EFFECTS OF ONLINE BOOTCAMP AND ONSITE BOOTCAMP ON PROGRAMMING SKILLS ACQUISITION BY COMPUTER EDUCATION STUDENTS IN FEDERAL UNIVERSITIES IN SOUTH-SOUTH, NIGERIA
Abstract
This study investigated the effects of online and onsite bootcamp instructional strategies on the acquisition of Java and Python programming skills among computer education students in Federal Universities in South-South, Nigeria. The rapid advancement of technology and a growing skills gap among graduates necessitated an examination of effective, intensive training models. A quasi-experimental design (non-randomized pre-test, post-test control group) was adopted. The population comprised 120 students, with an intact class of 62 students from the University of Uyo assigned as the experimental group (taught via online bootcamp) and another intact class of 58 students from the University of Benin as the control group (taught via onsite bootcamp). The instrument for data collection was the Programming Skills Test (PST). Data were analyzed using mean and standard deviation for research questions, and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) to test the null hypotheses at a 0.05 significance level.The findings revealed that students taught using the online bootcamp demonstrated a higher mean academic performance in both Java (Mean Difference = 19.78) and Python (Mean Difference = 19.26) compared to those in the onsite bootcamp (Java Mean Difference = 11.14; Python Mean Difference = 11.04). The ANCOVA results showed a significant difference in academic performance for both Java (F(1,117) = 77.64; p = .00) and Python (F(1,117) = 72.49; p = .00), leading to the rejection of the null hypotheses. The study concluded that the online bootcamp instructional strategy was more effective in enhancing programming skills acquisition than the onsite bootcamp. It is recommended that Federal Universities increase the adoption of online bootcamps and explore hybrid models, supported by improved digital infrastructure and targeted funding, to better equip students with in-demand programming competencies.
