Programming Competency of Information Communication Technology: Input for a

Needs Assessment Plan

Angelica De Vera

Faris Zacaria

Muksin Abubakar

Alyssa Mei Aguilar

Faisal Canapia

Vharon Muksan

John Jared Imperio

Introduction

Programming is the implementation of logic to facilitate specified computing

operations and functionality. It occurs in one or more languages, which differ by

application, domain and programming model. It is a process or skill of writing a program

for computers is the reason why we have advance technologies that help us through

everyday. Competencies are critical for equipping students with the knowledge, skills,
and attitudes that they will need to successfully navigate their personal journeys in

learning, living, and working. The rapid development of new technologies requires a

new set of skills from all the users in operating, using and maintaining digitized

environments ( Agne Brilingaite, 21-44, 2018). The need to improve the learning

competency of students are arising each and every day along with the fast growing

technology around us. With these technologies, there is a lot of opportunities to be

pursued by programmers.

Programming assists young students in developing problem-solving skills,

such as the ability to solve a problem rationally as well as accurately. Most importantly,

coding is the way of the future, making it a tremendously useful skill to have.

Experienced computer programmers are in-demand and with the advancement of

technology, there are increasing career opportunities arising every day. Employees who

can code are the further and are highly sought after in any industry. According to

DEPED (From DEPED MELC 2022-2033, ) The Most Essential Learning Competencies

(MELCS) is to create an original or derivative ICT content using online creation tools or

platforms to communicate effectively related to the specific track which will greatly

improve the Student's competency by giving them these free-to-access platforms.

Background of the Study

Programming is an art and it requires the individuals ability to interpret

challenges into solutions. However, Information Communication Technology students

experience difficulties in Programming subject. In January 2022 survey of 1000 U.S.

students commissioned by KX, a Global provider for real-time analytics and date
management software, 45% of U.S. students said they can currently code or are

learning at least one coding language, and 35% believe that being able to code is a

core life skill. A new survey by KX shows that over half of U.S. students ages 16-23

believe that coding skills for future career prospects yet more than third say they lack of

education access to coding program (Kristal Kuykendal, 2022). Even in other countries,

they see being able to program and do coding as an important skill to have but as the

survey shown, the students still face problems like lack of educational access to coding

programs. The researchers would like to lessen this kind of problem using our research

to provide students with their needs for them to be more competent.

Philippines is now projected to be the next ICT hub and best breeding

ground for ICT professional in Asia. It was also found by Joey Gurango through

Software Corp. (GSC) which administed the first Proxor examinations in the Philippines

from October 2015 to September 2016 that over 50% of Filipino students lack of basic

entry-level of programming skills that meet globally acceptable standards (Julieta

Babas, 2020). Almost half of the ICT students in Philippines during October 2015-2016

lack of basic programming skills, which is still a big problem around as ICT students

encountered this but we're able to overcome it and got better because of face-to-face

classes. The researchers encourage other ICT students to continue practicing their

coding skills using desktop as it will improve their skills, efficiency to their careers, and

to have better understanding of the computer itself.

Based on observation, 4 out of 10 students didn't know how to code and

doesn't know the basic fundamentals of Programming. The Information Communication

Technology Students of Taguig National High School experience the problems, while
ICT Students do their best to be competent at coding they still have their needs to be

fulfilled in order to make the most out of it. The purpose of this study is to become a

guide for our fellow ICT students to become competent in Programming subject. The

Most Essential Learning Competencies (MELCS) is to create an original or derivative

ICT content using online creation tools, platforms, and applications to effectively

communicate messages related to specific professional track.

Theoretical Framework

This study is anchored on theoretical support of Benjamin Bloom's

taxonomy, it is a classification system use to define and distinguish different levels of

human cognition. There are three domains of human cognition. These three domains of

original taxonomy are; cognitive, affective and psychomotor. The researchers used

cognitive model because, this can help the researchers understand the fundamental

ways in which participant acquire and develop new knowledge, skills and

understandings.

The researchers focused on revised taxonomy called, A Taxonomy for

teaching, learning and assessing. These six levels of cognitive learning according to

revise version of Bloom's taxonomy and each level is conceptually different. These six

levels are remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating and creating.

