Difficulties in Learning Computer Programming skills

A Research

Paper Presented to the

Faculty of the Senior High School Department

University of Cebu Main-Campus

In Partial Fulfilment

Of the Requirements for Grade 12 in

Research 2: Practical Research

By:

Barredo, Romarie P.

Bermoy, Ariel C.

Dieto, Gerlie N.

Garcia, Eugene B.

Lapera, Brian Jay B.

Lucero, Junnel G.

Mulig, John Kyle M.

Nocos, Anthony Louisse J.

CSS 1P-Providence

S.Y. 2017-2018
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We want to show our deepest and sincere gratitude to our Research

teacher, Ms. Josephine Quibido in giving us success of making our Research

Paper. We would also like to thank her willingness in teaching, guiding, and in

giving us complete cooperation in the making of our Research Work.

We also want to express our humble happiness and gratitude to Professor

Abelardo T. Tejo Jr. the UC Senior High School Principal, in giving us right to

conduct our Research Work together with the Computer System Serving (CSS)

Students of University of Cebu. With him giving us authority, gave us a big

success in the survey of the questionnaire. Their support and cooperation gave

us inspiration in completing the Research Work.

We also want to express our gratefulness to our fellow UCnian students

who participated in our Research survey which aid us to know more about their

opinions to our work.

The success of our surveys gives a big thanks to the people who

participated and helped us from the start throughout the end. We take this

chance to give our bid our thankfulness to the teachers who helped us guide in

doing this hard but fun Research work. Also, to the students who participated in

our surveys we appreciated your big help and also to our nearest friends who

made this work a big success for us.

 CHAPTER 1
THE PROBLEM AND ITS SCOPE
INTRODUCTION
Rationale

The researchers chose this kind of research topic because they want to

know what are the reasons why there are many students who fail in this course

because many students will say yes, it is hard to learn how to program. It’s a

sad fact that student give up and fail. What this people realize is that there’s no

such thing as an “instant coder”. It takes a lot of time and practice to get good at

coding. A lot of people get excited by the “learn code” craze. They expect that

they can become a code pro just by completing a tutorial or two. So they find

some code tutorials online, complete them, but then realize that they are not

getting anywhere. They’re not a code pro, and they still don’t have a clue how to

produce a website or an application.

There are many students who miss class in computer programming, in

return, it can affect their computer skills. It’s really hard for them especially for

those students who can’t analyze fast. Computers are extremely important in

today’s world. The fundamental reason for this study is to know more

accurately about the difficulties that CSS students faced in computer

programming which is a complex subject. Technology in the 21 st century is

getting more advances in technology, programming, and web development.

Using online learning platforms have allowed distance-learning programs to

take off. Today, almost all major learning institutions have some form of online

learning implementation. Knowledge of computer programming adapts your

mind think in a sensible way. The ability to think rational and use of logic is very
important when making decisions. In the fast moving life of modern world today,

computers hold tremendous significance. Many of us will feel paralyze without

a computer, as we have gotten used to this machine. The importance of

computers cannot be denied in the joint of business world, at the workplace,

and even in one’s personal life.

The researchers conducted this certain topic of research because; we want

to know what are the factors that can affect the capability of a student having a

difficult time in computer programming. Students who are studying computer

programming can be commonly found in the Campus. This place was selected

because students in this area claimed about the difficulty of the subject

computer programming. The university is crowded due to demand of school to

people, many students/people may generate conducive environment due to the

noise created by the people inside the campus. The study conducted at the

University of Cebu building which is an open area common on the 5th floor of

Gotianuy building.

This study focused only for computer programming and the student’s

computer skills. Computer programming is a subject that involved skills in

designing algorithm, writing program, understanding the syntax as well as the

logic of the program. Programming is among the hardest subject to learn due to

some reasons (Daly, 1999) (Jenkins, 2002).

