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Adaptation of an Instrument to Assess Computational Concepts in Primary Education

10.24050/reia.v23i45.1921
Published 2026-01-01
Articles

Abstract

Educational systems face the challenge of forming critical and competent citizens in the use of technology, which requires an understanding of how digital competencies are acquired, developed, and assessed. Computational Thinking (CT) has emerged as a key 21st-century competency, comparable to reading, writing, and mathematics. Its conceptual foundation has been strengthened through contributions from psychology, computer science, and the social sciences, allowing it to be defined as a construct. At the same time, assessing CT poses a challenge in measuring both cognitive and non-cognitive skills. Globally, there are instruments with psychometric evidence for different age groups; however, in Colombia, there is a shortage of valid and reliable tools to assess CT in primary education. This article presents the linguistic and cultural adaptation of the Computational Thinking Test for Lower Primary (CTt-LP), aimed at evaluating computational concepts in fourth- and fifth-grade students. For content validity, 26 experts (researchers, teachers, and advanced engineering students) participated. The pilot test was administered to 112 students aged 9 to 11. The psychometric analysis, based on Classical Test Theory (CTT), yielded a general Content Validity Coefficient (CVC) of 0.900, indicating high agreement among experts. Most items showed good or excellent validity, and a large proportion demonstrated good to excellent discrimination levels. The results support the relevance of the CTt-LP and, together with distractor analysis and qualitative observations, provide concrete guidance for its refinement. These findings support the development of the Computational Thinking Test for Lower Primary Adapted (CTt-LP-Ad), an adapted version that contributes to the objective assessment of CT in primary education in Colombia.

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