There are many difficulties with learning and teaching programming that can be alleviated with the use of software tools. Most of these tools have focused on the teaching of introductory programming concepts where commonly code fragments or small user programs are run in a sandbox or virtual machine, often in the cloud. These do not permit user…

This research examined over 200 elementary students' pre and post-test changes in computational thinking from a 10-week coding program delivered as part of the regular school day. Participants benefited from early access to computer science (CS) lessons with increases in understanding and applying coding concepts. Interviews from participants…

In this work, we examine whether repeated participation in an after-school computing program influenced student learning of computational thinking concepts, practices, and perspectives. We also examine gender differences in learning outcomes. The program was developed through a school-university partnership. Data were collected from 138 students…

Educational robotics are commonly present in kindergarten and primary school classrooms, particularly Bee-bot. Its ease of use allows the introduction of computer programming to young children in educational contexts from a science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) perspective. Despite this rise, there are still few…

Teaching introductory programming to IS students is challenging. The educational, technological, demographic, and cultural landscape has changed dramatically in recent years. The post-millennial generation has different needs and expectations in an era of open resources. Learning to program is perceived as difficult, teaching approaches are…

New Zealand has a shortage of skilled workers in information technology (IT). Skills relating to computer programming (e.g., software engineer, applications programmer, software tester, web developer) all appear on the 2019 Long Term Skill Shortage List published by Immigration New Zealand. In many parts of the world, demand for computing…

Analysis of programming process data has become popular in computing education research and educational data mining in the last decade. This type of data is quantitative, often of high temporal resolution, and it can be collected non-intrusively while the student is in a natural setting. Many levels of granularity can be obtained, such as…

This article discusses the design and implementation of a new programming tool for Greek novices as a means to improve introductory programing instruction in Greece. We implemented Koios, a new highly interactive and visual programming tool for Greek novices, based on the body of research in the field of psychology of programming. The main…

The aim of this study was to investigate the factors affecting the pre-service computer science teachers' attitudes towards computer programming (ATCP). The sample consists of 119 preservice teachers at a public state university. The influences of students' demographic characteristics (gender, grade level, and high school type), their achievement…

Computational thinking (CT), the ability to devise computational solutions for real-life problems, has received growing attention from both educators and researchers. To better improve university students' CT competence, collaborative programming is regarded as an effective learning approach. However, how novice programmers develop CT competence…

This paper describes an Open University eSTEeM project that gathered the experiences of computing and information technology tutors who teach an undergraduate module called "Web Technologies" with the intention of understanding more about how they and their students can be best supported. Twelve distance learning tutors were interviewed…

Various software engineering (SE) curricula in higher education have started including courses on global software engineering (GSE), carried out as internationally distributed project-based courses. These courses, known for their closeness to "real-world" work experience, emphasize the importance of involving industry partners as…

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of project-based Arduino educational robot applications on students' computational thinking skills and their perception of STEM skill levels. The study group consists of 6th grade students from 2 different secondary schools from Turkey. Within the scope of the research, classes were assigned to…

Hackathons, the time-bound collaborative project-based competitions increasingly popular with undergraduate CS students, are both transformative and problematic. On one hand, they are unique opportunities to apply skills learned in the classroom to real-world, interest driven projects that celebrate risk taking, collaboration, and playfulness. On…

Full participation in the twenty-first century requires the skills, strategies, and dispositions necessary to adapt to changing technologies influencing all aspects of life. Online programming communities provide a space for youth to create, collaborate, and share as they engage in computational participation. A recent development in the digital…