Learning about Programming and Epistemic Emotions: A Gendered Analysis

Learning about Programming and Epistemic Emotions: A Gendered Analysis Beatriz-Eugenia Grass; Mayela Coto; César-Alberto Collazos-Ordoñez; Patricia Paderewski Citation: B.-E. Grass, M. Coto, C.-A. Collazos-Ordoñez, P. Paderewski, “Learning about Programming and Epistemic Emotions: A Gendered Analysis,” Revista Facultad de Ingeniería, vol. 29 (54), e12034, 2020. https://doi.org/10.19053/01211129.v29.n54.2020.12034 Received: August 18, 2020; Accepted: November 3, 2020; Published: November 4, 2020 Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under license CC BY Conflict of interest: The authors state there is no conflict of interest. Beatriz-Eugenia Grass; Mayela Coto; César-Alberto Collazos-Ordoñez; Patricia Paderewski Revista Facultad de Ingeniería (Rev. Fac. Ing.) Vol. 29 (54), e12034. 2020. Tunja-Boyacá, Colombia. L-ISSN: 0121-1129, e-ISSN: 2357-5328, DOI: https://doi.org/10.19053/01211129.v29.n54.2020.12034 Learning about Programming and Epistemic Emotions: A Gendered Analysis Beatriz-Eugenia Grass 1 Mayela Coto 2 César-Alberto Collazos-Ordoñez 3 Patricia Paderewski 4 Abstract Programming courses often turn into courses with high percentage of desertion and, sometimes, result in a factor that drives students to abandon their careers, even when they are subjects highly relevant in the training of engineers in the areas of computer science, IT, and related careers. These courses demand high cognitive processes, which generate several emotions learning-related that, when taken into account and evaluated, could be used in favor of learning. Programming courses generate negative emotions in female students in a higher proportion than men, which may even lead them to abandon the career, widening the gender gap. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the role of emotions in academic environments at university level, as well as for knowing the reason for the low participation of women, despite the importance of their role and skills, in computing areas. However, the interest in analyzing the emotions that emerge from students as they learn to program is quite recent. There is not an important number of studies around the emotions of women while they learn to program. The objective of this study is to analyze the behavior -at an emotional levelof students towards different 1 M Sc. Universidad de San Buenaventura (Cali-Valle del Cauca, Colombia). ORCID: 0000-0002-7118-2038 2 Ph. D. Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica (Heredia, Costa Rica). [email protected]. ORCID: 0000-00024558-3671 3 Ph. D. Universidad del Cauca (Popayán-Cauca, Colombia). [email protected]. ORCID: 0000-00027099-8131 4 Ph. D. Universidad de Granada (Granada, España). [email protected]. ORCID: 0000-0001-6626-9633 Learning about Programming and Epistemic Emotions: A Gendered Analysis Revista Facultad de Ingeniería (Rev. Fac. Ing.) Vol. 29 (54), e12034. 2020. Tunja-Boyacá, Colombia. L-ISSN: 0121-1129, e-ISSN: 2357-5328, DOI: https://doi.org/10.19053/01211129.v29.n54.2020.12034 teaching activities, establishing gender level comparisons, and considering the incorporation of elements of collaboration and gamification to identify differences in the emotions originated by these activities. Keywords: academic emotions; CS1; emotions; epistemic emotions; programming. Aprendizaje de la programación y emociones epistémicas: un análisis con perspectiva de género Resumen Los cursos de programación se convierten, de manera recurrente, en cursos de alto porcentaje de deserción y, en ocasiones, resultan en un factor que impulsa a los estudiantes a abandonar sus carreras, aun cuando son materias de alta relevancia en la formación de ingenieros en áreas de computación, informática y carreras afines. Estos cursos son, por naturaleza, demandantes de altos procesos cognitivos, por esta razón, generan una variedad de emociones que, tenidas en cuenta y evaluadas, podrían usarse a favor del aprendizaje. Los cursos de programación generan emociones negativas en mayor proporción en estudiantes mujeres que en hombres, incluso, las conducen a abandonar la carrera, lo que hace más amplia la brecha de género. En los últimos años, ha habido un creciente interés en el papel de las emociones en los entornos académicos a nivel universitario; además, se busca conocer la razón de la baja participación de las mujeres (a pesar de la importancia de su rol y habilidades) en áreas de computación. Sin embargo, el interés en analizar las emociones que emergen de los estudiantes mientras aprenden a programar es bastante reciente. No se cuenta con un número importante de estudios respecto a las emociones de las mujeres mientras aprenden a programar. El objetivo de este estudio es analizar el comportamiento -a nivel emocionalde los estudiantes, a partir de diferentes actividades de enseñanza, estableciendo comparaciones a nivel de género, y considerando la incorporación de elementos de colaboración y gamificación para encontrar diferencias en las emociones generadas por estas actividades. Palabras clave: CS1; emociones; emociones académicas; emociones epistémicas; programación. Beatriz-Eugenia Grass; Mayela Coto; César-Alberto Collazos-Ordoñez; Patricia Paderewski Revista Facultad de Ingeniería (Rev. Fac. Ing.) Vol. 29 (54), e12034. 