5 students and 2 teachers from each school participated at the LTT activity in Romania for five days (26.9.2022 – 30.9.2022). In this activity, students were given a structured training to gain and improve their competence related to coding by the Romanian school ICT teachers.
The program:
1st day: Python programming language
2nd day: Practical training of Python programming language
3rd day: Setting up the algorithm and coding the established algorithm
4th day : Making transactions by taking into account the variables
5th day: 30 students from 6 countries were divided into 5 different groups with at least one student from each country. These groups used the Python programming language to write a program to prevent environmental pollution, the ‘Light Pollution’. The students were informed about the content of this study on the 1st day so that they were able to prepare themselves for this activity for 5 days. The programs written at the end of the day were be presented to other groups by a representative student in each group. The best written program was chosen by students’ votes and included in the booklet that will be published at the end of the project.
In this LTT activity the students learned coding and algorithm (21st century skills) to look at the problems from different aspects, to be able to produce solutions, to think analytically, to think systematically and creatively and to offer the shortest solutions. When the students comprehend the logic of the algorithm, they will realize that everything is done in a certain order and that necessary procedures cannot be done when there is no order. Coding is not only limited to the computer science, it is also very important in terms of interdisciplinary interaction. Students also gained the skills that are necessary for analysing and organizing the data, to divide the problems into small manageable pieces and present the problem-solving techniques in the direction of students’ skills. By recognizing the importance of the skills of our age such as algorithmic thinking, analytical thinking, critical thinking, problem solving, design-oriented thinking, many developed countries have made a radical change in their education systems. The main reason why the Python programming language was taught to the students in this LTT was that it is one of the most suitable coding languages for beginners. Python language is one of the most popular languages nowadays since it is easy to understand and write syntax. Our students learned coding with enthusiasm during this LTT and will thus have an awareness of environmental problems as well as a programming language.