Hour of Code Activity at Chaytumas School in Sumgayit

Submitted to

Dr. Jamaladdin Hasanov

Department of IT and Engineering at ADA University
Principles of Information Systems Course

Report prepared by:

CRN 10234

Anar Mehraliyev
Manzar Gasimzada
Khayala Haziyeva

December 13, 2018

Baku, Azerbaijan
 Hour of Code Activity at Chaytumas School in Sumgait

Abstract: A campaign called “Hour of Code” helps children learn the fundamentals of programming with one-hour
introduction classes. Our project from Principles of IT course was also selecting a school and teaching children the
basics of programming and algorithm-building in a form of Hour of Code activity. We selected a school situated in
Sumgait named “Chaytumas School”. The activity consisted of two parts: presentation and tutoring. Children were
taught to code by playing a classical maze game. Results showed that only one of them, who was a boy, was
interested in computer engineering; however, all of the children enjoyed the activity. It was recommended that there
should be more activities like this and girls should be encouraged to have more information about this field.

Keywords: Hour of Code, programming, algorithm-building.

1. Introduction
Today the interest towards computer science is growing at a considerably high rate.
Especially, young generation have become involved in different aspects of computer
science, such as programming, design, modelling and etc., and this helps to improve
cognitive abilities in children (Clements, et al., 1984:1051). A campaign called “Hour of
Code” helps children learn the fundamentals of programming with one-hour introduction
classes. In each Hour of Code activity, instructors choose a game that requires basic
algorithm-building skills and teach children fundamental aspects of programming by
playing the game together. Hour of Code activity takes place in more than 170 countries
with more than 36 languages which makes it an international activity (Educational
Horizons, 2014:9).

Our project from Principles of IT course was also selecting a school and teaching
children the basics of programming and algorithm-building in a form of Hour of Code
activity
2. Preparation
2.1. Selecting the school. We selected a school situated in Sumgait named “Chaytumas
School”. It was the school where one of our group members Khayala Haziyeva had
studied. For that reason, we thought we would be able to get permission easily to have a
one-hour Hour of Code class. Also, we decided to work with 6th grade children.
2.2. Game Selection. For the activity, we chose the game called “Classic Maze”
(https://studio.code.org/hoc/1). It was a classic labyrinth game in which the main
character of the game was required to move forward, turn left or right and repeat these
actions which, we thought, were appropriate for 6th grade children.

Front view of the school

“Classic Maze” game

 2.3. Instruments. We prepared a Power Point presentation to give particular information
about the process before starting the tutoring. The presentation consisted of two parts:
information about ADA University and introduction to the term “programming”. Since
the school did not have a connection to the internet, children would not be able to play
the game on computer. So, we printed the commands “move forward”, “turn right” and
the others on a paper and cut it into rectangles. In this way, the children would connect
those commands with hands without using a computer. We recorded the video of the
game, so that the children would be able to watch the video and build their algorithm.

Commands used

3. Activity Day
The activity day was planned for 7th of December. On that day, at 10:00 am we arrived at
the school. After some preparation we started the activity. 20 children from the 6th grade
were chosen to participate in the activity.
3.1. Presentation. First, we began with a Power Point presentation. Manzar Gasimzada
spoke about ADA university: academic environment at ADA, program of study
(Information Technologies, Computer Science, and Computer Engineering), and
application policy (SAT and state exams, IELTS, TOEFL). Surprisingly, the majority of
the children did not have information about ADA. It was probably associated with their
young age. The children were asked what they wanted to become when they grew up.
The answers varied from teacher to architecture. Figure 1 illustrates the professions that
the children preferred:

Figure 1
5
4
3 4 4
2 3
1 2 2 2 1 1 1
0
As seen from the Figure 1, only two of the children were interested in engineering who
were boys, and only one of them was interested in computer engineering. The Second
part of the presentation was about the concept of programming and was presented by
Anar Mehraliyev. This part began with the question “What is Programming?” and the
children were expected to answer with their own descriptions of the concept. Majority of
them answered as “programming is about creating programs” though they did not have a
very clear insight of the term. After explaining that programming is also a tool for
creating computer games, they became more interested. When they were asked what kind
of games they would like to create, the answers were different: patriotic games,
modelling games, car driving games and etc.

Maznar Gasimzada speaking about ADA

Anar Mehraliyev speaking about programming

3.3 Tutoring. After the presentation we started the tutoring part. This part was mainly
presented by Khayala Haziyeva with Anar Mehraliyev’s assistance. The children were
divided into groups of four. Each group was given rectangle-shaped paper pieces on
which the commands were written. The video of the game was played and the rules of the
game were explained to the children. In each level of the game, when a puzzle was given
the video was paused and each team was expected to build their algorithm to solve the
puzzle by connecting the commands in the right order. The children understood the rules
and the main concepts so quickly that it did not take much time that they came up with a
solution to the puzzle. In the first level, only the usage of “move forward” command was
required. From the second level, it was required to use turning right and left commands.
As Classic Maze was not a three-dimensional game, the commands “turn right” and “turn
left” could be misinterpreted as “move down” and “move up”. To avoid this problem, we
taught the children to think in a two-dimensional space. Also, we checked each team’s
algorithm to see how they solved the problem. When they had a mistake we simply
explained to them why their algorithm was not the solution by simulating the result of the
algorithm. After each team was done, we played the video to see the result of the
algorithm. When they saw how their programs worked they felt very enthusiastic.

Khayala Haziyeva doing the tutoring

3.4. After the tutoring. Due to time limitations only 10 puzzles could be solved. When the
tutoring was finished the children were given certificates with their names on them. The
children were very happy and satisfied with the activity. They repeatedly asked us to
 come again. Overall, the activity lasted a little more than one hour.

Children with their certificates

4. Challanges and Limitations

Despite all, the project went through certain challanges and limitations. Firstly, the school
did not have a connection to the internet. In fact, the school had all the necessary
equipments to have an internet connection, yet due to some technical problems no
connection was available. It made our work more difficult because at the very beginning
we intended to use computers instead of paper pieces. Secondly, due to lime limitations,
we were not able to finish all 20 levels of the game. Unfortunately, the children had to
leave earlier than we thought. Moreover, the children were so enthusiastic that they made
some noise which made the tutoring process a bit more challenging.
5. Results and Recommendations
5.1. Results. There are some noteworthy results derived from the activity. First of all, only
two boys among the children were interested in engineering one of them being interested
in computer engineering which is not a big number. No girls were interested in any
technical subjects except one who wanted to become an architect. Additionally, the
children enjoyed the activity, and it can imply that they might have become more
interested in computer science after building algorithms.
5.2. Recommendations. In order to inform children about computer science, there can take
place more activities, so that if a child has potential about this study, his potential can
come out. Additionally, it should be taught that computer studies are not only meant for
men, but also for women. In this way, girls can also be attracted to this field. Even if they
do not build a career in computer sciences, knowing how to code helps children improve
their computational thinking abilities which are very helpful to tackle large problems
(Crow, 2014)..

We want express our special thanks to Shamama khanim, Zahire khanim and Vugar bey
for making this activity happen, and also one of the children Subhan for helping us set up
the projector.

References
Clements, Douglas & Gullo, Dominic. (1984). Effects of Computer Programming on
Young Children's Cognition. Journal of Educational Psychology. 76. 1051-1058.
10.1037/0022-0663.76.6.1051.

Computer science can feed a lot of dreams. (2014). Educational Horizons, 93(1), 8-11.
Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/26453570

Crow, Dan. Why every child should learn to code, 2014.

Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/feb/07/year-of-code-dan-
crow-songkick