Effect of computational thinking on the executive functions of school-age children
| ISRCTN | ISRCTN11380198 |
|---|---|
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN11380198 |
| Secondary identifying numbers | UT430121 |
- Submission date
- 31/01/2023
- Registration date
- 12/06/2023
- Last edited
- 03/07/2025
- Recruitment status
- No longer recruiting
- Overall study status
- Completed
- Condition category
- Other
Plain English summary of protocol
Background and study aims
Executive functions are cognitive processes associated with the brain's prefrontal cortex; Those are significant predictors of academic performance and daily functioning. In recent years they have investigated different intervention programs and their effects on executive functions in clinical and educational contexts.
A recent field of study is research on the effects of computational thinking training on children's executive functions. The current research will contribute to this field of study. This study aims to investigate the effects of computational thinking training based on connected and disconnected activities on the executive functions of children with typical development from 10 to 11 years old.
Who can participate?
Fifth-grade primary school children from 9 to 11 years old from public educational institutions in Ibagué will participate in this study.
What does the study involve?
Children's participation involves the following activities:
1. Give informed assent in which they agree to participate in the stadium.
2. Participate in an individual evaluation of executive functions, which will be carried out by a specialized psychologist blinded to the group assignment. Seven validated and recognized neuropsychological tests will be applied, and a computational thinking test will be in the validation process. This evaluation will be carried out in 2 sessions of 20 minutes during weeks 2 and 3 of the study (pre-test), it will be repeated in weeks 14 and 15 (post-test), and it will be repeated in weeks 26 and 27 (follow-up).
3. Participate in computational thinking training based on disconnected and connected activities. Offline activities will be done at code.org and makecode through a portable device and micro-bit microprocessor. The training sessions will be held twice a week, lasting 90 minutes, and will take place in the system rooms of the "Leonidas Rubio" educational institution. The training will last ten weeks, for a total of 20 sessions. The data of the children to be included in the study will be those who comply with more than 70% of the intervention. The intervention will be carried out by two clinical trial researchers, and during each session, the teacher in charge of the school year will be present and accompany the children. The assignment of the groups will be carried out in two moments; the first group will participate from week 4 to week 13, and the second group from week 16 to week 25. The assignment to the groups will be carried out randomly.
(added 30/06/2023): Initially, the intervention was designed in 20 sessions, twice a week, for ten weeks. However, since educational robotics activities require more time to develop, it has been decided to extend the training to 24 sessions, twice a week, for 12 weeks of intervention.
Parent involvement involves the following activities:
1. Attend informational meetings.
2. Read and sign the informed consent giving authorization for your participation and that of your children.
3. Fill out the sociodemographic questionnaire.
What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
No risks
Where is the study run from?
University of Tolima (Colombia)
When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
May 2022 to November 2023
Who is funding the study?
University of Tolima (Colombia)
Who is the main contact?
Professor Carolina Robledo Castro, crobledoc@ut.edu.co.
