Collaborative versus individual problem solving in computational thinking through programming: A meta‐analysis

Abstract

Computational thinking (CT), which is a cognitive skill used to solve problems with computational solutions, has drawn increasing attention among researchers and practitioners due to the growing recognition of CT competence as a 21st century skill. Collaboration is commonly integrated into CT education to facilitate novice learning, but there is inadequate knowledge regarding the influences of collaboration in CT education. This meta-analysis examined the overall effects on the cognitive, social and affective competencies of collaborative versus individual problem solving in CT through programming. We identified 33 publications involving 4717 learners, which allowed for 220 effect size comparisons. We found a medium effect size (Hedges' g = 0.562; p < 0.001) in favour of collaborative problem solving on cognitive learning outcomes and a small effect size (Hedges' g = 0.316; p < 0.01) on affective learning outcomes using a randomeffects model. Categorical moderator analysis revealed the moderating effects of educational level, programming environment, study duration, grouping method and group size. The competency model that was generated from the synthesized literature on

A Meta-Analysis of the Utilization of Computer Technology in Enhancing Computational Thinking Skills: Direction for Mathematics Learning

“…Some meta-analysis reports also revealed that the interventions using computer programming in learning process significantly enhanced students' CT skills (Guan et al, 2021;Lai & Wong, 2022;Merino-Armero et al, 2020;Scherer et al, 2020;Sun, Hu, et al, 2021b). Scherer et al (2020) reported that computer programming interventions have moderate positive effect (g = 0,814; p-value < 0,001) on students' CT skills.…”

“…Scherer et al (2020) reported that computer programming interventions have moderate positive effect (g = 0,814; p-value < 0,001) on students' CT skills. Meanwhile, Lai and Wong (2022) reported that programming interventions have moderate positive effect (g = 0,562; p-value < 0,01) on students' CT skills. On the other hand, Sun, Hu, et al (2021b) reported that programming activities have moderate positive effect (g = 0,601; p-value < 0,001) on students' CT skills.…”

“…Some meta-analysis studies have proven that the heterogeneity of students' CT skills were not moderated by the factor of education level (Fidai et al, 2020;Merino-Armero et al, 2020). Meanwhile, other meta-analysis studies revealed that there were different CT skills between elementary students, secondary students, and college students in which elementary students had more high CT skills than secondary students and college students (Lai & Wong, 2022;Lei et al, 2020;Sun, Hu, et al, 2021b;Yanjun Zhang et al, 2021). The findings of this study indicate that students' CT skills in every educational level are not different in which the cognitive development of students in every grade level is suitable to the requirement of learning materials which students have to mastery in enhancing their CT skills.…”

“…A few of meta-analysis studies regarding CT skills have been widely carried out by a number of researchers. Some researchers have studied the development of CT skills through games-based learning (Sukirman et al, 2021;Sun, Guo, et al, 2021), and programming curriculum (Lai & Wong, 2022;Scherer et al, 2020;Sun, Hu, et al, 2021b). In addition, few researchers have studied the enhancement of CT skills through scratch web design (Fidai et al, 2020;Lee & Wong, 2021), and educational robots (Yanjun .…”

Applying multimodal learning analytics to examine the immediate and delayed effects of instructor scaffoldings on small groups’ collaborative programming

“…Instructors use temperate social scaffolding to resolve group interpersonal disputes, to create a positive collaborative environment, and to encourage students to share their thoughts. Collaborative programming requires students utilize their cognitive, affective and social competencies to facilitate the group's social interactions, decision-making and problem-solving process in order to construct programming and assess the outcomes (Clark & Sengupta, 2020;Lai & Wong, 2022;Lavonen et al, 2002). Therefore, instructor scaffolding is a necessity during collaborative programming, that have been showed positive influences on groups' collaborative learning (Socratous & Ioannou, 2022).…”