Scratch dissertation complete

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An Investigation into the Use of
Scratch to Teach KS3 Mathematics
A dissertation submitted as a part of the requirements of the Maths and
Science Bachelors Education Degree from St Marys Teaching College Belfast

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I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those people that helped me with this
study. Karen Randall for her participation, the Scratch users I was in contact with.
Particular recognition goes to, Gerry Trainor, who has guided me through this project
from the beginning. Thank you.

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Table of Contents
Introduction .............................................................................................................................................5
Research questions............................................................................................................................................................6
Literature Review...................................................................................................................................7
Overview ................................................................................................................................................7
Scratch and LOGO.................................................................................................................................7
Scratch Appearance.............................................................................................................................9
Fundamental Mathematics of Scratch............................................................................................9
Scratch and Problem Solving..........................................................................................................10
Getting Started with Scratch...........................................................................................................11
Scratch Help Function.......................................................................................................................12
Sharing Scratch Projects ..................................................................................................................12
Remixing with Scratch......................................................................................................................13
ScratchEd..............................................................................................................................................13
Show and Tell Videos..................................................................................................................................................... 15
ScratchEd Math Resources........................................................................................................................................... 15
ScratchEd Discussion Forum....................................................................................................................................... 24
Scratch Members............................................................................................................................................................. 24
Scratch Day ..........................................................................................................................................26
Teaching with Scratch.......................................................................................................................27
Methodology.......................................................................................................................................... 28
Methods of Research.........................................................................................................................28
Interviews ............................................................................................................................................28
Teaching Experience of Scratch.....................................................................................................29
Signing up to Scratch.........................................................................................................................29
Questionnaires ...................................................................................................................................29
Results ..................................................................................................................................................... 30

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Overview ..............................................................................................................................................30
Creating with Scratch........................................................................................................................30
Scratch Community ...........................................................................................................................31
Fluency with Scratch.........................................................................................................................31
Teaching with Scratch.......................................................................................................................32
Scratch Assignments and Presentations ................................................................................................................. 33
Scratch as a Unit .............................................................................................................................................................. 33
Shape and Angles ............................................................................................................................................................ 34
Translations, Reflections and Transformations.................................................................................................... 38
Enlargement...................................................................................................................................................................... 40
Project Feedback............................................................................................................................................................. 43
Games with Scratch........................................................................................................................................................ 43
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................. 44
Mathematical Thinking Skills Creating with Scratch...............................................................44
Scratch and the Northern Ireland Curriculum...........................................................................44
Teacher Views of Scratch.................................................................................................................45
Websites.................................................................................................................................................. 48
Bibliography.......................................................................................................................................... 50
Appendix A ............................................................................................................................................. 51

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Introduction
“Scratch is a visual, block based programming language designed to facilitate
media manipulation for novice programmers.”
(www.media.mit.edu/~mres/papers/sigcse-08.pdf)
It is a new and innovative programme that allows children to learn how to program and
create multimedia games and applications with ease. It is described on the Scratch
website as
“a programming language that makes it easy to create your own interactive
stories, animations, games, music, and art -- and share your creations on the web.”
(http://info.Scratch.mit.edu/About_Scratch)
The name was derived from the scratching technique used by hip-hop disc jockeys that
spin vinyl records back and forth with their hands to mix music clips together in
creative ways. This is similar to what can be achieved with Scratch, mixing media in
different ways to create something new. The program was launched in 2007 and
“has become a vibrant online community, with members sharing more than 1
million projects. Each day members of the worldwide Scratch community (mostly
ages eight to sixteen) upload roughly fifteen hundred new Scratch projects to the
Web site—on average, a new project every minute. The collection of projects is
incredibly diverse: interactive newsletters, science simulations, virtual tours,
animated tutorials, and many others.”
(http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/yd.377/pdf)
Scratch is designed to develop programming skills and concepts for those with little or
no computer programming experience so they could create their own interactive games,
stories animations and simulations as well as share them with other Scratch users.
Scratch was created by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media
Laboratory. This organisation focuses on,
“the study, invention and creative use of digital technologies to enhance the ways
that people think, express and communicate ideas, and explore scientific frontiers.”
(http://media.mit.edu/about/faq#what)

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Students can have great fun with Scratch, creating fun games and animations while
learning and developing thinking skills. It is easy to use, students can program their
Scratch projects by simply snapping together graphical blocks, without any of the
obscure punctuation and syntax of traditional programming languages. In this way,
Scratch makes programming accessible and more appealing to a much broader
audience, so the program is more simplistic, appealing and relevant to young
programmers but still being able to challenge even the most experience programmers.
“We wanted to develop an approach to programming that would appeal to people
who hadn’t previously imagined themselves as programmers. We wanted to make
it easy for everyone of all ages, backgrounds and interests to program their own
interactive stories, games, animations and simulations.”
(http://media.mit.edu/~mres/scratch/scratch-cacm.pdf)
There are over 1.5 million Scratch projects on the website, with thousands that teach
some mathematics or use mathematics in some substantial way. Scratch is been used by
math teachers all over the world and is promoted on the Northern Ireland ICT
accreditation website as a tool for exploring programming. There is also a team of
experienced Scratch users and educators that are working to create more Scratch
projects that can be used to teach math and science.
The study will involve researching how Scratch develops mathematical thinking skills
and how it can be used to teach key stage three mathematics, beginning with examining
the current literature on the program, projects, features, websites and resources
available. The study will then investigate how Scratch can be used in key stage three
maths lessons. This will require evaluating personal experiences of using Scratch, the
ways it can be used and interviewing experienced Scratch educators. The questions
that I will base the study on are as follows;
Research questions
How does Scratch promote mathematical thinking skills?
What ways can Scratch be used to teach key stage three mathematics?

