
Can Children Aged 3–5 Years Learn to Code: Teacher Perceptions of Student Practices, Concepts, and Perspectives
By: Lehong Shi and Roger Hill
References
- Angeli, C., & Valanides, N. (2020). Developing young children’s computational thinking with educational robotics: An interaction effect between gender and scaffolding strategy. Computers in human behavior, 105,
105954 . - Azungah, T. (2018). Qualitative research: deductive and inductive approaches to data analysis. Qualitative research journal, 18(4), 383–400.
- Bakala, E., Gerosa, A., Hourcade, J. P., & Tejera, G. (2021). Preschool children, robots, and computational thinking: A systematic review. International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction, 29,
100337 . - Barsalou, L. W. (2008). Grounded cognition. Annu. Rev. Psychol., 59, 617–645.
- Başaran, M., Metin, Ş., & Vural, Ö. F. (2024). Meta-thematic synthesis of research on early childhood coding education: A comprehensive review. Education and Information Technologies, 1–28.
- Bers, M. U. (2010). The TangibleK robotics program: Applied computational thinking for young children. Early Childhood Research & Practice, 12(2),
n2 . - Bers, M. U. (2018, April). Coding, playgrounds and literacy in early childhood education: The development of KIBO robotics and ScratchJr. In 2018 IEEE global engineering education conference (EDUCON) (pp. 2094–2102).
IEEE . - Bers, M. U., Flannery, L., Kazakoff, E. R., & Sullivan, A. (2014). Computational thinking and tinkering: Exploration of an early childhood robotics curriculum. Computers & Education, 72, 145–157.
- Bers, M. U., González-González, C., & Armas–Torres, M. B. (2019). Coding as a playground: Promoting positive learning experiences in childhood classrooms. Computers & Education, 138, 130–145.
- Berson, I. R., Berson, M. J., McKinnon, C., Aradhya, D., Alyaeesh, M., Luo, W., & Shapiro, B. R. (2023). An exploration of robot programming as a foundation for spatial reasoning and computational thinking in preschoolers’ guided play. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 65, 57–67.
- Bloodworth, A., Conner, A., Miller, C., Franco, L., Foutz, T., & Hill, R. B. (2023). Robotics and Coding: A Framework for Examining Cognitive Demand. Journal of Technology Education, 35(1).
- Brennan, K., & Resnick, M. (2012a, April). New frameworks for studying and assessing the development of computational thinking. In Proceedings of the 2012 annual meeting of the American educational research association, Vancouver, Canada (Vol. 1, p. 25).
- Brennan, K., & Resnick, M. (2012b, April). Using artifact-based interviews to study the development of computational thinking in interactive media design. In annual American Educational Research Association meeting, Vancouver, BC, Canada (pp. 1–25).
- Çakır, R., Korkmaz, Ö., İdil, Ö., & Erdoğmuş, F. U. (2021). The effect of robotic coding education on preschoolers’ problem solving and creative thinking skills. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 40,
100812 . - Campbell, C., & Walsh, C. (2017). Introducing the ‘new’ digital literacy of coding in the early years. Practical Literacy, 22(3), 10–12.
- Ceylan, M., & Aslan, D. (2024). The effect of learning trajectories-based coding education program on preschoolers’ mathematical measurement skills. Education and Information Technologies, 29(7), 7737–7757.
- Çiftci, S., & Bildiren, A. (2020). The effect of coding courses on the cognitive abilities and problem-solving skills of preschool children. Computer science education, 30(1), 3–21.
- Chen, G., Shen, J., Barth-Cohen, L., Jiang, S., Huang, X., & Eltoukhy, M. (2017). Assessing elementary students’ computational thinking in everyday reasoning and robotics programming. Computers & education, 109, 162–175.
