Evaluating the impact of Work It Out Wombats! on children’s computational thinking and related skills in the United States
Dados Bibliográficos
| ID | 23311331 |
|---|---|
| Autores | Emily Relkin (0000-0002-9031-6847, Education Development Center, autor correspondente), Claire Christensen (0000-0002-6148-1886, SRI Education), Megan Silander (0000-0002-6481-2716, Education Development Center), Shari Dubos (SRI Education), Janna Kook (Education Development Center), Sarah Gerard (SRI Education), Elizabeth Hunt (Education Development Center), Erika Gaylor (SRI Education), Mingyue Sun (0009-0002-2447-9098, Education Development Center), Regan Vidiksis (Education Development Center) |
| Ano | 2026 |
| Páginas | 1-24 |
| Data de publicação | 2026-07-30 |
| Peer Reviewed | Sim |
| Open Access | Sim |
| Tipo | ARTICLE |
| Periódico | Journal of Children and Media (JOURNAL) |
| Identificadores do periódico | ISSN: 1748-2798 • E-ISSN: 1748-2801 |
| Editora | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/17482798.2026.2705209 |
| OpenAlex | W7171861950 |
| Idioma | EN |
| Referências citadas | 43 |
Computational thinking (CT) and related skills are important for children’s development and future success. CT can promote problem-solving and social-emotional learning (e.g. task persistence and frustration tolerance). Widely accessible educational media present opportunities for fostering the development of these skills in young children, especially those in historically underserved communities. Researchers conducted an 8-week randomized controlled trial with 458 children ages 4–5 from low-income households in the United States. This study explored whether providing access to educational videos and games for 1.5 hours per week supported children’s CT, problem-solving, and social-emotional learning. Researchers randomly assigned participants to one of two conditions and gave them internet-enabled tablets. Researchers instructed the treatment group to engage with videos, games, and activities from the CT-focused PBS KIDS series Work It Out Wombats! and told those in the control group to use any educational resources for the same period of time. Participants in the treatment condition scored significantly higher on a measure of sequencing skills at post-test, controlling for other pre-test assessments and demographics. We found no other significant group differences on post-test computational thinking, problem-solving, or social-emotional learning skills. We discuss the use of digital media to promote CT and implications for future work.
Computational Thinking · Control (management) · Group work · Persistence (discontinuity) · Randomized controlled trial · Task (project management) · Treatment and control groups · Work (physics) · Child Development and Digital Technology · Cognitive Abilities and Testing · Teaching and Learning Programming
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| Velocidade de citação | historical |
|---|---|
| Altamente citado | Não |