Elham Beheshti

Interactive Assessment Tools for Computational Thinking in High School STEM Classrooms

This paper presents a pair of online, interactive assessments designed to measures students’ computational thinking skills. The assessments are part of a larger project to bring computational thinking into high school STEM classrooms. Each assessment includes interactive tools that highlight the power of computation in the practice of scientific and mathematical inquiry. The computational tools used in our assessments enable students to analyze data with dynamic visualizations and explore concepts with computational models.

Touch, click, navigate: comparing tabletop and desktop interaction for map navigation tasks

Multi-touch tabletops and desktop computers offer different affordances for interaction with digital maps. Previous research suggests that these differences may affect how a person navigates in the world. To test this idea we randomly assigned 22 participants to one of two conditions. Participants used the interfaces to complete a series of tasks in which they interacted with a digital map of a fictitious city and then attempted to navigate through a corresponding virtual world. However, based on participant performance, we find no evidence that interface type affects navigation ability. We discuss map navigation strategies across the two conditions and analyze multi-touch gestures used by participants in the tabletop condition. Finally, based on these analyses, we consider implications for the design of interactive map interfaces.

Electrons to light bulbs: Understanding electricity with a multi-level simulation environment

Electrical circuits are difficult to understand. Novices tend to have inadequate understandings of what happens at the level of atoms and electrons, leading to difficulty predicting the outcomes of electrical circuits at the level of wires, resistors, and light bulbs. In this paper, we argue that integrating micro and macro representations of an electrical circuit can provide students with a better understanding of fundamental concepts of electricity. We then introduce Spark, an interactive multi-level simulation environment that enables learners to interact with representations of electrical circuit at both levels. The primary goal of our design is to familiarize students with electrical current, resistance, and potential difference in a circuit. We conducted a study with 17 university students that shows the ability of our design to improve novice understanding of electrical circuits. Our study offers evidence that learners are able to develop better understandings of fundamental concepts of electricity drawing on both micro-level and macro-level representations of an electrical circuit.

Looking Inside the Wires: Understanding Museum Visitor Learning with an Augmented Circuit Exhibit

Understanding electrical circuits can be difficult for novices of all ages. In this paper, we describe a science museum exhibit that enables visitors to make circuits on an interactive tabletop and observe a simulation of electrons flowing through the circuit. Our goal is to use multiple representations to help convey basic concepts of current and resistance. To study visitor interaction and learning, we tested the design at a popular science museum with 60 parent-child dyads in three conditions: a control condition with no electron simulation; a condition with the simulation displayed alongside the circuit on the same screen; and an augmented reality condition, with the simulation displayed on a tablet that acts as a lens to see into the circuit. Our findings show that children did significantly better on a post-test in both experimental conditions, with children performing best in the AR condition. However, analysis of session videos shows unexpected parent-child collaboration in the AR condition.

TunePad: Computational Thinking Through Sound Composition

Computational thinking skills will be important for the next generation of students. However, there is a disparity in the populations joining the field. Integrating computational thinking into artistic fields has shown to increase participation in computer science. In this paper, we present our initial design prototype for TunePad, a sound composition tablet application controlled by a block-based programming environment. TunePad is designed to introduce learners to computational thinking and to prepare them for text-based coding environments. From our preliminary testing, with children ages 7-14, we observed that our design actively engages learners and communicates how the programming blocks control the sounds being played. This testing is a prelude to more formal studies as we continue to improve the design and interface of TunePad. With this work, we intend to engage students in computational thinking who may not have otherwise been exposed, giving the opportunity to more people to enter the computer science field.

Close the Circuit 'N Play the Electrons: Learning Electricity with an Augmented Circuit Exhibit

In this demo, we present Spark, an augmented circuit exhibit that enables visitors to make circuits using a set of tangible components and observe a simulation of electrons flowing through the circuit. Our goal is to use multiple representations of a circuit to help convey basic concepts of current and resistance. In Spark, the electron simulation and tangible circuit components are coupled using augmented reality techniques. We developed our system through a three-year iterative design process. We tested earlier versions of the design at a science museum with parent-child dyads and found that having access to the electron simulation could benefit children to better understand the concepts of electricity. We also observed that coupling the electron simulation through augmented reality can significantly enhance the learning benefits of the exhibit.

Circuit in pieces: understanding electricity from electrons to light bulbs

Electrical circuits are difficult to understand. Novices tend to have incorrect understandings of what happens at the level of atoms and electrons in a circuit, which leads to difficulty in understanding and predicting the outcomes of various electrical circuits. We are designing an interactive learning tool called Circuit in Pieces (CiP) that enables learners to interact with representations of electrical circuits at both a micro and a macro level. Using a research through design process that includes interviews and sessions with six students, we explore different approaches for interacting in and between levels. In this paper, we offer preliminary results and design implications for supporting switching between macro and micro level views.

Work in progress: Learning flow-of-control with FlipLogic: A game-based approach

We present FlipLogic, a puzzle game that we developed to help children (ages 10-12) become familiar with conditional logic statements in programming. We designed the game to be embedded in an existing after-school curriculum on computer programming fundamentals. Our broader goal is to create a series of games to help students learn a variety of programming concepts including control statements, conditional branches, logic expressions, loops, and variables. We plan to study the effectiveness and motivational appeal of our design in after-school settings, comparing this game-based approach with a more traditional instructional approach.