- Elkin, M., Sullivan, A., & Bers, M. U. (2016). Implementing a robotics curriculum in an early childhood Montessori classroom. Journal of Information Technology Education. Innovations in Practice, 13,
153 . - Erdoğmuş, F. U. (2020). How do elementary childhood education teachers perceive robotic education in kindergarten? A qualitative study. Participatory Educational Research, 8(2), 421–434.
- Falloon, G. (2016). An analysis of young students’ thinking when completing basic coding tasks using Scratch Jnr. On the iPad. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 32(6), 576–593.
- Fessakis, G., Gouli, E., & Mavroudi, E. (2013). Problem solving by 5–6 years old kindergarten children in a computer programming environment: A case study. Computers & Education, 63, 87–97.
- Flannery, L. P., & Bers, M. U. (2013). Let’s dance the “robot hokey-pokey!” children’s programming approaches and achievement throughout early cognitive development. Journal of Research on Tech- nology in Education, 46(1), 81–101.
- Fridberg, M., Redfors, A., Greca, I. M., & Terceño, E. M. G. (2023). Spanish and Swedish teachers’ perspective of teaching STEM and robotics in preschool–results from the botSTEM project. International Journal of Technology and Design Education, 33(1), 1–21.
- Funke, A., & Geldreich, K. (2017, November). Gender differences in scratch programs of primary school children. In Proceedings of the 12th workshop on primary and secondary computing education (pp. 57–64).
- Garvis, S., & Keane, T. (2023). A Literature Review of Educational Robotics and Early Childhood Education. Technological Innovations in Education: Applications in Education and Teaching, 71–83.
- Gerosa, A., Koleszar, V., Tejera, G., Gómez-Sena, L., & Carboni, A. (2021). Cognitive abilities and computational thinking at age 5: Evidence for associations to sequencing and symbolic number comparison. Computers and Education Open, 2,
100043 . - Grover, S., & Pea, R. (2013). Computational thinking in K–12: A review of the state of the field. Educational researcher, 42(1), 38–43.
- Grover, S., Pea, R., & Cooper, S. (2015). Designing for deeper learning in a blended computer science course for middle school students. Computer science education, 25(2), 199–237.
- Heikkilä, M., & Mannila, L. (2018). Debugging in programming as a multimodal practice in early childhood education settings. Multimodal Technologies and Interaction, 2(3),
42 . - Hmelo-Silver, C. E., Duncan, R. G., & Chinn, C. A. (2007). Scaffolding and achievement in problem-based and inquiry learning: a response to Kirschner, Sweller, and. Educational psychologist, 42(2), 99–107.
- Hudson, M. A., Baek, Y., Ching, Y. H., & Rice, K. (2020). Using a multifaceted robotics-based intervention to increase student interest in STEM subjects and careers. Journal for STEM Education Research, 3, 295–316.
- Hufad, A., Faturrohman, M., & Rusdiyani, I. (2021). Unplugged coding activities for early childhood problem-solving skills. Jurnal Pendidikan Usia Dini, 15(1), 121–140.
- International Technology and Engineering Education Association (ITEEA). (2020). Standards for technological and engineering literacy: the role of technology and engineering in STEM education.
https://www.iteea.org/stel . - Kafai, Y. B., & Vasudevan, V. (2015, November). Constructionist gaming beyond the screen: Middle school students’ crafting and computing of touchpads, board games, and controllers. In Proceedings of the workshop in primary and secondary computing education (pp. 49–54).
- Kazakoff, E. R., Sullivan, A., & Bers, M. U. (2013). The effect of a classroom-based intensive robotics and programming workshop on sequencing ability in early childhood. Early Childhood Education Journal, 41, 245–255.
- Khine, M.S. (2017). Robotics in STEM education: Redesigning the learning experience. Cham, Switzerland: Springer.
- Kirschner, P. A., Sweller, J., & Clark, R. E. (2006). Why minimal guidance during instruction does not work: An analysis of the failure of constructivist, discovery, problem-based, experiential, and inquiry-based teaching. Educational psychologist, 41(2), 75–86.
