The cognitive and neural mechanisms of computer programming in young children: storytelling or solving puzzles?

近年来的研究和政策变化为幼儿带来了对STEM的新关注。关于如何以及何时引入计算机科学教育的政策决定将受益于更多的数据。这个项目将调查在幼儿时期学习计算机科学的认知和神经基础。该项目将使用功能性MRI来评估新的假设，即参与编程活动可以类似于参与语言理解和生产。这个项目是在儿童早期教育中重新设想STEM以及推动在教育系统的各个层面整合编码的时候推出的。这个经验项目将提供对编程的认知和神经基础的重要见解，这是进一步实现为所有人提供计算机科学和为幼儿设计学习技术的目标的关键。这个跨学科项目将专注于理解幼儿计算机编程的认知和神经基础。由于计算机编程传统上与解决问题有关，因此它被作为STEM学科教授。然而，编程能力与数学和一般问题解决能力相关的基本假设并没有受到挑战。一些研究人员提出，学习编程语言也可能与识字相关的认知过程有关，类似于学习外语。在这个跨学科项目中，研究小组将使用功能性MRI来评估参与编码和计算思维是否主要激活了解决问题的大脑区域（额顶叶多需求网络），以及它是否还参与了额颞语言网络。该团队将通过对8岁以下的儿童进行一项试点研究来提出这个问题，该研究使用了由PI开发的介绍性编程语言SockchJr。了解从事计算机编程是否主要依赖于域一般的解决问题的资源，或者它是否还从事语言处理机制，将提供关键的见解编程的认知和神经基础，这是需要了解学习轨迹计算思维，开发有效的学习技术，并结合计算机科学教学的政策建议。

Research and policy changes over the recent years have brought a newfound focus on STEM for young children. Policy decisions regarding how and when to introduce computer science education would benefit from additional data. This project will investigate the cognitive and neural basis of learning computer science in early childhood. The project will use functional MRI to evaluate the novel hypothesis that engaging in programming activities can be similar to engaging in language comprehension and production. This project comes at a time when there is a re-envisioning of STEM in early childhood education as well as a push for integrating coding at all levels of the educational system. This empirical project will provide critical insights into the cognitive and neural basis of programming, which is key for furthering the goal to bring computer science for all and the design of learning technologies for young children.This interdisciplinary project will focus on understanding the cognitive and neural basis of computer programming in young children. Since computer programming is traditionally associated with problem solving it is taught as a STEM discipline. However, the underlying assumption that programming abilities are related to math and general problem solving skills has not gone unchallenged. Some researchers proposed that learning a programming language may also be related to the cognitive processes associated with literacy, akin to acquiring a foreign language. In this interdisciplinary project the research team will use functional MRI to evaluate whether engaging in coding and computational thinking primarily activates the domain-general problem-solving brain regions (the fronto-parietal multiple demand network), and whether it additionally engages the fronto-temporal language network. The team will ask this question by conducting a pilot study with children 8 years of age programming with ScratchJr, an introductory programming language developed by the PI. Understanding whether engaging in computer programming primarily relies on domain-general problem-solving resources or whether it additionally engages language processing mechanisms, will provide critical insights into the cognitive and neural basis of programming, which is needed for understanding learning trajectories in computational thinking, developing effective learning technologies, and making policy recommendations for incorporating the teaching of computer science.