1. Teaching & Assessing Primary Computing Science
Phil Bagge
@baggiepr
Computing Inspector/Advisor Hampshire LA
CAS Regional Coordinator & Master Teacher
Author How to teach primary programming using Scratch
Creator code-it.co.uk free resources

2. My Steep Learning Curve from ICT to Computing
Getting to grips with
Primary Programming (How high can we go?)
What balance of plugged and unplugged?
One language or many?
Blocks or text?
Computational Thinking
Taught or explored programming?
Debugging
Developing pupil resilience
Pupil responsibility
Independence

3. Resilience & Independence
Developing Debugging
Resilience & Independence

4. My First Steps
Every programmer makes mistakes Mistakes and debugging are a normal part of the programming cycle Not teachers job to debug pupil code Need to encourage independence Need to liberate pupils into messy problem solving

5. Opposite to a lot of ICT practice
Not all
Few pupils made mistakes
Every programmer makes mistakes Mistakes and debugging are a normal part of the programming cycle Not teachers job to debug pupil code Need to encourage independence Need to liberate pupils into messy problem solving
Mistakes were not normal
As focus was on other areas on the curriculum teachers
felt duty to step in making sure learning could continue in say literacy for example

6. Helpless Pupils Define Helpless Helpless ≠ stuck
Helpless = stuck + no attempt to find solution
Two types
Sweet helpless
Aggressive helpless
For Example
What aspect are you stuck on?
Everything
Can you describe the problem?
No answer
Which parts do work?

7. Why are they helpless? Don’t come into school helpless
They learn it at school
Emphasis on finished product over process
Teachers who do things for pupils
Pupils who do things for pupils
Emphasis on teachers looking busy in a lesson
Good teaching = constantly teaching
Teacher modelling helpless attitude to technology themselves
Minimum output for maximum reward
Learned Helplessness

9. Strategies to overcome learnt helplessness
Challenge the helplessness and reveal it for what it is To understand what you are doing is the beginning of change
“Are you trying to make me do your work for you?”
With Pupils

10. Strategies to overcome learnt helplessness
Explain why resilience is really important If the stick is challenging their learnt helplessness the carrot needs to be an appreciation of the importance of perseverance and resilience. Over the last three years I have spent lots of time explaining to pupils why developing resilience, perseverance and a desire to solve problems is important. Care for their longer term interests and development is important
With Pupils

11. Strategies to overcome learnt helplessness
What debugging strategies can you use?
Promote bug and debug language It is much less personal and doesn’t indicate blame
Do you have a bug?
You have made an error
With Pupils
How can you fix your mistake?

12. Strategies to overcome learnt helplessness
It may take time Recognise that it may take time to change our own habits of fixing things for pupils. Maybe we have become used to the ‘geek’ praise that we get from others when we solve their problems. I know I had! It took me a few months and I still find on occasions that desire to just do something for a pupil or teacher that I am training In upper KS2 it often took about five sessions to really address this and turn the corner
With Ourselves

13. Strategies to overcome learnt helplessness
Recognise the importance of Computational Doing
Put computational doing on a par with computational thinking
Neither live in a vacuum
There is symbiosis
Computational thinking would not be useful without being expressed through computational doing
If you don’t value computational doing why should your pupils!
With Ourselves & Pupils

14. Strategies to overcome learnt helplessness
Teacher as hint or strategy provider
NOT solution provider
It is not my job to fix your code
Year 6 Pupil ‘You are evil Mr Bagge’ Me ‘Why?’ Year 6 Pupil ‘Because you won’t fix it for us like everyone else’
Year 5 pupil ‘I know it is not your job to fix this for me but do you have a hint I can try?’
With Ourselves & Pupils

15. Strategies to overcome learnt helplessness
Digital Leaders
Get pupils on board with these approaches Hints not Solutions If it is code based they are allowed to say blocks that are useful in Scratch or commands in other programming languages but not share solutions. Hands Off If it is a how to solution they can point to the place a person needs to go first and if they still need help can describe in hands off manner what to do. No one learns anything by having it done for them
With Pupils

16. Strategies to overcome learnt helplessness
Avoid language that describes computers as human
My computer hates me!
It never does what I tell it to!
It never crashes when you are here!
Computers are deterministic machines which means if you use the same input in you always get the same output. Humans are not deterministic. If you humanise the machine you encourage pupils to think that they may not be able to debug something due to its capricious nature.
With Pupils

17. Strategies to overcome learnt helplessness
Get other adults on board with these approaches Hints not Solutions Hands Off Provide a few debugging strategies they can use Some will find this really difficult as their sense of job worth has been tied up with being a solution provider
With Other Adults