- Kim, C., Kim, D., Yuan, J., Hill, R. B., Doshi, P., & Thai, C. N. (2015). Robotics to promote elementary education pre-service teachers’ STEM engagement, learning, and teaching. Computers & education, 91, 14–31.
- Kolb, D. A. (2014).
Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development . FT press. - Macrides, E., Miliou, O., & Angeli, C. (2022). Programming in early childhood education: A systematic review. International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction, 32,
100396 . - Manches, A., & Plowman, L. (2017). Computing education in children’s early years: A call for debate. British Journal of Educational Technology, 48(1), 191–201.
- McLennan, D. P. (2017). Creating coding stories and games. Teaching Young Children, 10(3). Retrieved September 27, 2023 from
https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/tyc/feb2017/creating-coding-stories-and-games . - Metin, S. (2022). Activity-based unplugged coding during the preschool period. International Journal of Technology and Design Education, 32(1), 149–165.
- Muñoz-Repiso, A.G.V, & Caballero-González, Y. A. (2019). Robotics to develop computational thinking in early Childhood Education. Comunicar, 27(59).
- Negrini, L. (2020). Teachers’ attitudes towards educational robotics in compulsory school. Italian Journal of Educational Technology, 28(1), 77–90.
- Papadakis, S. (2022). In-service teachers’ beliefs about educational robotics in preschool classroom. International Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning, 14(2), 125–141.
- Papadakis, S., Vaiopoulou, J., Sifaki, E., Stamovlasis, D., & Kalogiannakis, M. (2021a). Attitudes towards the use of educational robotics: Exploring pre-service and in-service early childhood teacher profiles. Education Sciences, 11(5), 204.
- Papadakis, S., Vaiopoulou, J., Sifaki, E., Stamovlasis, D., Kalogiannakis, M., & Vassilakis, K. (2021b, April). Factors That Hinder in-Service Teachers from Incorporating Educational Robotics into Their Daily or Future Teaching Practice. In CSEDU (2) (pp. 55–63).
- Papavlasopoulou, S., Sharma, K., & Giannakos, M. N. (2020). Coding activities for children: Coupling eye-tracking with qualitative data to investigate gender differences. Computers in Human Behavior, 105, 105939.
- Pila, S., Aladé, F., Sheehan, K. J., Lauricella, A. R., & Wartella, E. A. (2019). Learning to code via tablet applications: An evaluation of Daisy the Dinosaur and Kodable as learning tools for young children. Computers & Education, 128, 52–62.
- Ramani, G. B., & Brownell, C. A. (2014). Preschoolers’ cooperative problem solving: Integrating play and problem solving. Journal of Early Childhood Research, 12(1), 92–108.
- Reich-Stiebert, N., & Eyssel, F. (2016). Robots in the classroom: What teachers think about teaching and learning with education robots. In Social Robotics: 8th International Conference, ICSR 2016, Kansas City, MO, USA, November 1-3, 2016 Proceedings 8 (pp. 671–680).
Springer International Publishing . - Rojewski, J. W., & Hill, R. B. (2014). Positioning research and practice in career and technical education: A framework for college and career preparation in the 21st century. Career and Technical Education Research, 39(2), 137–150.
- Roussou, E., & Rangoussi, M. (2020).
On the use of robotics for the development of computational thinking in kindergarten: Educational intervention and evaluation . In Robotics in Education: Current Research and Innovations 10 (pp. 31–44). Springer International Publishing. - Sáez-López, J. M., Román-González, M., & Vázquez-Cano, E. (2016). Visual programming languages integrated across the curriculum in elementary school: A two year case study using “Scratch” in five schools. Computers & Education, 97, 129–141.
- Sapounidis, T., Demetriadis, S., & Stamelos, I. (2015). Evaluating children performance with graphical and tangible robot programming tools. Personal and Ubiquitous Computing, 19, 225–237.