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Literature Review
Overview
Scratch is a new and innovative program that is fun and easy to use. It has exciting
potential to help pupils develop computer programming skills and thinking skills. The
program can be used in many different ways, with the different subjects and areas of the
key stage three curriculum. It is designed and laid out in a way that it will capture the
attention and interest of the children. When Scratch is opened it will display a blank
project with a cartoon cat, in this blank project the cat is the ‘sprite’. A sprite is an object
in Scratch which can move, there can be more than one. Sprites can be drawn, taken
from the sprites folder or imported from my documents. The back ground or ‘stage’ of
the sprite is fixed can also be drawn, taken from the samples or imported. This is an
appealing aspect of the program, as students can have great fun adding and creating
sprites and backgrounds. The blocks for motion, looks, sound, pen, control, sensing,
operators, variables can drag and move into the script area. To create a script you
simply snap together graphical blocks, just as you would for magnetic Lego Blocks.
These blocks replace the often complicated and tedious procedure of typing in
instructions in older programs such as LOGO. The blocks can only be connected in a
way that makes sense, if the script does not make sense the program will not allow the
blocks to stick e.g. motion and operator blocks cannot connect correctly. This method is
more suitable and appealing for children with little or no programming experience.
Scratch and LOGO
Scratch is not the first programming resource aimed at novice programmers. It builds
on the ideas and concept of previous programs such as LOGO.
“LOGO is a high-level programming language used mainly for educational
purposes, with graphical commands that are easy to use.”
(http://www.computing-dictionary.com/definition/LOGO-1.html)
Seymour Papert, credited as the inventor of LOGO (1980) and co-founder of the MIT lab
which created Scratch presented the constructivist learning required with LOGO as,
“the cornerstone for rethinking approaches to education and learning.”

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(http://web.media.mit.edu/~mres/papers/CHI-programming-panel.pdf)
LOGO requires specific instructions to be typed in to create actions e.g. the movements
of the turtle. Scratch substitutes the ‘type code’ associated with LOGO with a ‘drag and
drop’ approach.
“Scratch is inspired by previous work on LOGO and squeak Etoys but aims to be
simpler and more intuitive.”
(http://info.scratch.mit.edu/sites/infoscratch.media.mit.edu/docs/Programming-
with-Scratch.pdf)
This approach is inspired by Lego Blocks, a toy company specialising in block building
and the fifth largest toy manufacturing company in the world. Scratch documented this
interest in Lego on the website, stating they were,
“intrigued and inspired by the way children play and build with Lego bricks.”
(http://media.mit.edu/~mres/scratch/scratch-cacm.pdf)

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Scratch Appearance
The following illustrates the aesthetically pleasing and simplistic look of the program
and how it may appeal to young Scratch users. The arrow indicates how the two motion
blocks i.e. ‘turn 15 degrees’, can be dragged from the left and connected together like
Lego Blocks in the script area.
“Scratch users learn mathematical and computational ideas that are built into the
Scratch experience. As students create programs in Scratch, they learn core
computational concepts such as iteration and conditionals. They also gain an
understanding of important mathematical concepts such as coordinates, variables
and random numbers.”
(http://info.scratch.mit.edu/sites/infoscratch.media.mit.edu/docs/Learning-with-
Scratch.pdf)
Fundamental Mathematics of Scratch
Creating any project with Scratch involves the use of many different mathematical
operations. Firstly, positioning the sprite in a specific position requires knowledge of
two dimensional coordinates. The origin is in the middle of the ‘stage’ and the
coordinates of both ‘x’ and ‘y’ to move a sprite can be positive or negative. With motion
commands, inserting values can control the magnitude and direction of the sprites
movement, e.g. negative x value will move the sprite horizontally left. This helps the

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development of coordinate geometry, the students must make the connection that
values for x correspond to the horizontal movement of the sprite and the values for y
corresponds to the vertical movements.
“Math is a natural fit with endless possibilities when teaching with Scratch. Time,
percentages, and variables barely scratch the surface of the concepts that can be
taught through this program. One can even turn the 'Background' into a giant
Coordinate Plane to help demonstration motion along the X and Y Axes."
(http://Scratched.media.mit.edu/resources/lesson-ideas-middle-school-
classrooms)
The angle of the sprite movement can be adjusted by inserting values for degrees into
the turn command, the same way it was needed for LOGO. The students knowledge of
angles is important for the sprite to move in the direction required. Pupils must be able
to understand anticlockwise and clockwise turns and how the values of degrees
correspond to the direction of the movement.
Using Scratch develops mathematics and computational thinking skills. It requires
logical thinking to combine the scripts of a project to work correctly. A project may
contain more than one sprite and hence more than one script, including sounds,
movement variables etc. This requires clear logical thinking for the scripts to work
together and for the project to work as intended.
Scratch and Problem Solving
The process of creating Scratch projects involves problem solving skills. Often when
making a Scratch project, the intended action of the sprite is not achieved as the result
of an error in the script. To solve the problem requires clear and logical thinking and
helps develop the students problem solving skills. The students are required to assess
the problem, evaluate how it has occurred and then modify the script to resolve the
error. These problem solving skills are important aspects of mathematics and essential
for everyday life. The Northern Ireland Curriculum promotes the development of these
skills in education. The curriculum overview states that,
“there is emphasis on information management skills and on thinking skills,
problem solving and creativity.”

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(www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/schools/pdf/NIschools_curriculumOverview.pdf)
Getting Started with Scratch
There are a range of resources on the Scratch website for helping people get started
with Scratch, video tutorials, step by step instructions and also Scratch cards. These
Scratch cards are designed to help provide,
“a quick way to learn the Scratch code. The front of the card shows what you can
do; the back shows how to do it.”
(http://info.Scratch.mit.edu/support/Scratch_cards)
Crook (2009) in a study on the embedding of Scratch in the classroom writes about
getting started with Scratch and states that,
“Scratch is easily learnt by an adult in a couple of hours and children from the age
of seven can be productive from the very first lesson.”
(http://scratched.media.mit.edu/sites/default/files/Scratch%20in%20the%20Clas
sroom-10.pdf)

