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ABSTRACT

Advances in information and communication technologies (ICT) coupled with artificial intelligence have made computer programming skills indispensable for IT majors and for an increasing number of other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. Like any hands-on skill, mastering computer programming requires dedicated time, patience, focus, and persistent effort. Understanding students' learning strategies as they engage in computer programming activities can reduce attrition and lay a solid foundation for a successful career in IT/STEM disciplines. This paper focuses on developing the cognitive programming engagement (CPE) scale, which builds on existing cognitive engagement measures. Self-reported data from undergraduate IT students who are learning computer programming show that CPE supports four-dimensional learning strategies: memorization, practice, analysis, and visualization, which aligns with the levels of Bloom's Taxonomy. The new scale supports confirmatory, discriminant, and predictive validity and tests on programming self-efficacy and coding grit with acceptable predictive validity. IT/STEM educators can use the scale to assess and evaluate students" learning and improve their teaching strategies.

Keywords: Bloom's taxonomy, Cognitive engagement, Computing education, Learning styles, Pedagogy, Programming

1. INTRODUCTION

Introductory programming courses serve as gateways to careers in information technology (IT) and an increasing number of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. However, many IT educators can attest that it is extremely challenging to teach an introductory programming course. Practical teaching tips and pedagogical approaches to improve learning are frequently shared among fellow instructors (Menon, 2023; Zhang et al., 2020). Unfortunately, notoriously high failure rates (Bennedsen & Caspersen, 2019) and disheartening student experiences lead many students to quit or switch majors (Giannakos et al., 2017; Obaido et al., 2023).

Research suggests that low levels of student engagement may contribute to challenges in programming classes (Morgan et al., 2018a; Morgan et al., 2018b). IT students typically enter college with strong high school GPAs and SAT scores-two measures often associated with collegiate success-near the top of all college majors (College Board, n.d.; Westrick et al., 2021). Yet, IT majors score near the bottom of all students in terms of student engagement (Butler et al., 2016; Morgan et al 2018a; Morgan et al., 20185). As a result, some have suggested that improving student engagement might be the key to improving outcomes and reducing attrition in computing majors (Morgan et al.,...

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