Embodiment of computational thinking during collaborative robotics activity

Theodore J. Kopcha, Ceren Ocak

Research output: Contribution to book or proceedingConference articlepeer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

This case study explored how young children’s thinking was embodied during collaborative robotics activity. Two 5th grade learners were recorded as they worked together to program and navigate a robot across a 3’x3’ grid of obstacles. The video was then analyzed using a grounded theory approach (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) to determine how cognition manifested in an embodied manner (e.g., gesturing, use of conceptual metaphor) through the tools and affordances employed by the learners. Four primary tools were used by learners in solving their robotics task: (1) basic robot moves, (2) gestures, (3) the map and the computer, and (4), the grid and the robot. These tools provided symbolic access to direct experiences, supporting an emergent and reactive process in which perception and action were intimately linked. Implications for computer science and improving the design of computer-supported collaborative learning are discussed.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationA Wide Lens
Subtitle of host publicationCombining Embodied, Enactive, Extended, and Embedded Learning in Collaborative Settings - 13th International Conference on Computer Supported Collaborative Learning, CSCL 2019 - Conference Proceedings
EditorsKristine Lund, Gerald P. Niccolai, Elise Lavoue, Cindy Hmelo-Silver, Gahgene Gweon, Michael Baker
PublisherInternational Society of the Learning Sciences (ISLS)
Pages464-471
Number of pages8
ISBN (Electronic)9781732467231
StatePublished - 2019
Event13th International Conference on Computer Supported Collaborative Learning - A Wide Lens: Combining Embodied, Enactive, Extended, and Embedded Learning in Collaborative Settings, CSCL 2019 - Lyon, France
Duration: Jun 17 2019Jun 21 2019

Publication series

NameComputer-Supported Collaborative Learning Conference, CSCL
Volume1
ISSN (Print)1573-4552

Conference

Conference13th International Conference on Computer Supported Collaborative Learning - A Wide Lens: Combining Embodied, Enactive, Extended, and Embedded Learning in Collaborative Settings, CSCL 2019
Country/TerritoryFrance
CityLyon
Period06/17/1906/21/19

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