Inquiry Science Teaching Integrated with Unplugged Computational Thinking in Middle School: Development of Inquiry and Computational Thinking Skills

With the increasing prevalence of digitalization in recent years, computational thinking (CT) has emerged as a fundamental component of students’ problem-solving and analytical reasoning skills. Consequently, research on integrating CT into various disciplines has accelerated, particularly in science education, where efforts have focused on implementing CT in teachable, accessible, and meaningful ways. This study aims to examine the effects of inquiry-based science instruction integrated with unplugged CT activities on middle school students’ CT skills and inquiry learning skills. A quasi-experimental pretest–posttest control group design was employed with 28 students (14 experimental, 14 control). While the experimental group received inquiry-based instruction enriched with unplugged CT activities, the control group followed the existing science curriculum. The findings revealed that inquiry-based science teaching integrated with unplugged CT activities had a significant and strong positive effect on students’ CT and inquiry learning skills. Additionally, a strong and positive correlation was identified between CT and inquiry learning skills (r = .744, p < .05). Overall, the results suggest that inquiry-based science teaching integrated with unplugged CT activities can shift CT from a narrowly coding-oriented technical skill to an interdisciplinary thinking framework that serves as a cognitive scaffold within science learning processes.