THE INVESTIGATION OF PSYCHO-EDUCATIONAL CONSTRUCTS IN RELATION TO MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS’ LEARNING OF BASIC COMPUTER PROGRAMMING CONCEPTS

Date

2024-7-5

Author

Kefeli Berber, Pınar

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The main purpose of this study was to investigate the cognitive and motivational factors contributing to the acquisition of fundamental computer programming concepts at the middle school level. Employing a mixed-method embedded design approach, the study aimed to explore how personal achievement goal orientations, perceived classroom goal structures, academic-related perceptions, beliefs and strategies, attitude towards coding education, cognitive load, mathematics and reading comprehension achievement, gender, and geographical school location predict students’ achievement scores in programming. Participants of the study included 199 fifth-grade students. The implementation was conducted over ten weeks in the Information Technologies and Software course across three public middle schools. Data were collected through surveys, achievement tests, and interviews. Data analysis involved both quantitative and qualitative approaches. For the analysis of quantitative data, various methods were employed, including independent samples t-test, repeated measures ANOVA, mulrank function, doubly repeated MANOVA, and hierarchical regression. The study’s results revealed that mathematics achievement was the strongest predictor of programming achievement, followed by reading comprehension achievement, geographic school location, extraneous load, attitude towards coding education, and academic self-handicapping strategies. Furthermore, changes were observed in students’ cognitive load levels throughout the programming learning process, particularly concerning certain programming topics. While the results indicated no significant differences based on gender regarding the variables investigated, significant differences were found concerning geographical school location in terms of academic achievement and motivational factors. Students’ experiences with programming and the online coding platform used in the research were generally positive.

Subject Keywords

Computer Programming Education for Children, Coding, Cognitive Load, Motivation

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/110420

Collections

Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Thesis