Investigating Creative and Critical Engagement with Computing in the Hour of Code (Practical Report)

The Hour of Code provides brief stand-alone activities to introduce K-12 learners to computing concepts and applications. While these activities have successfully reached hundreds of millions of students around the globe, there are calls for more creative and critical engagement with computing. In this paper, we examine the creative and critical content of 316 Hour of Code activities offered to middle school and high school students as part of the official 2020 Computer Science Education Week. Our content analysis revealed that only 13% Hour of Code activities promoted creative engagement while only 1% of Hour of Code activities focused on critical engagement, offering discussion guides at best. In the discussion we provide recommendations for designing for more critical and creative engagement with computing in future Hour of Code or similar hour-long activities.