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Scratch Help Function
There are many documents and tutorial videos available to help people learn how to use
Scratch, as well as the help function. This help function is a useful aid for using the
program, right clicking any of the commands can direct you to a help menu and explain
what the chosen command does and how it can be used. The help menu is well
illustrated and the language is clear, concise and appropriate for even the young key
stage three children. When a project is created it can be added to the Scratch website.
“Scratch projects can also be shared on the Scratch website the same way YouTube
videos can be shared and photos on Flicker.”
(http://info.scratch.mit.edu/sites/infoscratch.media.mit.edu/docs/Creating-with-
Scratch.pdf)
Sharing Scratch Projects
Sharing projects allows Scratch programmers to display their creations on the internet
for everyone to see and download. Uploading Scratch projects to the Scratch website is
very simple to do. Simply clicking the share tab on the program, add tags and
descriptions and it will then be automatically directed to your Scratch profile page. The
Scratch projects can be assessed by all other Scratch users, after creating a username on
the website, sharing the resources help users gain ideas by browsing through projects
on the website. Uploading a project is a great way for pupils to get feedback from other
Scratch users all over the world, receiving comments on their projects and other Scratch
users can choose to ‘love’ the project by clicking ‘love’ link below the project when
uploaded. This can add some competitive fun to creating and uploading projects and
can be encouraging for the pupils if they receive a comment or ‘love’. Uploading projects
is a great way for a teacher using Scratch to have all the projects made by the pupils
uploaded together in the one area, so they can assess, evaluate and also illustrate the
projects on the class interactive whiteboard. Uploading the projects is more convenient
for the teacher to show particular solutions on the interactive whiteboard. It can also
encourage pupils to share sprites and project solutions so their classmates can see
them. If the projects are all uploaded on Scratch they can be grouped in the one gallery,
the teacher can illustrate the progress of other students and how the backgrounds or
scripts can be shared by simply downloading and from the website.

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“If you like one of the characters, images or scripts in another project, simply
download the project and use the parts of it in your own Scratch project.”
(http://info.scratch.mit.edu/sites/infoscratch.media.mit.edu/docs/Creating-with-
Scratch.pdf)
Remixing with Scratch
A project which has been modified and shared is known as a remix. Remixes are always
under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License and the original creator
receives a message when one of their projects has been remixed. Some users create
projects specifically to be remixed or modified e.g. projects requiring the addition of
colouring or sounds to be added. Pupils can also work at the same project at home or in
class to solve a bug or error by downloading it and remixing it. This is a fun and
competitive way for students to think logically and use problem solving skills to identify
the problem on a project and solve it. There are many similar ideas for this on the
ScratchEd website.
ScratchEd
ScratchEd is a website that was created in July 2009 for people that use Scratch to
educate. ScratchEd is for,
“a wide variety of educators have been supporting Scratch creators, in both formal
and informal learning environments: a teacher who wants to share stories about
Scratch and cross-curricular integration; a researcher who wants feedback on
materials developed for exploring Scratch as participatory literacy; a parent who
wants advice on how to introduce Scratch at a local all-girls high school; a museum
program director who wants to connect with other museums who have introduced
Scratch.”
(http://Scratched.media.mit.edu/about)
By signing up to the website you can avail of the stories, resources, discussions and
contacts of the website. The resources uploaded are separated into different categories
and subjects. They can help educators learn how to get started on Scratch, share
resources including tutorial videos, projects, and documentation, lesson plans and
Scratch based units.

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On ScratchEd there are a number of documents posted on teaching ideas and lesson
plans for the different subjects. There are also links to different galleries were projects
are grouped according to their nature. These are very useful for an educator using
Scratch, as they contain useful teaching ideas, advice and resources that can be easily
found and accessed. Karen Randall is an experienced Scratch user who has created
many math based projects and has taught using Scratch in an elementary school. Karen
posted a very useful document on ways to use Scratch to teach maths. This is just one
example of the many helpful resources that are available on ScratchEd to assist budding
Scratch educators. The document has three main ideas, creating a basic project for
drawing different polygons, a project using more advanced coordinate geometry to
draw geometric shapes and then using this to apply transformations and symmetries.
The document is very useful for helping maths teachers integrate Scratch into post-
primary teaching to teach shape.
(http://scratched.media.mit.edu/resources/geometry-lessons-scratch)

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Show and Tell Videos
ScratchEd has a number of show and tell videos uploaded in the ScratchEd resources,
these show and tell videos are of Scratch educators from all over the world talking about
their experiences using Scratch. The Scratch educator shares ideas they have and the
projects they or their students have created using Scratch. These educators are often
then asked questions on their teaching experience using Scratch from member of the
MIT team or other Scratch educators. The videos are very helpful for ideas and teaching
methods to teach with Scratch and give a useful insight into the experiences of other
Scratch educators.
ScratchEd Math Resources
Kathryn Perry talked on a show and tell video about her project called fractions
microworld. The project is designed as a teaching aid to teach the concept of fractions.
If you click on ‘broadcast one half’ it will draw one half of a full circle, clicking on
‘compare’ and ‘broadcast one third’ will draw a third of a full circle in a separate area. If

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the compare button was not pressed the third would be drawn attached to the half.
This is a helpful resource for illustrating fractions using ICT and animations. Kathryn
has also designed a worksheet for this project that is uploaded on the ScratchEd
website. For the first example 7/4, the pupils must recognise that they have to click 1/4
seven times on Scratch and then using this visual representation to write down the
mixed number value.
This resource could be used in a key stage three maths lesson to teach pupils about
proper and improper fractions and mixed numbers. The project and the worksheet can
be downloaded from
(http://scratched.media.mit.edu/resources/fractions-microworld)
The Super School Team has also been creating classroom ready resources to teach using
Scratch.
“The Super School Team work together to come up with a large number of
classroom ready activities and games and a convenient classifying method”
(http://scratched.media.mit.edu/resources/scratch-math-and-science-classes)
Behrouz Aghevli is the founder of the Super School Team and welcomes other Scratch
educators with the same idea. The team has created many maths based projects that
are available from the Scratch website. These projects are useful teaching aids that can
be used to teach many different areas in math and science.

