Does learning to code influence cognitive skills of elementary school children? Findings from a randomized experiment
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 5263573 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Meryem Şeyda Özcan (0000-0002-3209-8888, Department of Psychology Koç University Istanbul Turkey), Esra Çetinkaya (0000-0001-7200-421X, Department of Psychology Koç University Istanbul Turkey), Tilbe Göksun (0000-0002-0190-7988, Department of Psychology Koç University Istanbul Turkey), Yasemin Kisbu‐sakarya (0000-0001-8477-3016, Department of Psychology Koç University Istanbul Turkey, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 91 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 1434-1455 |
| Publication date | 2021-12-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | British Journal of Educational Psychology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0007-0998 • E-ISSN: 2044-8279 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/bjep.12429 |
| PMID | 34042178 |
| OpenAlex | W3165747664 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 64 |
BackgroundCoding has been added to school curricula in several countries, being one of the necessary competencies of the 21st century. Although it has also been suggested to foster the development of several cognitive skills such as computational thinking and problem-solving, studies on the effects of coding are very limited, provide mixed results, and lack causal evidence.AimThis study aims to evaluate the impact of a learn-to-code programme on three cognitive skills in children: computational thinking, fluid intelligence, and spatial orientation, using a randomized trial.SampleOne hundred seventy-four (n = 81 girls) 4th-grade children participated in the study.MethodsChildren were randomly assigned to one of the three 10-week learning programmes: learn-to-code (treatment of interest), mathematics (another STEM-related comparison treatment), and reading (control). Children responded to paper-pencil computational thinking, and spatial orientation measurements, and face-to-face matrix reasoning task at pre- and post-tests.ResultsResults showed that children's computational thinking scores increased significantly only in the learn-to-code condition. Fluid intelligence significantly increased in all conditions, possibly due to a practice effect. The spatial orientation did not improve in any of the conditions.ConclusionThese findings suggested that learning to code can be selectively beneficial for the development of computational thinking skills while not effective for spatial reasoning and fluid intelligence
Coding (social sciences) · Cognition · Cognitive development · Cognitive psychology · Cognitive skill · Competence (human resources) · Computational Thinking · Curriculum · Fluid and crystallized intelligence · Fluid intelligence · Mathematics education · Orientation (vector space) · Pedagogy · Raven's Progressive Matrices · Spatial Ability · Verbal reasoning · Working memory · Cognitive and developmental aspects of mathematical skills · Mathematics · Mathematics Education and Teaching Techniques · Psychology · Social Psychology · Spatial Cognition and Navigation
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Scratch
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| Citations per year | 2.5 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2024 - 2026 (3) |
| Highly cited | No |