I understand that the British University in Dubai may make a digital copy available in the institutional repository. Thirteen ICT teachers, from different schools in the UAE, were interviewed in the qualitative study to investigate their perception of teaching programming to primary students.
Study Overview
The idea behind this study was sparked by the researcher after more than four years of working with ICT teachers and primary students in the UAE. The role of the researcher was to monitor the ICT teachers while teaching programming to primary students and support them to complete this process successfully under a program organized by one of the UAE governmental organizations to train the young students in the basics of coding, problem solving. , programmatic thinking and artificial intelligence.
Statement of the problem
The researcher observed the students' attitude and passion towards programming and their ability to accept their concepts, tried to understand the reason for their level of diversity and the challenges they face in learning to program. Therefore, the researcher decided to explore this topic extensively in her dissertation because of its importance and effectiveness in the academic and future life of the students.
Rationale of the study
Study purpose and questions
Delimitations
The structure of the study
This chapter presents a summary of previous research on the importance of programming for students. Studies from the literature are discussed as follows: First, the importance of programming for students' academic development and future achievement is highlighted.
Conceptual Framework
Price and Price-Mohr (2018) define text-based coding as that type of programming that is based on texts written using a keyboard and stored as text files, while block-based programming is based on images. In recent years, there has been a considerable amount of literature referring to block-based coding as visual and graph-based coding (Basawapatna 2016;.
Theoretical Framework
Technology Acceptance Model (1989)
Students who find coding too difficult to learn are unlikely to learn it. Conversely, students will be more likely to learn and master coding if they perceive its usefulness and ease, and see it as providing skills they will need in the future and as simple to understand.
Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development (1971)
Papert’s constructionism theory (1972, 1980)
The importance of programming
Programming impacts on students’ academic development
In another meta-analysis of the study by Scherer et al. 2020), who synthesized 139 treatments of computer programming training, found that computer programming had a significant impact. Tsai et al. 2019) and suggests that the programming learning environment should be improved to deal with these problems (Sáez-López et al. 2016) and Piaget's theory should be taken into account when developing the content.
Programming impacts on students’ future achievement
Despite the general consensus that exists about programming as a core skill that improves students' academic performance, some researchers argue that students still have problems acquiring specific topics in it (Chao 2016; Sáez-López et al. 2016) , due to insufficient self-efficacy for the majority of students (Yukselturk & Altiok 2017). However, little research has been conducted to determine how primary school students benefit from computer education (Chen et al. 2017).
Block-based coding for younger students
In these contexts, block-based coding can be used to solve problems, and it provides an opportunity to teach coding in elementary school. However, a recent study by Kong & Wang (2021) emphasized that block-based coding in particular is highly beneficial in promoting the learning of problem-solving skills.
Perceptions of teaching programming to young students
Another element that seems to negatively hinder the adequate programming education of primary school students is the attitude of principals towards this skill. In their efforts to find a solution to this problem, they argue that understanding school administrators' perceptions of programming education is critical to properly promoting and implementing programming in K–12 education.
The status of programming in educational policies
About 30% of all students in the United States have enrolled in Code.org (Code.org 2019). It is widely recognized that England has played a prominent (if not pioneering) role in the global revival of policy interest in coding in schools (Williamson et al. 2019; Bocconi, Chioccariello & Earp 2018).
Conclusion
Regarding the United Arab Emirates, the ministry of education (2015) highlighted the importance of coding in the United Arab Emirates Vision 2021, which emphasizes science, technology and innovation as key drivers of growth and development. To effectively promote and implement programming in elementary schools, it is also essential to first understand how school leaders view programming education.
Overview of the research paradigm
This chapter also discusses the validity and reliability of the data and the ethical aspects that were considered prior to the research.
Research design
While many mixed methods designs exist (Creswell 2014), the researcher found that exploratory sequential mixed methods are the ideal model to fit the research goal. It is a mixed-methods strategy with a two-stage project where the researcher first collects qualitative data and then follows up or builds on this database by collecting and analyzing quantitative data.
Data Collection procedures
While the quantitative study validates the previous three questions as well as answers question 4, "What do parents think about teaching programming to first graders?".
Qualitative Approach
- Interview method selection
- Sample Selection
- Piloting the semi-structured interview
- Interview Considerations
- Qualitative data analysis
Pilot interviews are an important part of the research process as they can identify potential problems with the study. After completing the interview transcripts, the researcher distributed the transcripts to the participants for content verification.
