Examining Young Children's Computational Artifacts

Computational thinking (CT), in line with the constructionist perspective, is often best displayed when children have the opportunity to demonstrate their skills by producing creative coding artifacts. Performance-based or project portfolio assessments of young children's coding artifacts are a rich and useful approach to explore how children develop and apply CT abilities. In this chapter, the authors examine various rubrics and assessment tools used to measure the levels of programming competency, creativity, and purposefulness displayed in students' coding artifacts. The authors then discuss the development of ScratchJr and KIBO project rubrics for researchers and educators, including examples to illustrate how these highly diverse projects provide insight into children's CT abilities. Finally, the authors conclude with implications and practical strategies for using rubrics in both educational and research settings.