Journal of Computer Education (JCE), vol.3, no.1, pp.64-87, 2024 (Peer-Reviewed Journal)
The importance of coding and robotics education in the field of
computer sciences has recently been a widely discussed and studied
topic in research dealing with educational issues. It is acknowledged
that the development of these skills plays a significant role in
children’s future careers. Therefore, the present study uses the metaanalysis method to examine the studies dealing with whether coding
and robotics activities targeting pre-school, primary school,
secondary school, and high school students have the potential to
improve their computational thinking and problem-solving skills.
To achieve this purpose, the study focuses on how coding and
robotics activities implemented in experimental studies conducted
with K–12 students between 2011 and 2021 affect the computational
thinking and problem-solving skills of students. The meta-analysis
includes data from 55 studies, consisting of 64 independent effect
sizes. The participant pool for this analysis consists of 5158
individuals from different nations, with 3074 in experimental groups
and 2084 in control groups. The study utilized the Preferred
Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Protocols checklist. We used the courses that implemented coding
and robotics activities, as well as the age ranges of the participants,
as moderator variables. The moderator analysis revealed that the
effect of coding and robotics activities on computational thinking
and problem-solving skills differs according to age group. In
conclusion, the present study found that coding and robotics
activities contributed to the development of K–12 level students’
computational thinking and problem-solving skills.