Attitudes toward mathematics and technology predict computational thinking more strongly than digital literacy in pre-service teachers

Teachers are expected to integrate technology effectively into instruction, which requires not only strong digital literacy but also well-developed computational thinking skills. In this context, this study examined the extent to which pre-service teachers’ computational thinking skills were predicted by demographic variables, digital literacy, and attitudes toward mathematics and technology. The study was conducted using a correlational design with 202 pre-service middle school mathematics teachers enrolled in a teacher education program at a public university. Hierarchical regression analysis was employed to determine the predictive contributions of the variables. In the initial model, gender and technology competence significantly predicted computational thinking skills, although the explained variance was relatively low. When digital literacy was added, the explained variance increased to 23.8%, and digital literacy emerged as a significant predictor, while demographic variables became non-significant. In the final model, attitudes toward mathematics and technology were included, increasing the explained variance to 47.7%. At this stage, attitudes toward mathematics and technology emerged as the strongest and only significant predictor. These findings suggest that affective factors may play a more central role than digital literacy and demographic characteristics in explaining computational thinking skills in teacher education contexts. The study contributes to the literature by providing an integrated perspective on cognitive and affective factors and offers implications for teacher education programs aiming to foster both technological competence and positive dispositions toward mathematics and technology.