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Scratch can be used to teach pupils on all areas of mathematics. The Scratch website
has many examples of how Scratch can be used to teach probability. There are various
examples covering different aspects and levels of probability. The project called ‘Penny
flipper’ is a project created by Karen Randell (Room209), the project uses the random
number generator function of Scratch to show the probability of flipping a coin. It
allows the coin to be flipped thousands of times to show the probability of getting heads
or tails. ‘Penny flipper’ can show a realistic and visually interesting demonstration of a
large number of trials in a short period of time. It could be used as teaching resource for
Key Stage 3 Mathematics to show that the probability will not always be exactly 0.5 but
the more trials the closer the probability will be to 0.5.
The project titled ‘probability’ by ‘jboyler’ is a probability project designed for students
“to illustrate that larger sample sizes lead to more accurate results when
determining the experimental probability of an event.”
(www.scratch.mit.edu/projects/jboyer/346863)

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There are eight balls of three different colours with an unknown number of each colour.
Each time a ball is chosen it is replaced back in the bag. The project records the number
of times each colour is chosen and with this information the students must work out the
number of green balls. The first ten trials are unlikely to give a good reflection on the
number of balls, it will not be clear until a hundred or more trials are recorded.
This Scratch user ‘jboyler’ also commented under the project their encouraging view of
Scratch as a tool for education.
“I think that Scratch is a great program to have students use as well (as it was
designed for) because it requires them to use logic and gives immediate feedback
on mistakes. I think ideally I would have students create a program for their
classmates to use on a topic that we are studying because that would require much
greater understanding of the material than using a teacher created program”.
(www.scratch.mit.edu/projects/jboyer/346863)

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The Scratch user ‘Dapontes’ created two probability projects called “coin probability
relative frequency” and “dice0”. These projects display the probabilities of coin flipping
and of throwing a dice. The two projects demonstrate that more trials show more
accurate results in a very different way. The projects are visually very interesting and
have also graphs to illustrate the results. Pupils would enjoy this interactive
demonstration of probability and it would be a useful resource to teach children key
stage three probability.

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The Scratch user ‘Paddle2see’ created a roulette table project. This project could be
used to teach probability to key stage three students in an interesting and appealing
way. The pupils would also enjoy this interactive and animated resource and could
discuss the probability of obtaining e.g. a red odd number, out of the thirty six numbers.

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Psdbenj is a Scratch user that uploaded a seven minute video tutorial on the ScratchEd
website on creating a coordinate game.
www.screencast.com/users/psdbenj/folders/Default/media/9c3867b4-434b-
4341-996b-112da9dcbe41
The video consists of the Scratch user creating the project and talking, exactly step by
step, about how they are doing it.

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The game would be a great resource to teach coordinates to key stage three pupils in a
fun way using ICT. The idea of the game is for the cat to catch the fish, the fish will move
to a random point on the x y coordinate plane and then find the correct coordinate
values for the cat to catch the fish. If the cat catches the fish the cat says ‘well done’ if the
cat doesn’t catch the fish it says ‘try again’ and the cat returns to the starting position.
This game is fun and appealing for the students, it involves estimating coordinates and
the difficulty level can be easily changed by shrinking or enlarging the sprites. This
game is a simple idea which the pupils could create very easily themselves using the
tutorial video, or it could be used as a teaching aid to teach key stage students about
coordinates.

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There is also a document in ScratchEd maths resources, titled ‘Assignment: Graphing
with Scratch’ this is a Scratch assignment involving drawing a set of axis and plotting ten
points of a function. The assignment would be beneficial for teaching GCSE functions
and graphs. It is well detailed and has a list of project requirements including the size of
the axis, thickness of lines etc and will require drawing a graph as illustrated below.
The assignment has a rubric which is marked out of twenty with two marks for
creativity. Giving only two marks for creativity for this maths assignment will help
ensure the pupils focus on the mathematics rather than the design.

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ScratchEd Discussion Forum
The ScratchEd website has a discussion forum where other ScratchEd users can
communicate with each other. The discussion forum is a way for Scratch users around
the world to communicate and share ideas. The forum includes discussions titled, news
and announcements, events, Scratch educator meet ups, teaching with Scratch, and
researching Scratch etc. The forum is very active and helpful for contacting Scratch
users and getting help with any difficulties using the program e.g. a Scratch user had a
query about how to change the background when two sprites touch, Karen Brennan, a
member the Scratch team created a basic project on this and sent it to the user. This is
just one example of the great support network that is provided by members of the
Scratch team and other Scratch users on the ScratchEd website.
Scratch Members
Scratch members is one of the main tabs in the ScratchEd website. This marks the
locations of the Scratch users around the world with a red flag on the map. The image
clearly shows the popularity of Scratch and the world wide network of ScratchEd users
that are signed up.

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The members maps allows you to zoom in on your own location, this allows you to see
where Scratch is been used locally. By clicking on the red flag you can also enter their
ScratchEd profile and send a comment. This shows the general post code area of the
user, their projects and the information that was posted publicly on ScratchEd, no
personal information about the ScratchEd user is given. The member’s map is a useful
application to get in contact with people locally that use Scratch, to develop a network
of local contacts, communicate about Scratch with people that may be using it in a
similar way and share feedback and ideas.

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The Scratch members map is a way to develop and expand the Scratch community so
users can help each other and work together to explore the vast capabilities of the
program. Scratch Day is another way to speak with Scratch users to share ideas and
experiences.
Scratch Day
“Scratch Day is a worldwide network of gatherings, where people come together to
meet other Scratchers, share projects and experiences, and learn more about
Scratch. There are currently 47 events in 24 countries.”
(http://day.scratch.mit.edu)
There has been a Scratch Day in Dublin every year since 2009, organised by Stephen
Howell a lecturer in computer Science in the institute of Technology in Tallaght Dublin.
Scratch Day is a great idea to bring people together to demonstrate their ideas and to
show people that are new to Scratch the range of capabilities.

