Scratch vs. Karel - Impact on Learning Outcomes and Motivation

Alexander Ruf, Andreas Mühling, Peter Hubwieser

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

34 Scopus citations

Abstract

This paper presents the results of an experiment regarding the effects of using one of two different programming environments in secondary schools. Both "Scratch" and "Karel the Robot" have been successfully used in these settings previously. These two environments are also representative for two classes of programming environments for beginners. One is more graphically oriented and may therefore alleviate the steep learning curve of programming while the other is text-based and therefore more akin to"real"programming. Also, one places more emphasis on the visualization of program structure and the other emphasizes visualizing program ow. The experiment has been conducted in parallel in two school classes, each using one of the two approaches. The abilities of the students were tested before and after the experiment as well as their intrinsic motivation and the perceived self-regulation. The results show, that the class using Scratch has higher intrinsic motivation and performs better, however the Karel class shows a higher identified regulation.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationWiPSCE 2014 - Proceedings of the 9th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education
PublisherAssociation for Computing Machinery
Pages50-59
Number of pages10
ISBN (Electronic)9781450332507
DOIs
StatePublished - 5 Nov 2014
Event9th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education, WIPSCE 2014 - Berlin, Germany
Duration: 5 Nov 20147 Nov 2014

Publication series

NameACM International Conference Proceeding Series

Conference

Conference9th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education, WIPSCE 2014
Country/TerritoryGermany
CityBerlin
Period5/11/147/11/14

Keywords

  • Algorithms
  • bebras
  • computer science education
  • concept maps
  • concepts
  • control ow statement
  • karel
  • karol
  • motivation
  • novice programmer
  • programming
  • programming environment
  • scratch
  • self-regulation

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