Coding moves: Design and research of teaching computational thinking through dance choreography and virtual interactions

Abstract

Over the past 7 years, we pioneered the development of a program blending dance choreography, computer programming, and a virtual environment to teach computational thinking, broadening pathways for more diverse students. We investigated the ways in which upper elementary and middle school students creating dance performances for virtual characters utilize embodied ways of thinking to engage with computational concepts, practices, and perspectives. Through quantitative and qualitative data analysis from five research contexts, we found that (a) students’ computational thinking abilities improved; (b) distinct relationships formed between social, embodied interactions and student engagement with the virtual platform; and (c) students shifted their mental models of who computer scientists are and what they do after our interventions.

Keywords:

• Coding
• case studies
• STEAM
• elementary and middle school (grades 5–8)

Acknowledgment

The authors would like to acknowledge and thank the students and schools who participated in the research and all whose hard work went into this project, especially the following people who were working on graduate degrees at the time: Dhaval Parmar, Nikeetha Dsouza, Lorraine Lin, and Kara Gundersen.

Disclosure statement

No conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation’s Integrated NSF Support Promoting Interdisciplinary Research and Education (INSPIRE) Grant 13-518.

Notes on contributors

Alison E. Leonard

Alison E. Leonard, Ph.D., is an associate professor of arts and creativity at Clemson University in the College of Education. Her research focuses on exploring the arts in education and teacher education, primarily dance as a form of inquiry in schools.

Shaundra B. Daily

Shaundra B Daily, Ph.D., is an associate professor of the practice of electrical and computer engineering and computer science at Duke University. Her research focuses on broadening participation in STEM through alternative pathways including the arts.

Sophie Jörg

Sophie Jörg, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the School of Computing at Clemson University. Her research is in computer graphics, virtual reality, and human–computer interaction, centering around character animation and motion perception.

Sabarish V. Babu

Sabarish V. Babu, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the School of Computing at Clemson University. His research focuses on spatial perception in virtual environments, scenario design and behavior modeling for virtual agents in interactive simulations, and virtual reality-based training and education.