An early introduction to STEM education: Teaching computer programming principles to 5th graders through an e-learning platform: A game-based approach

E-learning systems and environments have progressively infiltrated all grades of Education, either in a complementary role to face-to-face instruction in class under blended learning scenarios or in purely remote education. The relative merits of face-to-face instruction versus e-learning, especially in Primary Education, are still an open research issue, though. Another challenge that Primary Education faces is the development of STEM thinking and STEM-friendly attitudes in pupils of early ages. An educational intervention that attempts to address both issues is designed, implemented and evaluated in this paper. Motivation and engagement of young pupils are sought through the gamification of the learning process. The present study investigates the feasibility and the efficiency of an asynchronous e-learning scenario involving an on-line game, for pupils of 10–11 years, in the 5'h grade of Primary School. A basic STEM subject, Computer Programming Principles, is selected as the learning material to be taught purely remotely, through the e-learning environment designed and developed in moodle, for the purposes of this research. The educational intervention provides data on the learning outcomes of the pupils and on the efficiency of the approach. Evaluation results verify both the feasibility and the efficiency of this approach. Pupils and parents emphasize the role of the teacher who provides support and guidance through the platform communication tools; their attitudes are seen to change in favor of e-learning.