Share Paper: Future Teachers’ Computational Thinking and Science Conceptual Changes using Scratch Programming

  1. Hanna Kim, Northeastern Illinois University, United States
  2. Rachel Adler, Northeastern Illinois University, United States
Tuesday, June 28 11:55 AM-12:15 PM Junior Ballroom B

Abstract: This study reveals students’ misconception about the solar system and then helps them modify their misconceptions using visual programming. The science education and computer science faculty teamed up to design a solar system project for students in the Teacher Education Department to program and create their own solar system. The students learned basic coding through code.org then created an animation of the solar system using Scratch. Pre- and post- surveys revealed that programming experiences helped the students correct their misconception about the solar system and also promoted their computational thinking. Furthermore, many of the students said they would like to ...