- Saxena, A., Lo, C. K., Hew, K. F., & Wong, G. K. W. (2020). Designing unplugged and plugged activities to cultivate computational thinking: An exploratory study in early childhood education. The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher, 29(1), 55–66.
- Shute, V. J., Sun, C., & Asbell-Clarke, J. (2017). Demystifying computational thinking. Educational research review, 22, 142–158.
- Silvis, D., Lee, V. R., Clarke-Midura, J., & Shumway, J. F. (2022). The technical matters: young children debugging (with) tangible coding toys. Information and Learning Sciences, 123(9/10), 577–600.
- Stamatios, P. (2022). Can preschoolers learn computational thinking and coding skills with ScratchJr? A systematic literature review. International Journal of Educational Reform, 10567879221076077.
- Strawhacker, A., & Bers, M. U. (2015). “I want my robot to look for food”: Comparing Kindergartner’s programming comprehension using tangible, graphic, and hybrid user interfaces. International Journal of Technology and Design Education, 25, 293–319.
- Su, J., Yang, W., & Zhong, Y. (2023). Influences of gender and socioeconomic status on children’s use of robotics in early childhood education: a systematic review. Early Education and Development, 34(4), 910–926.
- Sullivan, A., & Bers, M. U. (2013). Gender differences in kindergarteners’ robotics and programming achievement. International journal of technology and design education, 23, 691–702.
- Sullivan, A., & Bers, M. U. (2016). Girls, boys, and bots: Gender differences in young children’s performance on robotics and programming tasks. Journal of Information Technology Education. Innovations in Practice, 15,
145 . - Toh, L. P. E., Causo, A., Tzuo, P. W., Chen, I. M., & Yeo, S. H. (2016). A review on the use of robots in education and young children. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 19(2), 148–163.
- Turan, S., & Aydoğdu, F. (2020). Effect of coding and robotic education on pre-school children’s skills of scientific process. Education and Information Technologies, 25(5), 4353–4363.
- Voogt, J., & Knezek, G. (2018). Rethinking learning in a digital age: Outcomes from EDUsummIT 2017. Technology, Knowledge and Learning, 23(3), 369–375.
- Vygotsky, L. (1962). Thought and language (p. 1962). Cambridge, MA: MIt Press.
- Wilson, RA, Foglia, L (2011). Embodied Cognition. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
- Wohl, B., Porter, B., & Clinch, S. (2015, November). Teaching Computer Science to 5-7 year-olds: An initial study with Scratch, Cubelets and unplugged computing. In Proceedings of the workshop in primary and secondary computing education (pp. 55–60).
- Yadav, A., Stephenson, C., & Hong, H. (2017). Computational thinking for teacher education. Communications of the ACM, 60(4), 55–62.
- Yang, W., Luo, H., & Su, J. (2022). Towards inclusiveness and sustainability of robot programming in early childhood: Child engagement, learning outcomes and teacher perception. British Journal of Educational Technology, 53(6), 1486–1510.
- Zhang, L., & Nouri, J. (2019). A systematic review of learning computational thinking through Scratch in K-9. Computers & Education, 141,
103607 . - Zhang, Y., & Zhu, Y. (2022). Effects of educational robotics on the creativity and problem-solving skills of K-12 students: A meta-analysis. Educational Studies, 1–19.
- Zviel-Girshin, R., Luria, A., & Shaham, C. (2020). Robotics as a tool to enhance technological thinking in early childhood. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 29(2), 294–302.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21061/jte.v36i2.a.5 | Journal eISSN: 1045-1064
Language: English
Page range: 89 - 112
Submitted on: May 14, 2024
Accepted on: Feb 4, 2025
Published on: May 16, 2025
Published by: Virginia Tech
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Keywords:
© 2025 Lehong Shi, Roger Hill, published by Virginia Tech
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.