Research monograph # 69

April 2017
Computer Coding in the K–8
Mathematics Curriculum?
By George Gadanidis, Western University; with Iain Brodie, Leslee Minniti,
Benefits of Coding and Bronna Silver, St. Andrews Public School, Toronto District School Board

At the heart of computa-

tional thinking – and
mathematics – is abstraction. The trend of adding some form of computer coding to curriculum is an international
When children write code, phenomenon. How exactly should computer coding fit in the curriculum? Should it
they come to… be its own subject? Should it be integrated with other subjects?
1. understand in a tangible
way the abstractions
that lie at the heart of Computer coding is creating a buzz in education. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
mathematics, recently said, “We need to do a lot better job of getting young people to
2. dynamically model understand what coding is and how it’s important, how to program, how
mathematics concepts to problem solve, how to create the most elegant algorithm possible.”1
and relationships, BC recently announced that computer coding will be added to all grades of
3. gain confidence in their the K–12 curriculum, and Nova Scotia has made a similar announcement. The
own ability and agency trend of adding some form of computer coding to curriculum is an international
as mathematics learners. phenomenon; in 2014, England mandated a coding curriculum for all K–12 students.

Where in the Curriculum?

Currently, computer coding is conceived of more as its own curriculum area than
as a way of thinking that may enhance existing subject areas. Jeannette Wing
proposes, “To reading, writing, and arithmetic, we should add [computational
thinking] to every child’s analytical ability”2 (p. 33).

This focus on computer coding in education is not new. It was an important

component of Seymour Papert’s work with Logo, a programming environment
that invites children to write code to move a turtle on the screen. Papert saw
Logo both as a coding environment and as a mathematics learning environment.
He wrote that Logo “is to learning mathematics what living in France is to
learning French”3 (p. 6).
Other researchers emphasize that integrating coding The draw square code block helps simplify our code. It also
with other subjects, especially mathematics, creates makes it easier to use draw square as an object of other
pedagogical opportunities. However, a recent review of code. For example, the code in Figure 3 draws a square,
the state of computational thinking in K–12 concludes that turns 36 degrees, and repeats this 10 times; by randomly
“underinvestigated is the idea of computing as a medium changing the pen colour before each square is drawn, the
for teaching other subjects”4 (p. 42). individual squares become more easily visible.

Implications for Mathematics Education What is happening here mathematically? First, the concept
Below we describe three important ways the use of coding of square has been abstracted to its essential elements:
in mathematics teaching and learning can enhance student move 100 steps, turn 90°, repeat 4 times. Second, this
conceptual development. abstraction is conceptually robust as it represents all
squares, in the same way that the word cat represents all
1. Abstraction Made Tangible cats. We can edit the code to draw squares of different sizes,
At the heart of computational thinking – and mathematics – orientations, and colours. Third, this abstract version of a
is abstraction.5,6 We use abstraction naturally from a very square is tangible.8 It has been turned into a code block
young age as we develop language. For example, when we that can be moved, manipulated, and acted upon by other
come to understand cat, we look past all the differences code blocks.
among cats and create an abstract model of essential cat
characteristics. Isn’t it interesting that with computer coding we can
abstract mathematical concepts and at the same time
Let’s see how abstraction comes into play when we make them feel tangible? Such tangible abstractions help
use the blocks-based coding environment Scratch (see students with conceptual development.
scratch.mit.edu) to draw a square. Scratch was developed
in 2004 at MIT and its design is based on Logo and the This tangible quality can be enhanced when we use code
work of Papert.7 to “teach” programmable robots to perform mathematics
tasks. For example, children can write similar code to
We could code a square as shown in Figure 1. (The code instruct Sphero to walk a square. In simplest terms, Sphero
for our Scratch examples is available at scratch.mit.edu/ is a robot on wheels trapped inside a spherical shell. It
projects/115404418/#editor for you to use, edit, experiment moves in the same way as a hamster ball (see sphero.com)
with, and share with others.) We could also accomplish this and can be coded using a smart phone or tablet
task by defining draw square as its own code block and application.
using it when needed (see Figure 2). Creating a new code
block to replace a group of code blocks is especially useful Such experiences help address Ontario curriculum
when we write more complex code. expectations in both Geometry and Spatial Sense (“describe,
sort, classify, build, and compare two-dimensional shapes”

