An AI-enhanced computational thinking program: effects on children’s computational thinking, self-regulation, and representations of AI robots

Although research shows that young children benefit from computational thinking (CT) experience, the impact of the CT program on their self-regulation and representation of artificial intelligence (AI) is still limited. Given the necessity for the integration of AI education at the K-12 level in China and the limited success of AI applications in kindergarten, the study examined how an AI-enhanced CT program of eight-sessions that integrates basic AI concepts may support the development of children using a single-group pretest-posttest design. Participants were 29 kindergartens aged 6–7 years in ShanTou city. The results revealed significant improvements in CT (V = 135, p = .032, r = .58) and self-regulation (V = 242, p < .001, r = .91). Epistemic network analysis of children’s drawings showed that their representations of AI robots were organized mainly around humanoid appearance, mobility, key components, and positive emotion, with links to social interaction and some data- and classification-related elements. The study offers novel evidence that an AI-enhanced CT program can enhance not only children’s foundational cognitive development but also their emerging representations of AI robots, contributing new insights into developmentally appropriate approaches to early CT and AI education.