The Development and Application of Computational Fairy Tales for Elementary Students

Abstract

In the field of K-12 education, the demand for effective coding education is gradually expanding with various coding tools such as Scratch being popularly used as an effective learning environment. However, an answer to the question of what constitutes appropriate computing concepts for children (e.g. elementary school students) has not been fully answered. In this regard, this study worked to develop computational fairy tales (CFT) for coding beginners and applied it to the elementary school classroom environment in Korea. This CFT was developed by extracting the concepts of computer science through literature analysis, developing a plot/episode and creating a story. The final CFT developed is composed of 15 core computational concepts. 152 elementary students participated in the experiment where students read the CFT and solved related problems over two weeks period. We analyzed the effects of the CFT on the acquisition of basic computing concepts and coding attitudes. The results of the study showed that both the score of computing concept comprehension and attitude was enhanced significantly (p<.001). This study demonstrates the positive educational effects of CFTs in fostering understanding of basic computing concepts before students begin to code with algorithms directly.