Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
EDUCATION AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES, ss.1-29, 2025 (SSCI)
The aim of this research was to explore the effects of unplugged coding activities on preschoolers’ motivation, computational thinking and problem-solving skills. The research was conducted based on a pretest-posttest control group quasi-experimental design. The experimental phase included 69 children (33 in the experimental group, 36 in the control group) aged 5–6 and attending a preschool in Hatay province of Turkey. The children had never received any coding or robotic lessons before. In the experimental group, in addition to the standard preschool curriculum, electronic material-based unplugged coding activities were carried out for one hour per week over eight weeks. The coding activities were developed by researchers. No intervention was made for the control group. To assess the effects of unplugged coding activities on children before and after the experiment, the Motivation Scale, Computational Thinking Skills Test, and Problem-Solving Skills Scale were used. The study revealed that children in the experimental group exhibited a significant increase in intrinsic motivation, computational thinking and problem-solving skills. This increase resulted in a meaningful difference in favor of the experimental group in comparisons between groups. The results demonstrate that unplugged coding activities in the preschool period are an effective method for supporting children’s affective and cognitive development. In this regard, it is recommended that such activities be systematically and structurally integrated into the preschool education curriculum.