Gender Differences in Middle School Students’ Attitudes and Self-Efficacy Perceptions towards mBlock Programming

Abstract

This study aims to assess the effects of teaching programming with mBlock on self-efficacy perceptions and attitudes considering programming. Particularly, this study tries to research whether there is a gender difference in middle school students or not. The study was conducted in pre-test/post-test quasi experimental design. The participants of the study which was completed in twelve weeks were 82 middle school students. The data were collected through "Educational Computer Games Assisted Learning Coding Attitude Scale" and "Computer Programming Self-efficacy Scale". The results of the research indicate that although the selfefficacy perceptions of boys towards programming were higher than the girls' at the beginning of the research, this difference was closed at the end of the research. The results also show that teaching programming with mBlock to middle school students did not cause gender differences in self-efficacy perceptions and attitudes regarding programming. Although girls' attitudes regarding programming were slightly higher than boys', the difference was not considered to be significant. In addition, it was found that programming with mBlock significantly increased students' self-efficacy perceptions and attitudes towards programming. As a result, teaching programming with mBlock can provide similar possibilities for both genders in self-efficacy perceptions and attitudes regarding programming.

Barriers to programming education in UAE primary schools: A Qualitative review from ICT teachers' perspectives.

“…Despite the widely accepted opinion that programming is a key skill that increases students' academic accomplishment, some researchers believe that students still struggle to acquire speci c programming topics [5,37] due to the majority of students' lack of self-e cacy [45]. Research concludes that programming con dence increases with practise (e.g., [14,38,41]) and suggests that the programming learning environment should be improved [37] and that Piaget theory should be considered when developing the curriculum's content.…”

Robótica Educacional e Habilidades do Século XXI: Um Estudo de Caso com Estudantes do Ensino Médio

“…A Figura 1 apresenta o ambiente de desenvolvimento que foi utilizado no curso de robótica educacional. O mBlock já foi utilizado para aferir a motivação dos estudantes em relação à programação e apresentou como resultado a percepção e autoeficácia com aumento significativo em relação à programação [11]. Nesse mesmo sentido, um workshop de programação e robótica por meio do mBlock, constituído com 93 participantes de 13 anos, constatou que os estudantes não tiveram nenhuma dificuldade de uso com a ferramenta e o contato com o ambiente favoreceu a confiança em relação a programar [14].…”

Comparing the use of block‐based and robot programming in introductory programming education: Effects on perceptions of programming self‐efficacy

“…As a result of activities carried out with secondary‐school students with the Mblock BBP tool, students' self‐efficacy and positive attitudes toward programming increased significantly [111]. BBP tools such as Scratch have also been found to be effective in overcoming barriers in programming education such as a negative attitude toward programming and low self‐efficacy [133].…”