About this srcd poster session

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Panel information
Panel 8. Education, Schooling

Abstract

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Objectives
Computing education has been introduced in preschools to enhance children’s Computational Thinking (CT), a new 21st-century literacy (Bers et al., 2022). While small-scale studies suggest positive effects on CT development (Wang et al., 2024), there is limited evidence on the broader impacts of such programs on children’s overall development. We conducted a cluster randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effects of a computing curriculum on CT and various aspects of school readiness.

Methods
The preschool computing curriculum, developed from a pilot study, used picture book pedagogy and screen-free robotics coding to engage children in large and small group activities (Yang et al., 2022). A total of 360 children (Mage = 62.9 months, SD = 4.40) from 11 Hong Kong preschools were randomly assigned to either a treatment (N = 202) or control group (N = 158) based on their classrooms. The treatment group received the computing curriculum over eight weeks, while the control group continued with their usual activities. Assessments of CT, math, and language skills were conducted before and after the intervention using validated tools. Parents/ caregivers completed a validated scale measuring emotional competency and provided demographic information.

Results
Statistical modeling reveals mixed effects, with some areas showing positive effects and others indicating negative or negligible impacts (Table 1). The computing curriculum had a non-significant effect on CT (Cohen’s d = 0.03). Socioeconomic status (SES) emerged as a significant moderator (Figure 1); children from low SES backgrounds (bottom quartile) in the experimental group showed a higher increase in CT scores compared to the control group, with a small effect size (Cohen’s d = 0.22). Numeracy development was slightly hindered (Cohen’s d = -.15), while spatial skills showed a small positive effect (Cohen’s d = 0.21). Receptive vocabulary had a non-significant effect size of -.07, whereas expressive vocabulary had a positive effect size of 0.12, resulting in a non-significant overall language development effect. Emotional competency showed the most notable positive effects, with significant improvements in emotion regulation (Cohen’s d = 0.24), understanding others’ emotions (Cohen’s d = 0.16), and self-motivation (Cohen’s d = 0.16), though the effect on self-emotion was non-significant (Cohen’s d = 0.07). The cumulative effect indicated that the computing curriculum significantly enhances children’s emotional readiness for school.

Implications
The findings suggest that the computing curriculum has varied effects on early childhood development. It enhances emotional competency and spatial skills but has a less favorable impact on numeracy and some language abilities. The benefits on CT development are more salient for children from low SES backgrounds, indicating socioeconomic differences in the curriculum’s impacts. These results underscore the importance of a balanced early childhood curriculum that integrates computing education while supporting whole-child development across all readiness domains.

Author information

Author	Role
Weipeng Yang, The Education University of Hong Kong	Presenting author
Chaopai Lin, Central China Normal University	Non-presenting author
Hui Li, The Education University of Hong Kong	Non-presenting author
Jesus Alfonso D. Datu, The University of Hong Kong	Non-presenting author
Bi Ying Hu, University of Macau	Non-presenting author

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