New Perspectives in Science Education

Computer programming is not an easy subject to be taught. Students who endeavor to apprehend it  have a difficult task in hands, too. Teachers don´t agree on which methodology is better. The high dropout rates common in computer science 1 courses ( CS1) worldwide are proof that traditional teaching approaches need improvement. Within this context, this study focuses on designing activities based on multiple intelligences proposed by Gardner, generic competencies from the Tuning Latin America Project and design teaching patterns from the Informed Design Teaching and Learning Matrix (IDTLM) proposed by Crismond and Adams. The research question that motivated this study was: What kind of competences and multiple intelligences oriented activities can we design to engage students and obtain better results?. This paper presents a set of didactic units and a brief description of each activity. A subset of these activities obtained one of the first prizes in the PRECITYE Program (Regional Program in Engineering Entrepreneurship and Innovation from Argentina, Brasil, Chile y Uruguay)