Implementation of Unplugged Teaching Activities to Foster Computational Thinking Skills in Primary School from a Gender Perspective

The participation of girls and women is fundamental in solving problems that the society demands. Currently, the figures indicate a deficit of female presence in the STEM context, which implies the loss of the talent of the female collective. The school, as the transforming axis of society, must generate actions that motivate, involve and generate commitment in girls and women, enhancing their engagement in the STEM context. This paper shows two unplugged activities taken from a serial of activities implemented with elementary students and families in a digital cultural center in Madrid-Spain. The implementation is based on general objectives such as 1. To introduce and motivate interest since an early age in computer programming, 2. To develop gender dynamics that educate on gender equity to strengthen female empowerment in the STEM area. Performing the example in the roles of female gender in science, as well as transforming stereotypes with the purpose of motivate girls and adult women, without excluding the male group. The activities also seek to train Computational Thinking skills, to introduce basic computer programming concepts as well as showing that unplugged activities are important in teaching computer programming, and integrate women into the STEM area, as an important tool to reduce gender gaps. Based on our informal observations, some results were: involvement of the female collective in the construction of codes, improvement in the dynamics of gender equity in each activity and that the girls created more complex codes than males.