Seek-and-Find-Drawings in the Research of Students’ Conceptions in Computer Science Education

Research into students’ conceptions is inherently challenged with appropriately transferring profound research questions into suitable research instruments. This applies in particular, but not exclusively, to studies with primary school students. In order to investigate individuals’ conceptions, besides linear-linguistic questionnaire procedures, classically guided interviews are used, also triangulated with each other or further sub-instruments (e.g. concept mapping techniques). For this latter purpose, seek-and-find-drawings offer a good opportunity, both paper based and digital. This paper presents research on primary school students’ conceptions of computers in everyday objects and illustrates a methodical opportunity regarding the use of seek-and-find-drawings in Computer Science Education research. In the presented study, 60 primary school children were presented with a seek-and-find-drawing depicting several everyday encounter situations with computing systems. According to the results, primary school students understand not only personal computers, smartphones, tablets, video gaming consoles and (video) cameras, but in few cases also refrigerators, air conditioners and cars as systems containing (embedded) computers. The experience from the presented paper based hidden objects study can be used especially for future research projects.