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You can plan many different types of activities for Scratch Day. For example, you
could organize hands-on workshops to introduce newcomers to Scratch, exhibitions
to showcase projects by local Scratchers, sessions where educators share Scratch
experiences, informal gatherings where Scratchers can share ideas.”
( http://day.scratch.mit.edu)
There are a number of short promotional videos available on the Scratch and the
ScratchEd website showing previous Scratch days and explaining the purpose of the
day. Scratch Day would be a great event for pupils and teachers, to have fun with
Scratch, organise fun activities and collaborate with other pupils locally that are using
Scratch. Pupils would also be given an opportunity to showcase their Scratch projects
and see the vast range of projects that are created with Scratch. A Scratch Day in
Northern Ireland would also be useful for teachers to see how Scratch can be integrated
into the Northern Ireland Curriculum.
Teaching with Scratch
Stamati Crook (2009) carried out a study into embedding Scratch into the UK
curriculum.
www.scratched.media.mit.edu/resources/embedding-scratch-classroom
Crook examines the teaching with Scratch to twenty three children aged between seven
and eight that worked together to create projects. The study found that the pupils really
enjoyed the lesson and looked forward to using Scratch every week. Initially some of
the pupils complained that other pairs were copying work until the teacher explained
that sharing knowledge of programming techniques was a part of the process. Crook
found that,
“Both boys and girls liked Scratch although boys were more drawn to creating
games. Some of the pupils preferred the creative process of drawing and creating
sprites and had to be encouraged to get on with the task of programming, but all
completed their tasks.”
sroom-10.pdf)

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Teachers are required to spend considerable effort preparing Scratch based lessons
plans and also to ensure that they had the programming knowledge to keep up with the
more advanced young programmers who were working on their projects at home. The
study by Cook (2009) also found the interest of the other school teachers to be low and
that it seemed unlikely that the other teachers in the school were willing to adopt
Scratch in the immediate future. However,
“Teachers and educational establishments need access to the resources and
training required to give teachers the experience and confidence to incorporate
Scratch into their lessons plans into ICT and other topics of the curriculum.”
(www.scratched.media.mit.edu/sites/default/files/Scratch%20in%20the%20Class
room-10.pdf)
Methodology
Methods of Research
Cohen et al (2007) refers to the three methods of research, qualitative, quantitative and
action research. In the research I chose qualitative and action research as the preferred
methods. Qualitative research involves processes such as interviews and observations,
where the information is spoken, written or observed, while action research involves
learning by doing. For this study action research involved, creating Scratch projects and
using Scratch in key stage three maths lessons. The qualitative research methods of
observing the Scratch forums, evaluating Scratch projects uploaded on Scratch website and
interviewing experienced Scratch users.
Interviews
“The interview is a flexible tool for data collection, enabling multi-sensory channels
to be used: verbal, non verbal, spoken and heard. The order of the interview can
still be controlled while still giving space for spontaneity.”
(Cohen et al, 2007, p.349)
There are several types of interviews that may be used in research, structured
interviews, semi–structured interviews and unstructured interviews. I chose to use

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semi-structured interviews as I had a clear list of issues to be addressed and questions
to be answered.
“With the semi-structured interview the interviewer is prepared to be flexible on
terms of the order in which the topics are considered.”
(Denscombe, 2007 P 176)
The semi-structured interviews were carried out over Skype with experienced Scratch
users in various different countries around the world. A list of questions was typed up
and emailed to the interviewees a few days in advance [Appendix A]. This was so they
would have a better idea of the types of questions that would be asked and have time to
prepare a full and detailed response.
Teaching Experience of Scratch
The research of this study also included the implementation of Scratch as a teaching aid
in teaching key stage three mathematics. This was permitted by the senior staff of the
school and involved teaching angles and shape properties to year 8 pupils. Scratch was
used in three forty minutes lessons educating pupils with no previous experience of the
program. The study required creating maths based Scratch projects analysing the
process, ease of use and reflecting on the math thinking skills involved as well as how it
can be used to teach key stage three mathematics.
Signing up to Scratch
In the study research I was required to sign up to Scratch and ScratchEd, analysing
maths based projects already created, reading documentation, participating in the
Scratch forums and generally contributing to the Scratch online community. The focus
is on reflecting on the all round features available to a Scratch user regarding
development of maths thinking skills.
Questionnaires
Questionnaires were not used as a part of the study for a number of reasons. Firstly
there was an increased possibility of having a low response rate and secondly, there are
a limited number of suitable contacts locally that could have benefited the study by
completing questionnaires.

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Results
Overview
The study will now look at the information gathered in the research about Scratch and
how it can be used with key stage three students to develop mathematical thinking
skills. This will involve examining these projects uploaded by other Scratch users and
evaluating the maths involved in creating maths based projects.
Karen Randall (room209) is an experienced Scratch user and has experience in using
Scratch to teach mathematics in an elementary school. Karen states that,
“Scratch is full of potential for using the maths we were studying to solve
interesting problems.”
(http://ScratchEd.media.mit.edu/stories/Scratch-pre-algebra-class)
Creating with Scratch
Creating with Scratch firstly involves coming up with a concept and idea before creating
the project. The user can create a template or prototype to begin with and experiment
with it. The project can then be shared with other Scratch users on the website where
comments, feedback and ideas can be left to develop it further, or again downloading it
or modifying it themselves. This can also be a useful exercise in the classroom, students
can collaborate ideas and work together to create group projects. The students could
first decide on an idea or concept idea, each person in the group could be given a
different role e.g. creating background (stage). They can all be given a basic prototype
and they can individually develop it by adding their own ideas and media. Sharing
resources can also be a great to get to know other Scratch users that a creating similar
projects.
“The Web site has become a bustling online community. Members are constantly
asking questions, giving advice, and modifying one another’s projects.”
(www.web.media.mit.edu/~mres/papers/Learning-Leading-final.pdf)

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Scratch Community
The Scratch Community is friendly, cooperative and expanding all the time. When
looking at the Scratch forum, comments on projects and speaking with experienced
Scratch users I was very impressed at how enthusiastic and helpful the Scratch users
were. Scratch users are keen to share their new and innovative ways to use the
program and a number of other teachers that had seen and heard about Scratch in the
school I carried out my research were very eager to learn more about it. These teachers
felt the program had a lot of potential in education and asked me to explain the program
and demonstrate its capabilities.
“People interact with digital media all the time, few are able to create their own
games, animations or simulations. It’s as if they can read but can’t write.”
(http://web.media.mit.edu/~mres/papers/Scratch-CACM-final.pdf)
Fluency with Scratch
Creating projects with Scratch helps novice programmers develop a deeper level of
fluency with digital technology, this means not only knowing how to work with
computers but how to write with them. There are many resources and programs
available today, many varieties of interactive media’s but few that are suitable for
novice programmers to create with.
“These programs are one way street: You can only browse and click what others
have created; you can’t design and create your own.”
(www.info.scratch.mit.edu/sites/infoscratch.media.mit.edu/docs/Creating-with-
Scratch.pdf)
Computers and technology are becoming increasingly popular in today’s society, in
education, recreation, work and socially. Learning to program will enable Scratch users
to understand the workings of the technologies that they encounter in everyday life and
develop the skills required to create them. Scratch makes combining interactive
creations easier for inexperienced programmers. It will give the users an opportunity to
express themselves creatively in creating interactive projects and to think clearly and
logically to create them.

