Assessment of Java programming self-efficacy among engineering students in a typical Nigerian University

Abstract

This work reports an assessment of the impact of prior non-programming computing knowledge, gender and course of study on Java programming self-efficacy among engineering students in a typical Nigerian university. An instrument for assessing Java programming self-efficacy was developed from the computer programming self-efficacy scale of Ramalingam and Wiedenbeck, 1998. The instrument was administered to the final year engineering students in Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria, along with a questionnaire on gender, course of study and computer experience. Results indicated that self-efficacy of males were stronger than that of females, computer engineering students‟ self-efficacy scores were significantly higher than that of  students from the other engineering departments and 6.6 % of the variance in self-efficacy was explained by computer experience. The study concluded that self-efficacy is highly relevant in the acquisition of Java programming skills and is in line with Bandura‟s theory.

Keywords: Java programming, self-efficacy, engineering students, Nigerian universities