Computer programming in schools
Diana Burkhardt, K. A. Redish · ITNOW · 1968
This paper is concerned with the teaching of computer programming to schoolchildren, although some of the points are of more general applicability. It describes the methods used in a feasibility study with children aged 11 years and 16 years. By computer programming, we mean the complete process of formulating a computational problem in small steps suitable for a computer as well as the actual coding of the instructions which the computer will execute. As a necessary part of the teaching of this process, one must describe the logical structure of a computer as well as the formal syntax and semantics of a programming language. Why Teach Programming in Schools? The three most important reasons for the introduction in schools of courses in computer programming are: When Should the Ideas of Computer Programming be Introduced? a) The short answer to this, we believe, is that it is impossible to begin too early, although four-year-olds are perhaps a little immature. However, linked with this answer is the question of what should be taught; for example, the degree of proficiency in arithmetic attained by a primary school child sets limits on the kind of programs that can be contemplated. (For example: most primary children and some secondary children will not be conversant with signed numbers and this must be borne in mind when constructing loops where the counter may be tested for a negative value.) Nevertheless the basic operations of a computer are essentially simple and can be grasped by children from five years of age upwards. Younger pupils tend to have open minds on the subject and are not prejudiced as to its difficulty. Indeed, programming need not be restricted to the bright child, the slow, careful child is sometimes more successful. It is a self-contained subject the mastery of which adds to the child’s confidence in mathematics.