Bayterek Uluslararası Akademik Araştırmalar Dergisi

Öz

Learning computer science by individuals is also gaining importance day by day. All computer science activities can be carried out without using computers, by working individually or in groups in environments with limited technological infrastructure. When students work with activities involving computer science unplugged problems in schools, algorithmic thinking, abstraction, logical thinking, generalization, classification, etc. There are studies on the development of computational thinking skills by contributing to the development of such skills. Computer science unplugged activities are designed to change students' negative thoughts on what students find computer science to be boring and difficult. These activities were created to introduce students to the basic concepts of computer science without using computers. Various events are organized around the world to support the development of children's computational thinking skills in computer-free environments. Some of the important projects in this field include CSunplugged.org, CS4FN, Code.org unplugged, Informatik erLeben and Bilge Kunduz. This study aims to examine the distribution of research on computer science unplugged conducted in Turkish literature between the years 2015-2023 according to the variables of year, subject area, study type, method used, data collection tool, data analysis method, sample characteristics, results and recommendations. TR Dizin and Ulusal Tez Merkezi database were scanned in order to reach the studies on computer science unplugged. While searching, the keyword "computer science unplugged" was searched. 24 theses in the database of Ulusal Tez Merkezi (https://tez.yok.gov.tr/) and 2 articles in the database of TR Dizin (https://trdizin.gov.tr/). The word “computerless” was given particular importance when searching, just “computer science” or just “computer thinking” etc. Studies involving the words were not included in the research. A publication classification form was used as a data collection tool. The obtained data were analyzed by content analysis. As a result, the number of research on computer science unplugged has been increasing in recent years. It was seen that the most studies were carried out in 2019, 2020 and 2021, respectively. The most studied subject area is programming and algorithm. Increasing interest in programming and algorithm fields is a positive result. A similar situation is observed in the studies carried out under the name of Computational Thinking. It is seen that most of the studies are descriptive studies. Considering the distribution of studies according to data tools, it can be said that semi-structured interview is the most frequently used data collection tool. According to the distributions in terms of sample levels, it was seen that most of the researchers conducted studies at the secondary school level. Considering the differences between studies, it becomes necessary to conduct more studies. According to the common results of the studies on computer science unplugged examined within the scope of the research, the result of the increase in motivation was the most achieved result. Increase in problem solving skills and increase in algorithmic thinking skills rank second and third among the most achieved results. It is thought that the inclusion of computer science unplugged activities in the curriculum can increase problem solving skills. This situation can be considered as an important option in increasing the success of students with low academic achievement. Increase in computational thinking skills and increase in academic achievement are also common results in many studies. Considering the common suggestions of the studies, it is the suggestion with the highest frequency to conduct new studies in different and larger sample groups. In the second place is the proposal to conduct interdisciplinary studies. Another suggestion is that it can be studied with more examples (materials). Since computer science unplugged is an area where studies have increased in recent years, the development of activities will lead to the emergence of more and more accurate materials over time. Studies can be done with family participation. Computer science unplugged is a field that does not require hardware, so it is an easy field to support with family involvement. New studies can be done on activities that students can do at home. It is considered important that pre-school teachers be more informed about Computer Science unplugged activities and encourage them to use these activities in lessons. It is one of the important points that the scope of the study is limited only to TR Dizin and Ulusal Tez Merkezi academic databases. In future research, different databases can be included in the research. In future research, the contents of computer science unplugged activities suitable for the curriculum can be investigated.