AN ANALYSIS OF RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN INDIVIDUAL LEARNING STYLES AND STUDENT PERFORMANCE IN A PROGRAMMING COURSE (COMPUTING, BASIC, INSTRUCTION)
Abstract
The study investigated relationships between individual learning styles and student performance in a university BASIC programming course through an ex-post-facto research design. Two self-report questionnaires were administered twice within a period of seven weeks to 138 students: the Inventory of Learning Processes (ILP) and the Purdue Computer, Mathematics, and Science Anxiety Scale (PCMSAS). An informational questionnaire asked for demographic information, student's background, and previous experience with computers and programming. The results of the study suggest that change in individual learning styles had taken place for the majority of the students. Students engage in Deep Processing when situational demands became more complex and when they had apparently "automated" low-level computer programming skills. The use of Elaborative Processes was related to the use of personally relevant information networks, while Fact Retention was related to the utilization or modification of ready-made programs as frameworks from which students organized their information. Students engaged in Methodical Study-type activity in those instances when they lacked personal strategies and had to resort to prescribed guidelines. A positive correlational relationship was found between Deep Processing and academic achievement. Individual background was found to be a determinant in the use of the particular learning style by the student. A positive attitudinal change toward computers was found for the majority of the students. The predictor variables--ILP entry-scores, self-reported competencies, experience, age, and anxiety level--accounted for a significant portion of the "changed" ILP score. The entry-score on the same scale was the most significant variable. ILP measures were found to be better predictors of success in the course than student achievement.
Degree
Ph.D.
Subject Area
Curricula|Teaching
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