Remixing as a Pathway to Computational Thinking

TL;DR

This study quantitatively demonstrates that remixing in a large online community promotes learning of computational thinking and expands programming repertoires among young users.

Contribution

It provides empirical evidence linking remixing behavior to increased computational understanding and programming diversity in a large-scale social computing environment.

Findings

Remixers have larger programming repertoires.

Exposure to remixing correlates with increased use of computational concepts.

Remixing supports learning and skill development in young users.

Abstract

Theorists and advocates of "remixing" have suggested that appropriation can act as a pathway for learning. We test this theory quantitatively using data from more than 2.4 million multimedia programming projects shared by more than 1 million users in the Scratch online community. First, we show that users who remix more often have larger repertoires of programming commands even after controlling for the numbers of projects and amount of code shared. Second, we show that exposure to computational thinking concepts through remixing is associated with increased likelihood of using those concepts. Our results support theories that young people learn through remixing, and have important implications for designers of social computing systems.