Motivational Value of Code.org’s Code Studio Tutorials in an Undergraduate Programming Course

Abstract

As part of an instructional strategy to improve undergraduate software development students’ basic understanding of programming constructs, students completed a selection of Code Studio tutorials during the first three weeks of their programming course. Block-based environments, such as the one used by the Code Studio tutorials, typically make it easier for students to learn programming as they can focus on concepts instead of syntax. Students are, however, less likely to regard an instructional strategy as meaningful if it presents no motivational value for them. In this paper, Keller’s ARCS Model is used to organize the knowledge gained regarding student motivation and the motivational strategies supported by the Code Studio tutorials. Results obtained from analysis of numeric and narrative data collected through a paper-based self-completion questionnaire confirm the high motivation value of the Code Studio tutorials. The results provide insights regarding students’ perceptions of Code Studio tutorials as a motivational instructional strategy in an undergraduate programming course. Since students perceive the Code Studio tutorials to have some educational value, further investigations should be conducted to consider more appropriate and effective ways to integrate Code Studio tutorials with undergraduate programming curricula.