 FIGURE 1: BLOOM'S TAXONOMY (REVISED EDITION)

Bloom’s Taxonomy attempts to classify learning stages from remembering facts to

creating new ideas based on the acquired knowledge. The idea of Bloom’s Taxonomy in

cognitive domain is that learning is a consecutive process. The first stage in cognitive

domain in learning is remembering, in this level, the students can recognize and recall

relevant knowledge from long term memory. The next level is Understanding, in this

stage the students can construct meaning from oral, written, graphic messages. The

next step is Applying, the students can use information in a new way. The fourth level is

Analyzing, the students can distinguish between parts, how they relate to each other,

and to the overall structure and purpose. The fifth level is Evaluating, at this level, the

students can make judgements and justify decisions. The last level of cognitive learning

is Creating, in this level, the students can put elements together to form a functional

whole, create a new product or point of view.

The researchers used Bloom's taxonomy of Cognitive learning because

Bloom's Taxonomy is based on a specific hierarchy of learning levels, each level is a

vital part of learning to achieve deeper, more advanced cognitive skills and abilities. And

also, this theory will work as a guide on assessing the needs to improve the

competency of ICT students. And lastly, this will be a basis on knowing if the students

are incompetent based on the diagram of cognitive learning.

Statement of the Problem

This study aims to determine the programming competency of Information

Communication Technology students and produce a needs assessment plan.

Specifically, the researchers attempt to answer the following questions

1. What is the level of competency of ICT students based on Cognitive learning of

Bloom's taxonomy in terms of the following;

1.1. Remembering

What

1.2. Understanding

What

1.3. Applying

What

1.4. Analyzing

What

1.5. Evaluating

What

1.6. Creating
 What

2. Why do ICT students experience being incompetent in Programming subject?

3. How does assessment plan help to improve the programming competency of ICT

students?

Scope and Limitations

This study will focus on the level of competency of selected participants of

ICT students. The researchers aims to determine who are the ICT students are in the

level of of Remembering, Understanding, Applying, Analyzing, Evaluating and Creating

and attemp to answer the following questions like, How does assessment plan help to

improve the programming competency of ICT students and Why ICT students

experience being incompetent in Programming subject. Lack of previous research

studies on the topic is one of the limitation in the study. We overcame this problem by

searching other studies that are related to the study and shows their programming

competency. The participants of this study will be the selected participants of ICT

students in Taguig National High School. This study will be conducted in the month of

October.

Significance of the Study

 This study makes some important contributions to the programming

competency of Taguig National High School Information Communication Technology

Students. Which is highly impactful to construct their future in the IT world. Many

hardships are faced such as the incompetency of students by not being able to properly

learn the basic fundamentals of programming, Not able to do simple programming tasks

without a thorough guide by the instructor all the time. The findings of this study will help

improve and analyze the level of programming competency of Taguig National High

School ICT students by making plans to assess their needs.

This research study will benefit:

DEPED - This study will help the Department of Education to improve and track the

programming competency of Information Communication Technology Students by

showing how they perform based on what they think they are capable of.

School Administration - This study will help the School Administration to be aware of the

possible methods to improve the programming competency of the ICT students.

Teachers - This study will help the teachers guide their ICT students be more competent

and efficient in terms of programming and to effectively increase the comfortability of

teaching ICT students.

Students - This study will greatly benefit the ICT students on how they could be more

competent and effective in terms of the programming

Parents - The study will show the Parents the programming competency of their

children using our research and how they could help them.

Future Researchers - This study will benefit the Future Researchers by using our study

as a basis so that they could improve the study even more in the future.

Definition of Terms

Ability - Ability is synonymous with capability, potential, or capacity. It determines

whether or not you possess the means to do something.

Assessment - In education, the term assessment refers to the wide variety of methods

or tools that educators use to evaluate, measure, and document the academic

readiness, learning progress, skill acquisition, or educational needs of students.

Competency - A general statement that describes the desired knowledge, skills, and

behaviors of a student graduating from a program (or completing a course).

Competencies commonly define the applied skills and knowledge that enable people to

successfully perform in professional, educational, and other life contexts.

Cognitive- relating to the mental process involved in knowing, learning, and

understanding things.
ICT - Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) refers to technologies that

provide access to information through telecommunications. It is similar to Information

Technology (IT) but focuses primarily on communication technologies.

Participants - A research participant, also called a human subject or an experiment, trial,

or study participant or subject, is a person who voluntarily participates in human subject

research after giving informed consent to be the subject of the research.

Programmer - Someone who writes software or programs for computers is called a

programmer. If you develop an application for mobile devices, you can also call yourself

a programmer. Programmers use a variety of computer languages to write the code (or

instructions) that helps computers do the things their users want them to do.

Taxonomy - A taxonomy is a classification of clearly defined concepts, including the

principles that underlie such. classification. The 'UNICEF Taxonomy for Research,

Evaluation and Studies' is based on a literature. review of the defined concepts,

comparison with other relevant international development.