Exploring the Performance of Students in Programming Courses: A Study of Ghana’s Sandwich Computing Education

This study investigates the performance of students enrolled in programming courses offered under the Sandwich Educational System (SES) in Ghanaian universities and colleges. SES is a unique educational approach that combines academic studies with practical work experience. This study examines various teaching models employed within the SES for programming education to identify any significant relationship between teaching methods and student academic performance. The target population for this study comprised students enrolled in computing education-related programs within the SES, with a specific focus on those undertaking programming courses. A single study group of students pursuing the Bachelor of Education programme in Information Technology (B.Ed. IT) under the sandwich mode at University X was selected to ensure efficient research management in this study. Employing a mixed-methods research design, quantitative and qualitative data were collected and analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. A survey was administered to 218 of the 357 students in the study group during the designated survey period. Additionally, a seven-year longitudinal quasi-experiment involving five different year groups in the B.Ed IT sandwich programme at University X was conducted to examine the relationship between student performance and teaching methods within SES. The findings of this study do not demonstrate a significant difference in academic performance among students taught using different teaching methods in SES. However, it is crucial to acknowledge the study's limitations, which necessitate considering the findings as insightful observations rather than as conclusive results. This study recommends enhancing students' prior exposure to programming and adopting innovative teaching methods to improve their academic performance. Future research should address the limitations of this study by utilising a more rigorous experimental design, such as a randomised controlled trial, and exploring additional factors that may influence student performance within the SES. Such endeavours would enable more robust causal inferences to be drawn.