The proliferation of technology has reiterated the significance of computer programing and math in key disciplines such as computer science and information technology. In this regard, it should be acknowledged that teaching computer programming with math can be used as the appropriate medium for giving the essential mathematical concepts covered in the two disciplines relevance and context. This paper will outline a literature review of integrating computer programming and math education.
Literature Review
Akpinar & Aslan (2015) outlines that the technological advancement and the extensive availability of computing tool using game creation and programming can be used as the context for teaching curricular domains such as sciences, English and mathematics. According to Akpinar & Aslan (2015), this was the approach that was adopted by LOGO to enable its users to execute the mechanical control of the robot for the creation of dialog between the turtle and the computer (Akpinar&Aslan, 2015). In this essence, the authors have emphasized that the students can develop multiple models using tools such as LOGO, thus being able to establish the workable solutions. Akpinar & Aslan (2015) have further emphasized that programming activities, as well as the computer game design, can be used as the mediums for fostering the culture of knowledge construction, creativity, self-expression, and self-motivation. To illustrate the essence of integrating computer programming and math education, the study by Akpinar & Aslan (2015) examined regular classroom activities concerning learning the fractions with LOGO among the students. In this case, Akpinar & Aslan (2015) established that integrating the teaching of fractions and LOGO was comparably successful unlike teaching each subject in isolation. Therefore, such findings reiterated the essence of integrating the essence of computer programming and math education for the attainment of successful results.
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Benton, Hoyles, Kalas & Noss (2017) have further elaborated on the essence of teaching computer programing among students. In their arguments, the authors point out that there has been an increased introduction of computer programming formally and even informally in the school curriculums globally (Hoyles, Kalas & Noss, 2017). For instance, England has been pointed out to be the notable nation that has sanctioned the teaching of programming at the primary level of education. Benton, Hoyles, Kalas & Noss (2017) argues that it is as a result of such changes that many countries globally are also contemplating changing their education systems. For the case of England, Benton, Hoyles, Kalas & Noss (2017) have highlighted that from 2014, all primary schools were required to teach the new computing curriculum adopted nationally. Such efforts entailed teaching children learn the operational framework of a computational system, using the emerging technology to craft and develop ideas as well as building and designing own programs. Considering that there was a high likelihood of a majority of primary school teachers having the requisite appropriate skills, Benton, Hoyles, Kalas & Noss (2017) have outlined that widespread professional development was adopted to help prospective teachers gain understanding, confidence, technical skills and suitable pedagogies for successful implementation of the new curriculum (Hoyles, Kalas & Noss, 2017). In this essence, the authors have emphasized their arguments on the kind of preparations that need to be put in place to facilitate the integration of computer programming in other learning curricula. As an acknowledgment of the essence of such integration, Benton, Hoyles, Kalas & Noss (2017) have emphasized that the teaching of computer programming in the contexts such as English schools were not entirely new. This is attributed to the fact that other essential educational programming languages such as BASIC and LOGO were widely being integrated into secondary and primary education, especially in the 1980s and 1990s.
On an additional note, Gadanidis (2017) has outlined computational thinking appropriate for supporting the elementary mathematics education. Such arguments by the author have been presented with the aim of illustrating various ways in which the integration of computer programming in elementary mathematics education can be implemented and achieved. It is for this reason that Gadanidis (2017) has investigated various affordances that computational thinking can offer to support learning and even teaching. In this regard, Gadanidis (2017) has highlighted five affordances of computational thinking deemed crucial for supporting the elementary mathematical education involving teachers, eight grades and the students. On this basis, Gadanidis (2017) has highlighted that there were collaborations with teachers to enhance the successful designing and integration of computational thinking and math. Gadanidis (2017) has emphasized that this was undertaken for specific curriculum topics taught and implemented in the classroom. According to Gadanidis (2017), the affordances essential for incorporation of computational thinking to support elementary mathematical education include aspects such as abstraction, access, agency, audience, and automation. Such affordances have been highlighted by Gadanidis (2017) in the context of student work artifacts, classroom activities as well as teacher and student comments. It is for this reason that Gadanidis (2017) reiterates that computational technologies and theories have played a major role in revolutionizing many fields of study, math education included. This is because the discipline covers areas of study such as computational biology, computational medicine, computational economics, and computational mathematics. It is for this reason that Gadanidis (2017) argues that there has been advocacy for the inclusion of computational technologies in K-12 education. This is attributed to the belief that writing, reading, and the arithmetic has the impact of adding computational thinking ability to the analytical skills of every child. Such arguments by Gadanidis (2017) reiterated the essence of integrating computer programming and math education to enhance computational thinking among the students. It is for this reason that Gadanidis (2017) beliefs that LOGO was offered in the learning environment and mathematics exploration.
