Age-related effects of coding interventions

Abstract

Past research has shown that children as young as 4–6 years can learn to code through virtual (digital) or plugged (physical, analogic) coding activities, and that exposure to those activities benefits children's cognitive skills too. Indeed, two executive functions (EFs), planning and response inhibition, seem to be strongly associated with coding. However, it remains unclear whether children's cognitive response to virtual coding instruction varies with children's age. Only a few studies to date, mostly focused on older students (aged 10–18 years), have examined age-related differences in response to coding instruction. No such studies as yet have explored whether age differences in learning to code also translate in differential cognitive benefits of coding with children's age. The present study compared the response to an 8-h coding intervention of 273 first graders (5–7 years) and 164 fourth graders (8–10 years), examining whether their respective gains in coding abilities, planning (Tower of London test), and response inhibition (Stroop test and NEPSY-II square/circle test) differed following exposure to coding. Multilevel analyses with socio-economic status covariate show significant effects of the intervention on both 1st and 4th graders' coding skills and across all cognitive measures (planning accuracy, response inhibition accuracy and time). For coding accuracy, both first and fourth graders improved, with large effect sizes (d = −1.53 for first graders, d = −1.84 for fourth graders). The experimental groups showed greater post-test gains in planning accuracy in both grades (d = −1.44 for first graders, d = −0.91 for fourth graders). First graders decreased inhibition errors significantly after the intervention in both NEPSY-II and Stroop tasks (respectively, t(425) = 8.21, p < 0.001, d = 0.80; t(425) = 11.37, p < 0.001, d = 1.10), as well as the fourth graders (t(427) = 3.79, p < 0.001, d = 0.38 in NEPSY-II, t(427) = 4.56, p < 0.001, d = 0.44 in Stroop).

These findings suggest that coding interventions designed with age-appropriate complexity can support not only the development of coding abilities but also enhance EFs skills across different age levels. The intervention's strong impact on younger children suggests that structured coding interventions should be introduced early as a fundamental component of childhood education.