Designing for Integrated K-5 Computing and Literacy through Story-making Activities.

Proponents of computing education have long stressed the value of computing for learning in other disciplines. Much of the research towards this end has focused on supporting learning in science, engineering, and mathematics (or STEM). However, a trend towards computing in non-STEM disciplines is growing, yet the research base is more limited. We add to this emerging area of research by investigating the potential for integrating computing and literacy education. This paper reports the results of a six-week intervention during an after-school program in a British primary school. We describe the development of a curriculum unit and report on the first iterative cycle in a design-based research project. Our analysis shows that integrating programming and literacy activities supported novice learners in areas of computing such as algorithm design and program execution through a combination of short problem-based tasks and longer project-based activities. Likewise, programming supported learners in creating digital stories by visualizing narrative structure though some caveats were found. We discuss the results of this study and implications for future work in this area.