Computational Thinking and Down Syndrome: An Exploratory Study Using the KIBO Robot
Carina S. González-González,
Erika Herrera-González,
Lorenzo Moreno-Ruiz,
Nuria Reyes-Alonso,
Selene Hernández-Morales,
María D. Guzmán-Franco,
Alfonso Infante-Moro
Affiliations
Carina S. González-González
Department of Computer Engineering and Systems, Faculty of Science, Avda. Astrofísico Francisco Sánchez, s/n, University of La Laguna, 38200 San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain
Erika Herrera-González
Department of Computer Engineering and Systems, Faculty of Science, Avda. Astrofísico Francisco Sánchez, s/n, University of La Laguna, 38200 San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain
Lorenzo Moreno-Ruiz
Department of Computer Engineering and Systems, Faculty of Science, Avda. Astrofísico Francisco Sánchez, s/n, University of La Laguna, 38200 San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain
Nuria Reyes-Alonso
Asociación Tinerfeña de Trisómicos 21, Tenerife Down Association, 38204 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain
Selene Hernández-Morales
Asociación Tinerfeña de Trisómicos 21, Tenerife Down Association, 38204 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain
María D. Guzmán-Franco
Department of Pedagogy, Faculty of Education, Psychology and Sports Sciences, Avda. Tres de Marzo s/n, University of Huelva, 21007 Huelva, Spain
Alfonso Infante-Moro
Department of Financial Economics, Accounting and Operations Management, Faculty of Business, Campus of «La Merced» Plaza de la Merced, 11, University of Huelva, 21002 Huelva, Spain
Computational thinking and coding are key competencies in the 21st century. People with Down syndrome need to be part of this new literacy. For this reason, in this work, we present an exploratory study carried out with students with Down syndrome with cognitive ages of 3−6 years old using a tangible robot We applied the observational method during the sessions to analyze the participants’ emotional states, engagement, and comprehension of the programming sequences. Results show that people with cognitive disabilities can acquire basic programming and computational skills using tangible robots such as KIBO.
