Robotito Test in Practice: A Classroom Evaluation

Abstract

As Computational Thinking (CT) becomes more prevalent in school curricula, it has reached young children, with growing interest in incorporating CT for children in preschool and kindergarten. As more researchers design systems and curricula to teach CT for this age group, there is a need for assessments to better evaluate and compare approaches to teach CT. In this work-in-progress we present activities with 5-6-year-old children from two classrooms. In these classrooms, children participated in educational robotics (ER) activities using a robot that can be programmed through cards placed on the floor for the robot to read as it moves. We developed a test aimed at evaluating children’s ability to program the robot, which we administered after the activities. We discuss lessons learned through the administration of the test, both about the ER activities and the test.