Educators Perspectives on the Role of Computational Technology in Enhancing Cognitive Skills in K-12 Education

Educators Perspectives on the Role of Computational Technology in Enhancing Cognitive Skills in K-12 Education | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Educators Perspectives on the Role of Computational Technology in Enhancing Cognitive Skills in K-12 Education Abdou Fall, Saheed Popoola This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8733952/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Computational technology is prevalent in many high schools and teachers are key stakeholders of learning. Therefore, understanding computational technology from the viewpoint of teachers is important for informing teaching methods and determining the appropriate timing of instructional support. This paper examined educators’ perspectives on the relationship between computational technology in the classroom and the development of students’ cognitive skills. We conducted qualitative, semi-structured interviews and open ended surveys with high school educators. The collected data were analyzed using principle component analysis to thematically group perceptions of technology in relation to learning. Thematic groupings were interpreted in relation to previous literature that focuses on the role of computational skills in student learning at various stages of development. The results show that computational technology needs a prerequisite to be timed well for students. Furthermore, the educators believe that technology positively impacted their students’ learning, and most educators advocate for the use of technology in the classroom as early as possible. The study recommends a systematic approach to computational technology in the classroom, especially one that introduces high school students to early problem solving, as an effective means to sharpen students’ cognitive abilities. This study is also significant because it provides a guide for education policymakers on the perspectives to consider when honing cognitive abilities in grade school, with a focus on technology’s role in enhancing learners’ computational ability. cognitive skills technology educators learning process Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8733952","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":582604918,"identity":"f50f740f-ce46-4fd7-b707-f031ea5c8f8f","order_by":0,"name":"Abdou Fall","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6577-2218","institution":"University of Cincinnati","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Abdou","middleName":"","lastName":"Fall","suffix":""},{"id":582604919,"identity":"7d41fe6e-0e6a-48d0-8a2f-5fe6c6c338c2","order_by":1,"name":"Saheed Popoola","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA2UlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYFACHiBmg7IfMNiAaQnitSQwpJGu5TBhLfLtZw8++FDGkMcv3XzwQULN+cT+BuaDt3nwaDE4k5dsOOMcQ7HknGPJBgnHbifOOMCWbI1XC0OOmTRvG0Pihhs5ZhIJbLcTNzDwmEnj0yLf/8b891+4ln/ngFr4v+HVwgBUycwI05LYdgBkCxteLQY33hhL9pyTgPglsS/ZeMZhNmPLOXgdlmP44UeZDSTEPnyzk+1vb3544w0+h0GARAIiLpgJKweDBEIxPgpGwSgYBSMYAADZDEvsic2uhQAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9602-6322","institution":"University of Cincinnati","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Saheed","middleName":"","lastName":"Popoola","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-01-29 17:06:02","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":{"humanSubjects":true,"vertebrateSubjects":false,"conflictsOfInterestStatement":false,"humanSubjectEthicalGuidelines":true,"humanSubjectConsent":true,"humanSubjectClinicalTrial":false,"humanSubjectCaseReport":false,"vertebrateSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false},"doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8733952/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8733952/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":101752260,"identity":"c3c0b9fd-1cef-4dcc-98e8-b47cf83e973b","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-02-03 10:26:22","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":696558,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"CompTechCognitiveEIT8.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8733952/v1_covered_81855c68-1094-49a5-af33-7035ba0365af.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"The authors declare no competing interests.","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003eEducators Perspectives on the Role of Computational Technology in Enhancing Cognitive Skills in K-12 Education\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"University of Cincinnati","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"cognitive skills, technology, educators, learning process","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8733952/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8733952/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eComputational technology is prevalent in many high schools and teachers are key stakeholders of learning. 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