Computing in the physical world engages students: impact on their attitudes and self-efficacy towards computer science through robotic activities

Abstract

There is a growing interest in physical computing to be used in school contexts to teach Computer Science. This study aimed to assess whether students' attitudes towards Computer Science and their self-efficacy with programming changed after engaging with robotic activities. Findings show that after completing a 10-week period with the Arduino robotics environment, students' positive attitudes towards Computer Science increased along with feelings of coding self-efficacy. In other words, students report liking Computer Science more and report feeling that they are more able to learn programming. These findings imply that using physical computing activities within the right context could change student attitudes towards and self-efficacy in Computer Science.