Teaching computer science in kindergarten

Researcher Sabine Jacob

Teaching computer science in kindergarten – is it possible?

Methods and their effects from the perspective of developmental psychology and computer science

Progressive digitisation has now also made its way into schools, but unlike the established school subjects, there is no research tradition for the subject of computer science. Especially early computer science is a young branch of research, which is why little research-related knowledge is available in this field, both in terms of learning psychology and computer science. In this dissertation project at the Chair for Research on Learning and Instruction, co-supervised by Professor Dr. Bernd Gärtner from the Institute of Theoretical Computer Science, we investigate short- and long-term effects of an early encounter with basic concepts of programming. As a starting point for this we took the material of the box "Programmieren von klein auf" of the external pageKinderlaborcall_made, the contents of which we are considerably expanding and systematizing.

In this study, which is based on a classical experimental design with two experimental groups and an active control group, we want to investigate in a first step the effects of an intervention carried out in kindergartens according to the two teaching methods digital / unplugged (without digital tools). In addition, the question of whether and to what extent precursor skills of algortihmic thinking can be trained is a subject of investigation in this part of the research.

In a further step, we investigate long-term and transfer effects by means of a second intervention at the beginning of the 2nd school year – with a natural control group resulting from the class reassembly after the kindergarten period. The effect of the first intervention in terms of preparation for future learning will also be investigated.

The project includes 11 specially designed lessons of about 40 minutes each for use in the last year of kindergarten – in two versions: one as a curriculum using a digital tool, and the other as a curriculum using the unplugged method, teaching the same concepts in both approaches. The second intervention consisting of four lessons uses specially designed, child-friendly materials.

Test instruments developed specifically for this study based on both basic programming abilities and relevant early childhood precursor skills are also part of this research project and find their use as pretests and posttests in both interventions.