Tangible Programming Education Program to Improve Collaborative Problem-Solving (CPS) Competency of Elementary School Students

Tasks to be solved in real life are often performed by teams rather than individuals. Therefore, there is a need for programming collaboration tools and collaborative learning-based programming education that can improve collaborative problem-solving (CPS) competency, which are the competencies required of future talent. In this study, a programming education program was developed and applied to improve CPS competency by using COBOBLOCKS, a tangible programming education device, for 48 second grade students in elementary school. The educational program consisted of collaborative learning in groups of two for a total of 8 classes, and students’ CPS competency was tested before and after applying the program. As a result of the study, students’ CPS competency seemed to improve after applying the program, and students would prefer programming learning using the collaborative learning method. Based on the research results, it is suggested to develop various programming education programs to improve CPS competency.