Blogs (4) >>

Objectives. Although prior research has uncovered shifts in computer science (CS) students’ implicit beliefs about the nature of their intelligence across time, little research has investigated the factors contributing to these changes. To address this gap, two studies were conducted in which the relationship between ineffective self-regulation of learning experiences and CS students’ implicit intelligence beliefs at different times during the semester was assessed.

Participants. Participants for Studies 1 (n = 536) and 2 (n = 222) were undergraduate students enrolled in introductory- and upper-level CS courses at a large, public, Midwestern university. Race-ethnicity information was not collected due to IRB concerns about possible secondary identification of participants from underrepresented groups.

Study Method. Participants completed a condensed version of the Implicit Theories of Intelligence Scale [16, 54] and the Lack of Regulation Scale from the Student Perceptions of Classroom Knowledge Building scale [51, 53] at the beginning (Studies 1 and 2), middle (Study 2), and end (Studies 1 and 2) of semester-long undergraduate CS courses. Survey responses were analyzed using path analyses to investigate how students’ lack of regulation experiences throughout the semester predicted their implicit intelligence beliefs at the beginning (Study 2) and end (Studies 1 and 2) of the semester.

Findings. Results from Study 1 indicate that undergraduate CS students come to more strongly believe that their intelligence is a fixed, unchanging entity from the beginning until the end of the semester. Moreover, participants’ responses to the lack of regulation scale were predictive of their implicit intelligence beliefs at the end of the semester. Results from Study 2 indicate that ineffective self-regulation experiences early in the semester enhance CS students’ belief in the unchanging nature of intelligence (i.e., during the first half of the semester). Taken altogether, these findings provide evidence that self-regulation experiences influence students’ beliefs about the malleability of intelligence.

Conclusions. Findings align with Bandura’s [4] contention that students’ behaviors and experiences influence their values and beliefs. Students who experienced poor self-regulated learning came to view intelligence as more of a fixed, unalterable entity than their more successfully self-regulated peers. Findings suggest that CS instructors can positively affect student motivation and engagement by embedding self-regulated learning strategy instruction into their courses and helping CS students adopt an incremental-oriented (e.g., growth-oriented) belief system about their intellectual abilities.

Thu 21 Mar

Displayed time zone: Pacific Time (US & Canada) change

10:45 - 12:00
ACM TOCE: Theory, Beliefs, and AptitudeJournal First at Meeting Rooms D137-138
10:45
25m
Talk
Reflections on theory
Journal First
Lauri Malmi Aalto University
DOI
11:10
25m
Talk
Relationship Between Implicit Intelligence Beliefs and Maladaptive Self-Regulation of Learning
Journal First
Abraham E. Flanigan Georgia Southern University, Markeya S. Peteranetz University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Duane F. Shell University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Leen-Kiat Soh University of Nebraska-Lincoln
DOI
11:35
25m
Talk
Validation of a Spanish-Language Version of a Computer Programming Aptitude Test for First-Year University StudentsGlobal
Journal First
Francisco Vásquez Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María, Juan Felipe Calderón Universidad Andrés Bello, Chile, Federico Meza Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María, Andrea Vásquez Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María
DOI