Music maker: Using music to introduce coding and concurrency to young learners
Dhananjai Madhava Rao · 2017
Computing has become ubiquitous in many fields. The pervasiveness of computing has catalyzed growing demand for a broad range of skills. However, recent trends suggest a growing gap between supply-versus-demand for programmers - estimates indicate that by 2024, there will be a million more jobs than computing professionals resulting in over $500 billion in lost salaries. A key aspect to this growing gap is attributed to negative stereotypes associated with coding, particularly among women. Since stereotypes and perceptions form at a young age, it is imperative to dispel them by exposing young learners to key aspects of coding. Accordingly, we have explored introducing coding to elementary school students (4th and 5th grade students in Mid-West USA) in a class involving coding music. The class used custom software called MUSIC MAKER (developed by us) that enables composing music using intuitive notations for notes and meta-notes. MUSIC MAKER enables multitrack composition which is used to introduce basic notions of concurrency to students. The survey data collected from the students (N = 77) shows that the proposed approach is effective in meeting its primary objective of exciting young learners about coding and initiating (we do not assess long term effects) a more positive outlook on computing as a profession.