7. Discussion
The cMinds technology-enhanced learning
intervention aims to provide students and teachers in
primary education with rich, technology-enhanced
opportunities to develop problem-solving skills and
analytical thinking capacity. Teachers can easily
recognize the educational benefits offered by the
cMinds Learning Suite in developing creative
thinking mindsets.
The organization of cMinds learning sessions
into hands-on exploration, structured solution
synthesis, and comparison of solutions supports the
easy introduction of learners into math and science
activities and gradually increases the intensity of the
exercises aiming at challenging learners to increase
their knowledge. This low-entrance high-ceiling
approach engages learners, increases their confidence,
and motivates their long-term participation in the
learning process.
The transfer from the initial active exploration
in the hands-on zone for developing intuition on
problem objectives and potential solutions to the
structured environment of the robot programming
zone where learners must develop a precise solution
script is a logical step in which learners need
instructional support. Early learner efforts in visual
programming may naturally result into unfinished or
erroneous scripts that learners develop and correct in
a step-wise iterative manner that exploits the cMinds 62
Learning Suite visual feedback. This is not a
surprising finding as literature demonstrates that the
introduction of novices to programming is not
straightforward; rather, it takes time [14] and many
students struggle to understand how an algorithm
operates [14]. However, the fact that learners
gradually enhance their programming skills through
cMinds and develop often out-of-the-box solutions
demonstrates that the environment facilitates the
development of critical and creative thinking.
The provision of support by the teachers plays
a crucial and significant role as it can trigger
mechanisms towards the elimination of students’
confusion and misunderstandings [26]. Teachers can
facilitate the learning process and support students in
overcoming cognitive obstacles and successfully
engage in computational and analytical thinking
practices. Teachers need themselves support in the
understanding of programming concepts and
principles towards explaining this knowledge to their
pupils. Supporting teachers is particularly important
when their background is not on ICT.
To help teachers build capabilities and skills
instructional guidance was provided in meetings with
teachers either online or face-to-face. These practices
had a great impact on teachers’ attitude. Teachers
advocated that after the ‘supportive meetings’ they
felt more confident and able not only to integrate the
tools in the class but also to train their colleagues in
using cMinds in the classroom. Furthermore,
instructional support material was developed in the
form of videos, learning sheets, and a wiki [27].
Learning sheets describe in a step-wise
manner end-to-end learning activities for classroom
deployment that are built around the cMinds learning
games. They introduce learning objectives,
demonstrate the use of the basic features of the tools
towards meeting these objectives, and suggest
collaboration activities for reinforcing knowledge [27].
A good practices video gallery includes “how
to” instructions on the features of the cMinds Virtual
Learning Suite with a focus on educational use. The
videos start by describing the functionality of the
tutorial area, move on to the problem analysis
visualization zones, and close with demonstrations of
the collection of proof-of-concept learning puzzles.
They further include a visual glossary of
programming concepts demonstrated through the
tutorial learning activities. Finally, they provide good
practice examples of the use of the cMinds tools and
methods in the classroom in the context of evaluation
sessions.
A wiki is available to teachers for
collaboration and information sharing purposes. It
provides background information that motivated the
introduction of the cMinds project; it describes
learning needs in science and technology, game-based
pedagogical methodologies, and technology-
enhanced learning activities; it provides scientific
links on active, explorative, and game-based learning;
it provides references to cMinds supporting material;
and more. While the content targets teachers, learners
may also use the wiki towards exploring
meaningfully programming concepts and
computational thinking [27]