hi Team, 

Thanks for the video that makes your project really enticing! I continue to be intrigued by how children experience firsthand 3-D phenomena and ones seen on a screen. Do you have any data that show how the hands-on activities and the tablet apps leverage one another? Do preschool children use the same or similar strategies in the two situations?

And then here's a personal question! Will my young grandchildren who experience almost no "screen time" be at a CT disadvantage?  

Sally

Sounds like a really creative project! I particularly appreciate that it has hands-on components and isn't exclusively tablet-based. e.g. the activity with the paper sheets (clap! clap! jump! what went wrong?) - So clever to have them sequence and then read aloud from large paper sheets - a perfect way to enact designing versus running an algorithm for this age group, and have it be fun. 

The preschool kids in the video seemed to really get excited by their CT lessons. It occurs to me that the CT concepts may be new to the teachers as well as the students. Is there a professional development component that you are developing along with these digital resources?

I have already shared this video with preschool and kindergarten colleagues. As well as, my curriculum coordinator.  

This project is helpful in understanding what CT is and why it is essential learning and how it supports a lot of other curricular goals.  I am really curious from this work whether there have been measurable differences in preschooler readiness for kindergarten? or other measures of growth?

Hi Margo,

Thank you for spreading the word about our project. 

Although research has shown excellent effects of CT education in grades K–12, little research has been completed with preschoolers. The research that does exist focuses on the development of CT skills in the context of coding. Studies conducted on programming languages demonstrated that children as young as four can master foundational programming concepts, such as the design process, sequencing, repeat loops, and conditional commands. Learning to code in early childhood has been shown to have a positive impact on sequencing skills both in one-to-one laboratory settings.

In early 2019, we will begin conducting an impact study with preschool children. Our research questions in measuring the impact of the media and hands-on activities on preschoolers include: What evidence exists that the resources, when used during co-engagement between parent and child, promote CT skills, attitudes, and behaviors? and Are preschool children that experienced the video and hands-on activities with their parents better able to apply CT core concepts relative to children in the control group?

Perhaps by the next showcase we will have preliminary results we can share.

Thanks for your question, Marisa 

thanks, Marisa. I do hope there's an update next year! I like the idea of identifying evidence that indicates growth in skills, attitudes and behaviors in the short term. what about the long term...where these children land next will determine whether the skills acquired in preschool are nurtured and developed. Will you follow any of these children?

Sally

I am hoping to teach at the Preschool age when I graduate. With my STEM minor, I am always looking for ways to engage younger students in STEM and math concepts. I think these activities and apps are an amazing and effective way to teach students CT skills. Many don't think about teaching debugging or other skills to Preschool, but this is the perfect age to start them on their learning journey. I really like what you are doing with these students. Would you consider opening these apps to public use? If they are, I would love to know what they are called so I can incorporate them into my teaching. 

Having hands on activate is such a good way to keep children interacted with the subject, especially math. Math is a hard subject, and if kids can combat it at an young age, it then becomes second nature and the more likely they will succeed. I like what you Gus are doing in this video! The kids seems excited about learning math, which is always good. 

I am so happy to see this in preschool!  Students need a good foundation. I am in a rural school.  Teaching the upper classes, we need the students to have been started on STEM.