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Novices

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Full-Text Articles in Vocational Education

Using Chatgpt With Novice Arduino Programmers: Effects On Performance, Interest, Self-Efficacy, And Programming Ability, Donald M. Johnson, Will Doss, Christopher M. Estepp May 2024

Using Chatgpt With Novice Arduino Programmers: Effects On Performance, Interest, Self-Efficacy, And Programming Ability, Donald M. Johnson, Will Doss, Christopher M. Estepp

Journal of Research in Technical Careers

A posttest-only control group experimental design compared novice Arduino programmers who developed their own programs (self-programming group, n =17) with novice Arduino programmers who used ChatGPT 3.5 to write their programs (ChatGPT-programming group, n = 16) on the dependent variables of programming scores, interest in Arduino programming, Arduino programming self-efficacy, Arduino programming posttest scores, and types of programming errors. Students were undergraduates in an introductory agricultural systems technology course in Fall 2023. The results indicated no significant (p < .10) differences between groups for programming rubric scores (p = .50) or interest in Arduino programming (p = .50). There were significant differences for Arduino programming self-efficacy, (p = .03, Cohen’s d = 0.75) and Arduino posttest scores, (p = .03, Cohen’s d = 0.76); students in the self-programming group scored significantly higher on both measures. Analysis of students’ errors indicated the ChatGPT group made significantly (p < .01) more program punctuation errors. These results indicated novice students writing their own programs developed greater Arduino programming self-efficacy and programming ability than novice students using ChatGPT. Nevertheless, ChatGPT may still play an important role in assisting novices to write microcontroller programs.


Using Self-Efficacy Theory To Design Arduino Instruction For Novices: A Replication Study, Donald M. Johnson, Michael Pate, Christopher M. Estepp, George Wardlow May 2023

Using Self-Efficacy Theory To Design Arduino Instruction For Novices: A Replication Study, Donald M. Johnson, Michael Pate, Christopher M. Estepp, George Wardlow

Journal of Research in Technical Careers

A replication study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of an instructional treatment based on self-efficacy theory when used with novice Arduino microcontroller users. Students (n = 32) in an introductory university agricultural systems technology course participated in a lesson on Arduino microcontrollers, circuit breadboarding, and Arduino programming which included four hands-on practice tasks, designed to provide students with positive mastery, vicarious and social persuasion experiences. Next, students completed a laboratory activity and were provided additional opportunities for mastery, vicarious, and social persuasion experiences. The one-group pretest-posttest design indicated the instructional treatment had significant (p < .001) and large effects in increasing students’ interest in Arduino, breadboarding self-efficacy, programming self-efficacy, and Arduino knowledge. These findings were consistent with the original study and provided additional evidence for self-efficacy theory as an effective model for developing instruction for novice Arduino users. Students’ written comments provided additional insight concerning the instructional treatment.