Role of Attentional Control and Computational Thinking Skills in Mathematics Achievement of Elementary Students
H. Nihumathunnisa, A. Jahitha Begum · Thiagarajar College of Preceptors Edu Spectra · 2025
Executive function is a set of skills that governs an individual's overall cognitive control. Gaining Executive Functioning (EF) skills is essential for academic and personal success. Due to the abundance of evidence, It is clear that EFs are essential for academic and school achievement. Attentional control is considered as the most important executive functioning skills than working memory and cognitive flexibility. When we are distracted from a large task, our ability to complete it decreases. Information used to support active task goals demands attentional resources for preservation, as attention is an emergent attribute of maintaining the present task goal. The capacity to focus on a certain task while avoiding distractions is known as attentional control. The capacity to solve mathematical problems is closely linked to attentional control. Children that are better at managing their attention control have higher levels of proficiency in the classroom. The term "computational thinking" refers to the sophisticated collection of thought processes used when expressing and resolving problems using computational tools. These days, it's thought that one of the most crucial math skills is the capacity to systematise issues and solve them in this way. By enabling people to selectively concentrate on pertinent information while tuning out distractions, attentional control improves computational thinking abilities. Previous study findings revealed that mathematics achievement is related to students computational thinking skills. The present study explores the correlation of attentional control, computational thinking ability, and achievement in mathematics. Purposive sampling technique used for this survey study. 50 students (mean age is 12.2) of grade 8 selected for this study. Quantitative data collected and anlaysed. Descriptive statistical analysis were made. The study findings revealed that there is a positive relationship among attentional control, computational thinking skills and achievement in mathematics. It is also found that the girl students are having high value in attentional control and computational thinking skills than the boy students. This study suggested that incorporating attentional control strategies into the curriculum to enhance both cognitive and academic performance in mathematics.