Christina Gardner-McCune

Teaching "Lawfulness" With Kodu

This paper introduces reasoning about lawful behavior as an important computational thinking skill and provides examples from a novel introductory programming curriculum using Microsofts Kodu Game Lab. We present an analysis of assessment data showing that rising 5th and 6th graders can understand the lawfulness of Kodu programs. We also discuss some misconceptions students may develop about Kodu, their causes, and potential remedies.

Design of an accessible and portable system for soccer players with visual impairments

Many people with visual impairments actively play soccer, however the task of making the game accessible is met with significant challenges. These challenges include: the need to constantly talk to signify location and detecting the positions of silent objects on the field. Our work aims to discover methods to help persons with visual impairments play soccer more efficiently and safely. The proposed system uses headphone-rendered spatial audio, an on-person computer, and sensors to create 3D sound that represents the objects on the field in real-time. This depiction of the field will help players to more accurately detect the locations of objects and people on the field. The present work describes the design of such a system and discusses perceptual challenges. Broadly, our work aims to discover ways to enable people with visual impairments to detect the position of moving objects, which will allow them to feel empowered in their personal lives and give them the confidence to navigate more independently.

How Perceptions of Programming Differ in Children with and without Prior Experience: (Abstract Only)

The computing and STEM industries face challenges in attracting people to fill expanding needs. The literature shows that computing preconceptions shape interest in and impact decisions of whether or not to enter computing disciplines, especially for women and underrepresented minorities. In this study, our research questions focused on how perceptions of programming in elementary and middle school students varied based on prior programming experience. We examined the programming constructs they found challenging. Our study was in the context of a week-long summer camp dedicated to Scratch-based game development. We conducted semi-structured interviews at the beginning, middle, and end of the weeklong program with 28 students who agreed to participate. During the interviews, we asked students about their perceptions of programming in general and which programming constructs they found easy and/or hard. We found that all students perceived programming as a means of creating artifacts, but that students with prior programming experience went deeper by associating programming with process and function. We also characterize the specific Scratch programming constructs that beginning versus experienced children perceive as easy and/or hard. These findings will help experts and educators better understand how children think about programming and how experience changes these perceptions over time. These findings also have implications on the design of curricula and instructional resources to address difficulties children face while learning to program.

Considerations for switching: exploring factors behind CS students' desire to leave a CS major

Understanding undergraduate students’ academic, professional and social experiences in computer science (CS) degree programs is critical to retaining students in these programs. This paper presents findings from an exploratory study aimed at empirically investigating the academic, social, and professional experiences that influence CS students to consider switching out of their major. We surveyed 96 CS undergraduate students at the University of Florida and examined their experiences during their degree program. The data were categorically analyzed to identify factors that influenced students to consider switching out of a CS major. We found that students who considered switching out of a CS major experienced gender biases in the classroom, had negative or neutral satisfaction with computing courses, and felt that the assignments and projects were not relevant to the coursework. We also found that females were twice as likely to consider leaving a CS major as compared to males. Several factors significantly affected female students: perception of the presence of gender biases in the classroom, not receiving timely feedback, negative satisfaction in coursework, and negative team experiences. We conclude by discussing these findings in light of retention theories and literature.

How block categories affect learner satisfaction with a block-based programming interface

In recent years, block-based programming languages have been employed as learning tools to help students starting out with programming. How we design the layout of the available blocks likely impacts the success of the student. In this study, we compare student performance in three conditions consisting of different layouts of block categories in a block-based language: a grouping based on computer science (CS) concepts, a grouping based on block functionality, and one with no groupings. We measured task completion time, quality of the final code product, and perceived system usability. We found that although time and quality did not differ across conditions, the students in the functionality condition reported higher usability scores than the students in the CS concepts condition. These results can inform how we design block-based interfaces to improve learner satisfaction without affecting their performance.

Measuring understanding, recognition and construction of computational rules in elementary school using Microsoft's Kodu Game Lab

Computational thinking is central to recent approaches aimed at engaging K-12 students in computer science. Many strategies and metrics have been proposed to foster and measure such skills. The poster presents an empirical study which measures the understanding, recognition and rule construction ability of rising 3rd to 5th grade students from underrepresented communities. This poster also focuses on strategies for engaging students and reflects the importance of a coherent computer science curriculum which includes collaboration and individual activities supported by a graphical tool like Microsofts Kodu Game Lab.

CyberPLAYce, A Cyber-Physical-Spatial Storytelling Tool: Results from an Empirical Study with 8-10-Year-Old Storytellers

The product of a multidisciplinary and iterative process, CyberPLAYce is an interactive, portable learning tool for children enhancing personal and computational expression, and particularly, playful storytelling. CyberPLAYce finds inspiration in the concept of embodied child-computer interaction, where meaning is constructed through spatially reconfiguring the physical environment. This paper briefly outlines the motivations for CyberPLAYce, and focuses on an iterative design, mixed-methodology and usability studies involving 8-10-year-old storytellers. The kinds of digital-physical-spatial activity afforded by CyberPLAYce promise to scaffold thinking, imagining, creating, and sharing in children. Lessons learned from this research-through-design case will aid members of the HCI International community as they design and test tools for our youngest learners.

Learning with CyberPLAYce, a cyber-physical learning environment for elementary students promoting computational expression

CyberPLAYce is our novel, interactive-computational construction kit for elementary school children and their teachers. CyberPLAYce bridges the physical and digital worlds, allowing young students to bring their ideas, stories and class subjects to life through the construction of cyber-physical environments. The CyberPLAYce construction kit is comprised of hand-sized, magnetic modules integrating a variety of electronic components, and rectangular panels, nearly two-feet measured diagonally, that receive the modules and serve as physical building blocks for constructing cyber-physical environments imagined by children. Through play, children become comfortable with the working modules and panels; subsequently, they are provided matching non-electronic module cards allowing them to quickly compose pattern sequences to map ideas, stories and class content. Additionally, students are provided action and story cards to spark their imagination. CyberPLAYce merges play and learning in the physical world while transitioning students from consumers of virtual and digital-centric technologies into technological innovators and cyber-playful storytellers.