Adapting Computer Programming Self-Efficacy Scale and Engineering Students’ Self-Efficacy Perceptions

Abstract

Students might have different type and different level of perceptions: Positive or negative perceptions on programming; a perception on benefit of programming, perceptions related to difficulties of programming process etc. The perception of student on their own competence is defined as self-efficacy. Based on the discussions reported in literature, measuring self-efficacy is certainly necessary and, in this context, is highly important in order to develop new pedagogical methods to address the problems related to computer programming. The purpose of this study is to adapt a well-known self-efficacy scale and determine engineering student’s C++ computer programming self-efficacy levels. The sample group consists of 378 engineering students. In order to test the validity of the scale, an exploratory factor analysis has been conducted and item discriminative power has been evaluated. The reliability of the scale, on the other hand, has been justified using the internal consistency level. The results indicate that the scale is reliable and valid, and it can be used to measure the self-efficacy of the engineering student in Turkish cultural environment. Furthermore, it is revealed that the level of self-efficacy perception of the students is middling and it does not show any meaningful difference between genders. On the other hand, self-efficacy perception of students in computer engineering is found to be higher than that of the students in electrical-electronics engineering.