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1. Introduction
The objective of the Dancing Computer project is to develop a system for teaching computer programming through dance with a reading-first approach based on the principles of science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics (STEAM) (Radziwill et al., 2015). STEAM extends the concept of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) by adding art, exploiting the potential learning impacts of expression and creativity. The effects of this system on students’ understanding of computer science principles are analyzed through use of pre- and post-assessment of students’ ideas surrounding programming, as well as through evaluation of students’ performance during the Dancing Computer activity.
Ultimately, the goal of the project is to introduce programming to a wider and younger audience while creating interest in computer science and programming, in general. If children understand the concept of executing a program and can do so in a very real physical sense, they will be better able to understand the capabilities and limitations of computers and how they are integrated into systems. Additionally, teaching children to understand the basics of programming from a young age provides scaffolding for further instruction as they grow.
Dancing Computer is an offshoot of the Theatre Engine project and the most recent Theatre Engine performance: FlashMob (Owen et al., 2014). Both Theatre Engine and Dancing Computer strive to bring an element of performance art into the world of computing and STEM in general. As computers permeate nearly every aspect of society, children need to understand how they work and the principles of programming. The Dancing Computer project aims to teach children basic programming concepts through dance.
In Dancing Computer, children are given tablet computers that connect wirelessly to a server that manages the activity. The tablets present a simple graphical programming language. The style is a syntax-light puzzle-piece format consisting of sequential instructions with support in the design for the nesting implicit in structured programming language. The style is designed to be graphically appealing to a wide range of audiences, including younger children and to involve little reading and limited “keywords”. The puzzle piece format is familiar and has been demonstrated and tested in systems such as SCRATCH (Resnick et al., 2009) and ALICE for many years (Cooper et al., 2000). In...