A rapid and inclusive instrument for assessing children’s basic understanding of physical computing

Abstract

While there are many initiatives that strive to empower children with physical computing, there seems to be no validated questionnaire for rapidly measuring different children’s understanding of the basics of physical computing. This paper presents the design of such an instrument—PCBUQ. It is rapid in that it consists of few items. It is inclusive because designed for different young children. It is for the basics of physical computing in that it considers physical input and output devices, basic patterns and programs that use them for interacting with the physical world. Data gathered from experts, primary and middle schools were used to validate PCBUQ. The first items assess children’s capability of classifying physical devices as input (e.g., buttons), and output devices (e.g., LED, speaker). The other items evaluate whether children can interpret problematic scenarios and infer how to resolve them with adequate input and output devices, patterns and programs. PCBUQ was found to have adequate reliability. The reported statistical analyses highlight the items that strongly and weakly correlate with the construct under analysis, their difficulty and discrimination. Results are discussed to guide future physical computing initiatives for children and their assessment.