The Effect of BASIC Programming Language Instruction on High School Students’ Problem Solving Ability and Computer Anxiety

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between BASIC programming language instruction and high school students’ problem solving skills and computer anxiety. Specific attention was placed on five critical issues concerning this area of research: (a) sufficient attention to problem solving theory, (b) issues related to the programming treatment, (c) the programming language selected and the method of instruction, (d) system-related issues, and (e) the selection of an appropriate sample. Twenty-two high school students participated in a 15-week computer treatment, 11 of whom received BASIC instruction and the other 11 received general Computer Literacy instruction. Students in the BASIC treatment group showed a significant increase in their problem solving ability, whereas the students in the Computer Literacy treatment did not. Although both groups did show a significant decrease in computer anxiety, there was no significant difference between the groups. There were also signi...

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