Abstract:

In Japan, authentic inquiry learning and STEAM education is being promoted for high school students. This is why high schools and universities are collaborating to build systems that support high school students' learning.

In order for students to demonstrate their abilities in active learning at the high school level, it is necessary for them to have experienced learning that fosters curiosity in elementary and junior high schools.

For this reason, the enhancement of problem-solving learning, such as PBL, is being strengthened in elementary and junior high schools.

The cultivation of an inquisitive mind among elementary school students begins with "community-based inquiry" in the third grade. Students learn about the town they live in as part of their understanding of the region around them.

On the other hand, society is demanding more than ever the ability to utilize information, and for this reason, programming education has become a compulsory requirement for elementary school students in Japan starting in 2020. The purpose of this education is to cultivate computational thinking.

Therefore, in this study, we are developing an educational program that links learning about "the town you live in" with learning about computational thinking.

We have already developed an unplugged programming education system. We are currently promoting STEAM education using our educational system.

In this paper, we describe how we linked the learning of knowing "the town we live in" to the learning of computational thinking.

In this study, with the cooperation of the local community, we were able to implement on-site classes for a third-grade elementary school class at elementary schools. Therefore, we will describe our activities from the creation of these materials to the implementation of on-site classes.

Keywords:

Computational thinking, inquiry-based learning, local community.