This study critically reviews sixteen empirical studies that investigate the various difficulties that primary school students encounter while learning programming through educational games. Specifically, the challenges that students face in understanding basic programming concepts and the game elements that contribute to these difficulties, as…

The rapid development of large language models (LLMs) presented opportunities for the transformation of science and STEM education. Research on LLMs was in the exploratory phase, characterized by discussions and observations rather than empirical investigations. This study presented a framework for incorporating LLMs into Science and Engineering…

To explore the role of design thinking in contemporary computer literacy education, this study aimed to examine the relationship between young students' design thinking disposition and their computer programming self-efficacy. To assess students' design thinking disposition, this study developed the Design Thinking Disposition Scale (DTDS) with a…

Most studies suggest that students develop computational thinking (CT) through learning programming. However, when the target of CT is decoupled from programming, emerging evidence challenges the assertion of CT transferability from programming. In this study, CT was operationalized in everyday problem-solving contexts in a learning experiment (n…

This study aims to validate a recent new media literacy (NML) instrument and investigating NML levels of Turkish preservice teachers. A refined NML framework formed the theoretical basis of the study. The data were collected from 972 preservice teachers enrolled in 11 teacher training programs in 5 public universities in Turkey. The language…

Computer programming has been gradually emphasized in recent computer literacy education and regarded as a requirement for all middle school students in some countries. To understand young students' perceptions about their own learning in computer programming, this study aimed to develop an instrument, Computer Programming Self-Efficacy Scale…

The Computer Science Teachers Association has asserted that computational thinking equips students with essential critical thinking which allows them to conceptualize, analyze, and solve more complex problems. These skills are applicable to all content area as students learn to use strategies, ideas, and technological practices more effectively as…