Encouraging the development of computational thinking skills through structured dance activities (discussion paper)

Fiona Fairlie*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

1 Citation (Scopus)
33 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

This paper investigates whether aspects of structured dance and choreography may improve cognitive skills related to computational thinking. It also explores the relationship between performance on computational thinking tasks and motivation. Twenty participants,aged between 7 and 9 years old, undertook the Beginners Computational Thinking Test (BCTt) as a pre-test, took part in three dance related workshops then completed the BCTt as post-test and responded to an adapted version of the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI). Student performance on the BCTt improved significantly from pre-test to post-test for both boys and girls and seems generalised across the computational categories measured by BCTt. The study did not show a correlation between performance and motivation in girls but suggests that there may be some correlation between improvement in score and reported enjoyment in boys.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationKoli Calling '23: 23rd Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research
PublisherAssociation for Computing Machinery (ACM)
Number of pages8
ISBN (Electronic)9798400716539
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Nov 2023
Event23rd International Conference on Computing Education Research - Koli and Online, Koli, Finland
Duration: 13 Nov 202318 Nov 2023

Publication series

NameACM International Conference Proceeding Series
ISSN (Print)None

Conference

Conference23rd International Conference on Computing Education Research
Abbreviated titleKoli Calling 2023
Country/TerritoryFinland
CityKoli
Period13/11/2318/11/23

Keywords

  • computational thinking
  • computer education
  • dance

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Human-Computer Interaction
  • Computer Networks and Communications
  • Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
  • Software

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