Beyond Gender Differences: Can Scratch Programs Indicate Students' Preferences?
Anette Bentz, Bernhard Standl · 2023
Despite the increasing popularity of block-based programming and the use of evaluation tools such as Dr. Scratch in the light of gender differences, there is a research gap in understanding the relationship between students’ learning preferences and their Scratch projects. The objective of this study is to investigate the relationship between students’ learning preferences, characterized by their interests in people and human surroundings (dramatist) or things and spatial arrangements (patterner), and the attributes of their Scratch projects. We examine whether these preferences are indicative of differences beyond gender. Therefore, N=70 secondary school students participated in workshops in a teaching-learning lab with an introduction to Scratch, followed by a 90-minute programming session where students developed their own programs according to their interests. Based on data-driven analysis techniques from related research, we analyzed topics in students’ Scratch programs using Latent Dirichlet Allocation and measurements for complexity using Litterbox to identify and quantify specific features based on extracted JSON files from Scratch projects. The findings suggest that preferences play a role in programming approaches, with those who have a greater interest in people and human surroundings showing a more design-focused approach, whereas those with a greater interest in things and spatial arrangements focus more on movements and controls. Hence, the results of this study allow us to draw implications for designing lesson plans with Scratch projects that address students’ interests, ultimately leading to more engaging and effective programming education. Furthermore, it could shed light on potential differences in gender and beyond it in students’ preferences and how they influence their programming projects, which could contribute to addressing the gender gap in STEM fields.