The effect of block-based coding instruction with codable console and computer on middle school students' analytical thinking skills

Today, the fact that people of all ages interact with digital games and that children can spend long hours in games without getting bored has paved the way for the use of digital games in education. Microsoft's MakeCode Arcade coding site is a digital platform that, although very new today, many middle school children enjoy developing games. Children who design 2D games on this site learn software coding and enjoy the process even more by sharing the links of these games with their friends and family. At the same time, in preparation for this thesis, they can try coding on a different platform with the help of the site by using consoles similar to the codable "GNGR Gamepad" developed by the author of the thesis and play these games regardless of time and place. This thesis was conducted to compare the changes in the analytical thinking skills of students trying to learn coding as a result of instructional activities on an ordinary desktop computer and "GNGR Gamepad". The study was conducted on 5th grade middle school students studying in a private school. In this pretest-posttest control group quasi-experimental study conducted on a total of 132 students and 6 (A,B,C,D,E,F) branches, students were divided into control and experimental groups in each branch. The research data were obtained with the Analytical Thinking Scale developed by Ocak and Park (2020) and the Analytical Thinking Skills Examination prepared by the Ministry of National Education and consisting of questions asked to students in previous years. As a result of the research, it was determined that there was a significant difference between the pre-test and post-test in all dimensions of the scale in the experimental and control groups. Analytical thinking skills increased in the experimental group in each test phase. In this context, it is recommended to encourage console-based learning tools and applications to improve students' analytical thinking skills.