Measuring Students' Acceptance and Confidence on Algorithms and Programming: The Impact of the Engagement with CS on Secondary Education

Abstract

This paper presents results of a questionnaire focused on investigating students' confi � dence and behavioral intention in the area of programming, particularly that of structures, problem solving, and programming commands (Conditional - loop). Responses from 116 1 st year students regarding informatics were used. The results indicate that the engagement with programming logic yields a positive impact on students' confidence and acceptance. In addition, all the measured fac � tors are related relatively strongly. Our findings demonstrate that students' prior direction (at Ly � ceum) has a significant impact on their Confidence for using Programming Commands (CPC) and Confidence for using Data Structures (CDS); however, prior direction does not have any impact on learners Problem Solving Confidence (PSC) and Behavioral Intention (BI) for programming. In the conclusion, several issues regarding the courses of programming are discussed.