Figure 1. Draw a square with Scratch. Figure 2. Adding a draw square code block

2 What Works? Research into Practice

 Coding in a low-floor and a
high-ceiling environment also
supports student agency and
gives students ownership of
their learning. Students writing
code to model a pattern or a
relationship are in control. There
Figure 3. Drawing a pattern with rotated squares. are many different ways to solve a problem with code and
students can use methods that personally make sense. They
in kindergarten; “identify and describe common two- can also deviate from the task to investigate related problems.
dimensional shapes” in Grade 1; and “identify and describe
various polygons” in Grade 2) and Patterning and Algebra Feedback From Teachers
(“using the core of a pattern and predicting what comes A few years ago, the three co-authors of this monograph
next” in kindergarten; “identify, describe, extend, and create (Iain Brodie, Leslee Minniti, and Bronna Silver) tried coding
repeating patterns” in Grades 1–3).9,10 in their math teaching for the first time. Their comments tell
the story of what they did and what they experienced:
2. Automation and Dynamic Modelling • “Grades 7–8 students learned to draw a square in Scratch,
Jeannette Wing states, “Computing is the automation of so they could then teach the Grades 1–3 students. They
our abstractions”5 (p. 3718). For example, the Scratch code also challenged themselves to draw other shapes.
block draw square automates the drawing of a square. We Probably the most important word for students has
create the code once, and we can use it to draw as many been curiosity.”
squares as we like. Abstraction, together with automation, • “Grades 1–3 students were challenged to instruct the
offers students the opportunity to model mathematics teacher on how to ‘walk a square’ (with the teacher
concepts dynamically. purposely making mistakes when their instructions
were not clearly articulated).”
Dynamic modelling allows students to investigate • “In the Grade 1 room, it was great to see the older
relationships, pose and test what-if questions, and easily students with the younger children, their little hands just
share their findings and knowledge with peers, as well as hovering above the keyboard and sometimes they’d put
family and friends. them down, and the older students were so beautiful at
saying, ‘No you use your hands, you’re going to do it’.”
3. Low Floor, High Ceiling3 and Student Agency • “It was amazing. I could see children saying, ‘What
The coding environments available today, especially happens if ...?’ A lot of times it was my Grades 2/3
those that are blocks-based, offer a low floor, allowing students teaching the older kids things.”
engagement with minimal prerequisite knowledge, and a • “I never heard any of my students say, ‘How do you spell
high ceiling, offering opportunities to extend learning to this?’ That anxiety wasn’t there. This program does not
more complex concepts and more varied representations, force them to do that. It really was a very celebratory
just like Papert’s Logo. experience.”
• “What I really loved was the connection we made with
A low-floor and a high-ceiling environment supports the families at home. We said to the students, this is
differentiated learning. Students can engage at their now your project and you need to share this. They were
ability and comfort levels and investigate extensions skeptical that their parents could do it, but they came
as they develop conceptual understanding and gain back excited to share what they did with them.”
confidence.

What Works? Research into Practice 3

 • Math + Code ’Zine (researchideas.ca/mc) is published
In Sum: Give It a Try! quarterly and supports coding in mathematics education
A number of resources are available to integrate computer contexts. It is supported by Western University’s Teaching
coding into the classroom. Over the last few years, we Support Centre and the Fields Institute.
have developed material to support teachers as they use • Computational thinking in mathematics education
computational thinking in mathematics teaching and research (ctmath.ca), a partnership of seven universities
learning. Below is an annotated list. and the Fields Centre for Mathematics Education,
• The Computational Thinking Community of Practice researches the use of computational thinking from
of the Ontario Math Network (mathnetwork.ca/ct) kindergarten to undergraduate mathematics. Projects,
offers documentaries of lesson studies from Ontario reports, documentaries, and lesson plans will be posted
classrooms and other resources. Funded by the Ontario as they are developed.
Ministry of Education (A KNAER project hosted by the
Fields Institute for Research in Mathematical Sciences). Don’t be apprehensive about integrating computer coding
• The computational thinking module (researchideas. in your teaching. You and your students will love it! As one of
ca/wmt/c6.html) offers background on computational the co-authors observed during the lesson, “I was so excited
thinking in mathematics education, along with that everybody in the Grade 1 room was successful, viewing
classroom examples, games, and simulations. The themselves capable, able, and mathematicians. Not only the
module is also available as a free certificate course students, but the teachers too.”
through Western University and the Fields Institute
(see researchideas.ca/wmt/courses.html).

References
1. Kitchener Post (2016). Google opens its doors on Breithaurt; PM 6. Aho, A.V. (2012) Computation and computational thinking.
Trudeau takes part. Retrieved from http://www.kitchenerpost.ca/ Computer Journal, 55, 832–835.
news-story/6240341-google-opens-its-doors-on-breithaupt-pm- 7. Logo History. Retrieved from http://el.media.mit.edu/logo-
trudeau-takes-part/ foundation/what_is_logo/history.html
2. Wing, J. M. (2006). Computational thinking. Communications of 8. Gadanidis, G. (2017 in press). Five affordances of computational
the ACM, 49(3), 33–35. thinking to support elementary mathematics education. Journal
3. Papert, S. (1980). Mindstorms: Children, computers, and powerful of Computers in Mathematics and Science Teaching 36(2), 143–151.
ideas. New York: Basic Books. 9. Ontario Ministry of Education (2005). The Ontario Curriculum
4. Grover, S. and Pea, R. (2013. Computational thinking in K–12: A Grades 1-8: Mathematics. Toronto, ON: Queen’s Printer for Ontario.
review of the state of the fields. Educational Researcher, 42(1), 38–43. 10. Ontario Ministry of Education (2016). The Kindergarten Program.
5. Wing, J. M. (2008). Computational thinking and thinking about Toronto, ON: Queen’s Printer for Ontario.
computing. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A,
366(1881), 3717–3725.

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