Enhancing computational thinking in early childhood education through ScratchJr integration

Area of Science:

• Educational Technology
• Computer Science Education
• Early Childhood Education

Background:

• Numerous platforms aim to teach coding and computational thinking (CT) to preschoolers.
• Empirical evidence for the effectiveness of these platforms is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effectiveness of ScratchJr in fostering CT and coding skills in preschool children.
• To assess the impact of a three-week ScratchJr intervention on specific CT concepts.

Main Methods:

• A three-week didactic intervention using ScratchJr with preschool children (N=34, aged 4-6).
• Comparison between an experimental group using ScratchJr and a control group.
• Assessment of initial and terminal performance on CT and coding skills.

Main Results:

• While initial performance differed, terminal performance means converged.
• Participants in the ScratchJr intervention showed statistically significant enhancements in CT.
• The experimental group demonstrated superior understanding of representation, algorithms, and hardware/software interplay compared to the control group.
• The control group exhibited better performance in understanding debugging.

Conclusions:

• ScratchJr is effective in cultivating CT and coding proficiencies in preschoolers.
• Both instructional methods support elementary computational tenets like modularity and control structures.
• ScratchJr shows particular strength in developing higher-order CT concepts.