Raspberry Pi Foundation Research Seminars
      Section 3:  
      Computing topics
     The role of block-based 
     programming in computer science 
     education 
     David Weintrop (University of Maryland, USA) 
     Weintrop, D.(2021). The role of block-based programming in computer 
     science education. In Understanding computing education (Vol 1). 
     Proceedings of the Raspberry Pi Foundation Research Seminar series. 
     Available at: rpf.io/seminar-proceedings-2020
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                                      Raspberry Pi Foundation Research Seminars
          Section 3: Computing topics
       The role of block-based 
       programming in computer science 
       education 
       David Weintrop (University of Maryland, USA)
       Abstract                                             Introduction
       Block-based programming environments are             Led by the popularity of environments like 
       increasingly becoming the way that young             Scratch, MIT AppInventor, and the growing 
       learners are being introduced to the practice of     ecosystem of programming environments 
       programming and the field of computer science        built with the Blockly library, block-based 
       more broadly. Environments such as Scratch,          programming is increasingly becoming the 
       MIT AppInventor, Code.org’s AppLab, and block-       way that learners are being introduced to 
       based interfaces for physical devices provide        the practice of programming and the field of 
       inviting and accessible pathways into the world      computer science more broadly (Bau et al., 2017; 
       of programming. In this article, I share findings    Resnick et al., 2009; Weintrop, 2019). Along with 
       from a series of studies investigating the use of    virtual programming environments, a growing 
       block-based programming in K-12 classrooms.          number of physical devices support block-based 
       In particular, this research compares block-         programming, including Sphero, BBC micro:bit, 
       based programming to conventional text-based         Lego Mindstorms, and several block-based 
       programming languages and explores the               programming environments for the Raspberry 
       transition from introductory block-based tools       Pi family of microprocessors. While not a recent 
       to professional programming languages. The           innovation (block-based environment first 
       results of the study found that high school          emerged in the mid-1990s), the last decade has 
       students score better on tests after learning        seen a blossoming of block-based programming 
       to program in a block-based tool compared to         environments and computing curricula that 
       peers who learned with a text-based language.        rely upon block-based tools. A recent review 
       The study also found that after transitioning to a   of the academic literature identified 99 unique 
       professional text-based programming language         block-based programming environments 
       (Java), there was no difference in programming       (Lin & Weintrop, 2021). This has, in turn, lead 
       performance in terms of scores on a content          to a growing body of research seeking to 
       assessment or differences in programming             understand the affordance of block-based tools 
       practices employed. The implications of these        and articulate their role in computer science 
       findings suggest that block-based programming        education (Franklin et al., 2017; Grover & Basu, 
       is an effective way to introduce learners to         2017; Price & Barnes, 2015; Weintrop, Hansen, 
       programming but open questions remain about          et al., 2018). As block-based tools become more 
       how to best integrate it into formal classroom       widespread, it is important that we as educators 
       instruction.                                         understand the affordances and drawbacks 
                                                            of these environments so we are best able to 
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                                          Raspberry Pi Foundation Research Seminars
        Figure 1. The Scratch programming environment (left) and a block-based program written in Scratch (right)
        support learners early in their computer science           programming-command-as-puzzle-piece 
        careers.                                                   metaphor to visually convey information about 
                                                                   the programming commands available to the 
        The goal of this article is to present findings            user and how they can be used (Figure 1). 
        from a series of research studies seeking to               Through the inclusion of visual, organisational, 
        understand the impact of using block-based                 and audio cues, block-based programming 
        programming environments in classrooms.                    environments can help novices write functioning 
        In particular, we pursue questions seeking                 programs from the start. The defining feature of 
        to understand how block-based instruction                  block-based programming environments, and 
        compares to text-based instruction and to                  the source of their name, is that programming 
        understand if and how the experience of learning           commands are presented as blocks where the 
        to program in a block-based environment                    shape of the block defines how and where it can 
        better prepares learners for future text-based             be used (Maloney et al., 2010). To assemble a 
        programming. In doing so, this work seeks                  program, the user drags blocks onto the canvas 
        to elucidate the potential role of block-based             (the area where the program is written) and 
        programming in formal education and equip                  snaps the blocks together, often accompanied 
        educators to effectively use block-based                   by an audible click. Only valid combinations of 
        programming as part of their instruction.                  blocks can be snapped together, in this way, 
                                                                   block-based programming environments can 
        What is block-based programming?                           prevent syntax errors by not allowing for invalid 
                                                                   programs to be written. 
        Block-based programming is a graphical 
        approach to programming that uses a                        Along with the visual layout of the blocks, there 
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                                         Raspberry Pi Foundation Research Seminars
        Figure 2. The block-based version of the Pencil.cc programming environment.
        are a number of other features that make block-          The case for block-based programming
        based programming easy for novices with little 
        prior programming experience. For example,               A central and important question about the 
        as part of a study of high school students               potential role of block-based programming 
        learning to program, students talked about how           environments in formal education is whether or 
        the arrangement of available blocks (left side           not students learn computer science concepts 
        of Figure 1) made it easy to figure out what             when programming in block-based environments. 
        was possible in the programming language                 A related question is how students learn 
        (Weintrop & Wilensky, 2015a). Students also              with block-based environments compared to 
        talked about how the drag-and-drop approach              comparable text-based programming languages? 
        to assembling programs was easier than typing            In other words, do students learn more in blocks 
        in programming commands one character at a               or text? To answer this question, I conducted 
        time. This is especially true considering many           a quasi-experimental study in two high-school 
        programming languages require the user to type           computer science classrooms. Students in 
        in uncommon and often mysterious punctuation             one classroom learned using a block-based 
        as part of writing a functioning program. Another        programming environment (Figure 2) while 
        feature of block-based language students                 students in the other classroom used a text-
        cited as contributing to their ease-of-use is            based programming environment (Figure). 
        how the blocks themselves are easier to read             Importantly, everything about the environments 
        when compared to a conventional text-based               was identical aside from the way programs 
        language. As one student said, “Java is not in           were presented and authored, including the 
        English it’s in Java language, the blocks are in         programming language itself, which was the 
        English, it’s easier to understand”. Collectively,       exact same character-by-character between the 
        these various affordances lead learners to               two environments. The study began on the first 
        perceive block-based programming to be easier            day of school and lasted for five weeks with both 
        for novices.                                             classes going through the same curriculum and 
                                                                 being taught by the same teacher. As much as 
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