The Role of Information Systems Class Projects in Developing Programming Skills and Self-Efficacy
Lori Baker-Eveleth, Robert W. Stone, Norman Pendegraft
The research reports an investigation examining the determinants of information systems (IS) students’ perceptions of their programming skills. The theoretical foundation of the research is expectancy theory. The theoretical model links measures of personal mastery, vicarious experience, social persuasion, and physiological arousal to students’ perceptions of their programming skills mediated by their self-efficacy and outcome expectancy. The model is empirically tested using 78 responses to a questionnaire from students enrolled in IS courses at a medium size university in the western United States. At this university, six courses in the IS major require students to complete projects containing programming content. The empirical technique used in the analysis is the maximum likelihood estimation of a system of simultaneous equations using summated questionnaire items as measures. The estimation was performed in CALIS (i.e., covariance analysis of linear structural equations) in PC SAS version 8. Key results from the estimation showed that students’ perceptions of their programming skills are positively impacted by measures of personal mastery and physiological arousal, mediated by self-efficacy. The empirical results are discussed along with conclusions and directions for future research.
Keywords: programming; self-efficacy; outcome expectancy
Lori Baker-Eveleth (Ph.D. Washington State University) is an Assistant Professor of Information Systems at the University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho. Her research interests include computer-mediated communication, virtual teams, and technology and user acceptance. She has published recent articles in the Journal of Information Systems Education, Journal of Business and Management, and the Journal of Education for Business.
Robert W. Stone (Ph.D. Purdue University) is currently a Professor of Information Systems at the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho. His teaching interests are Information Systems and Strategic Management. His research interests include organizational impacts from information system use and user acceptance of information systems. Professor Stone has published numerous research works, some of which have appeared in the International Journal of Technology Management, Review of Accounting Information Systems, Behavior, Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, Journal of Business Research, Behavior & Information Technology, Journal of Informatics Education Research, and Information Resources Management Journal, and many national and regional proceedings. He also serves as an Associate Editor for the Information Resources Management Journal as well as on the Editorial Review Boards of the Journal of Business Ethics and the Southern Business Review.
Norman Pendegraft (Ph. D. UCLA) is Associate Professor of Information Systems at the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho. He has taught every IS course in the curriculum (and fencing). His research interests include information system security, pedagogy, and the impact of information systems on organizations.
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