Unplugged Activities in Cross-Curricular Teaching: Effect on Sixth Graders’ Computational Thinking and Learning Outcomes

José Miguel Merino-Armero,José Antonio González-Calero,Javier Del Olmo-Muñoz,Ramón Cózar-Gutiérrez

doi:10.3390/mti6020013

José Miguel Merino-Armero, José Antonio González-Calero + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/mti6020013

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Abstract

There is a debate about the way to introduce computational thinking (CT) in schools. Different proposals are on the table; these include the creation of new computational areas for developing CT, the introduction of CT in STEM areas, and the cross-curricular integration of CT in schools. There is also concern that no student should be left behind, independently of their economic situation. To this effect, an unplugged approach is the most cost-effective solution. In addition, this topic is interesting in the context of a pandemic situation that has prevented the sharing of materials between students. This study analyzes an unplugged cross-curricular introduction of CT in the Social Sciences area among sixth grade students. A group of 14 students was selected to carry out an unplugged intervention design—where they were required to program an imaginary robot on paper—in the Social Sciences area. Their CT development and academic results were compared to those of 31 students from the control group who continued attending regular classes. Results showed that an unplugged teaching style of CT in Social Sciences lessons significantly increased CT (p < 0.001) and with a large effect size (d = 1.305) without differences in students’ academic achievement. The findings show that children can potentially develop their CT in non-STEM lessons, learning the same curricular contents, and maintaining their academic results.

Highlights

Computational thinking (CT) is a concept of growing importance [1]
Bearing in mind the lack of CT interventions in non-STEM subjects [20,21], and in order to give response to the demands of further evidence regarding the optimal introduction age of CT [14] and the unplugged CT approaches [22,23], this paper aims to analyze the impact of an unplugged approach to CT in a cross-curricular design on CT development and academic results in the area of Social Sciences
Levene tests were conducted to study the homogeneity of variances in the outcome variables, and both confirmed the assumption of homoscedasticity (p > 0.05)

Summary

Introduction

Computational thinking (CT) is a concept of growing importance [1] It is booming because technology is the present and the future of our societies [2], and its use is continuously increasing [3]. In 1967, Papert and his group created LOGO, a programming language for schoolchildren with the aim of promoting their “procedural thinking” [25], a precursor of CT. These ideas were developed perhaps too soon for society’s embracement of technology at the time. Technology’s applications were reserved for complex calculations This specificity in its use and the lack of resources available to the general public for accessing the existing technology reduced interest in this type of project. Technology is widely employed around the world, and a new concept, CT, was brought to the fore by Wing [26], a term that was defined as a process that “involves problem-solving, system design and understanding of human behavior” [26] (p. 33)

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