On plugging "unplugged" into CS classes

Abstract

A variety of experience reports and studies has shown Computer Science Unplugged to be an effective resource for outreach, and it has been suggested to build upon these benefits to augment teaching in a regular classroom as well. Based upon an analysis of the learning objectives, "Unplugged" activities seem to be particularly well suited to serve as an introduction to Computer Science concepts and algorithms; whether or not the effectiveness of using these activities compares to that of traditional teaching methods, however, has remained an open question so far. We present the first experimental study of using Computer Science Unplugged material as part of a regular Computer Science class in lower secondary education. The evaluation of our study affirmatively answers the above question, i.e., teaching using "Unplugged" activities can be at least as effective as when following more conventional approaches. Copyright © 2013 ACM.