THE EFFECT OF UNPLUGGED CODING ON NUMBER-CONCEPT UNDERSTANDING IN CHILDREN AGED 5–6 YEARS

Abstract

Early numeracy is a foundational component of school readiness, and developmentally appropriate coding activities may provide concrete opportunities to practice order, symbol–quantity relations, and sequential reasoning. This study examined whether unplugged coding learning was associated with higher number-concept understanding among children aged 5–6 years. A quantitative quasi-experimental nonequivalent control-group design involved 30 children, with 15 children in an experimental group and 15 in a control group. Number-concept understanding was observed through number recognition, number sequencing, and matching quantities with number symbols. Both groups completed a pretest and posttest; the experimental group received unplugged coding learning and the control group received conventional learning. The experimental-group mean increased from 18.27 to 31.93, whereas the control-group mean increased from 19.00 to 20.67. The reported posttest comparison was statistically significant, t(28) = 12.093, p < .001, with a mean difference of 11.267 and an approximate 95% confidence interval of [9.36, 13.18]. A derived small-sample standardized difference was very large (Hedges’ g = 4.30). The findings indicate a substantial between-group posttest difference in this sample and support further investigation of unplugged coding as a play-based early-numeracy strategy. Causal and generalizable conclusions remain limited by the small, single-site, nonequivalent-group design and incomplete reporting of the intervention and measurement procedures.