ON THE USE OF CREATIVE AND DEVELOPMENTAL TASKS IN MIDDLE SCHOOL COMPUTER SCIENCE LESSONS
Authors
Konul Aliyeva Kamal gizi
Share
Annotation
Creative and developmental tasks in middle school computer science lessons are intended to build students’ analytical thinking and practical skills. Drawing on the literature on computational thinking, programming education with Scratch, and project-based learning, this article describes how such tasks can be designed for Grades 5–9, offers a sample assignment for each grade, and shows how difficulty can be increased gradually. It also outlines a methodological approach that combines gradual increase in complexity, cooperative group work, individual support, and formative assessment of the learning process, and lists the skills these tasks are expected to develop. A short Python program illustrates a simple counting task. Tasks of this kind can help students develop creative thinking, problem-solving skills, and independent work; the examples are pedagogical proposals rather than results of an empirical study.
Keywords
Authors
Konul Aliyeva Kamal gizi
Share
References:
Black, P., & Wiliam, D. (1998). Assessment and classroom learning. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 5(1), 7–74. https://doi.org/10.1080/0969595980050102
Blumenfeld, P. C., Soloway, E., Marx, R. W., Krajcik, J. S., Guzdial, M., & Palincsar, A. (1991). Motivating project-based learning: Sustaining the doing, supporting the learning. Educational Psychologist, 26(3–4), 369–398. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.1991.9653139
Grover, S., & Pea, R. (2013). Computational thinking in K–12: A review of the state of the field. Educational Researcher, 42(1), 38–43. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X12463051
Ibrahim, A., McKee, M., Sikos, L. F., & Johnson, N. F. (2024). A systematic review of K-12 cybersecurity education around the world. IEEE Access, 12, 59726–59738. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2024.3393425
Johnson, D. W., & Johnson, R. T. (2009). An educational psychology success story: Social interdependence theory and cooperative learning. Educational Researcher, 38(5), 365–379. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X09339057
Lye, S. Y., & Koh, J. H. L. (2014). Review on teaching and learning of computational thinking through programming: What is next for K-12? Computers in Human Behavior, 41, 51–61.
Meerbaum-Salant, O., Armoni, M., & Ben-Ari, M. (2013). Learning computer science concepts with Scratch. Computer Science Education, 23(3), 239–264. https://doi.org/10.1080/08993408.2013.832022
Papert, S. (1980). Mindstorms: Children, computers, and powerful ideas. Basic Books.
Resnick, M., Maloney, J., Monroy-Hernández, A., Rusk, N., Eastmond, E., Brennan, K., Millner, A., Rosenbaum, E., Silver, J., Silverman, B., & Kafai, Y. (2009). Scratch: Programming for all. Communications of the ACM, 52(11), 60–67. https://doi.org/10.1145/1592761.1592779
Wing, J. M. (2006). Computational thinking. Communications of the ACM, 49(3), 33–35. https://doi.org/10.1145/1118178.1118215
Other articles of the issue
