The effects of block-based programming on the problem solving ability and attitude towards computer for secondary school students

Today, with rapid development of technology and science, wide usage area of computers and constant growth of computer use make computers important in our academic and social life. Modern educational systems, which bring up individuals who have positive attitude to use of modern technology and have problem solving ability, are needed in our developing world. The aim of the study is to explore the effect of block-based programming on 6th grade student's attitudes towards computer and problem-solving ability. In this research, pretest-posttest nonequivalent control group quasi-experimental design was used. Research group has consisted of 49 6th grade students of secondary school in Kayseri province in 2017-2018 education year. The control group consisted of 25 students and experimental group had 24 students. Data have been collected by the attitudes towards computer scale and problem-solving inventory for children. SSPS v21 program has been used to statistical analyses of data. As it shows normal distribution, Independent Samples t-test was used to examine whether the difference between the two means for student's attitudes towards computer scale and problem-solving inventory is statistically significant, after the study. As a result, it has been determined that; students' computer attitude became positive and problem-solving ability developed after the study for both groups. Besides; there is an eloquent difference in students' problem-solving ability of the experimental group in comparison with the control group. The results of the study show that; Scratch can be used effectively to develop students' problem-solving ability as a block-based programming tool for the secondary school students. New researches should be carried out with different methods and bigger samples to improve the students' problem solving abilities and attitudes towards information technologies.