Abstract:

In many countries, programming is being integrated as part of the educational curriculum to encourage coding and Computational Thinking (CT). This competence has been considered key in 21st century education. The CT can be introduced with programming and robotics or without programming and robotics as the CT unplugged. Here, the role of the teachers is crucial for the integration of these resources in an appropriate way in educational contexts. Thus, an unplugged activity was conducted to explore the effectiveness of introducing Pre-Service Teachers’ (PSTs) visual programming without the need of a digital device. Later, a technology-based activity has been proposed through Micro:bit to transfer their programming skills and promote digital competence. This intervention was set in the Future Classroom Lab (FCL), intended to take advantage of the pedagogical potential of flexible learning environments in conjunction with technologies to enhance teaching and learning procedures using active approaches. This research report on a quantitative study attempts to compare PSTs’ self-efficacy, attitudes, and emotions towards mathematics course before and after the intervention in the context of the FCL, in the Teacher Training School of the University of Extremadura (Cáceres). Furthermore, this study also uses a qualitative survey to report its findings to know PSTs’ opinions about the efficacy of introducing beforehand an unplugged activity to help the process of understanding abstract concepts regarding visual programming when it is firstly introduced by unplugged activities. In conclusion, it has found that there exist many benefits by applying unplugged activities to introduce Micro:bit within this mathematics didactic intervention. The PSTs’ affective domain has been analyzed after the intervention resulting to have a positive impact. The affective domain is of great importance in the teaching-learning process. Besides, this intervention may provide affective support to PSTs and non-experienced teachers on incorporating visual programming through unplugged activities and Micro:bit inside/outside of the FCL for a mathematics subject.

Keywords:

Future Classroom, Micro, bit, Mathematics Education, Computational Thinking, Affective Domain.