Treffer: ENHANCING THIRD-YEAR COMPUTER SCIENCE STUDENTS' COMPUTER PROGRAMMING SKILLS AT HAWASSA UNIVERSITY, ETHIOPIA.

Teaching programming in an efficient and effective method has been the most difficult subject in the world of computing for the last couple of decades. Aside from a lack of laboratory equipment, the most prevalent issues are the lengthy time it takes to understand a problem, devising algorithms, writing coding, syntax, and semantic complexity of the programming language. Because of the wide range of students' backgrounds, misconceptions about the course, traditional classroom teaching methodology, and the limited allotted time available to cover the course, it is extremely difficult for a teacher to go beyond the fundamental concepts that impede the development of students' problem-solving abilities. The major goal of this study is to assist students to become better programmers by comprehending code and implementing applications for real-world problems. The study was conducted to uncover specific issues among students who lacked the necessary knowledge and skill sets for computer programming courses for computer science third-year students in the 2022 academic year. A sample of 23 students were chosen using randomized sampling technique for the investigations. Students’primary data were acquired through observation, questionnaires, and readily available data. According to the primary data collected, the researchers discovered that rough teacher-student relationships, disorganized laboratories and a lack of resources, the complicated nature of the course, and a lack of motivation in the teaching-learning process are factors that affect students' performance in understanding and solving real-world problems. The major issues were identified as lack of motivation to learn, persistence, inadequate laboratory facilities, lack of attractive teaching methodology, outdated teaching materials, lack of awareness of the benefit of the course, students' myths about the course difficulty, lack of practical guide materials, lab-assistant level of competence, student bad habit on computer usage, etc. Actions had been taken to solve the aforementioned problems through following well-organized and updated course materials, enabling students to develop a habit of teaching themselves, and establishing well-equipped laboratory facilities for practical demonstrations. The researchers believe that having applied the suggested action will bring a remarkable improvement to the knowledge among students. The researchers proposed different actions to be implementedfor both students and teachers. The recommended action was executed and actively followed up by the researchers. Finally, the researcher discovered that more than half of the students who were underperform get a better performance level and the students’self-confidence was improved, their problem-solving capabilities were enhanced, and they became more excited to engage in project work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of International Journal of Advanced Research in Computer Science is the property of International Journal of Advanced Research in Computer Science and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)