A1 Journal article (refereed)
CS1 : Intrinsic Motivation, Self-Efficacy, and Effort (2023)

Lakanen, A.-J., & Isomöttönen, V. (2023). CS1 : Intrinsic Motivation, Self-Efficacy, and Effort. Informatics in Education, 22(4), 651-670. https://doi.org/10.15388/infedu.2023.26

JYU authors or editors

Publication details

All authors or editors: Lakanen, Antti-Jussi; Isomöttönen, Ville

Journal or series: Informatics in Education

ISSN: 1648-5831

eISSN: 2335-8971

Publication year: 2023

Publication date: 17/04/2023

Volume: 22

Issue number: 4

Pages range: 651-670

Publisher: Vilnius University Press

Publication country: Lithuania

Publication language: English

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15388/infedu.2023.26

Publication open access: Openly available

Publication channel open access: Open Access channel

Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/93548

Abstract

This research investigates university students’ success in their first programming course (CS1) in relation to their motivation, mathematical ability, programming self-efficacy, and initial goal setting. To our knowledge, these constructs have not been measured in a single study before in the Finnish context. The selection of the constructs is in line with the statistical model that predicts student performance (“PreSS”) (Quille and Bergin, 2018). The constructs are compared with various demographic and background variables, such as study major, prior programming experience, and average weekly working hours. Some of the main results of this study are as follows: (1) students generally entered with a high interest in programming and high motivation, but these factors did not increase during the course, i.e., interest in programming did not increase. (2) Having prior experience yielded higher initial programming self-efficacy, grade expectations, and spending less time on tasks, but not better grades (although worse neither). While these results can be seen as preliminary (and alarming in some parts), they give rise to future research for investigating possible expectation–performance gaps in CS1 and later CS studies. As our dataset accumulates, we also hope to be able to construct a valid success prediction model.

Keywords: students; programming; mathematical skills; interest; interests; motivation (mental objects)

Free keywords: interest; motivation

Contributing organizations

Ministry reporting: Yes

VIRTA submission year: 2023

JUFO rating: 1