Programming Education Methods for Elementary School Students and Their Relation with Personal Preferences
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.52731/lir.v004.300Keywords:
Programming education, Children's education, Educational methodAbstract
This study investigated the differential impact of cooperative and competitive instructional strategies in the programming education for elementary students using the visual program-ming language, Scratch. The methodology involved conducting 40-minute sessions within two distinct educational settings to explore how students' preferences for specific tastes, colors, and school subjects influenced their learning outcomes. These preferences were se-lected from readily accessible elements that could be acquired rapidly, thereby serving as indicators to facilitate a simplified assessment of students' personality traits. The efficacy of the instructional sessions was gauged by evaluating task achievement and ingenuity, which were further linked to personality traits extrapolated from student preferences. The results demonstrated that a competitive setting notably enhanced both achievement and ingenuity. Remarkably, students who preferred competitive environments exhibited higher levels of achievement and ingenuity, whereas most participants predominantly perceived cooperative environments as more enjoyable. No significant relationships emerged between learning outcomes and other preferences, such as gender, favorite color, or chosen academic subjects. This study highlights the critical importance of customizing programming instruction to align it with the individual characteristics and preferences of students to optimize educa-tional effectiveness.
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