The Impact of a STEM Inquiry Game Learning Scenario on Computational Thinking and Computer Self-confidence

Abstract

Computational thinking is an ability which is considered to be essential for the process of problem solving in every science. The current empirical research aims to study the impact of a STEM content Inquiry based scenario using computational tools and educational games, regarding computational thinking (CT) and confidence for "computers use" of 115 students of Greek public schools of the 5 th -6 th grade. For the needs of this research, a didactic scenario was developed and implemented, using computational tools, such as the Arduino microcontroller, RGB Led's while a computational model was designed and implemented. The assessment of computational thinking improvement and confidence for computers use was conducted with the use of questionnaires that were administered before and after the intervention. The findings indicate a positive influence of the intervention on the dimensions of computational thinking in the experimental group. The findings can be applied to educational settings that integrate STEM in the teaching sequence in order to enhance students' confidence with computational experiments.

The Effect of Using STEAM Approach on Developing Computational Thinking Skills among High School Students in Jordan

“…These findings agreed with [35], whose results showed significant development in algorithmic thinking, and problem-solving skills among students who were involved in digital game-based learning environment. In addition, this study results agreed with [30], whose findings stated that the STEAM-based program significantly improved the computational thinking skills of eighth-grade middle-school students. In addition, the results agreed with [31] who found out that STEAM inquiry game learning (they used Arduino kits) had a significant positive influence on the computational thinking skills and their confidence with computation.…”

“…Bati, Caliskan, Gunes, Sacan, & Yestisir [30] conducted a research to develop a STEAM-based program for teaching middle school students in a public school in Turkey the concept of time to enhance their computational thinking skills. They proposed Time Teaching Program (TTP) in which they delivered the time concept in many views (mathematics view, physics view, and history view) in the form of mod-ules and activities.…”

A Study of the Impact of Arduino and Visual Programming In Self-Efficacy, Motivation, Computational Thinking and 5th Grade Students’ Perceptions on Electricity

“…Moreover, it includes a wide variety of aspects such as: abstract thinking, problem decomposition, Debug, algorithmic thinking, generalization, automation, simulation, modelling and data collection, representation and analysis (Barr & Stephenson, 2011;Kanaki & Kalogiannakis, 2018;Lee et al, 2011;Psycharis & Kotzampasaki, 2019;Weese, 2017;Weese & Feldhausen, 2017;Wing, 2006). However, even today there is not a widely accepted definition of CT but rather an abundance of definitions, each of which uses a different aspect of CT, which leads to a different approach in the classroom (Barr, Harrison, & Conery, 2011;Barr & Stephenson, 2011;Koh, Basawapatna, Bennett, & Repenning, 2010;Hemmendinger, 2010;Mannila et al, 2014;Weese & Feldhausen, 2017).…”

Development of Mathematics Teaching Materials Based on Scientific Approach for Mathematics Learning

“…Several studies report how engaging students in-game learning improves students' motivation summarized these reports, finding that the inclusion of game elements resulted in positive effects on the students (Psycharis & Kotzampasaki, 2019). Arguably, the utilization of game elements in learning can be considered an extrinsic stimulant to motivate students.…”