Development of computational thinking through BlocksCAD, Blockly and problem-solving in mathematics.

Abstract

The development of computational thinking has become one of the educational priorities in several countries around the world. In this article, two experiences are described in which two block programming tools are used. The first experience only used BlocksCAD, while the second added the use of Blockly and the work on some mathematical algorithms in a maths classroom. The number of participants in the experience was twenty-eight in the group that only used Blocky and thirteen in the group that combined the use of both tools, all of them of the third year of secondary education (between 14 and 15 years old) in a school in Spain. The results show that, although the use of Blocks- CAD alone allows an increase in the development of CT, if other resources such as Blockly are also used in the mathematics classroom, the effect is multiplied. In addition, considering the satisfaction results of the participants in the experience, together with the possibility of printing their own creations through 3D modelling (a fact claimed by the students themselves), this encourages us to continue using both tools and even to try to combine them with other tools and to design experiences that encompass entire academic courses or, at least, entire trimesters.