The purpose of this study is to explore the difficulties of computer

programming. These reports primarily study also the effects of difficulty in

computer programming that relates to their academic performance. In, addition

this study can benefits the students which it helps them to cope up with difficulty

in computer programming.
Theoretical Background

Subsumption Theory (David Ausubel) Ausubel’s theory is concerned with

how individuals learn large amounts of meaningful material from verbal/textual

presentations in a school setting (in contrast o theories developed in the

context of laboratory experiments). According to Ausubel, learning based upon

the kinds superordenate, representational, and combinatorial processes that

occur during the reception of information. A primary process in learning is

subsumption in which new material is related to relevant ideas in the existing

cognitive structure on a substantive, non-verbatim basis. Cognitive structures

re
 THE PROBLEM

Statement of the Problem

The study aims to determine the student’s academic performance involving

the difficulty of computer programming as a subject for ITCP students inside the

university especially in the University of Cebu. We are aiming to allocate or to

see what are the factors that makes this subject difficult for the students and to

come up with an assessment for this problem.

Specifically, the study sought to answer the following sub problems:

1. What is the profile of the respondents in terms of:

1.1. age; and

1.2. gender?

2. What is the level of difficulties of the respondents in terms of:

2.1 computer skills;

4. How solemn you pass performance task a week?

3. Is there a significant relationship between the following variable:

3.1. profile of the respondents;

3.2 computer skills;

3.3 performance task or academic performance;

Statement of Null Hypothesis

At level 0.05 of significant, the following null will be tested:

HO: There is no level of difficulties of ITCP students in computer programming.

HO: There is no significant relationship between the variables, profile of the

students, computer skills, and academic performance.

Significance of the study

The result of this study will be beneficial to the following:

Students. They are the first one who gain benefit from this study because they

will know the reasons why they experience difficulty in their computer

programming subject. Knowing these difficulties could encourage them to cope

up with their problem and use it as their strengths o achieves greater heights.

Teachers. Teachers can make use of the knowledge about the research and

help their future students who might possibly experience the same difficulty as

the current students experienced. They can also guide themselves improves in

both learning and teaching.

Parents. They also benefits from this study because they will know more about

their child and help them pass and guide them to solve their academic

problems. They will also serve as an innovation to their children.

DEFINITION OF TERMS

This section is important to clarify the terms because; terms here are

operationally defined for better understanding of the reader.

Here are the following terms:

Academic performance. The extent to which a student, teacher or institution

has achieved their short or long-term educational goals.

Computer programming. (Often shortened to programming) is a process that

leads from an original formulation of a computing problem to execute computer

programs.

Confidence level. Became really high after we found out that we had beaten

out our competition and had won the event.

Study habits. are the behaviours used when preparing for tests or learning

academic material.

Reading comprehension. is the ability to read text, process it, and understand

its meaning. An individual’s ability to comprehend text is influenced by their

traits and skills, one of which is the ability to make inference.

Conceptual Framework

The figure shows the conceptual framework of the study which shows how

the researcher ideas are organized to achieve the purpose of the researchers.

The researchers had constructed the following figure to present the variables

used in the study. The researchers have come up with an illustration where the

independent variable and dependent variable is shown below.

Independent Variable Dependent Variables

- Forced took - Future.

the course. - Academic
s - Less performance
motivated. .
- Difficulty in - Grades.
computer - Family.
programming. - Time
- Multi-tasking. management
- Lack of .
confidence. - Study habits.

Effects of Difficulties in CP
 CHAPTER ll

Review of Related Literature

Level Performance

Academic Performance – performance is the measure of your learning in

computer programming and it is also needed to provide academic skills for you

to pass the computer programming or can solve problems that given from the

teacher.

Study Habits

Study Techniques – somehow students should have study techniques in

order to fulfill the requirements grade of computer programming which it helps

them to know how to execute or solve a problem in programming.

Confidence Level

Persistent – students should have this attitude because some program

problems are too difficult to solve that is why you should be persistent to solve it

no matter what happens in the end.

Reading Comprehension

Reading Skills – it’s the basic steps to understand the basic structures of

computer programming to have deeper understanding about the concept or

problem that is given.

Review of Related Studies

According to Piteira “Learning programming: Study of difficulties in

learning programming.” (2013) Nowadays, programming is a much valuable

skill. However novice students often reveal difficulties and strong reactions to

this subject. In this context, we started to study this subject. The aim for this

work is to study the difficulties in learning programming. The main objective is to

identify programming difficulties. In order to achieve this objective we tried to

obtain teachers opinions, students’ opinion and their exam results.

