A wide range of benefits have been posited from participation in competitive programming contests. However, an analysis of participation in north American regional contests in the International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC) shows that participation in these contests is sharply declining, coinciding with the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover,…

Contribution: This article analyzes student assessment within a computing faculty employing a full project-based learning (PBL) approach. Examining 2078 final grades across 60 classes and periods, the study reveals a significant correlation between graded self-studies, exams, and projects. This result contributes to understanding the reliability…

Background and context: There were few studies indicating if students' computational thinking (CT) self-efficacy and their CT performance were aligned with each other. Objectives: The study was to investigate if there was a discrepancy between students' CT self-efficacy and their CT performance. Method: Involving 104 non-CS undergraduate students…

Computer gameplay and social media are the two most common forms of entertainment in the digital age. Many scholars share the assumption that leisure-time digital consumption is associated with CS affinity, but there is a dearth of research evidence for this relationship. Female students generally spend less time on gaming and more time on social…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the collaborative dialogue patterns of pair programming and their impact on programming self-efficacy and coding performance for both slow- and fast-paced students. Forty-six postgraduate students participated in the study. The students were asked to solve programming problems in pairs; those pairs'…

Assessing team software development projects is notoriously difficult and typically based on subjective metrics. To help make assessments more rigorous, we conducted an empirical study to explore relationships between subjective metrics based on peer and instructor assessments, and objective metrics based on GitHub and chat data. We studied 23…

Background and Context: Lopez and Lister first presented evidence for a skill hierarchy of code reading, tracing, and writing for introductory programming students. Further support for this hierarchy could help computer science educators sequence course content to best build student programming skill. Objective: This study aims to replicate a…

This study explored the learning experiences of first-year information technology students at the beginning of their studies. Identifying the early experiences is important, as we know they can predict later challenges and persistence in studies. We focus on a novel understanding of relations between learning approaches, self-efficacy and burnout…

Outcome-based education (OBE) is uniquely adapted by most of the educators across the world for objective processing, evaluation and assessment of computing programs and its students. However, the extraction of knowledge from OBE in common is a challenging task because of the scattered nature of the data obtained through Program Educational…

This study presents a new blended learning model that combines a computer-assisted learning system called Cognitive Apprenticeship Programming Learning System (CAPLS) with instructor co-teaching in an introductory programming course. CAPLS, as its unique aspect, functions as a master in cognitive apprenticeship, guiding learners throughout their…

Instruction in an introductory programming course is typically designed to introduce new concepts and to review and integrate the more recent concepts with what was previously learned in the course. Therefore, most exam questions in an introductory programming course require students to write lines of code that contain syntactic elements…

In a previous publication we examined the connections between high-school computer science (CS) and computing higher education. The results were promising -- students who were exposed to computing in high school were more likely to take one of the computing disciplines. However, these correlations were not necessarily causal. Possibly those…

Aim/Purpose: This article proposes a framework based on a sequential explanatory mixed-methods design in the learning analytics domain to enhance the models used to support the success of the learning process and the learner. The framework consists of three main phases: (1) quantitative data analysis; (2) qualitative data analysis; and (3)…

Background and context: Pair programming and oral exams were deployed in tandem in a remote undergraduate computer programming course to promote social interaction and enhance learning. Objectives: We investigate their impact on social interactions, sense of connection, academic performance, and academic integrity within a virtual learning…

Blended learning has been widely integrated in college-level computer science education. Despite evidence about benefits of blended learning, students' in-class activities remain underexplored. To afford effective blended learning experience, supporting students in both modalities is essential. This study thus took an initial step to fill the gap…