https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/8875 Tue, 05 May 2026 15:29:30 GMT 2026-05-05T15:29:30Z https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/31673 The Impacts of a Constructionist Scratch Programming Pedagogy on Student Achievement with a Focus on Gender Campbell, Oladele O. Learning to program is a challenge for many novice computing students. This may be partially due to the inadequacy of many conventional pedagogical approaches resulting in dropouts and failure, especially among females and minoritized students. Consequently, more effective methods to increase success rates and effectively broaden participation are needed. We investigated the effectiveness of a constructionist programming pedagogy with college-level CS1 students, and how that effectiveness varies by gender. Our quasi-experimental design includes participants from CS1 classes at several polytechnics in Nigeria who were assigned to either experimental or control groups receiving six weeks of constructionist instruction using Scratch and a more conventional approach. Findings indicated that the constructionist cohorts had significantly higher mean post-test scores than the conventional classes. We observed no significant difference in post-test scores between genders. However, a significant gender difference was found in gain scores within one study where we also observed a significant relationship between gender and academic background. Overall, our approach demonstrated positive effects on the programming achievements of novice programming students, emphasizing the need to consider the role of contextual factors such as academic background and regional disparities across gender differences. Tue, 05 Dec 2023 00:00:00 GMT https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/31673 2023-12-05T00:00:00Z https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/29433 In search of experimental evidence on Scratch programming and students’ achievements in the first-year college computing class? Consider these datasets Campbell, Oladele Oladunjoye; Atagana, Harrison I This article presents datasets representing the demographics and achievements of computer science students in their first programming courses (CS1). They were collected from a research project comparing the effects of a constructionist Scratch programming and the conventional instructions on the achievements of CS1 students from selected Nigerian public colleges. The project consisted of two consecutive quasi-experiments. In both cases, we adopted a non-equivalent pretest-posttest control group design and multistage sampling. Institutions were selected following purposive sampling, and those selected were randomly assigned to the Scratch programming class (experimental) and the conventional (comparison) class. A questionnaire and pre- and post-introductory programming achievement tests were used to collect data. To strengthen the research design, we used the Coarsened Exact Matching (CEM) algorithm to create matched samples from the unmatched data obtained from both experiments. Future studies can use these data to identify the factors influencing CS1 students' performance, investigate how programming pedagogies or tools affect CS1 students' achievements in higher education, identify important trends using machine learning techniques, and address additional research ideas. Sat, 24 Sep 2022 00:00:00 GMT https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/29433 2022-09-24T00:00:00Z https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/29151 Impact of a Scratch programming intervention on student engagement in a Nigerian polytechnic first-year class: verdict from the observers Campbell, Oladele Oladunjoye; Atagana, H.I. An engaging first programming class (CS1) often inspires students’ passion for computer science (CS). However, the evidence in the literature suggests that the average CS1 classes are anything but engaging for many students. The performance of CS compared to other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses in international student engagement surveys seems to substantiate CS1 failure, attrition rates, and lack of diversity in most CS classes. Meanwhile, for its simplicity in introducing programming to beginners, primary and secondary schools use Scratch, an educational programming environment developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA. For the same reason, higher institutions now include some forms of Scratch instruction in CS1. The question remains, to what extent is Scratch engaging, especially for students in higher education? This study addressed this gap by observing college computer science students exposed to a constructionist Scratch programming pedagogy. We adopted a descriptive design based on quantitative observations. To observe the class during a weekly 2-hour session, we employed five CS educators, one observer per week. Each observer, employing a 20-item observation protocol, rated the extent of affective, behavioral, and cognitive engagement of first-year CS students in a polytechnic in North Central Nigeria. Most of the students were learning to program for the first time. Analysis of the data showed a significant agreement in the ratings of the five observers for overall student engagement, although the impact was moderate. However, while agreement in their ratings for affective engagement was significant, with a large effect, there was no significant concordance in their ratings for behavioral engagement. Observers also significantly agreed in their ratings for cognitive engagement; however, the impact was moderate. These findings suggest that employing Scratch in higher education can be engaging and useful, especially for students with no prior programming experience. Tue, 01 Mar 2022 00:00:00 GMT https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/29151 2022-03-01T00:00:00Z https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/26184 Towards innovative behaviour for technology students Goosen, Leila; Ngugi, James K. Kriek, Jeanne Scale items related to Cognitive and Metacognitive Strategies (CMSs), Course Design Characteristics (CDCs), Knowledge Sharing Behaviour (KSB) and Innovative Behaviour (IB) can be gathered from literature and located within relevant theoretical conceptual frameworks. The aim of the study reported on in this paper was answering the research question: How can such items be re-purposed and/or modified for measuring CMSs, CDCs, KSB and IB during technology education? The importance of this research is justified in terms of the study objectives. The paper explains the design and execution of the methodology as appropriate and adequate in relation to the research question. This quantitative research design considered issues of reliability and validity. The discussion of results shows insight and originality, suggests implications and makes recommendations that are applicable and useful. The research question is answered in the conclusion, with the conclusions being justifiable in terms of the methodology and the results of the pilot study, which allowed for refining of the measures in terms of a set of original items to be used in the main study. The pilot study also contributes towards scholarly debate in fields related to CMSs, CDCs, KSB and IB. Tue, 01 Jan 2019 00:00:00 GMT https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/26184 2019-01-01T00:00:00Z