Teaching Computing without computers : unplugged Computing as a pedagogical strategy in a Maltese classroom

Abstract

The research study disclosed in this publication investigates Unplugged Computing as a formal pedagogical strategy to teaching Computing to a Maltese secondary class of Year 9 students. It explores the extent to which it can be used to achieve the desired learning objectives of the Maltese Computing Curriculum. It aims at identifying the effectiveness of this pedagogy outlining the strengths and weaknesses in its application, taking into consideration the level of attainment for students, as well as the impact on teachers’ lesson preparation. This research study is based on the delivery of five activities covering topics from the abovementioned Curriculum using Unplugged Computing as the pedagogical strategy. It analyses students’ reaction when exposed to such Unplugged activities to assess the viability of using this pedagogy when teaching Computing concepts. This analysis has been carried out on the basis of the researcher’s reflections, observations gathered from the students’ customary Computing teacher and a set of completed worksheets filled in by the respective students following each of the Unplugged activities. The study concludes that Unplugged Computing is an effective pedagogical strategy that helps attain a high level of engagement and student involvement, encouraging teamwork and collaboration. It concludes that students experience a wide attention span and good retention through the constant link of Computing scenarios to real life examples and the use of tangible non-Computing related objects. Notwithstanding, the study also identifies certain limitations of this pedagogy, mainly that it is not sufficient as a standalone pedagogy, but needs to be applied in conjunction with other pedagogies to be able to cover all the expected learning objectives of the Curriculum.