2020. Tunja-Boyacá, Colombia. L-ISSN: 0121-1129, e-ISSN: 2357-5328, DOI: https://doi.org/10.19053/01211129.v29.n54.2020.12034 Aprendizagem de programação e emoções epistêmicas: uma análise com perspectiva de gênero Resumo Os cursos de programação tornam-se, de forma recorrente, cursos com alto índice de evasão e, por vezes, resultam em um fator que leva os alunos ao abandono da carreira, mesmo quando são temas de grande relevância na formação de engenheiros. áreas de computação, informática e carreiras relacionadas. Estes cursos são, por natureza, exigentes de elevados processos cognitivos, por isso geram uma variedade de emoções que, tidas em consideração e avaliadas, podem ser utilizadas a favor da aprendizagem. Os cursos de programação geram emoções negativas em maior proporção nas alunas do que nos homens, podendo inclusive levá-las ao abandono do curso, o que amplia a lacuna de gênero. Nos últimos anos, tem havido um interesse crescente pelo papel das emoções em ambientes acadêmicos de nível universitário; Além disso, busca conhecer o motivo da baixa participação das mulheres (apesar da importância de seu papel e competências) nas áreas de informática. No entanto, o interesse em analisar as emoções que emergem dos alunos ao aprender a programar é bastante recente. Não há um número significativo de estudos sobre as emoções das mulheres ao aprender a programar. O objetivo deste estudo é analisar o comportamento -a nível emocionaldos alunos, a partir de diferentes atividades de ensino, estabelecendo comparações a nível de gênero, e considerando a incorporação de elementos de colaboração e gamificação para encontrar diferenças nas emoções geradas para essas atividades. Palavras chave: CS1; emoções; emoções acadêmicas; emoções epistêmicas; programação. Learning about Programming and Epistemic Emotions: A Gendered Analysis Revista Facultad de Ingeniería (Rev. Fac. Ing.) Vol. 29 (54), e12034. 2020. Tunja-Boyacá, Colombia. L-ISSN: 0121-1129, e-ISSN: 2357-5328, DOI: https://doi.org/10.19053/01211129.v29.n54.2020.12034 I. INTRODUCTION Introductory programming courses are incorporated into the curricula of computer science and related careers, since these professions appeared in the offerings of universities. These courses are considered highly relevant, since they provide the student with a foundation in training and guarantee professional practice in programming tasks [1]. The relevance of this course in the curricula becomes evident, when evaluating the amount of research related to the teaching of programming, and that it has been approached from different disciplines [2-4]. This identified relevance of the programming courses and their impact on the continuity of students in said careers has motivated an important number of investigations, such as [5-7], that seek to identify the factors that influence the success or failure of students in programming courses at university level. One of the reasons identified as causing the low levels of approval in programming courses is the complexity in their content, which requires students to have strong skills of abstraction and logic, that in many occasions have not been developed in the previous school time [6]. The methodologies and activities implemented for teaching programming are also considered factors that affect the success or failure of these courses [2]. The level of motivation is not often identified as an element that affects the success or failure of a student, however, some studies have shown that a motivated student will find the necessary mechanisms to complete his programming course successfully [7]. A motivated student with a positive emotional experience influences directly the continuity of these programs [10-11]. The emotions that students experience are identified as a relevant element in the learning of programming, but they are an aspect that has not been widely addressed among the factors that influence the success of this type of course [12-13]. There is a limited number of studies that address the emotional response of students when they learn to program [14-17]. Out of a group of 29 studies analyzed, only one of them [14] addressed the problem from a gender perspective, therefore, it can be said that this variable is an aspect little considered in the different works presented in the literature. Beatriz-Eugenia Grass; Mayela Coto; César-Alberto Collazos-Ordoñez; Patricia Paderewski Revista Facultad de Ingeniería (Rev. Fac. Ing.) Vol. 29 (54), e12034. 