Many parents want to teach their children how to code to improve their overall academic performance. It is expected that during computer science and programming courses, young developers will improve their knowledge of mathematics, or even overtake the school curriculum. In fact, the ability to write code and create your own applications does not always help grades, although there is a certain connection.
They first started talking about these things back in the early 90s — it was released in 1992 study, which showed that students with programming skills score higher on exams. The difference was quite significant — almost 20 per cent. The authors suggested that the effect of proficiency in a particular computer language goes beyond this particular language, having a positive impact on students' cognitive abilities.
It is the last words that you should focus on. Cognitive capabilities combine all human abilities to perceive and process information. How these abilities can be assessed with school scores is a matter for discussion. Especially in our time, when many teachers and educational institutions are, in principle, questioning the concept of assessments, recognizing their primarily administrative function. Simply put, such parameters are more likely to help school administrators monitor the effectiveness of teaching, and simple “twos” and “fives” cannot measure the progress of each individual student in understanding each individual discipline.
Another important thing to keep in mind is the difference between connectivity and correlation. If we see that the child's academic performance has improved after he has learned program in Python, this does not mean that knowledge of Python influenced his grades. Firstly, this may be just a coincidence, i.e. there is no connection between these phenomena at all. Secondly, it could be a correlation — improved academic performance and programming skills go hand in hand, but writing code doesn't get the best grades.
When children learn to code, they simultaneously develop a whole range of different qualities. This includes perseverance, attention to detail, and the ability to achieve goals. In addition, they join the same enthusiastic developers, gain experience from them, and establish friendships. All this affects their lives, changes their thinking and outlook on the world. Adults can also feel this effect when they come to a new job, decide to take up a new sport, or take a dance course. A new occupation brings many changes to life, and these changes, following the domino principle, provoke new phenomena.
Maybe coding school will distract your child from unnecessary company. Or Python courses will give him something to do, filling free time that he could spend less productively. Maybe he'll even discover a passion for software development and turn this passion into a successful career.
None of this will necessarily affect his school performance. However, grades should not be the only criterion for parents. Even the most harmonious and successful person may not have the most beautiful diploma; it is much more important that he does something that interests him — preferably also a well-paid one. Programming courses for students serve exactly this purpose.
