Ingenuity of scratch programming on reflective thinking towards problem solving and computational thinking

• Published in: Education and information technologies Vol. 28; no. 5; pp. 5493 - 5517
• Main Authors: Gökçe, Semirhan, Yenmez, Arzu Aydoğan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.05.2023; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Computation; Computer Appl. in Social and Behavioral Sciences; Computer Science; Computers and Education; Education; Educational Technology; Elementary School Students; Gender Differences; Information Systems Applications (incl.Internet); Learning; Mathematics Education; Problem Solving; Programming Languages; Reflection; Thinking Skills; User Interfaces and Human Computer Interaction; Computational thinking; Problem solving; Scratch; Thinking skills; Reflective thinking
• ISSN: 1360-2357; 1573-7608
• DOI: 10.1007/s10639-022-11385-x

Individuals learn to develop problem solving strategies and make connections between their mathematical ideas while programming, so they have the opportunity to improve their thinking skills. Scratch provides an environment to experience problem scenarios and encourages them to act out imagination while having fun. The purpose of the study is to investigate the development of reflective thinking skills towards problem solving and computational thinking of elementary school students based on their Scratch instruction. The study used a sequential exploratory design as a mixed method approach with 524 students and 8 mathematics teachers. The results of the study revealed that Scratch significantly strengthened students’ reflective thinking skills for problem solving and computational thinking. Based on the results, the reflective thinking towards problem solving and computational thinking did not vary by gender. In addition, Scratch instruction led to positive reflections in the mathematical learning environment.