Development of computational and algorithmic thinking in basic education Erasmus Project

Project Title

Development of computational and algorithmic thinking in basic education

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for school education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Pedagogy and didactics; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; ICT – new technologies – digital competences

Project Summary

The integration of information and communication technologies into the lives of all citizens requires informed and thoughtful use. Understanding what governs technologies and mastering them, whether in everyday life or in a professional context, requires learning from an early age. If we want to ensure equity between young people, the answer lies in the education system, which must offer activities that enable these objectives to be achieved. Current school curricula are only beginning to focus on the development of these skills.
The PIAF project (Computational and Algorithmic Thinking in Basic Education) aims to develop Computational and Algorithmic Thinking (CAT) skills among pupils aged 5 to 12. CAT is the ability to understand complex problems, break them down into sub-problems and propose partially or fully automatic solutions. However, teachers need to be trained to design and conduct such learning activities in their classrooms.
The project has brought together researchers from four European countries to develop different types of resources (competencies framework, pedagogical scenarios and didactic resources) that will help teachers to implement activities related to the development of computational thinking in young people, starting from pre-school. These different resources are generally available in three languages (FR, DE, EN) and have been created through a participatory design process. Indeed, different actors (researchers, teachers, students from the partner universities) have reviewed, participated in the creation of these resources and/or field-tested some of them.
Following an analysis of the existing resources, the different partners of the project first created a competences referential in CAT dedicated to basic education pupils. Two other resources (a glossary and an example document) were also produced to enable teachers/trainers to understand each competence. These documents were reviewed by teachers and researchers who then provided feedback for improvement.
Pedagogical scenarios are also available. Some of these were created during training seminars organised by the different partners’ countries. During these seminars, the learners (students from the partner universities and/or researchers) had the opportunity to discover the referential of competencies, plugged and unplugged activities and/or other resources (the scenario canvas, evaluation items, resource analysis guide, etc). They were accompanied in the creation of a pedagogical scenario. Some of them experimented their scenrios in clasrooms. Other scenarios were designed by the partners, in an interdisciplinary approach (techno-pedagogy and computer science). Some of them have been field-tested by teachers.
Different types of didactic resources (e.g. videos on educational robotics, “Blocky” programming interface, evaluation items, guide for analysing (un)plugged resources, video on methodological benchmarks, etc.) were created.
In addition to the training seminars, seven dissemination events were organised in the partners’ countries to present the project, its progress and results.
Connected and remote workshops were also organised. Several profiles (e.g. researchers, primary school teachers, headmasters, higher education teachers, pedagogical advisors, facilitators) participated in these events. These dissemination seminars also allowed us to recruit some people who were interested in testing the pedagogical scenarios created. These events and the team’s participation in other dissemination events (e.g. conferences) contributed to the creation/expansion of a network of people interested in the subject.
The sharing of experiences, the participatory design of educational activities/resources involving actors of different levels and with complementary experiences (computer sciences, techno-pedagogy, reserachers, teachers), the scope of the experimentation have provided a solid basis for the development of the foundations of training programmes, freely available for the European Union. The results of this work could also serve as a basis for the creation of international initial and in-service teacher training courses on the themes proposed here.

Project Website

https://piaf.loria.fr/

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 328140,75 Eur

Project Coordinator

UNIVERSITE DE LIEGE & Country: BE

Project Partners

• UNIVERSITE DU LUXEMBOURG
• UNIVERSITAT DES SAARLANDES
• UNIVERSITE DE LORRAINE