2020. Tunja-Boyacá, Colombia. L-ISSN: 0121-1129, e-ISSN: 2357-5328, DOI: https://doi.org/10.19053/01211129.v29.n54.2020.12034 In many publications, emotions are identified as a key element in the decision to continue with computer and related programs [15]. This emotional experience is also considered and becomes more relevant when analyzing the participation of women in the careers above [20-21]. The female gender is considered to have a low participation in the computer and related sectors because of the great challenges it generates [18]. The research questions formulated in this paper are similar to some research questions proposed in another study 5 but in this paper we contextualize them in a Colombian university: 1. What emotions are most frequently detected in students of computer-related careers, while learning to program? 2. What are the characteristics of the learning activities that generate the most positive emotions, and which generate negative ones? 3. What differences are there in the emotions reported by women and men while performing different programming learning activities? The structure of this document is organized in the following way: in this section, the theoretical elements taken into account for the study are presented; section II, succinctly presents the method used. Then, in section III the results are presented and analyzed to end with a discussion of the study in section IV. A. Emotions An emotion is defined as a short and intense episode in response to a particular reference[19]. An emotion is perceived in each person in a specific way and is subjective[20]. An emotion is additionally associated with other physical changes in people. When emotions originate in academic environments they are known as academic emotions. Pekrun [20] classifies these emotions into four groups: (1) social emotions generated from the teacher-student relationship and group learning, such as sympathy or envy; (2) thematic emotions associated with different course topics; (3) 5 Coto, M; Mora S; Quirós D. (forthcomming). The emotional experience of students while learning to program and its effect on their academic performance Learning about Programming and Epistemic Emotions: A Gendered Analysis Revista Facultad de Ingeniería (Rev. Fac. Ing.) Vol. 29 (54), e12034. 2020. Tunja-Boyacá, Colombia. L-ISSN: 0121-1129, e-ISSN: 2357-5328, DOI: https://doi.org/10.19053/01211129.v29.n54.2020.12034 achievement emotions related to activities that lead to success or failure, such as embarrassment when unable to do an activity, or commitment when learning is achieved; and (4) epistemic emotions generated by cognitive processes, such as surprise towards a new concept or confusion and frustration caused by difficulties. Epistemic emotions" are a subset of the academic ones that are perceived, in the performance of tasks that generate cognitive processes [21], these emotions are: surprise, curiosity, excitement, confusion, anxiety, frustration and boredom. For this study, epistemic emotions have been chosen, as they are closely related to student learning [22]. B. Programming Learning Activities Learning activities are those that take place in a classroom to guide the different topics of a course. Activities such as programming laboratories, classroom projects, exams, master classes, among others, are carried out in learning processes. Some of these activities have been designed with innovative components that seek to improve student motivation, such as play elements [23] and collaborative elements, in educational contexts that evidence positive results for the student. Throughout the research, it was determined through surveys that teachers who teach the introductory programming courses perform similar activities, in order to encourage student learning [24]. For the teaching of programming, activities such as programming labs, classroom projects, quizzes, exams, and master classes are included, some of them with variations related to gamma and/or collaboration elements incorporated [25]. Teachers agree that they face the challenge of keeping students focused and motivated, because they lose attention earlier and earlier in each class. This has led them to think of new, more innovative activities. C. Learning About Programming When a student makes the decision to study computer science, computing or similar careers, the motivation varies according to the difficulties he or she faces and he or Beatriz-Eugenia Grass; Mayela Coto; César-Alberto Collazos-Ordoñez; Patricia Paderewski Revista Facultad de Ingeniería (Rev. Fac. Ing.) Vol. 29 (54), e12034. 