Investigation of the Studies on the Use of Scratch Software in Education

The aim of this study is to classify the methodological tendencies and outputs of the studies conducted on the use of Scratch software in education with their main lines and to examine them in a comprehensive and holistic way. A literature review was conducted based on different databases in line with the purpose of the study and we accessed 76 different studies within this scope. Document review steps were followed to explain the data obtained in the study and to access the necessary concepts and relations. Meta-thematic analyses were performed to complement the data obtained, and qualitative findings were obtained by referring to common codes and themes of qualitative studies. The results of the study indicate that the use of Scratch software in education was found to have positive effects on motivation, self-efficacy, attitude, higher-level thinking, and academic success. In addition, materializing software teaching by freeing it from its abstract and complex structure, enabling students to acquire 21st-century skills at an early age, encouraging students to trust themselves by boosting their interest and motivation can be defined as some of the positive aspects of the Scratch software. The limitations of the Scratch software were determined as being unsuitable for advanced coding, limited code structure, and difficulty in understanding the logic of some basic structures.