Reading Robot Stories: Understanding Preschool Computational Thinking Through Playful Story-Based Assessment
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Computational thinking and literacy reflect important, distinct but interrelated sets of skills that have foundations in the early childhood years. While early literacy has long been studied and conceptualized, there are fewer shared understandings about early computational thinking, particularly how best to assess it in ways that are engaging and developmentally appropriate for young children. As a result, this study seeks to understand the potential of a playful and meaningful story-based assessment designed to capture preschool- and PreK-aged children’s narrative, computational thinking, and programming skills. Across three time points and using multiple embedded case study design with 12 focal children from four classrooms, this study investigated how a story-based computational thinking assessment documented young children’s knowledge and practices. Findings revealed key developmental differences, with PreK-aged children demonstrating more advanced narrative, computational thinking, and programming skills, as well as greater independence and stronger transfer from story to tasks than preschool-aged children. The assessment approach provided valuable insights into children’s emerging competencies in computational thinking and literacy, indicating that integrating narrative and coding supports both engagement and a holistic understanding of early computational thinking.
Source: Education Sciences
Language: English
Subfield: Computer Science Applications
Field: Computer Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,172
OpenAlex ID: W7223128366