Maze game in Scratch

Programiranje je več kot le pisanje kode. Je proces, s katerim učenci razvijajo računalniško mišljenje. Jannette Wing meni, da je računalniško mišljenje potrebna veščina za vse in ne le za računalničarje, saj temelji na reševanju problemov, kreiranju sistemov in razumevanju obnašanja pri uporabi osnovnih konceptov računalništva. Poleg tega vključuje vrsto miselnih procesov, ki odražajo širino računalniškega področja. V diplomskem delu nas je zanimalo, ali didaktični pristop, ki temelji na problemsko zasnovanem pouku, s programiranjem v Scratchu omogoča v skladu z raziskovalno literaturo razvoj osnovnih konceptov računalniškega mišljenja. Konkretno nas je zanimalo, ali določeni problemsko zasnovani pristopi, kot je programiranje labirintov, omogočajo vključevanje učencev z različnim predznanjem, razvoj projektov različnih kompleksnosti in napredovanje v računalniškem mišljenju. Izvedli smo 2 delavnici, na katerih smo učence učili osnovnih konceptov računalniškega mišljenja. Na delavnicah, ki sta trajali od 3 do 6 ur, je sodelovalo skupno 24 učencev drugega vzgojno-izobraževalnega obdobja z različnim predznanjem iz programiranja. Učenci so izdelovali igrice v Scratchu, in sicer na temo labirinta. V empiričnem delu smo predstavili potek delavnice in rezultate kvantitativne analize projektov učencev. Projektne kode smo analizirali skozi prizmo razvoja računalniškega mišljenja v skladu z znanstvenim člankom, ki sta ga leta 2012 objavila raziskovalca in razvijalca Scratcha Brennan in Resnick, ter s pomočjo prosto dostopne spletne aplikacije Dr. Scratch. Analiza kognitivnega razvoja razmišljanja učencev med programiranjem temelji na Neopiagetovi teoriji, opisani v teoretičnem delu.Programming is more than just writing a code. It is a process through which students develop computational thinking. Jeannette Wing claims that computational thinking is a fundamental skill for everyone and not just for computer scientists, because it is based on problem-solving, system designing and understanding of human behaviour, using basic computer concepts. It includes a series of thought processes that reflect the width of the computer area. In the diploma thesis, we were interested if the didactic approach based on problem-based learning through programming in Scratch allows, in accordance with the research literature, the development of basic concepts of computational thinking. Specifically, we were interested in whether specific problem-based approaches, such as programming maze-games, are allowing the integration of students with the different prior knowledge, the development of projects of different complexity and progression in their computational thinking. We carried out 2 workshops where we were teaching students the basic concepts of computational thinking. In the workshops, that lasted from 3 to 6 hours, participated in total 24 students, from the second three-year cycle, with different background programming knowledge. Students were making games in Scratch on the topic maze. In the empirical part, we presented the course of workshops and the results of the quantitative analysis of the students’ projects. We analysed the project codes through the prism of the development of computational thinking in accordance with a scientific article published in 2012 by researchers and developers of Scratch, Resnick, and Brennan, and with the open-source web application Dr. Scratch. The analysis of the cognitive development of students\u27 thinking during programming is based on the Neopiagets\u27 theory described in the theoretical part