Effectiveness of collaboration in developing computational thinking skills: A systematic review of social cognitive factors

Background Collaboration has commonly been integrated in computational thinking education to foster novice learning. While the majority of existing studies on developing students' CT skills have been based on competency or personality factors, social factors have been largely ignored. Objectives This systematic review, framed by social cognitive learning theories, aims to unravel the influencing factors of collaboration in developing computational thinking skills in K‐12 education. Methods We searched four databases and located 79 publications for synthesis analysis to identify 10 social cognitive factors from personal and learning environmental perspectives. Personal factors are gender, prior knowledge, and motivational attitudes, while the learning environmental factors are roles, partnership, interaction, culture, tools, tasks, and scaffolding. Results and Conclusions We examined the following five major issues: (a) collaboration elements designed in learning activities; (b) social cognitive factors that might influence the development of computational thinking; (c) the influences caused by social cognitive factors; (d) students' perceived benefits of collaboration; (e) major challenges of integrating collaboration in computational thinking education. The most reported challenges in collaborative classrooms are students' misunderstanding of computational thinking knowledge, negative sentiments, and communication problems. Accordingly, a design framework to facilitate collaborative learning activities was proposed. The design framework can provide a more focused research avenue for examining the effects of collaboration in the development of computational thinking in K‐12 education. Lay Description What is already known about the topic? Collaboration has commonly been integrated in computational thinking (CT) education to foster novice learning in K‐12 education. There have been disputes regarding the effectiveness of collaboration in achieving learning outcomes. There is a need for further examination of the influencing factors of collaboration, which might influence students' CT performances. What does this paper add? Our review identified personal factors (i.e., gender, prior knowledge, and motivational attitudes) and learning environmental factors (i.e., roles, partnership, interaction, culture, tools, tasks, and scaffolding), and revealed their influences in students' CT performances in K‐12 education. The synthesis of students' authentic opinions c