Title:
Virtues in Action: Exploring Virtue Disclosure in Children’s Expressive Coding Narratives [Download]Authors:
Avia Ben-Ari, Rinat B. Rosenberg-Kima
Index Terms:
Abstract:
This study examines how novice learners express virtue-based dispositions through their Expressive Coding (EC) narratives, exploring how coding engagement may reveal moral dimensions in learning processes. Building on Bers’ Coding as Another Language (CAL) curriculum, EC integrates constructionist coding instruction with Expressive Arts Therapy (EAT)-informed principles, wherein projective storytelling allows the expression of children’s inner experiences, while learning basic coding skills on the programming platform ScratchJr. Twenty third-grade children with no prior programming experience participated in a five-session EC intervention, wherein they created personal stories following predefined prompts. A mixed-methods analysis combining the Creative Coding Rubric (CCR) with a directed content analysis informed by Bers’ Palette of Virtues and an inductive thematic analysis were conducted. Quantitative CCR results showed most children reached the Advanced proficiency level, demonstrating meaningful creative-coding knowledge. Qualitative analyses revealed recurrent expression of perseverance (70%), generosity (40%), and optimism (35%) across children’s artifacts, along with courage, loyalty, respect, and faith as emergent virtues additional to those included in CAL. Findings indicate that EC supports both computational and moral growth, positioning coding as a projective space for moral exploration. Linking CCR dimensions with virtue-related manifestations, the study proposes to extend creative coding assessment as a potential proxy for virtue enactment. Overall, EC further demonstrates how coding-based storytelling may nurture children’s developing moral selves alongside foundational coding knowledge acquisition.
DOI:
How to cite:
Avia Ben-Ari, Rinat B. Rosenberg-Kima, "Virtues in Action: Exploring Virtue Disclosure in Children’s Expressive Coding Narratives", IEEE-RITA, vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 222-229, Jan. 2026. doi: 10.1109/RITA.2026.3670731