Aim/Purpose: This paper presents findings on a curricular intervention aimed at integrating computer programming with reading and writing in early elementary school. The purpose of this research was to explore the relation between students' varying literacy levels and their level of success in mastering an introductory programming language.…

Today, schools are introducing STEM education and robotics to children in ever-lower grades. In "Beyond Coding," Marina Umaschi Bers lays out a pedagogical roadmap for teaching code that encompasses the cultivation of character along with technical knowledge and skills. Presenting code as a universal language, she shows how children…

Computer programming for young children has grown in popularity among both educators and product developers, but still relatively little is known about what skills children are developing when they code. This study investigated N = 57 Kindergarten through second grade children's performance on a programming assessment after engaging in a 6-week…

Computer programming and associated Computational Thinking (CT) skills are essential to thriving in today's academic and professional world. There has been a growing focus globally on fostering CT skills as well as on introducing computer programming concepts and languages beginning as early as kindergarten and pre-primary school. Tools,…

Computer programming tools for young children are being created and used in early childhood classrooms more than ever. However, little is known about the relationship between a teacher's unique instructional style and their students' ability to explore and retain programming content. In this mixed-methods study, quantitative and qualitative data…

Aim/Purpose: The goal of this paper is to examine whether having female robotics teachers positively impacts girls' performance on programming and robotics tasks Background: Women continue to be underrepresented in the technical STEM fields such as engineering and computer science. New programs and initiatives are needed to engage girls in STEM…

This paper seeks to contribute to the growing literature on children and computer programming by focusing on a programming language for children in Kindergarten through second grade. Sixty-two students were exposed to a 6-week curriculum using ScartchJr. They learned foundational programming concepts and applied those concepts to create personally…

In recent years, Singapore has increased its national emphasis on technology and engineering in early childhood education. Their newest initiative, the Playmaker Programme, has focused on teaching robotics and coding in preschool settings. Robotics offers a playful and collaborative way for children to engage with foundational technology and…

KIBO is a developmentally appropriate robotics kit for young children that is programmed using interlocking wooden blocks; no screens or keyboards are required. This study describes a pilot KIBO robotics curriculum at an urban public preschool in Rhode Island and presents data collected on children's knowledge of foundational programming concepts…

In recent years, there has been an increased effort to introduce coding and computational thinking in early childhood education. In accordance with the international trend, programming has become an increasingly growing focus in European education. With over 9.5 million iPhone Operating System (iOS) downloads, ScratchJr is the most popular freely…

Prior work demonstrates the importance of introducing young children to programming and engineering content before gender stereotypes are fully developed and ingrained in later years. However, very little research on gender and early childhood technology interventions exist. This pilot study looks at N = 45 children in kindergarten through second…

Project-based assessment has been used to evaluate coding projects created by students for a long time. Nevertheless, there is a lack of rigorously tested project-based coding rubrics that are developmentally appropriate for early childhood. This study presented the development and testing of a coding rubric to evaluate children's creations with…

In recent years there has been an increasing focus on the missing "T" of technology and "E" of engineering in early childhood STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) curricula. Robotics offers a playful and tangible way for children to engage with both T and E concepts during their foundational early childhood…

Men continue to outnumber women in many Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics fields, particularly technical fields such as engineering and computer science. Educational interventions aimed at addressing the gender disparity between men and women have generally focused on increasing the interest of girls and women during high school…

Early childhood is a critical period for introducing girls to traditionally masculine fields of science and technology before more extreme gender stereotypes surface in later years. This study looks at the TangibleK Robotics Program in order to determine whether kindergarten boys and girls were equally successful in a series of building and…