Prof. Maura Sandri explains how she used the CS First Platform to train her students to scientific thinking.
“Coding is very gripping for students of all ages, from primary to secondary school. Right from the first lesson, it’s easy to see how enthusiastic they are to put their ideas into practice and give shape to their creativity. It’s as if they discovered a superpower that can be increased day after day simply through programming. In general, they are not discouraged by the obstacles inevitably posed by coding and face them collectively. I encourage cooperative learning in the labs and always tell them before asking me, ask three” to incentivise the sharing of knowledge and collaboration on problem-solving. In fact, the same approach is used in scientific research. People work in groups, discussing ideas and concentrating on the proposals that appear most promising. And if they don’t work out as hoped, one tries others.”
Maura Sandri is not only a professor, but also a research technologist with a specialization in astrophysics and a trained journalist. As part of Project CS First, she acted as a peer coach in the Digital Rooms.
“Coding applied to astrophysics is very powerful. The activities that we have organised allow us to address concepts that are rather complicated on paper: the difference between mass and weight, why stones sink and ships float, how astronomers discover planets outside the solar system and many more interesting facts that you can find on the INAF Play innovative didactic platform and implement on CS First. Problems of a physical nature with a mathematical component that would scare students in a classical frontal lesion, are welcomed enthusiastically when addressed with a visual language such as Scratch. Mathematics becomes a tool, just like coding, to understand the real world. Even if they cannot bring a scale to Jupiter, after having calculated how weights can be measured on the various planets of the solar system, they will never forget that thing weigh 2.5 times more on gaseous giant than on Earth … because they calculated the weight and understood how to do so, developing code for the calculation that anyone can use.
Even the fact of being able to quickly share their creations is very pleasing. It allows them to understand that their efforts can be useful to others, adults too. Some activities, such as “Create your Astro-documentary with Scratch,” allow them to divulge scientific material. My objective is to transmit my passion for scientific research to them, and coding is a great ally in this.”
Maura Sandri believes that the CS First has various pros: “It’s a free platform on which teachers can find useful and fun activities for their students, exhaustive tutorials, and the possibility to manage coding project groups, following student progress and contributing with corrections and comments. In fact, the platform can also be used by parents, providing yet another means of sharing a fun activity with their children.”
Once they have a good command over the basic notions, students can progress rapidly between narration and gaming activities. “Whomever is introduced to coding through Scratch and has achieved a good command of the language, will discover that every idea that is implemented leads to new ones. Problems arise in their implementation that call for patience and perseverance. Scratch commands and the basic tenets of programming are like a magic wand for children. They can potentially accomplish anything with the wand if they learn how to use it. Every challenge may have more than one solution, and they try to solve it, experimenting, observing the results and correcting the code until it works as desired, without fear of failing.
The comparison of ideas with their classmates and peer collaboration are fundamental. Curiosity and ideas lead to knowledge through problem-solving and implementing an algorithm, coding. Even sharing projects, remixing and active participation in coding meetings can help them to learn how to face issues. Looking at the projects of other coders, helps them to understand how they solved similar problems. CS First proposals and tutorials lay the foundations for coding. And along with a bit of experience, the only limit is our imagination.”
