Examining the Possibility of Using Visual Programming Language Scratch in Preschool Education for Learning Arithmetic Operations

The aim of the research is to examine the potential of harnessing the visual programming language Scratch for learning arithmethic operations in preschool education as well as to find out wheather a visual programming environment intended for algorithmic thinking development can enhance learning outcomes and contribute to better understanding of arithmetic operations. In the pedagogical experiment, which was realized during two school years, 48 children aged 5 to 6 years were involved. The children were separated into three groups in accordance with the learning method. The traditional method of learning numbers, addition and subtraction was implemented in the first group. The second group of children learned numbers and arithmetic operations using visual programming language Scratch. In the third group a combined method that included the traditional teaching method and the use of the programming language Scratch was applied. The comparison of different methods of learning arithmetic operations in order to determine the difference in children’s achievements was performed by using Mann-Whitney test. The research results indicate that children from the experimental group, in which combined learning method was applied, exceed achievements of the other groups. Accordingly, it could be concluded that the application of visual programming language in preschool education represents an extraordinary complement to the traditional method of learning arithmetic operations.