Promoting Interest and Broadening Participation in Computing among Middle School Pupils through Physical Computing Projects using Grounded Cognition T

Diversity among computing students remains a crucial issue despite efforts to broaden participation
(Kemp, Wong et al., 2019). In England, the education system is organised so that children attend
primary education until the age of 11, then move into secondary education. Research suggests that as
pupils transition from one phase to the next, interest in computing can decrease (Leonard, Quinlan et
al., 2021). The focus of this study would therefore be pupils aged 9- to 13-years old, spanning both
primary and secondary education. Previous research has identified that physical computing
approaches can increase pupils' interest and motivation in computing (e.g. Sentance, Waite et al.,
2017). However, these approaches lack grounding in psychological and learning science and thus, limit
our understanding on their potential and effective use in the classroom and particularly on effectively
teaching diverse groups of learners.