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20 1 INTRODUCTION
the role of senses in education. The partner involved in this study was an under¬
graduate student, Alpár Károly Adorjáni. He developed the software tool (Code
Buherator) which allowed the combined involvement of sight, hearing, and touch
in the teaching-learning process of computer algorithms. Afterwards, we added the
kinaesthetic sense too. In chapters 3 and 4, we detail the methods we developed
at that stage of the project.
In the coming years, another undergraduate student was invited to participate
in the project, Laszl6 Téth. He contributes to the involvement of dance in our mul¬
ti-sensory computer-programming education programme (Chapter 5). As a next step,
the research group initiated a collaboration with a professional folk dance institution
(Maros Miivészegyiittes), and six folk dance choreographies were created with the
aim of illustrating sorting algorithms. These videos were posted on the AlgoRythmics
YouTube channel on 2011 (Kátai g Tóth, 2011). László Tóth developed the first ver¬
sion of the AlgoRythmics web application, which associates interactive computer
animations with the algorithmic dance performances. This learning environment
(detailed in Chapter 7) provided the framework for the research studies presented
in chapters 8 to 10.
In 2016, two new colleagues joined the group, Erika Osztiän and Géza Károly
Vekov. They gave the project a new impetus (see Chapter 11). Four new dance
choreographies were added to the AlgoRythmics collection (Kätai, Osztiän, Osztiän,
& Vekov, 2018). We extended our repertoire with new algorithms and new dance
styles (flamenco in collaboration with the Andräs Löränt Company; ballet in
collaboration with the Cluj-Napoca Hungarian State Opera). The project entered a
new stage when we decided to redesign the AlgoRythmics web application (Kätai,
Osztiän, Osztiän, Nagy, & Cosma, 2020). Three undergraduate students contributed
to this: Pálma Rozália Osztián, Eszter Jáhel Nagy, and Cristian Sebastian Cosma.
Their work was technically supervised by Csaba Tekse from Lateral Company
(a design and development studio). Palma Rozalia Osztidn remained a member of
the research team even after graduating. Chapters 12 and 13 report on the recent
studies that were implemented, mostly in the renewed Algorythmics environment.
In the first phase of the project, we focused on enhancing CS education. The
subjects for the studies from this period were CS students. In Chapter 2, we pres¬
ent the theoretical background for these investigations. Chapter 6 includes some
conclusions based on the findings of our first three research studies. In the last
years, we extended our research interest to other categories of learners too: human¬
ities-oriented students and elementary and gymnasium-level learners. Because of
the diversity of studies 4-8, the related literature reviews and conclusions have been
included in the corresponding chapters. The last chapter offers a brief overview of
the AlgoRythmics project and mentions some of our future plans.