Abstract:
This paper describes a case study of using narratives to motivate nontechnology inclined children, 11-15 years old, to learn programming, using LEGO Mindstorms robots and RoboLab graphical programming language. Case study was done during 2004/2005 and 2005/2006 school years, following two different school teams participating in FIRST LEGO League competitions. Using narrative concept and a concept of roles of variables, it was possible to explain several searching and sorting algorithms to children, including an algorithm of finding minimal/maximal value from the set of input values. Results are encouraging and could be generalized to other programming languages but RoboLab.
ppig-2007
Example of Using Narratives in Teaching Programming: Roles of Variables