Developing Computational Thinking Scale for Primary School Students and Examining Students' Thinking Levels According to Different Variables

Abstract

In this study, it was aimed to develop the computational thinking scale for primary school students and to examine the computational thinking levels of primary school students according to different variables (grade level, daily computer use time). The study was carried out in accordance with the general survey model, which is one of the descriptive research types. The study group of the research consisted of students studying in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th grades of primary schools in Ankara Gölbaşı district in the second term of the 2021-2022 academic year. The data were analyzed with the SPSS 21 package program. As a result of the study, a one-dimensional Computational Thinking Scale, whose validity and reliability was tested, was developed. The scale consists of 17 items and is in 3-point Likert type. The internal consistency coefficient of the scale was found to be Cronbach Alpha .92. The developed scale was applied to primary school students in the next stage. As a result of the study, it was found that the computational thinking levels of primary school students differed significantly according to the grade level. On the other hand, it was observed that the students' computational thinking levels differed significantly according to the time spent in front of the computer daily, and the mean of the students' computational thinking scale increased as the daily computer use time increased.