The Effects of Computational Thinking Integration in STEM on Students’ Learning Performance in K-12 Education: A Meta-analysis

Abstract

Computational thinking is believed to be beneficial for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) learning as it is closely related to many other skills required by STEM disciplines. There has been an increasing interest in integrating computational thinking into STEM and many studies have been conducted to examine the effects of this intervention. This meta-analysis examined the effects of computational thinking integration in STEM on students’ STEM learning performance in the K-12 education context. Following systematic procedures, we identified 20 publications with 21 studies meeting the inclusion and exclusion criteria from a range of academic databases. We extracted effect sizes on student learning outcomes in one-group pretest-posttest designs. We also examined a range of moderating variables in the models, including student levels, STEM disciplines, intervention durations, alignment with content standards (e.g., CSTA/NGSS), types of intervention (e.g., simulation), and the use of unplugged/plugged activities. Overall, we found a statistically significant large effect size ( g = 0. 85 [95% CI of 0.57–1.14]; p < .001), indicating a large overall effect of computational thinking integration on STEM learning outcomes. The effect sizes were significantly moderated by intervention durations. We provide a discussion of the findings and present implications for future research and practice.

Empowering Vocational Students: A Research-Based Framework for Computational Thinking Integration

“…Within this corpus, three papers were dedicated comprehensive literature reviews, i.e., [13,14,36], offering valuable syntheses of existing knowledge, while an additional five papers provided valuable theoretical or conceptual insights into this interdisciplinary domain, i.e., [10,38,[56][57][58]. Most of the papers, totaling 14, contributed empirical research findings, further enriching our understanding of the practical implications of CT within STEM contexts, i.e., [59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70][71][72]. Chondrogiannis et al [55] conducted pioneering research at the crossroads of CT, STEM, and VET with a specific emphasis on agricultural education.…”

“…Problem-Solving Skills: CT emphasizes problem-solving, which is highly relevant to STEM fields. Both CT and STEM educations promote the critical thinking and analytical skills required for addressing complex real-world challenges [13,14,38,57,64,65,69,71,72].…”

“…Pedagogical benefits: CT integration in STEM learning has a positive effect on STEM learning [14,38,59,71].…”

“…A similar approach is evident in the work of Yang et al [64] and Juskevicience [72], who connect the elements of CT to the problem-solving process and design thinking. Several authors [13,14,38,57,64,65,69,71,72] have made a distinct connection between this conceptualization of problem-solving within the framework of CT and problem-solving within the context of STEM.…”

Exploring Gamification Approaches for Enhancing Computational Thinking in Young Learners

“…Despite the limited examples mentioned above, there remains a significant gap in the literature regarding the use of gamification in CT interventions in elementary education [43], which is particularly surprising given the potential benefits of enhancing motivation through gamification in STEM disciplines [31]. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of gamification techniques on CT learning and motivation among second-grade primary school students.…”