Improving Student Engagement With and Content Knowledge in Computer Science Through a Creative Coding Platform (Poster 5)

• In Event: AERA Poster Session 2
  In Poster Session: Curricular and Pedagogical Designs for STEM+C Learning (San Diego)

Abstract

Vidcode is a creative coding platform with a curriculum that aims to be engaging to students and intuitive to use by teachers. Researchers used a randomized controlled trial to explore the potential impact of Vidcode on students’ knowledge of coding concepts and engagement and interest in coding. Fifteen middle school classrooms participated in the study, and researchers gathered data from student pre-post content assessment, student pre-post attitudinal survey, teacher weekly logs, teacher interviews, and teacher post-survey. The results of the study suggest that use of the Vidcode curriculum shows promise in engaging students in computer science and increasing students’ knowledge of coding concepts.

Authors

• Jessica Triant, WestEd

• Mingyu Feng, WestEd

• Ryan Burke, University of Virginia

• Rosanne Lily Luu, University of Wisconsin - Madison