Akcaoglu and Hodges collaborate on publication on computer programming
Mete Akcaoglu, Ph.D., and Charles Hodges, Ph.D., faculty members in the instructional technology program at Georgia Southern University, collaborated with two additional colleagues to publish an article in the Interdisciplinary Journal of Practice, Theory, and Applied Research. Akcaoglu, who served as lead author, received a nearly $300,000 grant in fall 2020, and has been working with middle schoolers in southeast Georgia to introduce computer programming software.
The article, “An Exploration of Factors Impacting Middle School Students’ Attitudes Toward Computer Programming,” examines the self-efficacy of the middle school students by providing a pretest to a variable group before conducting a perception survey. While results showed now significant difference on self-efficacy and value scores between those who received the pretest and those who did not, it was found that pretest performance was positively correlated with self-efficacy and value.
Additional findings included gender disparities. Females, even when performing well on the pretest, reported a lower self-efficacy and utility value than males with similar pretest performances. This research support research that demonstrates a gender gap in self-efficacy and belief in abilities to the traditional masculine disciplines, of which computer science is often considered.
Alongside Akcaoglu and Hodges, additional authors include Joshua Rosenberg, Ph.D. and Jonathan Hilpert, Ph.D.
For the full publication, visit https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07380569.2021.1882209
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