According to Rosminah “Difficulties in learning programming: Views of

students” (2012) Programming courses are among the important components

of the curriculum to be studied, not only in the field of Information Technology,

but also required in most of the field including Science, Mathematics, and

Engineering at tertiary levels. In this research, a study was conducted to

investigate and explore the views of students and the difficulties they faced in

learning fundamental programming courses. The study involved 105

Polytechnic students in the Electrical Engineering Department, who undergo

the Fundamental Programming course. The results from statistical analysis

shows that the level of students’ understanding of the topic is moderate and the

most difficult topic for them is understanding the abstract concepts involving the

role of variable position in computer memory (such as multi-dimensional array,

looping statement and function) when the program executed. Also, students

faced difficulties in understanding the basic concept of programming structure

and designing a program to solve certain tasks. In addition, majority of students

agreed that practical situation such as laboratory activities were very helpful for

them to learn programming.

 According to Oroma “Challenges of teaching and learning computer

programming in developing countries: lessons from Tumaini University” (2012)

computer programming is a difficult course to teach and learn, it is even more

difficult in developing countries that are faced with additional factors in its

academic, socioeconomic and natural environment that affects the teaching

and learning of this course. The difficulties are notably marked in the poor

performance and high failure rate. The difficulties were identified to be

attributed to poor pedagogical methods, university tradition, poor study

methods of learners, lack of problem solving abilities, low self-efficacy and

course of programming is a new field of study. Several approaches were

implemented but with very little impact. This paper therefore focuses on

exploring the difficulties of the learners and suggest several innovative

approaches that are feared towards improving the teaching and learning of this

course.

According to Rahmat, Shahrina, & Latih “Major Problem in Basic

Programming that Influence Student Performance” (2012) Programming is an

important basic skill of computer science students. However, most students

found it is hard to learn and score a good mark. This paper discusses the study

to identify problems and causes faced by programming students. Data was

collected from 179 students who answered on-line questionnaire. The study

identified several major problems; reference materials, lectures and lab session

approaches, problem solving ability, time management and self-confidence.

The findings will be used the failure rates and increase students’ interest in

programming.
 CHAPTER lll

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research Design

The study would be a descriptive approach for the researchers would make

the study a representation of the CSS senior high school students of the

University of Cebu. The study would also use correlation approach for another

objective of this study is to investigate the relationship between the difficulties

and learning computer programming on their academic performance with only

one another without manipulation or experimentation. The researchers would

collect data from the grade 12 senior high school students which are CSS

students major in Computer Programming.

Research Respondents

The respondents of this study are the grade 12 CSS Senior High School

students based on the personal experience in taking computer programming.

There were students involved from morning and afternoon session.

The total population of our survey is 218 students, yet after applying

Slovin's formula (N/1+Ne2) with a margin error of 0.05, the researchers came

up with a sample size of 140. (Table 1. shows the distribution of the sample

according to section.)
Table 1.

Section Population Sample

1A-Providence 39 25

2A-Wisdom 37 23

3A-Brilliane 40 26

4A-Fortitude 31 20

1P-Providence 32 21

2P-Providence 39 25

Total 218 140

Research Instrument

The main instrument used in this study is a standardized test survey

questionnaire about the difficulties in learning computer programming skills.

The questions were ensuring a good and reliable test results. Before the survey

was conducted, the questionnaire was given to our research teacher for review

and validation purposes.

The study is using standardized survey questionnaire and data analysis.

The survey questionnaire contains 10 questions which would be a likert scale.

Each question would have a valid number of options of 1-4 serve as answers

for the respondents.

Sources of Data

Sources of Data Preliminary data were accumulated from series of surveys

conducted from session of Grade 12 Computer System Servicing (CSS) strand.

Secondary data were gathered from reliable online journals like, easybib,

ieee.education, google scholar and eric.

