Robotic coding or unplugged coding?: An experimental study for gifted and talented students

The aim of this study is to examine the effects of different programming approaches on the learning and innovation skills and information, media and technology skills of gifted students. Within the scope of the research, the students were divided into two groups: robotic coding group and unplugged coding group. The robotic coding group was trained using robot sets, while the unplugged coding group was trained for 24 h for a total of 8 weeks, 3 h a day, without using any digital tools. There were 22 gifted students in the unplugged coding group and 23 gifted students in the robotic coding group. In the study, mixed-methods approach was adopted and sequential explanatory design was used. Semi-experimental design was applied in the quantitative part, and basic qualitative research approach was applied in the qualitative part. As a result of the study, we determined that unplugged coding activities and robotic coding activities had similar positive effects on the learning and innovation skills and information, media and technology skills self-efficacy of gifted students. In addition, students reported that coding activities significantly contributed to the development of collaboration, critical thinking, problem solving, technology use, communication, innovation and creativity skills, as well as coding skills.