Physical vs. Virtual Representations Within Concreteness Fading for Primary School Computing

Computing concepts are often introduced to children using interactive concrete representations, such as Computer Science Unplugged (CSU) activities - an approach that may positively affect attitudes towards computing when applied in extra-curricular settings. However, within the classroom, children may be required to interact with abstract representations, e.g. during programming tasks, and little is known about how to design CSU activities that support this. Prior work in mathematics and computing suggests that the Theoretical Model of Concreteness Fading (TMCF) may effectively scaffold the progression from concrete to abstract and improve learning outcomes. This paper aims to investigate one of the TMCF recommendations: the use of physical manipulatives, motivated by the growing body of evidence that suggests that virtual manipulatives can, in many contexts, be equally effective while providing several design advantages. An experiment was conducted with 48 children to compare two alternative implementations of Concreteness Fading learning materials: physical concrete (Playmobil toys) vs. virtual concrete (an AR iPad app), on learning gains and attitudinal change. Using these materials, children were taught the fundamentals of network structure and internet routing. Results indicated no significant difference between groups on either measure.