Teaching programming in elementary school : learners' perspective

U hrvatskom obrazovnom sustavu računalno razmišljanje i programiranje istaknute su vještine u sklopu nastavnog predmeta Informatika. Računalno razmišljanje je univerzalna vještina primjenjiva u svakodnevnom rješavanju problema, a učenje programiranja razvija socijalne i kognitivne vještine učenika te interdisciplinarno razmišljanje, inovativnost i stvaralaštvo. U ovom radu istaknuti su ciljevi informatičkog obrazovanja u suvremenom obrazovnom sustavu, a posebno je izdvojena informatička domena Računalno razmišljanje i programiranje. Rad sadrži kratke preglede razvoja mišljenja o računalnom razmišljanju, praktične načine poučavanja uvodnog ili početnog programiranja za učenike osnovnih škola, a također su navedene i bitne karakteristike jezika za poučavanje programiranja. Programiranje se ističe kao bitna vještina 21. stoljeća, stoga je u interesu istraživanja bilo dobiti uvid u stavove mlađih generacija. Cilj rada je bio razmotriti programiranje iz perspektive učenika osnovne škole. Odnosno, cilj istraživanja je bio utvrditi percepciju i popularnost programiranja među učenicima; kako učenici gledaju na programiranje te zanima li ih savladati tu vještinu.In the Croatian educational system computational thinking and programming are prominent skills within the school subject Informatics. Computational thinking is a universal skill applicable in everyday problem solving while learning programming develops students' social and cognitive skills as well as interdisciplinary thinking, inventiveness, and creativity. This paper highlights the goals of IT education in the modern educational system, and it discusses the domain of Computational Thinking and Programming in particular. The paper contains brief overviews of thought development on computational thinking, practical ways of teaching introductory or initial programming for primary school students, and it also lists the important characteristics of educational programming languages. Programming stands out as an essential skill of the 21st century, so it was in the interest of research to gain insight into the attitudes of the younger generations. The aim of the paper was to consider programming from the perspective of primary school students. That is, the aim of the research was to determine the perception and popularity of programming among students; how students view programming and whether they are interested in mastering this skill