Work in Progress: Student perception of computer programming within engineering education: An investigation of attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors

Abstract

Computer programming has become a fundamental engineering competency, but engineering students outside of traditional computing-intensive specialties often fail to understand its value. In our quest to enhance student awareness of the importance of programming, we seek to understand the relationship between characteristics of individual learners (in particular, their position in the Fixed-vs.-Growth Mindset continuum, and their Openness to Experience) and their attitudes toward programming. We conducted a study involving engineering students in fields not traditionally associated with computing. Three surveys were administered, investigating the students' attitudes toward Computer Science, their Openness to Experience, and their Mindset (Fixed or Growth). The results indicate that interventions emphasizing the usefulness of programming, particularly across a broad range of applications, may have a positive effect on student attitudes, and that interventions focusing on algorithmic thinking may have a significant effect on student confidence and therefore intention to go further in learning programming.