Developing the Computer Programming Self-Efficacy Scale for Computer Literacy Education

Computer programming has been gradually emphasized in recent computer literacy education and regarded as a requirement for all middle school students in some countries. To understand young students’ perceptions about their own learning in computer programming, this study aimed to develop an instrume...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of educational computing research Vol. 56; no. 8; pp. 1345 - 1360
Main Authors Tsai, Meng-Jung, Wang, Ching-Yeh, Hsu, Po-Fen
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.01.2019
Subjects
Computer Literacy
Computer Science Education
Cooperation
Factor Analysis
Gender Differences
Logical Thinking
Measures (Individuals)
Metacognition
Middle School Students
Programming
Programming Languages
Reliability
Robotics
Self Efficacy
Student Attitudes
Technological Literacy
Thinking Skills
evaluation
digital literacy
quantitative
programming
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ISSN0735-6331
1541-4140
DOI10.1177/0735633117746747

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Summary:Computer programming has been gradually emphasized in recent computer literacy education and regarded as a requirement for all middle school students in some countries. To understand young students’ perceptions about their own learning in computer programming, this study aimed to develop an instrument, Computer Programming Self-Efficacy Scale (CPSES), for all students above middle school levels. Based on Berland and Lee’s computational thinking framework, this study developed the CPSES items at a literacy level and finally the instrument included the five subscales: Logical Thinking, Algorithm, Debug, Control, and Cooperation. An exploratory factor analysis and reliability tests were conducted in this study. The reliability alpha was .96 for the overall scale, and ranged from .84 to .96 for the subscales. This study also confirmed the positive correlation between computer programming experience and computer programming self-efficacy. In addition, for low- and middle-experienced learners, significant gender differences were found in two subscales: Algorithm and Debug. The CPSES can be applied as an evaluation tool in computer education, robotics education, as well as integrated STEM or STEAM education in which computer programming was regarded as a part of computer literacy.
ISSN:0735-6331
1541-4140
DOI:10.1177/0735633117746747