Enhancing students’ beliefs regarding programming self-efficacy and intrinsic value of an online distributed Programming Environment

Several studies have explored the factors that influence self-efficacy as well as its contribution to academic development in online learning environments in recent years. However, little research has investigated the effect of a web-based learning environment on enhancing students’ beliefs about self-efficacy for learning. This is especially noticeable in the field of online distributed programming. We need to design online learning environments for programming education that foster both students’ self-efficacy for programming learning and the added value that students perceive of the tool as a successful learning environment. To that end, we conducted a quantitative analysis to collect and analyze data of students using an online Distributed Systems Laboratory (DSLab) in an authentic, long-term online educational experience. The results indicate that (1) our distributed programming learning tool provides an environment that increases students’ belief of programming self-efficacy; (2) the students’ experience with the tool strengthens their belief in the intrinsic value of the tool; however (3) the relationship between students’ belief in the tool intrinsic value and their self-efficacy is inconclusive. This study provides relevant implications for online distributed (or general) programming course teachers who seek to increase students’ engagement, learning and performance in this field.