The effect of artificial intelligence-assisted robotic coding education on secondary school students' robotic coding attitudes and computational thinking skills

This study aimed to examine the effects of AI-assisted robotic coding training on middle school students' robotic coding attitudes and computational thinking skills. The study was conducted with 50 6th-grade students at a middle school affiliated with the Ministry of National Education in Kayseri. The students were divided into two groups: an experimental and a control group. The research was planned in a face-to-face education environment and a total of 16 lesson hours were implemented over eight weeks. Both groups were presented with the same robotic coding content. However, the experimental group received a teaching process enriched with AI-assisted scenarios and applications, while the control group received the same content using traditional methods. The study employed a mixed-methods design using both quantitative and qualitative methods. Quantitative data were collected using a robotic coding attitude scale and a computational thinking skills scale. Qualitative data were obtained through semi-structured interviews with the experimental group students at the end of the study. Quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS 25. Data were tested for normal distribution, and analyses revealed a normal distribution. Thus, an independent samples t-test was used for between-group comparisons, and a dependent samples t-test was used to examine changes within groups. The study found that students in the experimental group who received AI-assisted robotics coding training showed significant improvement compared to the control group in terms of robotics coding attitude scores and computational thinking skills. At the end of the implementation period, a semi-structured interview form was administered to the experimental group students to evaluate the AI-assisted materials and the course process. Students stated that AI helped them learn information faster in classes and projects, understand difficult topics, and identify and correct their errors. However, some students stated that relying too much on AI could negatively impact their thinking skills and sometimes provide inaccurate information. Overall, students believe that AI-assisted training makes learning more engaging and effective, but they emphasize the importance of using this technology in a balanced manner and with teacher guidance. Based on the results of the study, several recommendations are offered for researchers who wish to conduct similar studies in the future.