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ERIC Number: EJ1389718
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2023-Apr
Pages: 13
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1176-3647
EISSN: EISSN-1436-4522
A Normative Analysis of the TechCheck Computational Thinking Assessment
Relkin, Emily; Johnson, Sara K.; Bers, Marina U.
Educational Technology & Society, v26 n2 p118-130 Apr 2023
"TechCheck" is an assessment of Computational Thinking (CT) for early elementary school children consisting of fifteen developmentally appropriate unplugged challenges that probe six CT domains. The first version of "TechCheck" showed good psychometric properties as well as ease of administration and scoring in a validation cohort of 768 children between 5 and 9 years of age. To increase sensitivity and reduce possible ceiling and floor effects, grade-specific versions of "TechCheck" (K, 1, 2) were subsequently created. In the present study, we explored how CT skills could be compared across grades when grade-specific versions of "TechCheck" are administered. First, we examined "TechCheck" raw score distributions and responses within CT domains in a representative sample of students from the three grades. Grade-specific Z-scores and percentile rankings were then calculated. To show utility of this normalization system, we used percentiles to compare CT outcomes between first and second graders who participated in a ScratchJr coding educational intervention. While "TechCheck" change scores suggested an unexpected 42.74% difference in CT outcomes between first and second grade, application of the normative scoring system indicated a more plausible 5.17 percentile rank difference between grades. Normative analysis may provide a more meaningful way to compare results across grades when grade-specific versions of "TechCheck" are used. Implications for the future use of the "TechCheck" CT assessments are discussed.
International Forum of Educational Technology & Society. Available from: National Yunlin University of Science and Technology. No. 123, Section 3, Daxue Road, Douliu City, Yunlin County, Taiwan 64002. e-mail: journal.ets@gmail.com; Web site: https://www.j-ets.net/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Institute of Education Sciences (ED)
Authoring Institution: N/A
IES Funded: Yes
Grant or Contract Numbers: U411C190006; R305A190433