Coding: First Steps from Kindergarten up to Primary School
by Elisa Benetti* 
, Gianluca Mazzini
Lepida ScpA, Via della Liberazione 15, 40128, Bologna, Italy
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Journal of Engineering Research and Sciences, Volume 2, Issue 3, Page # 16-30, 2023; DOI: 10.55708/js0203002
Keywords: Coding, Kidergarten, Primary School
Received: 21 December 2022, Accepted: 16 February 2023, Published Online: 27 March 2023
APA Style
Chicago/Turabian Style
IEEE Style
Computational thinking is now featured in many school curricula around the world. It is in fact defined as the “new English”, emphasizing its universally recognized indispensability. Despite this, the subject is almost never addressed until primary school where, however, hours dedicated to it are often too limited. Our first training proposal, including basic coding concepts in kindergarten, led to better results than expected in terms of children’s understanding and involvement. Our field training has led to a refinement and expansion of the program in these past three years. The primary objective is to begin the study of coding at the age of three, when the foundations of logical thinking are actually already present, due to get to the writing of the first programs in pseudocode and analysis of programming languages at the end of elementary school. All methodologies used are chosen on the basis of the possibility of following a single logical trend, which gradually increases the concepts to be learned and their difficulty, but always starting from already known bases, previously addressed. This allows to optimize learning times by minimizing the necessary hours and human resources and still obtaining the desired results. In addition to not burdening the number of hours available, a further firm point was not to burden schools economically either: costs were in fact always achievable without any problems. Having no impact either on the budget, or on the number of hours, or on the required staff makes this program easily feasible for any school.
- S. Papert,Children, Computers and powerful ideas. New York: Basic Books, 1990, 10: 1095592.
- J. M. Wing, Computational thinking. Communications of the ACM, 2006, 49.3: 33-35.
- S. Boss, J. Kraus. Reinventing project-based learning: Your field guide to real-world projects in the digital age. International Society for Technology in Education, 2022.
- S. Bocconi, et al. Developing computational thinking in compulsory education. European Commission, JRC Science for Policy Report, 2016, 68.
- C. S. Iftci, A. Bildiren. The effect of coding courses on the cognitive abilities and problem-solving skills of preschool children. Computer science education, 2020, 30.1: 3-21.
- B. Arfè, T.Vardanega, L. Ronconi. The effects of coding on children’s planning and inhibition skills. Computers And Education, 2020, 148: 103807.
- S. Papadakis. Apps to Promote Computational Thinking Concepts and Coding Skills in Children of Preschool and Pre-Primary School Age. In: Mobile Learning Applications in Early Childhood Education. IGI Global, 2020. p. 101-121.
- J.M. Sáez-López, M. Román-González, E. Vázquez-Cano. Visual pro- gramming languages integrated across the curriculum in elementary school: A two year case study using Scratch in five schools. Computers and Education, 2016, 97: 129-141.
- A. Wilson, T. Hainey, T. Connoly. Evaluation of computer games developed by primary school children to gauge understanding of pro- gramming concepts. In: European Conference on Games Based Learning. Academic Conferences InternationalLimited, 2012. p. 549.
- F. Heintz, L. Mannila, T. Farnqvist. A review of models for introduc- ing computational thinking, computer science and computing in K-12 education. In: 2016 IEEE Frontiers in Education conference (FIE). IEEE, 2016. p. 1-9.
- P. Seow, et al. Educational policy and implementation of compu- tational thinking and programming: Case study of Singapore. In: Computational thinking education. Springer, Singapore, 2019. p. 345-361.
- V. Lin, O. Shaer. Beyond the lab: Using technology toys to engage South African youth in computational thinking. In: Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 2016. p. 655-661.
- Codeweek site, https://codeweek.eu/ Accessed: 2022-12-21
- S. Bocconi, et al. Reviewing Computational Thinking in Compulsory Education. Joint Research Centre (Seville site), 2022.
- Code for Asia Site, https://www.codefor.asia/ Accessed: 2023-02-07
- Coding Africa Site, https://www.codingafrica.org/ Accessed: 2023- 02-07
- A. Garcìa-Holgado, et al. Trends in studies developed in Europe fo- cused on the gender gap in STEM. In: Proceedings of the XX International Conference on Human Computer Interaction. 2019. p. 1-8.
- A. Garcìa-Holgado, et al. Gender equality in STEM programs: a proposal to analyse the situation of a university about the gender gap. In: 2020 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON). IEEE, 2020. p. 1824-1830.
- Girls who Code Site, https://girlswhocode.com/ Accessed: 2022-12- 21
- Coding Girls Site, https://www.coding-girls.com/ Accessed: 2022- 12-21
- E. Benetti, G. Mazzini. Coding Training Proposal for Kindergarten. nference on Software, Telecommunications and ter Networks (SoftCOM). IEEE, 2020. p. 1-5.
- L. C. Klopfestein, et al. CodyColor: Design of a Massively Multiplayer Online Game to Develop Computational Thinking Skills. In: Extended Abstracts of the Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play Companion Extended Abstracts. 2019. p. 453-458
- A. Bogliolo. 2015. Unplugged language-neutral card games as an inclu- sive instrument to develop computational thinking skills. In Proceedings of the 9th International Technology, Education and Development Conference (9th International Technology, Education and Development Conference),
IATED, Madrid, Spain, 7609–7615 - mBlock Site, https://mblock.makeblock.com/en-us/ Accessed: 2022- 12-21
- E. Benetti, G. Mazzini. Coding Training Proposal from Kindergartenional Conference on Software, Telecommu- and Computer Networks (SoftCOM). IEEE, 2021. p. 1-5.