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As stated by Mitchel Resnick, Professor of Learning Research at the MIT Media Lab and
head of the Scratch development team.
“Our feeling is that it’s especially important for young people to have the
opportunity to design, create and express themselves with new interactive media
technologies — not just to view these things, but to create them and interact with
them. We think it should be open to as many people as possible, and we’re
interested in finding ways for people to design and share interactive media on all
types of platforms.”
(http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2010/3q-resnick-scratch-0428.html)
Teaching with Scratch
Scratch can be used in many different ways to teach key stage three mathematics. In my
experience of using Scratch in a secondary school with a year 8 maths lesson I focused
on the topics of angles and shapes. I firstly gave a demonstration of the features of
Scratch and showed some examples of Scratch projects. The pupils were very excited
about working with the program as it was very appealing to them. I then set the pupils
a simple task to draw a basic polygon. Most of the pupils worked well and drew the
shapes as instructed. This involved using their previous knowledge of angles and
properties of polygons. There are also a number of ‘show and tell’ videos available on
ScratchEd to help new Scratch users become familiar with the program this could have
also been used to demonstrate the features to the pupils.
In an interview with Karen Randall, Karen mentioned that there are some pupils that
can work and discover things for themselves on the program and others that need more
assistance and guidance. I also found this to be the case. Some pupils will take to the
program very well, thinking for themselves, solving problems. Others will need more
guidance and support, e.g. asking for help when they are having problems with the
script. The pupils should be encouraged to think for themselves to solve errors in the
script, it will help the pupils to understand the logic and sequencing of the program.
Encouraging the pupils to sign up to Scratch and use Scratch at home, even if it is
experimenting, would leave it much easier to start using it in lessons as they will be
more familiar with how to use the features and do the basics.

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“There is a buzz in the room when the kids get going on Scratch projects. Students
set design goals for their projects and problem-solve to fix program bugs. They
collaborate, cooperate, and co-teach. They appreciate the power that Scratch gives
them to create their own versions of games and animations.”
(http://web.media.mit.edu/~mres/papers/Learning-Leading-final.pdf)
Scratch Assignments and Presentations
Scratch has potential to be the innovative and interactive replacement for the
traditional assignments and presentations that students complete in school.
“In classrooms, students have begun to use Scratch to create reports and
presentations—replacing traditional PowerPoint presentations with content that
is far more dynamic and interactive.”
(www.web.media.mit.edu/~mres/papers/Learning-Leading-final.pdf)
Scratch as a Unit
Pupils could create Scratch games as a unit. There are many great examples and pre-
designed units available on the Scratch website and on Scratch Ed that are effective in
developing mathematical thinking skills of key stage three pupils. Patrick Woessner
designed a six day unit for 7th grade students to create a game with a grading rubric
included. There are a few similar units including the greenfoot programming unit.
www.Scratched.media.mit.edu/stories/using-picoboards-and-Scratch-students-
alternate-input-devices.
This unit gives step by step ‘phases’ to create one of the traditional asteroid games. This
method is more interactive and would be a welcomed change from the traditional
PowerPoint’s and assignments.
“In order to do things like map a slider control to drive a sprite around the screen
or a paddle in game or a rocket ship flying around the screen and shooting
asteroids, students need to be able to use variables and describe processes like
turning, moving, changing direction and increasing or decreasing momentum,
drawing a circle using trig functions and so on. The motivation for mastering these
concepts is to enable making a better game or story or scenario.”
(www.Scratched.media.mit.edu/sites/default/files/Scratch2Greenfoot01.pdf)

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Shape and Angles
Scratch can be used to teach students about shapes and angles. For a student to draw a
simple shape on Scratch, such as a square, begins with choosing a starting coordinate.
The student must then decide on the dimensions of the squares and angles of the turns
to draw a complete shape. This requires the mathematical knowledge of the shape to be
in place, the size of the angles and the relationship of the length and breadth. If the first
attempt to draw the shape was not successful the student must use their problem
solving skills to correct the error, e.g. if the shape was too small, alter the values
appropriately to draw it at a better scale. Students can also use the repeat function of
Scratch to draw the shape and to shorten the script. They then must think about how
many repeats it will take to complete the shape.
The pupils can then use this basic shape to create more fun and elaborate shapes and
patterns, simply by adding to the script.

1 4 7 8 3 0 6 1
This pattern above is created from using the repeat function of the original square and
involves further mathematical thinking. By commanding the sprite to turn clockwise 36
degrees, how many repetitions will be needed to bring the sprite back to the starting
point again? The students must then use their knowledge of angles to work out a
complete circle is 360 degrees so moving 36 degrees 10 times will bring the sprite back
to the starting point, the origin. This would be a fun way to help pupils understand the
angles and sides of the different polygons. Pupils can then experiment with different
shapes and then use their knowledge of the polygon and angles in a full turn to create
different patterns. This basic concept can be expanded and developed depending on the
working level the pupils. The students can add different sprites and backgrounds,
patterns containing different colours and also with more than one type of shape. They
can also construct images using different polygons i.e. house or car etc.
The variables function on Scratch can be used to create shapes and patterns. When the
pupils have knowledge of how to draw polygons and create these patterns they can

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design a project with variables to change the values for the number of sides, number of
repeats of the pattern and colour change.
The project which I created contains variables for the number of sides of the shape,
number of repeats and also to change the colour of the pen to make it visually appealing.
I set the variable displays to sliders so they can be dragged to change the values. This
way it is easier to create more patterns and also combine the patterns to create some
interesting affects e.g.

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Creating the project involved a significant amount of mathematical thinking. The
original shape was created by moving 40 steps and turning clockwise at an angle of
360° divided by the number of sides. The “number of repeats” variable was created by
turning the shape clockwise with an angle of 360° divided by the number of repeats
using the divider operator and the colour changes after every 40 steps moved when
drawing the shape. This project can also be created using the ask command e.g.

