Learning to programme in adult age

Year 2018, Volume: 4 Issue: 1, 21 - 28, 01.05.2018

Alda Ferreira Silva

Abstract

In the aim of deepening knowledge regarding the theme of lifelong learning, this work presents a research project that leads us to understand how adults learn to program and to develop skills with the effective and critical use of digital technological resources. This work will study the learning of programming by Portuguese unemployed adults between the ages of 35 and the age of retirement. In its implementation, it will carry out a training intervention by designing, developing and organizing educational strategies and resources that will enable participants to learn to programme. In addition to collect the data needed to characterize the training process, it is also hoped to gather evidence to help to understand how this type of learning develops problem-solving skills and critical thinking skills. This research is in line with the priorities identified in the 2020 European Commission's Strategy Paper.

Keywords

lifelong learning, empowerment, programming, computational thinking, problem solving

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• *Note: This article reports research developed within the PhD Program Technology Enhanced Learning and Societal Challenges, funded by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, FCT I. P. – Portugal, under contracts # PD/00173/2014 and # PD/BD/128435/2017.