The effect of computational thinking skill on student achievement: A meta-analysis study

In this study, which was conducted to examine the effect of computational thinking on student achievement, the average effect size was calculated using the meta-analysis method, based on the relationships between computational thinking and variables such as student achievement, school level, study disciplines and the countries where the study was conducted. In order to reach the aim of the research, studies published in international peer-reviewed journals between 2015 and 2020 were scanned and studies conducted with quantitative research method on the effect of computational thinking on student achievement were included in the research. In the scanning process, the words "computational thinking, empirical, experimental, success, achievement" were used as keywords. In the process of scanning the publications, Google Scholar and Web of Science databases were used for international papers and articles. A total of 1012 studies were reached during the scanning process of the research. As a result of the removal of duplicates, studies that deal with different dimensions of computational thinking, and studies that do not contain appropriate statistical data, 24 quantitative independent research studies were included in the meta-analysis study. All analyzes were carried out according to the random effects model, since it is considered that the studies are heterogeneous in terms of being carried out in different countries, at different school levels and in different disciplines. For the evaluation of publication bias, Rosenthal's Fail Safe N and Orwin's Fail Safe N analysis were performed. A strong and positive (Hedges' g=1,451) average effect size was calculated between computational thinking and student achievement. Based on the findings and results of the study, various suggestions for practitioners and researchers were presented.