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IJIET 2020 Vol.10(4): 290-297 ISSN: 2010-3689
doi: 10.18178/ijiet.2020.10.4.1378

The Effect of Turtle Graphics Approach on Students' Motivation to Learn Programming: A Case Study in a Malaysian University

Marini Abu Bakar, Muriati Mukhtar, and Fariza Khalid

Abstract—Computer programming is not an easy subject to learn or teach, particularly to first-year students in higher learning institutions. Numerous past studies have shown that students faced difficulties in comprehending and applying the programming concept when writing programs to solve problems. A slight negative experience at the initial stage of the studies is enough to disappoint the students. This then resulted in lowering the motivation of students to learn programming which impacted the students’ performance in the programming course. Thus, an approach must be developed so that the motivation to learn and practice programming remains high. This article proposes the use of Turtle Graphics at the initial stage of Java Programming course in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Via this approach, by writing suitable programs, the students are able to produce animations and graphics output. Students’ motivation levels are then measured via the ARCS model, which measure the students’ motivation based on four aspects, namely attention, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction. The results of this study found that the students demonstrate high motivation in all four motivational aspects.

Index Terms—ARCS model, course content, graphics library, novice programming, objects-first.

Marini Abu Bakar and Muriati Mukhtar are with the Faculty of Information Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia (e-mail: marini@ukm.edu.my, muriati@ukm.edu.my).
Fariza Khalid is with the Faculty of Education, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia (e-mail: fariza.khalid@ukm.edu.my).

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Cite: Marini Abu Bakar, Muriati Mukhtar, and Fariza Khalid, "The Effect of Turtle Graphics Approach on Students' Motivation to Learn Programming: A Case Study in a Malaysian University," International Journal of Information and Education Technology vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 290-297, 2020.

Copyright © 2020 by the authors. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited (CC BY 4.0).

General Information

  • ISSN: 2010-3689 (Online)
  • Abbreviated Title: Int. J. Inf. Educ. Technol.
  • Frequency: Monthly
  • DOI: 10.18178/IJIET
  • Editor-in-Chief: Prof. Dr. Steve Thatcher
  • Managing Editor: Ms. Nancy Y. Liu
  • Abstracting/ Indexing: Scopus (CiteScore 2022: 2.0), INSPEC (IET), UGC-CARE List (India), CNKI, EBSCO, Google Scholar
  • E-mail: ijiet@ejournal.net

 

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