The effect of python programming language teaching on 7th grade students programming self-efficacy skills

This study aimed to investigate the impact of teaching the Python programming language on the programming self-efficacy of 7th-grade students. A quantitative research design was employed, utilizing a one-group pretest-posttest model. The study sample consisted of 10 students enrolled in the 7th grade at a public school located in a rural district of northern Turkey during the spring semester of the 2023-2024 academic year. These students attended a school affiliated with the Ministry of National Education. The study group was selected using the convenience sampling method, a type of purposive sampling. Data for this research was collected using the Programming Self-Efficacy Scale for Secondary School Students, developed by Kukul, Gökçearslan, and Günbatar (2017). The collected data were analyzed using the Jamovi software. To assess the suitability of the data for normal distribution, skewness and kurtosis coefficients, as well as Shapiro-Wilk test values (a normality test), were examined, alongside an inspection of histogram plots. The results indicated that the data were normally distributed with respect to both research questions. For the first research question, a paired sample t-test was conducted to determine whether there was a statistically significant difference between the pre-test and post-test scores. The analysis revealed that Python instruction did not have a significant effect on the programming self-efficacy of the 7th-grade students. Regarding the second research question, the homogeneity of the data was assessed. Levene's test for equality of variances was performed, confirming that the assumption of homogeneity was met. Consequently, independent sample t-tests were conducted to examine the significance of the difference in pre-test and post-test scores based on gender. The results indicated no statistically significant difference in programming self-efficacy scores between male and female students.