Virtual Environment Interactions: Exploring Grounded Embodied Pedagogy in Support of Computational Thinking

INSPIRE奖的部分资金来自计算机与信息科学与工程局(CEISE)计算机与网络系统部门的CE21计划、CISE部门信息与智能系统部门的网络学习计划以及教育与人力资源局(EHR)正式与非正式环境(DRL)学习研究部门的发现研究K-12计划。佛罗里达大学将设计、开发和评估一个虚拟环境和相关课程，将运动和计算机编程结合在一起，作为一种新颖和具体的方式，让5年级和6年级的女孩进行计算思维。这项研究将检验一种假设，即女孩为她们的虚拟角色创造互动动作，并使用她们的身体来思考角色的动作，应该引导她们的直觉知识，以便学习计算概念，利用计算实践，并发展计算视角。项目工作人员将1)开发一个基于桌面的虚拟环境，学生必须在其中编程一个三维角色，然后他们可以与之互动(该环境建立在以前类似编程环境的成功基础上，但将利用扎根的具体化教学策略)；2)进行迭代设计实验，以回答一系列研究问题(以体验为中心的课程如何支持计算思维的发展？以体验为中心的课程如何支持对STEM领域的兴趣？)；以及3)利用这些实验的结果反复优化虚拟环境和课程材料。

This INSPIRE award is partially funded by the CE21 Program in the Division of Computer & Network Systems in the Directorate for Computer & Information Science & engineering (CISE), the Cyberlearning Program in the Division of Information & Intelligent Systems in the CISE Directorate, and the Discovery Research K-12 Program in the Division of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings (DRL) in the Directorate for Education & Human Resources (EHR). University of Florida will design, develop, and evaluate a virtual environment and associated curriculum for blending movement and computer programming as a novel and embodied way to engage 5th- and 6th-grade girls with computational thinking. This research will test the hypothesis that girls creating interactive movement for their virtual characters and using their bodies to think through the actuation of the characters should bootstrap their intuitive knowledge in order to learn computational concepts, utilize computational practices, and develop computational perspectives. The project staff will 1) develop a desktop-based virtual environment in which students must program a 3-dimensional character with which they can later interact (this environment builds on previous successes of similar programming environments, but will utilize grounded embodied pedagogical strategies); 2) conduct iterative design experiments to answer a set of research questions (how does an embodiment-centered curriculum support the development of computational thinking? how does an embodiment-centered curriculum support interest in STEM fields?); and 3) capitalize on the results of these experiments to iteratively refine the virtual environment and curricular materials.