2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Title: Differences in Attitudes and Self-efficacy toward Programming of Students in Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Programs

This WIP research stems from the increasing significance of computer programming in engineering education for the skill is widely used in academic research as well as industrial practice. As students’ subjective feelings and confidence can often affect their learning outcomes, it is meaningful to investigate how engineering programs could better prepare students for programming mentally and emotionally.

This WIP research aims to differentiate mechanical and industrial engineering students’ perceived attitudes and efficacy toward programming through a third-year undergraduate quality control course with a computing lab component involving both groups of students. The research questions are: (1) How do differences in mechanical and industrial engineering curricula impact students’ attitudes and self-efficacy toward programming? (2) How do the computing lab activities affect the students’ attitudes and self-efficacy toward programming?

Three surveys are distributed to students registered in the course before the first lab, at midterm, and at the end of the semester, and the anticipated size of responses is N = 50. The pre-course survey collects information about students’ previous exposure to computer programming along with their attitudes and self-efficacy towards programming on a Likert scale. Besides questions about self-rated attitudes and efficacy, the mid-term and end-of-course surveys further ask about students’ engagement in lab activities, how the previous courses they have taken prepare them for the programming tasks, and their perceived performance for the course. Multi-methods are applied in the research, with quantitative data as the primary source. Welch's t-test is used to compare the levels of affection, motivation, and self-efficacy between mechanical and industrial students. Qualitative analysis of their taken courses serves as supportive information for the findings.

The data collection and analysis from the first survey were completed in January 2024, providing preliminary results about the influence of mechanical and industrial engineering curricula differences on students’ attitudes and self-efficacy toward programming. The findings can be useful for understanding what kind of preparation could lead to engineering students’ positive attitudes and higher self-efficacy towards programming, and help engineering educators improve the programming experience of students.

Keywords: programming, attitudes, self-efficacy, mechanical engineering, industrial engineering