Programmable Little Red: A Multi-thread Immersive and Interactive Storytelling Approach to Learning Conditional Statements

Traditional methods of learning conditional statements follow lecture-based instruction, which focuses on teaching concepts and definitions. While this traditional method of instruction is the dominant teaching style in Computer Science (CS) education, it has also been identified to be one of the least effective methods for teaching and engaging students [3]. The existing limitations of traditional methods include low engagement, disconnection from the real-world applications, a lack of valuable artifacts to evaluate the learning outcomes. To improve the learning methods of conditional statements stated above, we asked the following two questions: RQ1: Can storytelling logic, an early development logic, be a viable tool that translates the concept of condition followed by a consequence to the logic of conditional statements? RQ2: In what approaches can we apply the isomorphic relationship between the two logics to the learning of conditional statements?

The research project proposes a multi-thread storytelling method that mimics the logic of conditional statements. As students develop new storylines, they create new conditions and the consequences under the conditions. Through active involvement in the storyline design, development, and presentation, students will be able to grasp the concept of conditional statements by applying the theoretical programming knowledge to daily life situations embedded within the story. In addition, the interactive scenes created by students are ideal artifacts for learning outcome evaluation. Based on the computational thinking phases proposed by Repenning et al. [2] which is composed of Problem Formulation (Abstraction), Solution Expression (Automation) and Solution execution and evaluation (Analysis), we design a learning system that allows students to learn conditional statements in the context of multi-thread storytelling. A 4-day workshop was developed and hosted to assess the proposed learning system with 6 children aged 11-12 years old. Based on the classic fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood, a story world is built up in the classroom by integrating stage design and sensory-based physical interactions. An immersive and interactive story with a tragic ending is intentionally built by the instructors and students are invited to experience the instructor-developed storyline. Sensor-based choice-making interactions are embedded in the experience to imply that the choices students make will directly impact the outcome of the story. Students are asked to recall moments that different choices can be made to save the main character, design sensor-based interactions that allow opportunities to make choices, create new storylines, code with conditional statements, and present to the class.Based on Brennan and Resnick’s “three approaches to assessing the development of computational thinking in young people” [1], we evaluated students’ learning outcomes through 1) codes written by students to exam the implementation of the interactive tasks, and overall functionality of conditional statements 2) post-interview on storyline design and real-world applications of conditional statements 3) an activity on design scenarios requiring students to explain, debug and remix a Scratch project developed by the instructors.

Throughout the workshop, students have distinguished performances in Problem Formulation (Abstraction) and Solution Expression (Automation). Intrigued by the immersive story experience, students were able to identify the opportunities for choice-making, brainstorm conditions and consequences, self-evaluate their proposals. Furthermore, the codes written by the students during the workshop and the post-activity also indicate students’ capability to implement their proposed solutions utilizing conditional statements with the facilitation of the instructors. Students delivered positive feedback in the interview on the last day of the workshop, mentioning that the experience of this workshop even changed their perception of CS education and the application of sensory technologies in real life.