Educational games promote the development of students’ computational thinking: a meta-analytic review

The cultivation of computational thinking (CT) skills is a key issue in talent cultivation today. This study reported a meta-analysis of 22 empirical studies to determine the effectiveness of using educational games to improve students’ CT skills and the influence of various factors in instructional design on acquiring CT skills. The results showed that: (a) educational games can promote the improvement of students’ CT skills (Hedges’ g = 0.766, p = 0.000); (b) the overall effect is at the upper-middle level (95%CI [0.580, 0.951]); (c) The positive connection between educational games and CT skills is affected by sample size, grades level, game usage mode, and game tools. Controlling the class size to less than 50 students and the reasonable choice of game tools and usage modes are more conducive to promoting students’ CT skills. In sum, we suggested that the educational game teaching process should be rationally planned, and technology should be fully utilized to develop students’ CT skills. The above findings are of great significance to promote the improvement of students’ CT skills through educational games in the future.