Coding to Develop Early Mathematical and Computational Thinking in Kindergarten: A Case Study

摘要

An emerging method of integrating science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in elementary settings is through the use of coding robot tasks. These coding robot tasks have the potential to enhance elementary students' mathematics learning and computational thinking (CT) skills. Research documenting how CT skills develop in young children is limited. The purpose of this case study is to examine one student's progression of mathematics and CT skills as they engage in tasks with a coding robot. This investigation documents the progression of a 5-year-old kindergarten student who attends a small, private elementary school. The student and a peer participated in five, 30-minute tasks that involved using a coding robot called Code-a-Pillar. These tasks were structured to elicit early math and CT knowledge and abilities and embedded concepts such as spatial reasoning, sequencing, debugging, decomposition, abstraction, and problem solving. Each of the tasks were video-recorded for analysis and coding purposes. Iterative coding was then used to describe the student's progression through the tasks and identify when and how math and CT skills were demonstrated. Using an initial framework of Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs), researchers will present a case study of one student's development of KSAs over five tasks. Evidence from the video data is then used to describe how the tasks that may have provoked these shifts in the student's ability to exhibit the identified skills. This case study provides insight into how coding robot tasks may enhance young children's math and CT skills.