18. Strategies to overcome learnt helplessness
Institutionalise this approach
Share with staff
Share with senior managers
Share with governors
Write it into school computing policies
In doing so you are demonstrating the awesome power of computational doing as a force for good in your school
Maybe this can be part of the legacy computing gives to your school
With Other Adults

19. Useful Primary Debugging strategies
Strategy Snap Walk away
Stickers
Identifying debugging techniques
Compare code
Read code aloud
Explain to a partner
Divide and conquer
Rubber Duck
Primary Debugging Strategies

20. How do you effectively assess computing?

21. Why Assess Computing? Pupils/teachers know next steps
Pupils/teachers know what still needs to be learnt/taught
Pupils/teachers have a sense of achievement
Pupils know where they are in their journey
Progress can be reported to management/parents

22. What you should assess? Computing Science Aims
What does a pupil create/reason/explain/design who can understand and apply the fundamental principles and concepts of computer science, including abstraction, logic, algorithms and data representation
What does a pupil create/reason/explain/design who can analyse problems in computational terms, and have repeated practical experience of writing computer programs in order to solve such problems

23. Evaluate the problem solving outcome and the process as it unfolds
What you should assess?
Think and analyse problems using these
Algorithm
Decomposition
Algorithm Evaluation
Generalisation
Abstraction
Solve problems using these
Sequence,
repetition,
selection
Variables
Debugging
Evaluate the problem solving outcome and the process as it unfolds

24. Maths Quiz Assess the Project
Pupil Reflection
Teacher Reflection/Annotation Debugging Investigation Final solution

25. Online Assessment using Google Survey Tool

26. Pupils Sharing Assessing Understanding

27. What you should assess? Information Technology Aim
What does a pupil create/reason/explain/design who can evaluate and apply information technology, including new or unfamiliar technologies, analytically to solve problems

28. What you should teach? Information Technology
Common uses of technology beyond school (KS1)
How things work
understand computer networks including the internet; how they can provide multiple services, such as the world wide web; (KS2)
use search technologies effectively, appreciate how results are selected and ranked, and be discerning in evaluating digital content (KS2)

29. What you should assess? Digital Literacy Aim
What does a pupil create/reason/explain/design who is a responsible, competent, confident and creative user of information and communication technology.

30. What you should teach? Digital Literacy
use search technologies effectively
be discerning in evaluating digital content
select, use and combine a variety of software (including internet services)
on a range of digital devices
to design and create a range of programs, systems and content that accomplish given goals,
including collecting, analysing, evaluating and presenting data and information

31. Further ways to assess solution and process

32. Thinking frames to structure children’s evaluation at the end of a unit of work using Flobot.
Frameworks with sentence starters are a simple way to start getting children to articulate their understanding of the learning process in written form. Great as an end of unit assessment tool.

33. Conferencing with an LSA at the end of a unit of work with a partner on Flobot.
Conferencing is a good way to gain an in depth understanding of the children’s understanding of concepts such as ‘debugging’ – especially when they can do this orally in greater detail than they would in written form.

34. Simple evaluation tick list completed firstly by child, then by teacher together with photographic evidence of practical learning with a floor turtle.
It is often useful to see how well the child thinks they have done in relation to your own views as the teacher!
Photos are an efficient way to record children’s learning where there isn’t a document or printable outcome. Useful with floor turtles, programmable vehicles etc.

35. Screen shot of child’s instructions from Bee Bot software; written comments by child on improvements since last lesson. Written feedback in response to this by class teacher.
Screen shots of a child’s work make an excellent record to show their learning within a lesson. It also provides a printable record of their learning that can quickly be commented on both by the child and adult they have worked with.

36. Evaluation framework at the end of a unit of work using 2Go.
This paper based planning sheet provided the children with a way of thinking through what they would need to do on the computer, before starting a task. The evaluation questions afterwards focused on how well their design worked and what was hard and could be improved with more time.

37. Check list for a start of year assessment task, together with ‘two stars and a wish’ style self evaluation.

38. Other Assessment Methods

39. Progression Pathways

40. Digital Badges Rising Stars Badges open to all

41. Code-it.co.uk Progression
I use for planning
I use for progression
I don’t use it for assessment

42. In Summary Avoid micromanaging assessment in computing
Assess over all projects
Assess process
Keep it simple

43. Scratch Book http://code-it.co.uk/scratchbook.html
This book can be used as:-
As a full programming strand for KS2 (7-11 year olds) for all four year groups
As a resource book of programming planning that emphasises computational thinking
As a supplementary strand of programming that emphasises Music, Maths, Literacy or Gaming
As a starting place to think through and create your own programming planning
Out end of June beginning of July 2015

44. Any Questions?