Education in Programming and Mathematical Learning: Functionality of a Programming Language in Educational Processes

Ramón García-Perales and Ascensión Palomares-Ruiz
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Ramón García-Perales: Faculty of Education, University Square 3, CP 02071 Albacete, Spain
Ascensión Palomares-Ruiz: Faculty of Education, University Square 3, CP 02071 Albacete, Spain

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 23, 1-15

Abstract: (1) Background: It is becoming more common to incorporate education in programming into educational environments. (2) Methods: In order to show the benefits of including teaching programming, we present an investigation carried out with a group of Spanish schoolchildren in the fifth year of primary education (ages 10–11). We demonstrate an integrated experience in the ordinary curriculum connecting technology to mathematics education. We created a work project for students to use Scratch and to assess its benefits, created two groups of students, an experimental and a control group, with a sample of 3795 individuals. They were administered the online version of the Battery of Mathematical Competence Evaluation (BECOMA On) at two timepoints, the pretest (the beginning of the project) and the post-test (the final stage). (3) Results: The results showed statistically significant differences between groups and timepoints, with the experimental group scoring higher, demonstrating the effectiveness of the education in programming program for mathematics. (4) Conclusions: Education systems face a challenge in the sphere of the consolidation of technologies in education with the consequent need to change didactic designs to enhance quality, equitable, sustainable education processes.

Keywords: education in programming; educational technology; mathematical learning (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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