Unplugged activities as a low-cost solution to foster computational thinking (CT) skills seem to be a trend in recent years. However, current evidence of the effectiveness of unplugged activities in promoting students’ CT skills has been inconsistent. To understand the potential of unplugged activities on computational thinking skills, a systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted. Our review of 49 studies examined the influence of unplugged activities to improve students’ CT skills in K–12 education between 2006 and 2022. The literature review showed that studies on CT skills were mainly (81.64%) conducted in computer science and STEM education, with board and card games being the most common unplugged activities for fostering CT skills in K–12 education. CT diagnostic tools (36.37%) were frequently used as assessment tools. A follow-up meta-analysis of 13 studies with 16 effect sizes showed a generally large overall effect size (Hedges’s g = 1.028, 95% CI [0.641, 1.415], p < 0.001) for the use of unplugged activities in promoting students’ CT skills. The analysis of several moderator variables (i.e., grade level, class size, intervention duration, and learning tools) and their possible effects on CT skills indicated that unplugged activities are a promising instructional strategy for enhancing students’ CT skills. Taken together, the results highlight the affordances of unplugged pedagogy for promoting CT skills in K–12 education. Recommendations for policies, practice, and research are provided accordingly.

Although parental involvement is among the most crucial aspects of social support for students’ school engagement and achievement, current review work on the relationship between parental involvement and student engagement is largely missing. Therefore, we conducted a systematic literature review on such topics from the perspectives of landscapes, methodology characteristics (e.g., conceptualisation and measurement), and study patterns from 2000–2022. Following PRISMA guidelines, 33 articles involving 47,307 students and 3391 parents were reviewed. The results yielded several interesting facts. First, studies on this topic were primarily conducted in the United States during the first decade, but publications increased during emergency remote teaching (ERT) and China produced most of the publications. Studies were primarily cross-sectional (72.7%) and used secondary school Caucasian or Asian samples. In addition, although studies varied greatly on the conceptualisation and measurement of parental involvement and student engagement, they seem to embrace the idea of measuring parental involvement via school and home subtypes (85%) and student engagement via ABC dimensions (i.e., affective, behavioural, and cognitive; 57.4%). Moreover, in terms of patterns, studies often (82%) investigated its relations with student engagement or how it mediated the connections between parental involvement and learning achievement (e.g., success at school, dropout). They, however, often failed to provide concrete/practical parental involvement strategies. This pattern of results indicated an urgent need for more studies on specific parental involvement practices that could promote student engagement from multiple stakeholders. Limitations and suggestions for future studies were provided accordingly.

Research on student engagement has recently gained popularity as it can address problems such as early dropout and poor achievement. The growing interest in investigating student engagement during the Covid-19 pandemic is reflected in increased publications addressing this topic. However, no review provided research evidence and an overview of existing literature on student engagement during emergency remote teaching (ERT). We reviewed how student engagement studies were undertaken during ERT from three perspectives: (1) the landscape of studies, (2) methodologies issues, and (3) the strategies used to facilitate student engagement. 42 articles were analysed from an initial pool of 436 search results. The findings illustrate that current studies were predominately undertaken in the United States (36%) and China (22%) with focusing on STEM subjects as a dominant discipline. The literature was largely inconsistent in defining and measuring student engagement. In addition, the majority of studies (57%) investigated students’ engagement from the perspective of students, unlike other stakeholders. The most prominent finding is that ERT promoted several important engagement strategies, including motivational factors, teachers’ facilitation, a hybrid learning model, and using learning technologies to boost students’ engagement.