Gathering of data

In gathering data the researcher sent a transmittal letter to the Principal of

the senior high school department to ask permission to allow us to conduct the

said study. When the principal approved the transmittal letter, the researchers

started to survey to collect data. The survey will be administered by the

researchers to the 140 respondents. The survey will be done in three to four

days. On day one, the survey questionnaire will be administered to the first half

of our total respondents which is from the selected senior high students of

University of Cebu, specifically the first section 1AProvidence, 2AWisdom,

3ABrilliance and on day two, the 4A Fortitude, and 1P Providence, and lastly

the 1P Providence and on the fourth day, the researchers would verify and

analyze the gathered data.

Statistical treatment

Analysis Statistical Tool

1. Demographic Profile Frequency count, and percentage

2. Computer Skills Mean and standard deviaton

3. Performance task or Frequency count and mean

academic performance

4. Relationship of the variables Correlation procedure. (Pearson's

product-moment coefficient of

correlation.

Where :If the test shows a

coefficient of:

r = 0.00 to 0.20 – shows a

deniable relationship
 r = 0.20 to 0.40 – shows a weak

relationship

r = 0.40 to 0.70 – shows a

reasonable relationship

r = 0.70 to 0.99 – shows a firm

relationship

r = 1.00 – shows a absolute or

perfect relationship

Where: r – coefficient of correlation

x and y – scores

N – sample size
 CHAPTER IV

Analysis and Interpretation of Data

Findings

I. Demographic Profile

The pie chart below shows the frequency and percentage of among the 140

respondents of the senior high school CSS students. And it shows that males

are most frequent with the number of 99 or 71.00% respondents compare to

females which only 41 respondents or 29.00%.

GENDER
29.00%

41

Male
%
99 Female
71.00% %
 The pie chart below also shows the frequency and percentage of the age of

the respondents based on the tallied questions. Majority of the respondents are

with the age of 17 years old of 66 or 47.48% respondents, followed by 18 years

old of 63 or 45.32% respondents, followed also by 19 years old of 5 or 3.60%

respondents, followed by 16 years old of 0.72% respondents and last but not

the least is 20 with only 4 or 2.88% respondent.

Age of Respondents
1
5 4

16
66
17
63 18
19
20

II. Computer Skills

On this table, it shows the computer skills which measured by 1 to 4 scale of

numbers. Based on the results, majority of the respondents slightly knows

about the various computer skills, in performing the basic programming

structure. Therefore students, slightly, moderately and last but not the least, the

not so difficult, answered the following skills in computer programming with the

following mean, and standard deviation.

Not Very Standard

difficult Slight Moderately difficult Mean Deviation
In using C
language 37 57 36 9 2.12 0.88
In creating 34 66 28 11 2.12 0.87
 an output
In accessing
loops 24 56 46 13 2.35 0.87
In executing
“if” statement 31 59 34 15 2.24 0.92
In using if/if
else
statement 22 51 48 18 2.45 0.91
Using Java
programming
language 16 54 42 27 2.48 0.93
Using
method to
program 15 49 51 24 2.6 0.9
Accessing
user defined
class 20 51 42 25 2.59 1.24
In coding
your problem
to run 38 59 24 18 2.16 0.97
Executing
string 24 57 34 24 2.42 0.97

III. Performance task or Academic Performance

On this table, it shows how solemnly students pass their performance task

of their subjects especially in computer programming. Majority of the

respondents, passing pt’s only sometimes of 57 or 41.01% respondents,

followed by often of 34 or 24.46% respondents, followed also by always of 31 or

22.30% respondents, and seldom of 10 or 7.19% respondents, last but not the

least is never with only 3 or 2.16% respondents. Therefore students would also

used of performance task in order to improve their academic performance of

their subjects especially in computer programming.

Never Seldom Often Sometimes Always

Frequency 3 10 34 57 31
Percentage 2.16% 7.19% 24.46% 41.01% 22.30%
 IV. Paired Variables

On this table, it shows the relationship between the two variables. Using the

correlation procedure, we came up with the level of 0.06, it shows that the

relationship of the paired variables is denied. Therefore, there is no significant

relationship between computer skills and academic performance of the

students.

Paired Pearson
Variables r value
Computer Skills vs Academic
Performance 0.062985
 CHAPTER V

Summary of Findings, Conclusion and Recommendation

This chapter includes summary, conclusion, and recommendation in

respect of the objectives of the study.

SUMMARY OF FINDIN

CONCLUSION

RECOMMENDATION