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Why computing students learn on their own: motivation for self-directed learning of computing
Computer Science and Engineering Department, University of Connecticut,, Storrs, CT, United States .
University of Gävle, Faculty of Engineering and Sustainable Development, Department of Industrial Development, IT and Land Management, Computer science.
Information Technology, Department of Scientific Computing, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden .
Mathematics and Computer Science, Rhode Island College, Providence, RI, United States .
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2016 (English)In: ACM Transactions on Computing Education, ISSN 1946-6226, E-ISSN 1946-6226, Vol. 16, no 1, article id 2Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

In this article, we address the question of why computing students choose to learn computing topics on their own. A better understanding of why some students choose to learn on their own may help us to motivate other students to develop this important skill. In addition, it may help in curriculum design; if we need to leave some topics out of our expanding curriculum, a good choice might be those topics that students readily learn on their own.

Based on a thematic analysis of 17 semistructured interviews, we found that computing students’ motivations for self-directed learning fall into four general themes: projects, social and peer interactions, joy of learning, and fear. Under these, we describe several more specific subthemes, illustrated in the words of the students.

The project-related and social motivations are quite prominent. Although these motivations appear in theliterature, they received greater emphasis from our interviewees. Perhaps most characteristic of computingis the motivation to learn to complete some project, both projects done for fun and projects required for schoolor work.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
New York, NY, USA: Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), 2016. Vol. 16, no 1, article id 2
Keywords [en]
Measurement, Experimentation, Motivation, informal learning, self-directed learning
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Other Computer and Information Science
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:hig:diva-20648DOI: 10.1145/2747008ISI: 000373910200003Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-84955469730OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hig-20648DiVA, id: diva2:873736
Available from: 2015-11-24 Created: 2015-11-24 Last updated: 2020-11-09Bibliographically approved

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Boustedt, Jonas

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