Investigating the role of student motivation in computer science education through one-on-one tutoring

Boyer, Kristy Elizabeth; Phillips, Robert; Wallis, Michael; Vouk, Mladen A.; Lester, James C.

doi:10.1080/08993400902937584

Cited by 16 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Another major study used four dimensions of motivation, control, curiosity, challenge, and confidence as a theoretical framework [Boyer et al 2009]. Achievement goals orientation, autonomy (control), corrective feedback, and confidence as it relates to the subject domain of computer science were all evaluated in an effort to understand the learning process of students.…”

Section: Measuring Motivation In Introductory Programming Coursesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Learning to Program with Personal Robots

McGill

2012

ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.

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One of the goals of using robots in introductory programming courses is to increase motivation among learners. There have been several types of robots that have been used extensively in the classroom to teach a variety of computer science concepts. A more recently introduced robot designed to teach programming to novice students is the Institute for Personal Robots in Education (IPRE) robot. The author chose to use this robot and study its motivational effects on non-computer science students in a CS0 course. The purpose of this study was to determine whether using the IPRE robots motivates students to learn programming in a CS0 course. After considering various motivational theories and instruments designed to measure motivation, the author used Keller's Instructional Materials Motivation Survey to measure four components of motivation: attention, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction. Additional items were added to the survey, including a set of open-ended questions. The results of this study indicate that the use of these robots had a positive influence on participants' attitudes towards learning to program in a CS0 course, but little or no effect on relevance, confidence, or satisfaction. Results also indicate that although gender and students interests may affect individual components of motivation, gender, technical self-perception, and interest in software development have no bearing on the overall motivational levels of students. ACM Reference Format:McGill, M. M. 2012. Learning to program with personal robots: Influences on student motivation. ACM Trans.

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Section: Measuring Motivation In Introductory Programming Coursesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Learning to Program with Personal Robots

McGill

2012

ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.

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“…The literature tells us novices benefit from interaction with their peers [5]. They also maintain high motivation to succeed when they receive personal tutoring from expert humans [3]. The informal Thinkathon environment fostered both these kinds of interactions.…”

Section: Student Experiencementioning

confidence: 99%

Experience report

et al. 2019

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Goal-directed problem-solving labs can lead a student to believe that the most important achievement in a first programming course is to get programs working. This is counter to research indicating that code comprehension is an important developmental step for novice programmers. We observed this in our own CS-0 introductory programming course, and furthermore, that students weren't making the connection between code comprehension in labs and a final examination that required solutions to pencil-and-paper comprehension and writing exercises, where sound understanding of programming concepts is essential. Realising these deficiencies late in our course, we put on three 3-hour optional revision evenings just days before the exam.Based on a mastery learning philosophy, students were expected to work through a bank of around 200 penciland-paper exercises. By comparison with a machine-based hackathon, we called this a Thinkathon. Students completed a pre and post questionnaire about their experience of the Thinkathon. While we find that Thinkathon attendance positively influences final grades, we believe our reflection on the overall experience is of greater value. We report that: respected methods for developing code comprehension may not be enough on their own; novices must exercise their developing skills away from machines; and there are social learning outcomes in programming courses, currently implicit, that we should make explicit.

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“…Motivational factors play a key role in the success of pre-and in-service teacher education. For in-service teachers, relevant factors include preparation time, the availability of teaching material, and the attraction of an innovative curriculum (Ni, 2009); for pre-service teachers, they include an effective tutoring program (Boyer, Phillips, Wallis, Vouk, & Lester, 2009).…”

Section: Pre-service Teachers Of Computer Sciencementioning

confidence: 99%

Central Computer Science Concepts to Research-Based Teacher Training in Computer Science: An Experimental Study

Zendler

Klaudt

2012

Journal of Educational Computing Research

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The significance of computer science for economics and society is undisputed. In particular, computer science is acknowledged to play a key role in schools (e.g., by opening multiple career paths). The provision of effective computer science education in schools is dependent on teachers who are able to properly represent the discipline and whose in-depth knowledge of the subject encompasses recent advances in the research. This article examines the assessment of content and process concepts relevant for K-12 computer science education by computer science teachers and computer science professors. The findings show that computer science professors attach more importance to content concepts of computer science (e.g., algorithm, model, system) in terms of several process concepts (e.g., analyzing, problem solving, investigating) than computer science teachers. These results should be taken into account by training programs for both pre-service and in-service teachers of computer science.

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Investigating the role of student motivation in computer science education through one-on-one tutoring

Cited by 16 publications

References 26 publications

Learning to Program with Personal Robots

Learning to Program with Personal Robots

Experience report

Central Computer Science Concepts to Research-Based Teacher Training in Computer Science: An Experimental Study

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