Choreographing increased understanding and positive attitudes towards coding by integrating dance

Abstract

Increasing the inclusion of underrepresented individuals in coding is an intractable problem, with a variety of initiatives trying to improve the situation. Many of these initiatives involve STEAM education, which combines the arts with traditional STEM disciplines. Evidence is emerging that this approach is making headway on this complex problem. We present one such initiative, iLumiDance Coding, which attempts to pique the interest and increase confidence of students in coding, by combining it with a fun and physical activity: dance. The connections between dance and coding, while not immediately obvious, are authentic, and we hypothesize that this approach will increase student comfort level with coding. We used student surveys of attitudes toward coding and a variety of statistical approaches to analyze our initiative. Each analysis showed a positive effect on student comfort level with coding. These results are useful for both educators and researchers since they contribute to a deeper understanding of how to increase interest in coding, which we hope will lead to an increase in representation.

A corporeidade no desenvolvimento do pensamento computacional

“…Isto se assemelha ao que França (2020) discutiu em seu artigo, trazer o corpo como elemento para desenvolvimento e discussão de conceitos de pensamento computacional. Foi possível notar que a atividade necessita ser descrita de forma acessível para este público, com linguagem próxima a das crianças, o que facilita a exploração lúdica, por meio da corporeidade, dos conceitos de pensamento computacional, corroborando com Flesch et al (2021).…”

iINVENT pathways and practices: prizing the process over the product

“…Process-based inventiveness activities may be a solution to encourage learners to try out aspects of invention, take risks, and step outside their comfort zones, without the commitment of a long-term project. Current efforts to pilot specific evaluation methods to further analyze processbased inventiveness are underway in the forms of exploring the dynamic between learners' own ideas, creativity, ideation, and iteration in the forms of coding, dance, and instructional practices that explicitly promote learners generating, sharing, and developing their ideas as a function of their interests (Kong et al, 2018;Flesch et al, 2021;Renzulli et al, 2022). The primary author of this paper (Susan Rowe) is a member of a Lemelson funded Sprint group of professionals in IvE currently creating an inclusive and accessible survey tool with aligned metrics as a formative assessment of inventiveness in education pedagogical practices (Livingood et al, 2024).…”