TY - GEN
T1 - Tunepad
T2 - 16th International ACM Conference on Interaction Design and Children, IDC 2017
AU - Gorson, Jamie
AU - Patel, Nikita
AU - Beheshti, Elham
AU - Magerko, Brian
AU - Horn, Michael
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Copyright is held by the owner/author(s).
PY - 2017/6/27
Y1 - 2017/6/27
N2 - Computational thinking skills will be important for the next generation of students. However, there is a disparity in the populations joining the field. Integrating computational thinking into artistic fields has shown to increase participation in computer science. In this paper, we present our initial design prototype for TunePad, a sound composition tablet application controlled by a block-based programming environment. TunePad is designed to introduce learners to computational thinking and to prepare them for textbased coding environments. From our preliminary testing, with children ages 7-14, we observed that our design actively engages learners and communicates how the programming blocks control the sounds being played. This testing is a prelude to more formal studies as we continue to improve the design and interface of TunePad. With this work, we intend to engage students in computational thinking who may not have otherwise been exposed, giving the opportunity to more people to enter the computer science field.
AB - Computational thinking skills will be important for the next generation of students. However, there is a disparity in the populations joining the field. Integrating computational thinking into artistic fields has shown to increase participation in computer science. In this paper, we present our initial design prototype for TunePad, a sound composition tablet application controlled by a block-based programming environment. TunePad is designed to introduce learners to computational thinking and to prepare them for textbased coding environments. From our preliminary testing, with children ages 7-14, we observed that our design actively engages learners and communicates how the programming blocks control the sounds being played. This testing is a prelude to more formal studies as we continue to improve the design and interface of TunePad. With this work, we intend to engage students in computational thinking who may not have otherwise been exposed, giving the opportunity to more people to enter the computer science field.
KW - Broadening participation
KW - Computational thinking
KW - Cs education
KW - Music composition
KW - Steam
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85026307760&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85026307760&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1145/3078072.3084313
DO - 10.1145/3078072.3084313
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85026307760
T3 - IDC 2017 - Proceedings of the 2017 ACM Conference on Interaction Design and Children
SP - 484
EP - 489
BT - IDC 2017 - Proceedings of the 2017 ACM Conference on Interaction Design and Children
PB - Association for Computing Machinery, Inc
Y2 - 27 June 2017 through 30 June 2017
ER -