Quantitative Approach
- Questionnaire method selection
- Sample Selection
- Piloting the online questionnaire
- Quantitative data analysis
In addition, it contains questions that check whether the parents are aware of the need for the idea that children program the computer rather than the computer programming the children. The researcher made two versions of the questionnaire (Arabic and English) in order to guarantee a larger number of respondents. Therefore, the questionnaire was distributed to the parents - mostly mothers - because they are the most important factor the researcher can rely on to get information about the students' experiences and perceptions.
Mixed-methods Integration
The questionnaire was originally written in English, but it was later decided to convert it into Arabic to avoid misunderstandings, as most of the participants were Arab nationals. Many parents felt more comfortable answering the questionnaire in their mother tongue, especially the open question at the end. The researcher strives to obtain real and accurate results for the research objective, which is to examine elementary school students' attitudes towards programming, the role of school strategy in influencing these attitudes, and to examine the adequacy of time and resources are assigned to programming in elementary schools.
Ethical Considerations
In relation to the purpose of this research, this chapter discusses the main findings from the qualitative and quantitative stages. As previously stated, qualitative data were collected from semi-structured interviews and analyzed using thematic analysis and NVivo, while quantitative data were collected from Likert-scale questionnaire questions and analyzed using SPSS.
Qualitative Results
- First Theme: Teachers’ Perspectives towards the importance of programming
- Second theme: Challenges in programming education
- Third Theme: Time and Resources allocated to Programming
- Fourth Theme: Recommendations for enhancing programming education
If they develop a simpler curriculum, I agree that the students start programming in 1st grade. The other teacher expressed the hope that the curriculum would be revised because it is inappropriate. A teacher blames parents and the Department of Education for their effect on students' lack of programming enthusiasm.
Quantitative Results
The responses of the ICT teachers show that they are aware of the importance of programming and are willing to teach it properly to all primary level students. Other factors, according to the findings, influence students' understanding of the usefulness and purpose of programming. This reflects some parents' lack of understanding of the very concept of programming, which is reinforced by teachers' comments.
Major Findings
In conclusion, this study confirms that programming is the language of the future and this generation must understand its importance so that it can coexist with the future associated with it. Anti-coding parents need to understand this theory and understand that learning to code will enable students to take control of the technology that is taking over the world and not just its consumers, as is unfortunately the case with most of our students. . When we compare the policies of these countries for teaching programming with the policies of the United Arab Emirates, we will find some shortcomings in the teaching of this subject in the Emirates.
Implications for action
While the majority of the questionnaire results confirmed the validity of the interview results, the results contradicted what UK and ministerial educators reported, as most parents confirmed that their children enjoy programming and can understand the curriculum provided to them by their school. has been assigned. Secondly, based on the success of the first proposal, we can assign additional tasks to students and respond to the remarkable development in the educational process during the Corona time by organizing more online workshops for students outside of school. Eighth, all teachers in every school should be made aware of the role of computer teachers and the importance of programming in improving student academic performance, including in their own courses.
Limitations and Future Recommendations
Assessing elementary students' computational thinking in everyday reasoning and robotics programming. state of computer science education. A study of elementary school students' interest, cooperative attitude, and programming empowerment in computational thinking education.
Appendix A: Interview Transcripts
Do you have access to all the resources you need to teach students how to program properly? Is the programming curriculum in your school appropriate for the age and level of understanding of the students. Do you have access to all the resources you need to teach students how to program properly?
Is the programming curriculum in your school appropriate for the age and level of understanding of the students. They start with Scratch Junior in grade 3. Is the programming program in your school appropriate for the age and level of understanding of the students.
Appendix B: Parents' Questionnaire
I recommend creating a new additional subject named Programming to cover only programming concepts. I think if this was part of the inspection, all schools would be fixing their labs and giving them more resources. The questionnaire is confidential and anonymous and your answers will be combined with those of other parents.
Appendix C: Parents' Comments
It should be programmed about the computer subject to give it more scope as it is only taught in schools in general. Parents must be rehabilitated in parallel with the child to achieve the desired goal of programming without creating an imbalance. It is necessary to provide trained teaching staff capable of conducting such workshops and classes.
