Adjusting the ChildProgramming Methodology to Educational Robotics Teaching and Debugging

Abstract

In 2013, the ChildProgramming methodology was presented as a model for teaching programming to groups of children between 10 and 12 years old, applying collaborative, playful, and agile development strategies. Different projects have been developed at the undergraduate and graduate levels at the Universidad del Cauca, where this methodology has been applied in case studies that have allowed its validation and adjustment, making contributions to the conceptual model (abstraction, transactive memory, gender, and gamification). In this article, a general review of the evolution of the methodology is conducted, and two new approaches that enrich the ChildProgramming methodology, the application of debugging practices, and the inclusion of educational robotics, are presented. The objectives, conceptual model, proposed practices, and the conclusions or results obtained in the validation process of these new elements, carried out in a real work environment applying the case study methodology, are presented. Likewise, the future of the methodology is presented in terms of work in progress and proposals for future work.

Keywords

• computational thinking
• coding
• child programming
• school
• robotics
• debugging