EFFECTIVENESS OF CODING BOOTCAMPS IN ENHANCING COMPUTER SCIENCE SKILLS AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN ANAMBRA STATE

Abstract

The intensive pace of technology change necessitates an adequate knowledge of computer sciences where secondary school learners are drilled to have hands on game applications and computational thinking. This paper examines how coding bootcamps work to develop computer science competencies among the students in Senior Secondary 2 (SS 2), Anambra State, Nigeria. Following a mixed-methods approach, a total sample of 200 students and 20 teachers in 20 public and 20 private schools nationwide and 10 instructors in local boot camps were used. The data will be obtained by means of questionnaires, pre- and post- bootcamp coding assessment, and interviews, which will be analyzed with the help of SPSS (using quantitative data) and NVivo (using qualitative information). The results indicate that bootcamps had considerable effects in enhancing the level of proficiency in Python and JavaScript coding among the students with an average performance increase of 32.4% in the post-assessment scores. Students have also shown a better problem-solving expertise as well as involvement. The main obstacles were the inadequacy of facilities in training the facilitators and the resource factor whereas student enthusiasm and collaboration with tech hubs were enablers. The work identifies gaps in the existing computer science programs and suggests the need to incorporate bootcamps into the curriculum to address the skills shortage, which will be used in the course of the digital transformation initiatives in Nigeria.