Developing Computational Thinking in Early Childhood Education: A Focus on Algorithmic Thinking and the Role of Cognitive Differences and Scaffolding

Abstract

Computational thinking is considered as important as reading, writing, and arithmetic. Many researchers, worldwide, have argued about the importance of integrating the teaching of computational thinking skills in school settings from an early age. However, little has been done in terms of systematically investigating the factors influencing the development of computational thinking in pre-primary education. Accordingly, the study herein investigated the development of young children’s computational thinking using robotics activities taking into consideration individual cognitive differences. One hundred and eighty children participated in the study. Participants were randomly assigned into six groups according to their cognitive type and scaffolding strategy. The findings showed that the cognitive type significantly affected children’s cognitive performance during learning with the robotics activities. In addition, the results clearly indicated that scaffolding was important for supporting children’s learning. The authors conclude with educational implications and future research directions.