Abstract:

Computational thinking (CT) is a problem-solving skill influenced by concepts fundamental to computer science (Wang, 2006). CT is considered by many to be a new form of literacy to be incorporated in the K-12 curriculum.

There are two important issues regarding the implementation of CT in education, namely, how should CT be applied from the pedagogical point of view, and what is the appropriate age to introduce CT into the curriculum. Umaschi-Bers (2018) argues that CT should be acquired by "doing" i.e. coding, for the purpose of expressing oneself, as well as for understanding the basics of CT, and advocates introducing coding into kindergarten with suitable software in a playful and meaningful way ("playground not playpen"). However, convincing kindergarten teachers to integrate coding into their curriculum, could prove to be a challenge (Chang & Peterson, 2018).

This research deals with the perceptions of pre-service kindergarten teachers regarding a coding experience in a course about CT. The goal of the research was to gain an understanding of student's perceptions regarding the process that they experienced and the possibility of implementing coding into the curriculum of their future kindergartens. The premise of the instructor was that students would consider implementing coding as an activity in their future kindergartens provided that they experienced it as part of their training in an enjoyable way. The software used for this purpose was ScratchJr.

The students coded and created projects in five half-hour hands-on sessions which were followed by a written reflection submitted after each lesson. At the end of the semester, they were to submit a concluding reflection. These reflections were analyzed by combining quantitative and qualitative procedures for the purpose of performing grounded theory analysis (Strauss & Corbin, 1998: 34).

The results indicate that a positive hands-on coding experience with software designed for small children can improve the sense of technological efficacy of pre-service kindergarten teachers, unleash their creativity and induce them to consider implementing coding as an activity in their future kindergartens.

Keywords:

Computational Thinking, kindergarten, ScratchJr, coding, reflections, grounded theory, pre-service.