Investigation of the relationship between computational thinking skills and problem-solving skills of pre-school children

The aim of this study is to determine the computational thinking skills of preschool children and to examine the relationship between computational thinking skills and problem-solving skills. The study is descriptive and carried out in relational screening model. The research population consists of independent kindergartens, high schools and kindergartens in the province of Kilis, which are located in different socioeconomic regions and divided into regions as "good, medium and low" in socioeconomic terms. The sample of the study consists of 175 preschool children aged 5-6 years in 3 schools selected by random sampling method among these schools. 46 of the children participating in the study were 5 years old and 114 were 6 years old. The "Computational Thinking Scale (TechCheck)", developed by Relkin, Ruiter, and Bers (2020) and adapted into Turkish by Metin, Başaran, Relkin, and Kalyenci (2021), was used as a data collection tool to evaluate children's computational thinking skills. Children's problem-solving skills were measured with the "Problem Solving for Four-Seven-Year-Old Children" scale developed by Aydoğan, Ömeroğlu, Büyüköztürk, and Özyürek (2012). Normality test was performed in the analysis of the data in the study, nonparametric tests were used because the data did not show normal distribution, and Spearman correlation analysis, Mann Whitney U Test and Kruskal Wallis H Test were used in accordance with the purpose of the study. As a result of the analysis, there was no significant difference in computational thinking skills in terms of gender, mother and father working status; It was determined that there was a significant difference in the variables of getting pre-school education, mother's education level, and father's education level. A highly significant positive correlation was found between children's problem-solving skills and their computational thinking skills. Keywords: Preschool education, Computational thinking, Problem-solving