Contact information
Principal Investigator
Universidad del Tolima
Cl 42 1-02
Bloque 32
Ibagué
730001
Colombia
 ORCID ID |
0000-0002-8494-5305 |
|---|---|
| Phone | +57 3146316150 |
| crobledoc@ut.edu.co |
Public
Universidad del Tolima
Cl 42 1-02
Bloque 32
Ibagué
730001
Colombia
| Phone | +57 3146316150 |
|---|---|
| crobledoc@ut.edu.co |
Scientific
Universidad del Tolima
Cl 42 1-02
Bloque 32
Ibagué
730001
Colombia
| Phone | +57 3146316150 |
|---|---|
| crobledoc@ut.edu.co |
Study information
| Study design | Interventional randomized controlled trial |
|---|---|
| Primary study design | Interventional |
| Secondary study design | Randomised controlled trial |
| Study setting(s) | School |
| Study type | Treatment |
| Participant information sheet | 43145 PIS (Spanish).pdf |
| Scientific title | Effect of a training in computational thinking based on connected and disconnected activities on the executive functions of typically developing fifth graders |
| Study acronym | CT&EF |
| Study objectives | Training in computational thinking based on connected and disconnected activities has a positive effect on the executive functions of typically developing fifth graders |
| Ethics approval(s) | Approved 12/12/2022, Bioethics Committee of the Universidad del Tolima (University of Tolima, 10th street, 5th avenue, Cooperamos building, 4th floor, Tolima, Colombia; +57(608)2772040; comitebioetica@ut.edu.co), ref: 430121 |
| Health condition(s) or problem(s) studied | Executive function in typically developing fifth graders |
| Intervention | Current interventions as of 30/06/2023: Experimental arm The experimental group's children will train in computational thinking based on disconnected and connected activities named “Cogni Machine”. The training consists of 24 sessions of 60 minutes each, twice a week, for a total of 12 weeks. The training sessions will be in groups and take place in the computer rooms of the participating educational institution. In each session, the children will participate in disconnected and connected computational thinking activities: • During sessions 1 and 2, children will only participate in unplugged activities. • During sessions 3 through 20, children will participate in unplugged and plugged activities. • From sessions 3 to sessions 8, the plugged activities will take place on the code.org block coding platform. • From sessions 9 to 16, the plugged activities will be carried out with the micro:bit microprocessor and the makecode block coding platform. • From sessions 17 to 24 educational robotics activities with micro:bit will be incorporated. Control arm The children in the control group will participate in a usual treatment (HT) during the same number of sessions and hourly intensity; the children will participate in standard technology and computer classes. During these classes, the children carry out activities related to the use of the computer and application packages such as Microsoft office. These sessions will be held in the computer room of the educational institution and will be directed by the computer teacher. Since the intervention will be applied in a school context, the allocation to the intervention arms will be group. Therefore one fifth-grade class will be assigned to the intervention group and another fifth-grade class to the TAU (treatment as usual) control group. To ensure concealment, an investigator external to the study will assign each group to one of the arms using the sealed envelope method. The investigator taking the measurements (pre, post, and follow-up) and the statistician in charge of data analysis will be blind to the group assignment. However, given the nature of the intervention and the fact that the control group will not receive an intervention other than treatment as usual (conventional computer classes), there will be no blinding and, therefore, no blinding of the participants. _____ Previous interventions: Experimental arm The experimental group's children will train in computational thinking based on disconnected and connected activities named “Cogni Machine”. The training consists of 20 sessions of 60 minutes each, twice a week, for a total of 10 weeks. The training sessions will be in groups and take place in the computer rooms of the participating educational institution. In each session, the children will participate in disconnected and connected computational thinking activities: • During sessions 1 and 2, children will only participate in unplugged activities. • During sessions 3 through 20, children will participate in unplugged and plugged activities. • From week 3 to week 8, the plugged activities will take place on the code.org block coding platform. • From weeks 9 to 20, the plugged activities will be carried out with the micro:bit microprocessor and the makecode block coding platform. • As of week 14, educational robotics activities with micro:bit will be incorporated. Control arm The children in the control group will participate in a usual treatment (HT) during the same number of sessions and hourly intensity; the children will participate in standard technology and computer classes. During these classes, the children carry out activities related to the use of the computer and application packages such as Microsoft office. These sessions will be held in the