Computational Thinking in Enhancing Primary Students' Social-Emotional Learning Skills

<< Background >>Today, technology has penetrated many aspects of life, automating various sectors from agriculture to industry. This shift created new jobs, emphasizing human cognitive and emotional skills, making social-emotional learning (SEL) essential for employability and effective social interactions. SEL involves being aware of emotions and managing them, overcoming challenges, building healthy relationships, and empathizing, which are vital for students’ success in school and real life.To improve SEL skills, integrating computational thinking became important. This involved decomposition, abstraction, pattern recognition, and algorithmic thinking skills, which could help students solve complex problems across disciplines. Promoting SEL alongside computational thinking would allow students to progress consciously and prepare them for the future by equipping them with the knowledge and interpersonal skills necessary for success.A curriculum integrating those approaches and digital teaching materials has been an immediate need for current primary school teachers to support them in teaching how to overcome challenges that SEL addresses, using a systematic methodology. Thus, COMPUSEL addressed these needs. << Objectives >>The COMPUSEL project aimed to improve SEL skills among primary school students and give training to teachers to support this development. The initiative includes creating a curriculum and digital stories that address various social and emotional challenges, fostering self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, building relationships, and responsible decision-making.Since teachers played a crucial role in student achievement, and their effectiveness was linked to ongoing professional development this project emphasized the integration of computational thinking with SEL, equipping students with problem-solving skills necessary for future challenges. Ultimately, the project sought to train teachers to implement innovative methods and support students in achieving social inclusion and success in developing their SEL skills.<< Implementation >>We carried out the content development phases through descriptive methods; document analysis, literature reviews, workshops, individual work and teamwork. We developed digital story scenarios that helped primary students realise real challenges in social relationships and find efficient solutions. We carried out seminars and piloting processes through experimental methods; interviewed teachers at the beginning and end of the seminars, and applied questionnaires to the students and teachers to reveal the effectiveness of the piloting activities. Throughout the project, we did our best to disseminate the project results to primary school teachers and received the positive results of our efforts, we already planned to give further training to willing teachers. << Results >>The concrete results of the project are as follows.1- Knowledge paper including literature reviews on SEL and CT teaching in primary schools2- Curriculum for Primary Schools3- 10 Digital Stories addressing challenges in 5 dimensions of SEL created and published in English, Romanian, Greek, Turkish, Polish, and Portuguese Languages4- Guidebook for Teachers5- Activity Book6- Lesson Plans and Worksheets7- Academic ArticlesOther Results of The Project:1- Improved personal dialogue between partners that would lead to further research collaborations2- Increased capacity of the project team members on SEL regarding knowledge accumulation and research experience3- 163 academicians, primary school principals, and teachers participated in workshops.4- Introduced project results and the project practice to 471 stakeholders during the 5 multiplier events and other promotional events. Capacity building through the exchange of know-how was realised due to these events.5- 148 teachers were informed about the teaching practices of SEL during the seminars. This allowed teachers to gain insight into how to create awareness of students related to realising, controlling or managing emotions for more effective social relations and commitment to lifelong learning.6- 122 primary school students attended the second leg of the piloting process and received training with the developed materials. 7- The project website was established as the main dissemination channel of the project and a forum section was developed to ensure teachers share their activities. 2170 visitors by 01.10.2024