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This idea of drawing shapes is a fun and interactive way to teach shape and angles at
key stage three linking ICT and Maths. Creating the project with variables involves
basic algebra. The pupils could first discuss and discover the formula for the internal
angles of a regular polygon and then combine this with their knowledge of writing with
Scratch to create the script with variables.
Translations, Reflections and Transformations
Scratch can also be useful to illustrate translations, reflections and transformations
similar to Karen Randall’s ‘My Initials’ project,
www.Scratch.mit.edu/projects/room209/321638.
From drawing a basic shape in the first quadrant and a basic x and y axis, students can
then illustrate the symmetries of the shape in the remaining quadrants. This develops
the pupil’s knowledge of various aspects of mathematics including symmetry,
coordinates and arithmetic of positive and negative numbers. The students must draw
the image in the first quadrant using the ‘pen down’ operation and their knowledge of
coordinates.

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The next step is to calculate the coordinate points in the next quadrants. The starting
coordinates and the shape itself can be changed depending on the ability of the class. In
this basic example I started with a square at (20, 20) but this can be more challenging
by starting with a more complicated shape and beginning from a starting point were the
x and y coordinates are different. When drawing the reflections the students are
required to use their mathematical thinking skills to calculate the coordinate points of
the shape in the remaining quadrants.

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Enlargement
Scratch can also be used to illustrate transformation and enlargements. I found a
resource titled ‘Ally’s scale factor project’ on the Scratch website.
www.Scratch.mit.edu/projects/ExpoSchool/867742
I used the idea of this project to create a resource on enlargement. I downloaded the
project to learn how it was created and then went and created a remix. This resource
can be used in two ways, the pupils can create the Scratch project, or it can be used as a
teaching aid in the classroom.

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The first step of creating the resource is to decide on the original shape. In this case I
have chosen an equilateral triangle. I changed the thickness of the line and colour so it
would be easier to distinguish. The next step is to create an enlargement sprite.
To create the enlargement sprite I simply duplicated the original sprite script and
modified the colour and added a variable slider. To add the variable slider I dragged the
multiplication operator and inserted the scale factor variable into the multiplication.

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For students to complete the step in creating the project they must understand that
with enlargement it is the length of the sides of the original multiplied by a scale of
enlargement, the angles remain unchanged. I clicked on the ‘scale factor of enlargement’
image on the stage to display a slider and then set the limit to six, as it was the largest
that would fit on the stage. I then created other sprites to link the scripts and changed
the background of the stage so it would look more appealing for students.
Linking the original and enlargement scripts to their respective buttons requires clear
and logical thinking of how the script should run and how to use the control operations.
The project should run so that at the beginning the original and enlargement sprites
begin at the same point and only move when the appropriate buttons are pressed.
Adding the control buttons to the project may result in errors, however mathematical
and computational skills are then required to identify the problem, evaluate and resolve
it so it would run smoothly. The project can be used for illustrating enlargement to a
class in an appealing and interactive way, using the interactive whiteboard or data
projector. The project clearly illustrates that with the enlargement scale of two, each
side of the triangle has doubled.

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Project Feedback
I uploaded this project onto the Scratch website and another Scratch user commented
on it saying;
“Nice job! I am thinking of doing something similar but for teaching elementary
logic :) I think it might be useful (for people using this to learn on their own) to add
that when e.g. the scale factor says '2', the triangle produced is actually 4 times
larger. So although each side has been enlarged by scale factor 2, as it is a two-
dimensional shape, the actual triangle produced is scaled up by 4 (the area of 'scale
factor 2' triangle is 4 times larger than 'original' triangle).”
(www.Scratch.mit.edu/projects/steveo_101/1564783
This feedback was encouraging and gave me the idea to enhance my project to show
how doubling the scale factor increases the area of the shape four times. It is also a
small example of, what I found to be, a very cooperative, helpful and encouraging
Scratch community of users. I have been in contact with a number of other Scratch
users and I was amazed at the enthusiasm and willingness to help that I received. It is
also clear to see when browsing the projects the positive and often helpful comments
that are posted and the friends that are made between Scratch users all over the world.
Games with Scratch
From teaching key stage three mathematics it is clear that students enjoy these maths
based games. Many of these games are available on websites such as
www.mathsplayground.com and www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/maths, and from
observations on school experience, are being used by pupils during free time. These
games are fun and entertaining for the pupils and all involve mathematical elements
and thinking skills. If students created similar games themselves using Scratch they
would be developing their maths and computational thinking skills and at the same time
be interesting and fun activities for the pupils. Students would be motivated to improve
and develop their games further, e.g. making it more advanced or interactive and in
order to do this they must develop the mathematics to add variables, operators and
sensors.
As stated by Daniel Green, a senior systems engineer for Sun Microsystems / Oracle
Corporation in response to an email,

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“Math underlies most computer games and having the students create their own
games using Scratch as a tool encourages them to better understand the related
math concepts”
Conclusion
The literature and investigation in this study examined how Scratch can be used to
teach key stage three mathematics. The study was aimed to consider the following
research questions:
How does Scratch promote mathematical thinking skills?
What ways can Scratch be used to teach key stage three mathematics?
Mathematical Thinking Skills Creating with Scratch
The research found that there is a great deal of mathematics involved when creating
Scratch projects. Creating even the most basic project or sprite movement involves
knowledge of different areas of mathematics and requires some form of mathematical
thinking. Scratch provides a fun way for pupils to develop these skills and gives them an
opportunity to create their own games, projects and animations. There may also be
some competitiveness between students when creating projects to produce the best
project or receive more ‘loves’ on the Scratch website, this will help encourage the
pupils to improve and develop their Scratch project and as a result advance on their
Scratch skills. Therefore it was found during the research that Scratch does develop
mathematical thinking skills and the appeal of the program provides underlying
incentive for pupils to improve their projects and consequently their mathematical
thinking skills.
Scratch and the Northern Ireland Curriculum
The Northern Ireland Curriculum promotes these thinking skills and,
“the creative use of technology to enhance mathematical understanding by
demonstrating creative thinking in their approach to solving mathematical
problems and using practical skills using technology.”
(http://www.nicurriculum.org.uk/docs/key_stage_3/statutory_requirements/ks3_
mathematics_new.pdf)

