An instrument is a tool to support the collection of measurements related to a phenomenon of interest. Many instruments have been created to support empirical educational work and utilizing an existing instrument can save time and support comparisons with prior work.
csedresearch.org maintains a listing of evaluation instruments frequently used in K-12 computing education research. Additional instruments are available in computing education literature.
A few commonly used instruments are listed below:
The CAS instrument [TDS12, DT13, TD13, DT15] has 26 questions focused on problem solving in introductory computing classes. The instrument considers four main factors: transfer, strategies, fixed mindset, and real-world connections
The Self-Beliefs in CS1 instrument [SG14] has 19 questions focused on CS1 students. The instrument considers four main factors: debugging self-efficacy, programming self-concept, programming interest, programming anxiety, and programming aptitude mindset.
There are four factors considered in the computer programming self-efficacy scale [RW98]: independence and persistence, complex programming tasks, self-regulation, simple programming tasks.