For many children, programming is challenging to learn and for visually impaired learners there are a number of additional barriers which need to be overcome. Block-based languages are a popular choice for introductory programming courses, however their visual nature makes them inaccessible to learners with visual impairments. Physical programming languages, that use physical blocks or… Continue reading Physical computing and visually impaired learners
Author: Sue Sentance
I research computing education in schools, particularly in the UK. My particular interests are programming pedagogy, teacher professional learning in computing, curriculum change, and physical computing. Any views expressed on this site are my own and not endorsed by my employer. I work for the Raspberry Pi Foundation and I'm a Visiting Fellow at King's College London.
A continuum of scaffolding: from copying code to tinkering
Jane Waite, of King's College London & Queen Mary University of London, is researching ways of teaching programming, with the ultimate goal of supporting primary teachers teaching programming. In this post Jane describes a continuum of programming that she uses in training with primary teachers (CAS London run a number of Diving Deep courses in… Continue reading A continuum of scaffolding: from copying code to tinkering
Threshold concepts and non-cognitive dimensions of learning
At King's College London we are involved in research to better understand the teaching and learning of programming in school. In particular, our research project about threshold concepts in programming has entered its second phase and Maria is now looking for students and teachers to take part in the next phase of her research. If… Continue reading Threshold concepts and non-cognitive dimensions of learning
Bebras Cards
The Bebras Computing Challenge introduces computational thinking to students. It is organised in 50 countries and designed to get students all over the world excited about computing. It runs online every November, is free to enter and you can enter as many students in your school as you like. See http://bebras.uk for more information. This… Continue reading Bebras Cards
Data science survey
Link to survey I am conducting a survey to canvas the opinions of Computing teachers on whether/how aspects of data science might be relevant to the school curriculum. This survey is primarily for secondary teachers but open to all. The purpose is to feed into a cross-European discussion on data science in the curriculum. It… Continue reading Data science survey
PRIMM: A structured approach to teaching programming
PRIMM is one approach that we hope can help teachers structure lessons in programming. It is based on research into the learning of programming but combines different areas. Our overall interpretation of the research is that teaching programming requires a blended approach using a range of strategies. PRIMM stands for the following: Predict Run Investigate… Continue reading PRIMM: A structured approach to teaching programming
WIPSCE 2017
The Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education will be held in Nijmegen from 8-10 November 2017. Although titled a "workshop" this is now an international conference which particularly focuses on computing education research in school (which from now on I will shorten to CERS. It's a single track conference which means that everybody listens… Continue reading WIPSCE 2017
How do you teach with the BBC micro:bit?
At King's College London we are pleased to host a visiting researcher, Filiz Kalelioğlu, from Turkey, who is researching pedagogy and the BBC microbit. Physical computing is fun and engaging, but does it really help students learn, what are the best teaching methods to use with small devices in the classroom, and how can we… Continue reading How do you teach with the BBC micro:bit?
Threshold Concepts in Computer Programming
Phase 1: Threshold Concepts in Functions and Procedural Abstraction The first phase of our research was successfully completed. The purpose of this phase was to explore computing teachers’ perspectives on the Threshold Concept framework and to suggest potential threshold concepts in the area of Functions and, more generally, in Procedural Abstraction. A study was conducted,… Continue reading Threshold Concepts in Computer Programming
Exploring pedagogies for teaching programming in school
Many teachers are able to recognise that students can find programming difficult and can identify the stages that novice school-aged programmers go through (cf Laura Sach's blog article). However it is not as easy to specify a particular teaching strategy that will support learners in gaining confidence and a deep understanding of programming concepts (moving… Continue reading Exploring pedagogies for teaching programming in school
Sue Sentance 