Assessing Robotics Skills in Early Childhood: Development and Testing of a Tool for Evaluating Children’s Projects
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51355/jstem.2021.102Keywords:
rubric, project-based assessment, programming, robotics, early childhoodAbstract
Children’s robotics skills can be assessed in various ways, one being examining the unique projects that they create. This paper discusses the multi-phase development and testing of a robotics project rubric. The rubric considers both the programming concepts and the aesthetic design elements of a project, which enables researchers and practitioners to determine the overall level of complexity exhibited in the robotics project. This paper presents the background literature and theoretical framework that contributed to the rubric design and summarizes findings from iteratively developing and testing the rubric with a total of 173 robotics projects. Implications for future research and practice are also discussed.
References
Albo-Canals, J., Martelo, A. B., Relkin, E., Hannon, D., Heerink, M., Heinemann, M., ... & Bers, M. U. (2018). A Pilot Study of the KIBO Robot in Children with Severe ASD. International Journal of Social Robotics, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12369-018-0479-2.
Barr, V., & Stephenson, C. (2011). Bringing computational thinking to K-12: what is Involved and what is the role of the computer science education community? Acm Inroads, 2(1), 48-54. https://doi.org/10.1145/1929887.1929905.
Benitti, F. B. V. (2012). Exploring the educational potential of robotics in schools: A systematic review. Computers & Education, 58(3), 978–988. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2011.10.006.
Bers, M. (2008). Blocks to Robots: Learning with Technology in the Early Childhood Classroom. Teachers College Press.
Bers, M. (2019). Coding as another language: A pedagogical approach for teaching computer science in early childhood. Journal of Computers in Education, 6(4), 499–528. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40692-019-00147-3.
Bers, M. (2020). Coding as a Playground: Programming and Computational Thinking in the Early Childhood Classroom, Second Edition. Routledge Press.
Bers, M., González-González, C., & Armas–Torres, M. B. (2019). Coding as a playground: Promoting positive learning experiences in childhood classrooms. Computers & Education, 138, 130-145. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2019.04.013.
Bers, M., Seddighin, S., & Sullivan, A. (2013). Ready for robotics: Bringing together the T and E of STEM in early childhood teacher education. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 21(3), 355-377.
Brennan, K., Haduong, P., & Veno, E. (2020). Assessing Creativity in Computing Classrooms. Creative Computing Lab.
Brennan, K., & Resnick, M. (2012). New frameworks for studying and assessing the development of computational thinking.
Brosterman, N. (1997). Inventing kindergarten. New York: Abrams.
Cicchetti, D. V., & Allison, T. (1971). A New Procedure for Assessing Reliability of Scoring Eeg Sleep Recordings. American Journal of EEG Technology, 11(3). https://doi.org/ 10.1080/00029238.1971.11080840.
Clements, D. H., & Gullo, D. F. (1984). Effects of computer programming on young children’s cognition. Journal of Educational Psychology, 76, 1051-1058. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.76.6.1051.
Cohen, J. (1968). Weighted kappa: Nominal scale agreement provision for scaled disagreement or partial credit. Psychological Bulletin, 70(4), 213–220. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0026256.
DevTech Research Group (2018). General Assessment Templates. https://sites.tufts.edu/devtech/files/2018/03/GeneralAssessments.pdf
DevTech Research Group (2019). A Guide to Replicating a KIBO Robotics Study. http://sites.tufts.edu/devtech/research/kibo-robot/
Elkin, M., Sullivan, A., & Bers, M. (2016). Programming with the KIBO Robotics Kit in Preschool Classrooms. Computers in the Schools, 33(3), 169–186. https://doi.org/10.1080/07380569.2016.1216251.
Fleiss, J. L., & Cohen, J. (1973). The Equivalence of Weighted Kappa and the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient as Measures of Reliability. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 33(3), 613-619. https://doi.org/10.1177/001316447303300309.
Fleiss, J. L., Paik, M. C. & Levin, B. (2003). Statistical Methods for Rates and Proportions. John Wiley Son Inc
Grover, S. (2017). Assessing Algorithmic and Computational Thinking in K-12: Lessons from a Middle School Classroom. In Emerging Research, Practice, and Policy on Computational Thinking (p. 269-288). Springer International.
Grover, S. (2020). Designing an Assessment for Introductory Programming Concepts in Middle School Computer Science. In Proceedings of 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE’20), https://doi.org/10.1145/3328778.3366896.
Hassenfeld, Z., Govind, M., De Ruiter, L., & Bers, M. (2020). If You Can Program, You Can Write: Learning Introductory Programming Across Literacy Levels. Journal of Information Technology Education: Research, 19, 065–085. https://doi.org/10.28945/4509.
Horn, M. & Bers, M. (2019). Tangible Computing. In S.A. Fincher & A.V. Robins (Eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of Computing Education Research. Cambridge University Press.
