Digital Storyboards: Making CS Elementary

The Utah Computer Science Education Master Plan (UCSMP) called for significant increases in the CS offerings in K-12 schools. The Digital Storytelling project is a design-based research project which addresses this need by training both current and future teachers in CS education. Undergraduate teacher education students partnered with elementary teachers to facilitate a unit focused on designing, building, and coding “digital storyboards.” These students- designed storyboards incorporate literacy, electronics, and coding. Students are given 10 weeks of guided instruction in storytelling, wiring, coding, and building. Student data from pre/post surveys related to their interest in, and aptitude for, computer science were collected, and both students and teachers were interviewed. We administered the ESCAS, a validated measure for gauging students' attitudes toward coding in a pre/post design. Initial results with 8 classrooms across 5 districts show statistically significant and high effect sizes in students' change in attitudes toward coding. We also interviewed teachers and students to gain a deeper understanding of their experience. We discuss how integrated projects such as this can help promote CS training and learning for students and teachers.