This study investigates the effectiveness of scaffolded game development activities in enhancing computational thinking (CT) skills among young learners using a graphical programming environment. While prior research highlights the value of block-based programming in CT education, few studies explore how structured scaffolding supports learners in completing full game projects. Grounded in Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development and Wing’s CT framework, this study involved 310 participants aged 10 to 15, including their teachers, in a tiered sequence of programming tasks using mBlock programming platform. Learners progressed from basic to more complex programming constructs, namely, loops, conditionals, variables, and debugging, which are included in the development of a complete Pac-Man or Snake game. Quantitative results demonstrated significant improvements in CT skills across all age groups. Qualitative data revealed increased learner engagement, reduced programming anxiety, and enhanced interest in computational problem-solving. The findings suggest that scaffolded game development is a promising strategy for early CT instruction, offering both cognitive and affective benefits. This work contributes to current literature by demonstrating how structured support and creative programming tasks can jointly promote CT proficiency and learner motivation in foundational computing education.

This study aims to investigate the effect of digital leadership, creativity, and proactive personality on innovative work behavior (IWB) through work engagement. The research involved 436 private school teachers in Indonesia. The research data were collected by a Likert scale questionnaire. Data analysis is done using structural equation modeling based on Partial Least Squares (SEM-PLS), with descriptive and correlational analysis as supplements. The findings indicated that digital leadership, creativity, proactive personality, and work engagement affect teacher IWB; digital leadership, creativity, and proactive personality impact teacher work engagement; and digital leadership, creativity, and proactive personality affect teacher IWB through work engagement. These findings introduce a new empirical model of the influence of digital leadership, creativity, and proactive personalities on teachers' IWB through work engagement. This model deserves to be discussed critically and in-depth, and adapted and adopted by researchers to enrich their future research. This model can also be modified and adopted by school practitioners (management) to accelerate and optimize teachers' IWB capacity based on digital leadership, creativity, proactive personality, and work engagement.