Jurado, E., Fonseca, D., Coderch, J., & Canaleta, X. (2020). Social STEAM Learning at an Early Age with Robotic Platforms: A Case Study in Four Schools in Spain. Sensors, 20. https://doi.org/10.3390/s20133698.
Kafai, Y., & Burke, Q. (2014). Connected Code: Why Children Need to Learn Programming. The MIT Press.
Lopez, S. J., & Louis, M. C. (2009). The Principles of Strengths-Based Education. Journal of College and Character, 10(4). https://doi.org/10.2202/1940-1639.1041.
Meacham, S., & Atwood-Blaine, D. (2018). Early childhood robotics with inspirations from Reggio Emilia educators. Science & Children, 56(3), 57-62.
O’Malley, C., & Fraser, D. S. (2004). Literature Review in Learning with Tangible Technologies. 53. A NESTA Futurelab Research report - report 12.
Papert, S. (1980). Mindstorms: Children, computers, and powerful ideas. Basic Books.
Papert, S., & Harel, I. (1991). Constructionism. Ablex Publishing.
Portelance, D. J., & Bers, M. (2015). Code and tell: Assessing young children’s learning of computational thinking using peer video interviews with ScratchJr. Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children - IDC ’15, 271–274. https://doi.org/10.1145/2771839.2771894.
Pugnali, A., Sullivan, A., & Bers, M. (2017). The impact of user interface on young children’s computational thinking. Journal of Information Technology Education: Innovations in Practice, 16, 172-193. https://doi.org/10.28945/3768.
Relkin, E. & Bers, M. (2019). Designing an Assessment of Computational Thinking Abilities for Young Children. In L.E. Cohen & S. Waite-Stupiansky (Eds.), STEM for Early Childhood Learners: How Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Strengthen Learning (pp. 85-98). Routledge.
Relkin, E., de Ruiter, L., & Bers, M. (2020). TechCheck: Development and Validation of an Unplugged Assessment of Computational Thinking in Early Childhood Education. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 29(4), 482–498. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10956-020-09831-x.
Resnick, M. (2007). All I Really Need to Know (About Creative Thinking) I Learned (By Studying How Children Learn) in Kindergarten. Presented at Creativity & Cognition conference. https://web.media.mit.edu/~mres/papers/CC2007-handout.pdf
Salac, J., & Franklin, D. (2020). If They Build It, Will They Understand It? Exploring the Relationship between Student Code and Performance. Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education, 473–479. https://doi.org/10.1145/3341525.3387379.
Seiter, L. & Foreman, B. (2013). Modeling the learning progressions of computational thinking of primary grade students. Proceedings of the ninth annual international ACM conference on International computing education research. https://doi.org/10.1145/2493394.2493403.
Strawhacker, A. & Bers, M. (2015). “I want my robot to look for food”: Comparing children’s programming comprehension using tangible, graphical, and hybrid user interfaces. International Journal of Technology and Design Education, 25(3), 293-319. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10798-014-9287-7
Strawhacker, A., & Bers, M. (2019). What They Learn When They Learn Coding: Investigating cognitive domains and computer programming knowledge in young children. Educational Technology Research and Development, 67(3), 541-575. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-018-9622-x.
Sullivan, A. (2019). Breaking the STEM Stereotype: Reaching Girls in Early Childhood. Rowman & Littlefield.
Sullivan, A., & Bers, M. (2015). Robotics in the early childhood classroom: Learning outcomes from an 8-week robotics curriculum in pre-kindergarten through second grade. International Journal of Technology and Design Education, 26, 3-20. https://doi.org/ 10.1007/s10798-015-9304-5
Sullivan, A., Bers, M., Mihm, C. (2017). Imagining, Playing, & Coding with KIBO: Using KIBO Robotics to Foster Computational Thinking in Young Children. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Computational Thinking Education. Wanchai
Sullivan, A., Elkin, M., & Bers, M. (2015). KIBO Robot Demo: Engaging young children in programming and engineering: Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children (IDC ’15), Medford, MA, New York, NY: ACM
Wing, J. M. (2006, March). Computational Thinking. CACM Viewpoint, 33-35. http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs/usr/wing/www/publications/Wing06.pdf
Wohl, B., Porter, B., Clinch, S. (2015). Teaching computer science to 5–7-year-olds: An initial study with Scratch, Cubelets and unplugged computing. Proceedings of the Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education, 55–60. https://doi.org/10.1145/2818314.2818340.
Yu, J., & Roque, R. (2018). A survey of computational kits for young children. Proceedings of the 17th ACM Conference on Interaction Design and Children - IDC ’18, 289–299. https://doi.org/10.1145/3202185.3202738
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2021 Madhu Govind, Marina Umaschi Bers
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
