Abstract

Computer programming is becoming an essential skill for young students regardless of their education or career goals. Therefore, for students to develop and for educators and researchers to accurately measure self-efficacy in and value for programming is important. Although student motivation in subject matter can be measured using self-report surveys, these types of instruments are prone to error due to inherent biases. In this quasi-experimental and cross-sectional study, we examined whether using a computer programming pretest before taking a perception survey (i.e., providing examples of the key concept in the survey beforehand) had an impact on students’ self-reported self-efficacy and utility value, thus helping collect more accurate data. Results showed no significant difference on self-efficacy and value scores between those who received a pretest and those who did not. In further analysis, however, it was found that pretest performance was positively correlated with self-efficacy and value. In addition, boys reported significantly higher self-efficacy and value than girls, confirming gender disparity outlined in previous research. An exploratory, but important, finding was that there was an interaction between gender and test performance for the self-efficacy and utility value. While boys’ who had high pretest scores also reported higher levels of self-efficacy and utility value, it was the opposite for girls.

摘要

无论学生的学历或职业目标如何，计算机编程都已成为他们的一项必不可少的技能。因此，对于学生的发展以及对于教育者和研究人员来说，准确地衡量自我效能和编程价值很重要。尽管可以使用自我报告调查来衡量学生在主题上的动机，但是由于固有的偏差，这些类型的工具容易出错。在这项准实验和横断面研究中，我们检查了在进行知觉调查之前使用计算机编程预测试（即，事先提供了调查中的关键概念的示例）是否对学生的自我报告的自我效能产生了影响和实用价值，从而有助于收集更准确的数据。结果显示，接受预测试的人和未接受预测试的人在自我效能和价值得分上无显着差异。然而，在进一步的分析中，发现测验前的表现与自我效能和价值呈正相关。此外，男孩报告的自我效能和价值明显高于女孩，这证实了先前研究中概述的性别差异。一个探索性但重要的发现是，性别与测试表现之间存在着自我效能和效用价值的相互作用。尽管男孩的预测成绩高，他们的自我效能感和效用价值也更高，但女孩却相反。男孩报告的自我效能和价值明显高于女孩，证实了先前研究中概述的性别差异。一个探索性但重要的发现是，性别与测试表现之间存在着自我效能和效用价值的相互作用。尽管男孩的预测成绩高，他们的自我效能感和效用价值也更高，但女孩却相反。男孩报告的自我效能和价值明显高于女孩，证实了先前研究中概述的性别差异。一个探索性但重要的发现是，性别与测试表现之间存在着自我效能和效用价值的相互作用。尽管男孩的预测成绩高，他们的自我效能感和效用价值也更高，但女孩却相反。