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Scratch is the ideal tool to facilitate this type of learning in the classroom. It involves the
creative use of technology to develop problem solving skills and ICT skills. These skills,
promoted by the Northern Ireland Curriculum and developed by Scratch, help pupils to
go beyond the attainment of knowledge so they can,
“search for meaning, apply ideas, analyse patterns and relationships, create and
design something new and monitor and evaluate their progress”.
Scratch can be used in many different ways in the classroom and has the potential to
cover all five areas of the thinking skills and personal capabilities stated in the
curriculum.
http://www.nicurriculum.org.uk/docs/key_stage_3/non_statutory/ks3_mathemati
cs_ns_guidance.pdf
In the study I have researched the different ways to teach mathematics with Scratch e.g.
part of a unit, lesson resource, an alternative method of presentations and animations,
storytelling with animations, problem solving by remixing projects, collaborative
projects etc.
Teacher Views of Scratch
The research has revealed that many of the younger teachers are keen to learn more
about Scratch and are willing to incorporate it into their teaching. In the research

1 4 7 8 3 0 6 1
school a number of teachers observed some lessons that I taught with Scratch and
others heard I was using the program and wanted me to talk them through its
capabilities. These teachers recognised the potential Scratch has in education and were
enthusiastic to learn about it. However, I also found that some of the other teachers
were unaware of Scratch and its potential or felt it required too much effort learning the
program and spending the extra time planning the lessons. All teachers of mathematics
would benefit from receiving training in how to use Scratch and integrate it into the
Northern Ireland Curriculum. The teachers will learn how to use it and see the vast
range of resources available. It may also be an idea to have Scratch integrated into the
student teacher course so that newly qualified teachers are familiar with the program
and will be more confident to teach with it.
Scratch is an innovative teaching resource that helps develop important thinking skills
that are promoted by the Northern Ireland Curriculum. Creating a Scratch project
involves mathematical thinking, problem solving, sequencing and logical thinking, it
also requires more complex thinking skills the more the competence to improve
projects. Key stage three pupils are enthusiastic about using Scratch and are motivated
to improve their thinking skills in order to enhance their Scratch projects. There are
also a vast range of resources and Scratch projects designed by educators to teach
various different aspects of mathematics. These Scratch resources are constantly
growing and are readily available to anyone.

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Websites
Scratch Website links
(www.day.scratch.mit.edu)
(www.info.Scratch.mit.edu/About_Scratch).
(www.info.scratch.mit.edu/sites/infoscratch.media.mit.edu/docs/Creating-with-
Scratch.pdf)
(www.info.scratch.mit.edu/sites/infoscratch.media.mit.edu/docs/Learning-with-
Scratch.pdf)
(www.info.scratch.mit.edu/sites/infoscratch.media.mit.edu/docs/Programming-
with-Scratch.pdf)
(www.info.Scratch.mit.edu/support/Scratch_cards)
Mitchel Resnick Papers
(www.media.mit.edu/~mres/papers/sigcse-08.pdf)
(www.media.mit.edu/~mres/scratch/scratch-cacm.pdf)
(www.media.mit.edu/~mres/scratch/scratch-cacm.pdf)
(www.media.mit.edu/about/faq#what)
(http://web.media.mit.edu/~mres/papers/CHI-programming-panel.pdf).
(http://web.media.mit.edu/~mres/papers/Learning-Leading-final.pdf)
(http://web.media.mit.edu/~mres/papers/Scratch-CACM-final.pdf)
(http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2010/3q-resnick-scratch-0428.html)
Scratch Projects
(http://Scratch.mit.edu/projects/ExpoSchool/867742
(http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/jboyer/346863)
(http://Scratch.mit.edu/projects/room209/321638.

1 4 7 8 3 0 6 1
(http://Scratch.mit.edu/projects/steveo_101/1564783
ScratchEd
(http://Scratched.media.mit.edu/about)
(http://scratched.media.mit.edu/resources/embedding-scratch-classroom)
(http://scratched.media.mit.edu/resources/fractions-microworld)
(http://scratched.media.mit.edu/resources/geometry-lessons-scratch
(http://Scratched.media.mit.edu/resources/lesson-ideas-middle-school-
classrooms)
(http://scratched.media.mit.edu/resources/scratch-math-and-science-classes)
sroom-10.pdf)
(http://Scratched.media.mit.edu/sites/default/files/Scratch2Greenfoot01.pdf
(http://ScratchEd.media.mit.edu/stories/Scratch-pre-algebra-class)
(http://Scratched.media.mit.edu/stories/using-picoboards-and-Scratch-students-
alternate-input-devices)
Other Websites
(www.screencast.com/users/psdbenj/folders/Default/media/9c3867b4-434b-
4341-996b-112da9dcbe41
(www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/schools/pdf/NIschools_curriculumOverview.pdf)
(www.mathsnet.net/logo.html)

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Bibliography
DENSCOMBE, M (2007) THE GOOD RESEARCH GUIDE; FOR SMALL SCALE SOCIAL RESEARCH
PROJECTS, MAIDENHEAD, OPEN UNIVERSITY PRESS
COHEN, L, MANION, L AND MORRISON K (2007) RESEARCH METHODS IN EDUCATION;
LONDON, SAGE PUBLICATIONS
MUIJS, D (2004) DOING QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH IN EDUCATION WITH SPSS; LONDON,
SAGE

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Appendix A
Email sent to Karen Randal before the interview
Introduction-who you are, what you do?
Which age group do you teach?
What do you teach with scratch – programming, aspects of Maths or Science, logical
thinking etc?
Is you approach teacher-led or pupil-led?
What types of projects do the pupils create?
Do they work individually, in pairs or bigger groups?
The student’s response with Scratch-Do they enjoy it? Find it easy to use?
Do you feel Scratch can develop mathematical thinking skills? how?
What benefits do the pupils get from using the program – more creativity, confidence,
enjoyment, collaboration?
What benefits do you see as a teacher that motivates you to continue using Scratch?
Has your teaching changed as result?

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