2020. Tunja-Boyacá, Colombia. L-ISSN: 0121-1129, e-ISSN: 2357-5328, DOI: https://doi.org/10.19053/01211129.v29.n54.2020.12034 she manages to solve [26]. Some researchers have investigated how moods and motivation affect the learning process of programming. Some authors argue that behaviors and moods influence programming learning [32-33]. When students experience failures, they trigger a multitude of reactions, which affect their emotional state in a negative way [2, 33]. Programming is a highly cognitive activity that requires students to develop skills [4], and high level cognitive processes [34-35]. Because of this, epistemic emotions are the ones that have the greatest impact on programming learning. This is demonstrated by studies in this area that identify confusion, frustration, boredom, and excitement as the most prevalent emotions [15, 36-38]. D. Gender The gender gap in computer science careers generates concern in the industrial, social and academic fields. It is said that the participation of men in the software industry is above 85% [32]. For example, in Colombia, one out of every 40 software companies has a woman CEO, which translates into 2.5% in this type of role. Many factors related to the gender gap have been investigated, including the lack of female role models, differences in previous programming experience, hostile culture, and dropout rates [40-41]. Authors have argued that cultural aspects, such as the often competitive nature of assessment in computer classes, the encouragement of an obsessive and socially isolated approach to performing work, and the small number of female role models, make female students feel isolated, which can lead to significant attrition rates [34]. Results showed that gender difference may not come into play at all when it comes to computer programming. However, other factors such as emotions or attitudes may be responsible [35]. If programming skills are clearly very similar between men and women, studying emotions is one element that can be taken into account to promote women's success in these roles [36]. One of the reasons for gender gap is related to the affective experiences of students; it has been shown that the affective factors that influence success may differ between men and women [35]. Learning about Programming and Epistemic Emotions: A Gendered Analysis Revista Facultad de Ingeniería (Rev. Fac. Ing.) Vol. 29 (54), e12034. 2020. Tunja-Boyacá, Colombia. L-ISSN: 0121-1129, e-ISSN: 2357-5328, DOI: https://doi.org/10.19053/01211129.v29.n54.2020.12034 E. Mechanisms to Identify Emotions Different mechanisms have been identified to perceive or identify emotions [37], these mechanisms are classified from the perspective of participation of the user being evaluated or from the observation of a third party, to analyze their emotions: • Measurement of physiological reactions: This is a mechanism that involves the user as the primary source, but the information is provided by a device that yields values in relation to the emotions considered for analysis [38]. This way of measuring emotions corresponds for example to measurements from headbands to measure brain activity, devices to measure blood pressure, heart rate, among others. They are important because they give results that the user does not control, since they are captured on real physical reactions; but they are not very accepted by users because they consider them intrusive and they feel intimidated with their use. • Self-report: It is in a form, survey [21], or interview, where the user assigns values related to the emotions they experience. In the case of the form, the user describes his or her emotions on a qualitative or numerical scale, in order to have clarity not only on how the emotion is experienced, but also on how intensely it is experienced. It is the most widely used mechanism for reporting emotions [39], because it is easy to use, because users feel less invaded in their privacy, and because it is economical to implement and process the information from it. • Measurements based on observation of behaviors: It is a mechanism in which the primary source is a third party that observes the individual's emotional and behavioral reactions [39]. They include the observation of the behavior (e.g., body position), their gestures (e.g., eyebrows, lips, nose, mouth) are observed. This mechanism offers the advantage that users do not know when they are being observed. II. METHOD In this study, the Epistemically-Related Emotion Scales (EES) instrument [21] was used. This is a self-reporting instrument that involves seven epistemic emotions Beatriz-Eugenia Grass; Mayela Coto; César-Alberto Collazos-Ordoñez; Patricia Paderewski Revista Facultad de Ingeniería (Rev. Fac. Ing.) Vol. 29 (54), e12034. 2020. Tunja-Boyacá, Colombia. L-ISSN: 0121-1129, e-ISSN: 2357-5328, DOI: https://doi.org/10.19053/01211129.v29.n54.2020.12034 vol. 16, pp. 471-493, 2013. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-013-9222-x [18] S. Rosas, “The Achievement Emotions Questionnaire-Argentine (AEQ-AR): internal and external validity , reliability , gender differences and norm-referenced interpretation of test scores,” Revista Evaluar, vol. 15 (1), pp. 41-74, 2015. [19] E. 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