential from an early age It can help with the development of skills, such as creativity, innovation, problem-solving, logic, algorithmic and computational thinking, which constitute the 21st-century skill-set [1]. A large number of informatics competitions, contests, summer schools, Olympiads, and extracurricular talent development programs for highly motivated students are available. A large number of traditional competitions, including national Olympiads or competitions for young researchers and engineers, which are mainly supported by the Ministry of Education could boost and accelerate the informatics skills of talented students [3]. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all primary school students are forced to stay at home, and teachers, headmasters and organizers of out-of-school activities changed the formula of the previously traditional informatics education to the version with the use of the Internet. The closure of schools as a result of COVID-19 has been a critical global incident from which to rethink how nowadays distance informatics education works in Poland
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