Effectiveness of Basic to Advanced Computational Thinking Program for Secondary Students: Evaluation Study in Melaka, Malaysia

Computational thinking has emerged as a critical 21st-century skill, yet many secondary students in Malaysia have not been formally exposed to structured computational thinking education. This study evaluates the effectiveness of a “Basic to Advanced Computational Thinking for Secondary Students” program implemented in Melaka, Malaysia. To assess the impact of a four-day computational thinking program on secondary students’ knowledge, skills, and confidence in computational thinking concepts. A pre-post evaluation design was employed using the validated form provided by Research, Innovation, Commercialisation, and Entrepreneurship (RICE) University Technical Malaysia Melaka (UTeM) assessment instrument. Forty-eight secondary students (Forms 1-3) participated in the program, which covered introduction to computational thinking which includes Microbit, Scratch, artificial intelligence (AI), and robotics. Participants completed self-assessment questionnaires before and after the program using a 5-point Likert scale. The program demonstrated significant effectiveness across all measured competencies. Overall mean scores improved from 2.45 to 3.71 (51.3% improvement). The highest improvements were observed in knowledge acquisition (60.9%) and program relevance perception (53.2%). Female students (n=9) and male students (n=20) both showed substantial improvements, with the program successfully engaging diverse learners across different form levels. The structured computational thinking program effectively enhanced secondary students’ competencies in computational thinking. The findings support the integration of comprehensive computational thinking curricula in Malaysian secondary education to prepare students for digital literacy demands.