Building blocks of abstraction: exploring children's real-life problem solving in block-based programming

Abstract

This study seeks to examine how secondary school students demonstrate abstraction skills while solving real-world problems using block-based programming platforms. The research, exploratory in nature, involved 6th-grade students in a computer science class engaging with real-world problems through Scratch. Screen recordings and interviews were used to examine the students’ ways of demonstrating abstraction. The findings showed that real-world problem contexts, combined with the features of Scratch as a block-based programming platform, supported the emergence of abstraction behaviors in problem solving process. Among the indicators of abstraction, "eliminating unnecessary blocks" and "finding clear and practical solutions" were the observed most frequently. The "applying previous solutions" has developed slightly less. These indicators of abstraction were demonstrated within the affordances of Scratch, particularly through its support for suggesting the necessity of blocks, reflecting on the complexity of solutions, presenting efficient alternative blocks, and structuring the solution for better interpretability. The results indicate that working with problems based on real-life contexts in block-based programming platforms may offer students rich opportunities to demonstrate abstraction in diverse ways through meaningful problem-solving. We hope this study will support more effective programming instruction on block-based platforms through the use of real-world problems.