The Zones of Proximal Flow Tutorial

Abstract

The creation of computer science tutorials is becoming critically important as hundreds of millions of students each year get their first CS experience through self-directed online activities. Creating a "cliffhanger" activity, with high engagement during and motivation to continue learning post activity, is a balancing act. If tutorials provide too much detailed information, users may be able to follow instructions but can feel overwhelmed or bored. On the other hand, tutorials that do not sufficiently explain crucial steps risk frustrating users who might drop out of the activity. Zones of Proximal Flow (ZPF) tutorials are simple to create and provide a navigation structure of differentiated instruction allowing users to choose appropriate detail based on their self-assessed state of flow, from bored to anxious. Using Retention of Flow analysis, two Hour of Code game design tutorials were analyzed: a sophisticated online tutorial for the creation of Frogger, and a simple ZPF tutorial for the creation of Pac-Man. One hope was that the simple ZPF Pac-Man tutorial would not do much worse than the sophisticated Frogger tutorial, but surprisingly the ZPF Pac-Man tutorial significantly outperformed the Frogger tutorial in terms of student retention. The Pac-Man tutorial also displayed a high student motivation to continue programming past the end of differentiated instruction. CCS CONCEPTS • Applied computing → Interactive learning environments; Computer-assisted instruction;

Die ersten 1000: Computational Thinking als obligatorische Ausbildung für Primarschullehrpersonen in der Schweiz

“…Mit dem stark eingeschränkten Zeitgefäss muss sich das Modul Informatische Bildung allerdings momentan auf mediendidaktische Kompetenzen fokussieren. So lernen die Studierenden beispielsweise als Teil des Fachdidaktik IB Kurses, wie man Zones of Proximal Flow Tutorials (Basawapatna, Repenning, und Savignano 2019) konstruiert und evaluiert (Repenning et al 2019). Im Vordergrund stehen dabei didaktische Aspekte wie z.B., was sind wirksame Videoinstruktionen, oder wie bietet man differenziertes Scaffolding (Hmelo-Silver, Duncan, und Chinn 2007) an, und nicht Anwendungskompetenzen wie z.B., wie benutzt man YouTube oder PowerPoint.…”