Furthermore, Taylor, Harlow & Forret (2010) have highlighted the case of schools in New Zealand whereby there are plans to offer children with the opportunities of exploring ways in which ICT can provide new learning ways. In this regard, Taylor, Harlow & Forret (2010) have reiterated that integration of mathematics and ICT has been incorporated in the whole approach of planning teachers. For instance, the interactive use of whiteboard has indicated that the use of various ICT tools can be used as the basis for helping children develop and design various representations while at the same time interpreting and refining their thinking. In this essence, Taylor, Harlow & Forret (2010) argue that such approaches usually help evoke dialogue in multiple ways. For instance, the authors have pointed out the use of an interactive whiteboard (IWB) as a platform that can be used to provide the needed focus for the case of different collaborative work. Therefore, Taylor, Harlow & Forret (2010) maintain that this has helped children support each other and develop a sense of collective responsibility when handling various tasks. In this regard, Taylor, Harlow & Forret (2010) states that IWB can enable teachers and children to be able to access and interact with multiple functions of a desktop computer. In this essence, the authors have stated that such approaches play a key role in facilitating cognitive and physical space for the purpose of collaborative problem-solving. In such cases, Taylor, Harlow & Forret (2010) states that information can easily be discussed and even shared publicly. Even though the interactive whiteboard is not designed for fostering collaborative learning, Taylor, Harlow & Forret (2010) outlines that its deployment can aid in collective learning and thinking.
By acknowledging the essence of integrating computer programming and math education, Valentine (2018) has acknowledged that there is an increasing focus on integrating computational literacy and computational thinking. For the case of the informal and formal K-12 learning environment. For this reason, the author believes that computational thinking can appropriately be integrated into the K-12 education system as a discipline-specific topic or even as a general subject. In this context, Valentine (2018) has highlighted the essence of integrating computational thinking through computer programming to existing education programs and other domain-specific courses. Valentine (2018) believes that embracing such approaches will play a primary role in helping teach students to think computationally. This has been emphasized by Valentine (2018) by highlighting the need to integrate computational thinking in the teacher education as a way of facilitating the integration of computer programming in disciplines such as math education. According to Valentine (2018), computational thinking is a crucial aspect that is embedded in computational literacy. In this case, Valentine (2018) has pointed out the need to develop a computational thinking framework to connect the experience attained by learners in a programming environment. Valentine (2018) believes that such approaches can play crucial roles in incorporating key dimensions of computational thinking such as parallelism, loops and computational practices such as debugging, testing, iterating and experimenting as well as the relevant computational perspectives. Such arguments have extensively been highlighted by Valentine (2018) to show different ways and approaches that can be implemented to facilitate the integration of computer programming and math education.
Conclusion
Based on the arguments that have been highlighted by the reviewed authors, it is evident that computer programing and math are vital disciplines that can complement each other. Therefore, this has reiterated the fact that teaching computer programming with math can be used as the appropriate medium for giving the fundamental mathematical concepts covered in the two disciplines relevance and context. It is for this reason that the integration of computer programming and math education has been advocated for in the highlighted literature.
References
Akpinar, Y., & Aslan, Ü. (2015). Supporting children’s learning of probability through video game programming. Journal of Educational Computing Research , 53 (2), 228-259.
Benton, L., Hoyles, C., Kalas, I., & Noss, R. (2017). Bridging primary programming and
mathematics: Some findings of design research in England. Digital Experiences in Mathematics Education , 3 (2), 115-138.
Gadanidis, G. (2017). Five affordances of computational thinking to support elementary mathematics education. Journal of Computers in Mathematics and Science Teaching , 36 (2), 143-151.
Taylor, M., Harlow, A., & Forret, M. (2010). Using a computer programming environment and an interactive whiteboard to investigate some mathematical thinking. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences , 8 , 561-570.
Valentine, K. D. (2018). Tinkering with Logo in an Elementary Mathematics Methods Course Recommended Citation Problem-based Learning. Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning , 12 (2), 5–11. https://doi.org/10.7771/1541-5015.1754
