Does Teaching Programming Have an Effect on Computational Thinking Skill? A Longitudinal Study

Abstract

This study aims to examine the effect of teaching programming at a higher education level on computational thinking skills and its sub-dimensions. In the study, an explanatory design, one of the mixed-method research types in which quantitative and qualitative data are used together, was used. In this context, the change of the computational thinking skill variable for a single group taken from a starting point in certain time intervals was examined with a quasi-experimental method. The study was conducted with a total of 42 undergraduate students including 18 males and 24 females. Quantitative data were collected with the computational thinking skills scale developed for university students, and qualitative data were collected through semi-structured focus group interviews. The data were analyzed using the Friedman test, Wilcoxon signed-rank test, and descriptive content analysis techniques. In the measurements made, it was concluded that teaching programming had a significant effect on computational thinking skill and its creativity, algorithmic thinking, and problem-solving sub-dimensions, but had no significant effect on collaborative and critical thinking sub-dimensions.