Analysis of the Factors Influencing K-12 Students' Computational Thinking Using Meta-analytic Structural Equation Modeling
Lei Yu, Baolin Yi, Xin Fu, Jingjie Zhao · 2025
Computational thinking is a hot topic in the field of K-12 education, and analyzing the relationship between computational thinking and its influencing factors is of great importance for the development of computational thinking in K-12 students. This study conducted a comprehensive quantitative analysis of 53 selected studies based on the meta-analytic structural equation modelling (MASEM) approach to examine the effects and mechanisms of programming experience, thinking style, learning attitude, and academic performance on K-12 students' computational thinking. It was found that thinking style, learning attitude and academic performance all had a significant positive effect on K-12 students' computational thinking, and programming experience could have a significant effect on K-12 students' computational thinking through the chain mediation of thinking style, learning attitude and academic performance. In addition, the moderation analysis revealed that there is a moderating role of grade in the above relationships. The findings provide strong evidence that programming experience, thinking style, learning attitude, and academic performance predict K-12 students' computational thinking and provide theoretical guidance for the development of K-12 students' computational thinking.