Effects of Self-Regulated Learning in Programming

Candidate: Behzad Samin
Type: Master of Applied Science, Information Technology (MASc-IT), School of Interactive Arts and Technology
Date: June 30, 2004
Senior Supervisor: Dr. Vive Kumar

Abstract

Effects of Self-Regulated Learning (SLR) have been investigated in a variety of contexts.  In this research, we explore techniques based on the model of SRL in the context of one of the key ingredients of software engineering - programming.  We focus on the effects of SRL viewed form models of information processing (Winne, 2001: refer to the pages 153 through 189 of "Self-Regulated Learning and Academic Achievement: Theoretical Perception"), under the assumption that programmers are aced with huge folumes of information to be processed as part of their programming tasks.  The results of the experiment we conducted with 40 progammer participants indicate that there are statistically detectable differences between the group of programmers who applied SRL techniques and the group of programmers who did not.  In other words, Programmers who received our SRL-base treatment outperformed the programmers who did not in terms of programming performance.  This research aruges that the infusion of SRL-based techniques would have a positive influence on the performances in programming.