The effects of teaching programming with Scratch on pre-service information technology teachers' motivation and achievement

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of teaching programming with Scratch on students' motivation and programming achievement. Working group of the research consisted of 52 second graders studying in Mehmet Akif Ersoy University, Faculty of Education, Department of Computer Education and Instructional Technology. Participants were randomly assigned to two groups. There were 26 students in the experimental group and 26 students in the control group. In the first seven weeks of the application, gaining the programming logic and learning the basic programming structures were aimed. To this end, participants in the experimental group made game design activities with Scratch, while participants in the control group made problem-solving activities through the form of flow diagrams in the current curriculum. In the second seven-week section of the application, teaching C# programming language was carried out in both the control and the experimental groups through using the same teaching method. Data collection instruments used in the study were Achievement Test, Motivation and Learning Strategies Scale, and Focus Group Interview form. In the research design, 3(measuring time)* 2(groups) factorial design was used. In both the control group and the experimental group, achievement test and Motivation and Learning Strategies Scale were administered to the participants three times as pre-test, final test and final test 2. In addition, the focus group interviews were conducted with the participants in both control and experimental group at the end of the first seven-week application and at the end of the second seven-week application that involved teaching C# programming. Data were analyzed through multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA), independent sample t-test, dependent sample t-test and content analysis for qualitative data. According to the findings obtained in the study, there were significant differences in participants' motivation and success scores with regard to measurement time, group variable (depends on type of the teaching method), and both measurement time and group interaction. According to the results of simple effect analysis, it was found that motivation scores of the participants were similar in both groups at the pre-test. However, in final test and final test 2, there was a meaningful difference in favor of the experimental group. In addition, in terms of the measurement time, motivation scores of the control group decreased at the end of all applications, while it increased in the experimental group. In terms of the programming achievement scores of the participants, the preliminary test was similar in both groups. In the final test and final test 2, a meaningful difference was observed in favor of the experimental group. In addition, in terms of the measurement time, programming achievement scores of participants of both control and experimental groups have increased at the end of the whole application. However, in terms of the increase in the grouping variable, a meaningful difference in favor of the experimental group can be observed. Qualitative data revealed that participants in the experimental group found the game design with Scratch fun and easy. They considered the activities carried out during the course as effective in terms of gaining programming logic and increasing the motivation, but some basic structures were considered insufficient. Participants in the control group reported that flow diagrams and problem-solving processes were difficult and boring, and activities carried out during the course had disadvantages which reduced their motivation such as the inability to be active and to make practice. Participants in the experimental group further stated that the experience gained in the game design process with Scratch contributed to their programming success in learning process of C# programming. At the end of the study, recommendations were made for practice and further research. Keywords: Programming, game design, Scratch, flow diagrams, motivation