Abstract

High failure rates appear to be a norm in introductory programming courses. Many solutions have been proposed to improve the high failure rates. Surprisingly, the solutions have not brought significant improvements to the performance of students in introductory programming courses. Instead, there appears to be a gap in understanding the relationship between self-efficacy, emotional engagement and the performance of students in introductory programming courses. Enjoyment, interest, and gratification were identified as three emotional engagement factors in introductory programming courses from prior literature and from focus groups. An online survey on 433 students in introductory programming courses showed that the students’ programming self-efficacy beliefs had a strong positive impact on enjoyment, while gratification and interest had a negative impact on programming performance. These findings have implications for course instructors who design and deliver introductory programming courses.

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