Computer science (CS) in middle schools

Leading team

Prof. Mordechai Ben-Ari

Prof. Michal Armoni

Postdocs and students

Rivka Taub (no longer with the project)

Dr. Orni Meerbaum-Salant (no longer with the project)

Fatima Kaloti-Hallak (no longer with the project)

R&D team

Dr. Ronit Ben-Bassat Levy

Summary

We developed an introductory CS course based upon MIT’s Scratch visual programming environment. Research showed that students do not develop viable CS knowledge using Scratch unless it is explicitly taught, but that Scratch facilitates the learning of standard programming languages later in high schools. We are currently investigating the use of Scratch to teach subjects like physics and biology in middle schools.

Related articles

Link to project website

https://stwww1.weizmann.ac.il/scratch/scratch_en/