Computer science learning in primary school classrooms has expanded, necessitating effective instructional strategies for this age group. Gallery Walks are a common activity to allow peers to share their work and give feedback on peers’ work. Like other skills, providing effective feedback may require scaffolding and/or instruction for some students.

With the global movement to incorporate computer science instruction into elementary education, learners are being introduced to computer science and computational thinking (CS/CT) ideas at increasingly younger ages. At these early ages, young learners are developing cognitive abilities foundational to their education. While other discipline-based education fields, such as math, science, and reading, have long studied the role of cognitive abilities, such as short-term working memory and long-term retrieval, in their respective fields, similar research in computer science education is relatively sparse.

Worldwide, national initiatives have led to many school districts implementing computing curricula at the primary level. At that age, students are learning the foundational skills of reading and math. It is important to understand how computing can influence the development of these skills. While some argue that learning computing sharpens problem-solving skills that are applicable to other subjects, evidence supporting this belief is thin.

With the growth of Computer Science (CS) and Computational Thinking (CT) instruction in the primary/elementary domain, it is important that such instruction supports diverse learners. Four categories of students -- students in poverty, multi-lingual students, students with disabilities, and students who have below-grade-level proficiency in reading and math, may face academic challenges that can hinder their learning in CS/CT curricula. However, little is known about how to support these students in CS/CT instruction, especially at this young age. TIPP&SEE, a meta-cognitive strategy that scaffolds learning by proceduralizing engagement through example code, may offer some support. A quasi-experimental study revealed that the gaps between students with and without academic challenges narrowed when using the TIPP&SEE strategy, indicating its promise in providing equitable learning opportunities in CS/CT.

With the rise of Computational Thinking (CT) instruction at the elementary level, it is imperative for elementary computing instruction to support a variety of learners. TIPP&SEE is a meta-cognitive learning strategy that scaffolds student learning when learning from example code. Results from a previous study show statistically-significant performance differences favoring students using the TIPP&SEE strategy on a written assessment. In this work, our goal is gain insight as to it why such dramatic learning differences may have occurred. We analyze the students' computational artifacts and TIPP&SEE worksheets. Artifact analysis reveals that students in the TIPP&SEE group are more thorough in their work, completing more elements of the required tasks. In addition, they build open-ended projects with longer scripts that utilize more learned blocks. Worksheet analysis shows that students were highly accurate on some types of questions but largely skipped others. Despite these positive behaviors, there was little statistical correlation between student worksheet correctness, project completion, and written assessment performance. Therefore, while students in the TIPP&SEE group performed actions we believe lead to more success, no individual actions directly explain the results. Like other meta-cognitive strategies, the value of TIPP&SEE may lie in cognitive processes not directly observable, and may vary based upon individual student differences.

With many school districts nationwide integrating Computer Science (CS) and Computational Thinking (CT) instruction at the K-8 level, it is crucial researchers closely inspect the relationship between program expression and student understandings. In this study, we propose and report on our use of Scratch Charades, a game in which students act out Scratch scripts while others build them. The purpose of Scratch Charades is to familiarize students with scripts and blocks without the cognitive overhead of the complex user interface. However, in this study, we also used it to elicit student understandings about Scratch blocks and scripts to design mnemonics to help students debug their code. We propose two building and/or debugging strategies based on our observations.

With the rise of Computational Thinking (CT) instruction at the elementary level, it is imperative that elementary computing instruction support a variety of learners. A popular pedagogical approach for this age group is Use-->Modify-->Create, which introduces a concept through a more scaffolded, guided instruction before culminating in a more open-ended project for student engagement. Yet, there is little research on student learning during the Use-->Modify step, nor strategies to promote learning in this step. This paper introduces TIPP&SEE, a metacognitive learning strategy that further scaffolds student learning during this step. Results from an experimental study show statistically-significant performance gains from students using the TIPP&SEE strategy on nearly all assessment questions of moderate and hard difficulty, suggesting its potential as an effective CS/CT learning strategy.

As many school districts nationwide continue to incorporate Computer Science (CS) and Computational Thinking (CT) instruction at the K-8 level, it is crucial that we understand the factors and skills, such as reading and math proficiency, that contribute to the success of younger learners in a computing curriculum and are typically developed at this age. Yet, little is known about the relationship between reading and math proficiency, and the learning of key CS concepts at the elementary level. This study focused on 4th-grade students (ages 9-10) who were taught events, sequence, and repetition through an adaptation of the Creative Computing Curriculum. While all students benefited from access to such a curriculum, there were statistically-significant differences in learning outcomes, especially between students whose reading and math proficiency are below grade-level, and students whose proficiency are at or above grade-level. This performance gap suggests the need for curricular improvement and learning strategies that are CS specific for students who struggle with reading and math.