Self-efficacy of Freshmen Students in Java Programming

Abstract

Fundamentals of computer programming are the foundation subject of computer science students where programming skills are taught and introduced. Students are expected to exhibit proficiency on conceptually difficult topics such as abstract principles of programming and logic. Self-efficacy is an effective predictor of students' motivation and learning. The study investigates the self-efficacy of first-year information technology students in their introductory programming course - the Java programming. These students are, usually referred to as novice programmers, programmers who do not possess the skills of an expert. Researches revealed that novice programmers experience many difficulties in gaining skills in programming. The researcher conducted an online survey on computer self-efficacy. The instrument on self-efficacy on programming developed by Ramalingam and Wiedenbeck was utilized and was administered among first-year students to understand how they initially assess their selves on programming. This study employs weighted mean and Chi-square test of independence to analyze the results of the collected data. Results indicated that the self-efficacy of respondents is average. Further, females rated themselves slightly higher than the males. Also, students from the private school have stronger self-efficacy than those students from public school. Keywords - Education, self-efficacy, learning to program, Java programming, the novice programmer, descriptive design, Philippines