The Effect of Integrating Task Scaffolding into MakeCode Arcade with WiFiBoy on Students’ Learning Motivation, Cooperative Tendency, and Altruistic Behaviors in Programming Learning

This study investigates how Task Scaffolding in MakeCode Arcade with WiFiBoy affects elementary school students’ motivation and altruism in programming. The study adopted a quasi-experimental research design with 39 sixth-grade students from two classes in an elementary school. The classes were divided into task scaffolding in MakeCode Arcade with WiFiBoy and web-based simulator groups. Both groups implemented the same MakeCode Arcade platform programming curriculum. They conducted a three-lesson teaching experiment, which was preceded and followed by pre-test and post-tests of the programming learning motivation questionnaire, and the whole teaching experiment was video recorded to observe students’ altruistic behavior. The study results showed that the Make Code Arcade with task scaffolding could help students improve their learning effectiveness and the number of altruistic behaviors. In terms of the altruistic behavior conversion mode, it is suggested that when designing the teaching activities, in addition to combining the hardware objects and task scaffolding in the programming courses, teachers should also give students more opportunities for discussion, peer feedback, and encourage them to assist their peers in completing programming tasks in the learning environment, so that the students can show more altruistic behaviors, to enhance the learning effectiveness of the learners in the programming learning and the altruistic behaviors.