Authorship and Intended Difficulty in the Context of an Expansively Framed-Unplugged Elementary Computer Science Unit

• In Event: Instructional Strategies and Tools to Support Learning Process

Abstract

In this study, we describe and examine student participation in a unit that first introduces computer science through a commercial board game. In our unit, we use the Expansively-framed Unplugged (EfU) design framework that provides a sequencing and structuring of learning activities where learners start with unplugged activities (board gaming), establish familiarity with them, and then transition that familiarity to ‘plugged’ activities (programming). We implemented a multi-week curriculum during classroom and weekly library time in two rural schools. We first present the design of our curriculum, then present examples of student-authored game designs to illustrate how the affordances offered by curriculum enabled creative student design.

Authors

• Umar Shehzad, Utah State University

• Victor R. Lee, Stanford University

• Jody E. Clarke-Midura, Utah State University

• Mimi M. Recker, Utah State University

• Frederick Poole, Utah State University