Promoting Computational Thinking and Mathematical Structuring Competence in Students in an Enrichment Program for Talented Students: A Randomized Controlled Field Trial

Supporting talented learners is considered crucial for tapping individual potential and addressing societal challenges, particularly in STEM fields such as computer science and mathematics. Therefore, essential 21st-century problem-solving skills such as computational thinking (CT) and mathematical structuring competence (MSC) should be systematically fostered. We thus examined two domain-specific online interventions for talented students and evaluated their effects on cognitive and motivational outcomes. Additionally, we explored potential far transfer effects between CT and MSC to empirically assess postulated theoretical links between the two constructs. Data were collected from 183 students (126 boys, 51 girls, age: M =10.44, SD = 0.71) who attended a STEM-focused enrichment program targeting the top 10% of primary school students, identified through teacher nominations based on high cognitive and creative potential as well as on strong general or domain-specific interest. A randomized controlled field trial with pretest, posttest, and follow-up measures involving three conditions (MSC intervention, CT intervention, waitlist control group) was implemented. Intervention effects were examined with multiple linear regression. At posttest, the CT intervention had only marginal effects on CT (β = 0.26, p = .056) but significantly improved programming self-concept (β = 0.25, p = .036) and the intrinsic value of programming (β = 0.38, p < .001) compared with the waitlist control group. By contrast, the MSC intervention significantly improved MSC (β = 0.20, p = .047) with no effects on motivation. No significant far transfer effects were observed. At follow-up, only the intrinsic value of programming was significantly higher for the CT group than the MSC group. Taken together, short-term interventions can foster specific cognitive and motivational gains in the target group; however, further research is needed to investigate the link between CT and MSC.