computer room of the educational institution and will be directed by the computer teacher. Since the intervention will be applied in a school context, the allocation to the intervention arms will be group. Therefore one fifth-grade class will be assigned to the intervention group and another fifth-grade class to the TAU (treatment as usual) control group. To ensure concealment, an investigator external to the study will assign each group to one of the arms using the sealed envelope method. The investigator taking the measurements (pre, post, and follow-up) and the statistician in charge of data analysis will be blind to the group assignment. However, given the nature of the intervention and the fact that the control group will not receive an intervention other than treatment as usual (conventional computer classes), there will be no blinding and, therefore, no blinding of the participants. |
| Intervention type | Behavioural |
| Primary outcome measure | The children's executive functions will be evaluated with standardized neuropsychological tests with evidence of reliability and validity in the pre-test, post-test and 3 month follow-up. 1. Measured sequential planning with the Tower of London. 2. Visuospatial planning measured with the BANFE-2 labyrinth test. 3. Cognitive flexibility measured with the Wisconcin letter test. 4. Inhibitory control measured with the stroop test. 5. Working memory measured with the visual span tests, digits, letters, and numbers from the WISC-5 battery of tests. 6. Visuo-spatial working memory measured with the Corsi cube test. |
| Secondary outcome measures | Current secondary outcome measures as of 30/06/2023: Measured at pre-test, post-test, and 3 month follow-up: 1. Variable computational thinking skills measured using a test Computacional thinking test-CTt by Román-González (2015, 2017, 2018) 2. Sociodemographic variables measured with the sociodemographic questionnaire designed and validated by Cordoba, Robledo & del Basto (2020) 3. The metacognition variable will be measured with the metacognition test and the metamemory test of the prefrontal scale of the BANFE-2 battery. 4. Variable attention measured with Test d2 and Trail Making Test. 5. Test of satisfaction and adherence to the intervention. ____ Previous secondary outcome measures: Measured at pre-test, post-test, and 3 month follow-up: 1. Variable computational thinking skills measured using a test designed for study 2. Sociodemographic variables measured with the sociodemographic questionnaire designed and validated by Cordoba, Robledo & del Basto (2020) 3. Variable metacognitive processes in writing measured with the metacognition test |
| Overall study start date | 23/05/2022 |
| Completion date | 23/11/2023 |
Eligibility
| Participant type(s) | Healthy volunteer |
|---|---|
| Age group | Child |
| Lower age limit | 9 Years |
| Upper age limit | 11 Years |
| Sex | Both |
| Target number of participants | 60 |
| Key inclusion criteria | 1. Children of both genders 2. Children from 9 to 11 years old 3. Children enrolled in fifth grade of primary school in a public educational institution. 4. Children without previous experience in computational thinking training. 5. Children with typical cognitive development. |
| Key exclusion criteria | 1. Children with uncorrected visual limitations. 2. Children have physical limitation that prevents them from participating in the activities. 3. Children with a history of underlying neurological disease. 4. Children with pharmacological treatment for some type of neurodevelopmental or neuropsychiatric disorder. |
| Date of first enrolment | 14/02/2023 |
| Date of final enrolment | 03/03/2023 |
Locations
Countries of recruitment
- Colombia
Study participating centre
Ibagué
730001
Colombia
Sponsor information
University/education
Cl 42 1-02
Ibagué
730001
Colombia
| Phone | +57 (608)2771212 |
|---|---|
| din@ut.edu.co | |
| Website | http://www.ut.edu.co/ |
"ROR" |
https://ror.org/011bqgx84 |
Funders
Funder type
University/education
Government organisation / Universities (academic only)
- Alternative name(s)
- University of Tolima, UT
- Location
- Colombia
Results and Publications
| Intention to publish date | 30/11/2024 |
|---|---|
| Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share | Yes |
| IPD sharing plan summary | Available on request |
| Publication and dissemination plan | Two planned publications in a high-impact peer-reviewed journal |
| IPD sharing plan | The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study will be available upon request from Carolina Robledo-Castro, crobledocz@ut.edu.co |
Study outputs
| Output type | Details | Date created | Date added | Peer reviewed? | Patient-facing? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Participant information sheet | in Spanish | 13/02/2023 | No | Yes | |
| Protocol article | 22/08/2023 | 03/07/2025 | Yes | No |
Additional files
- 43145 PIS (Spanish).pdf
- in Spanish
Editorial Notes
03/07/2025: Publication reference added.
30/06/2023: The following changes were made to the trial record:
1. The interventions were changed.
2. The secondary outcome measures were changed.
3. The plain English summary was updated to reflect these changes.
13/02/2023: Trial's existence confirmed by Bioethics Committee of the Universidad del Tolima.
