Computer programming education has practice-oriented as well as theory-oriented learning goals. Here, lab work plays an important role in students' learning. It is however widely reported that many students face great difficulties in learning theory as well as practice. This paper investigates the important but problematic relation between the…

Educating our future engineers so that they can gain high proficiency in computational thinking is essential for their career prospects. As educators, acquiring a good understanding of the various learning motivation factors/tools as well as their inter-relationships is a significant step forward in achieving this goal. In this article, we…

Recognition of spontaneous emotion would influence human-computer interaction and emotion-related studies in many related fields. In any given environment, the spontaneous generation of expression are more often observed than their prototypic counterparts.This thesis explores methods for detecting emotional facial expressions occurring in a…

Research on the effectiveness of introductory programming environments often relies on post-test measures and attitudinal surveys to support its claims; but such instruments lack the ability to identify any explanatory mechanisms that can account for the results. This paper reports on a study designed to address this issue. Using Noss and Hoyles'…

In this study, the effect of Scratch environment in teaching algorithm in elementary school 6th grade Information and Communication Technologies course was examined. The research method was experimental method. Control group, pretest-posttest design of experimental research method and a convenience sample consisting of 60 6th grade students were…

Stereotypes people hold about computer scientists contribute to underrepresentation in computer science. Perceptions of computer scientists have historically been linked to males and a "nerd" culture, which can lead to lack of interest, particularly for girls. This article presents two studies conducted with two groups of middle…

Computing and computers are introduced in school as important examples of technology, sometimes as a subject matter of their own, and sometimes they are used as tools for other subjects. All in all, one might even say that "learning about" computing and computers is part of "learning about" technology. Lately, many countries…

In recent years, learning process data have become increasingly easy to collect through computer-based learning environments. This has led to increased interest in the field of "learning analytics," which is concerned with leveraging learning process data in order to better understand, and ultimately to improve, teaching and learning. In…

C++ is the most commonly used language in introductory and intermediate programming courses in Bulgarian universities. In recent years this language has developed greatly. Its abstractions are more flexible and affordable than ever before. Such great number of changes are related to the launch of the new standard (known as C++11) that we have…

Multi-peer assessment has often been used by teachers to reduce personal bias and make the assessment more reliable. This study reviews the design and development of multi-peer assessment systems that detect and solve two common issues in such systems: non-consensus among group members and personal radicalness in some assessments. A multi-peer…

The popular press is rife with examples of how students in the United States and around the globe are learning to program, make, and tinker. The Hour of Code, maker-education, and similar efforts are advocating that more students be exposed to principles found within computer science. We propose an expansion beyond simply teaching computational…

Peer assessment is an efficient and effective learning assessment method that has been used widely in diverse fields in higher education. Despite its many benefits, a fundamental problem in peer assessment is that participants lack the motivation to assess others' work faithfully and fairly. Nonconsensus is a common challenge that makes the…

Computer science and coding skills are widely recognized as a valuable asset in the current and projected job market. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 37.5 percent growth from 2012 to 2022 in the "computer systems design and related services" industry--from 1,620,300 jobs in 2012 to an estimated 2,229,000 jobs in 2022. Yet some…

Contribution: A learning-by-teaching methodology through games can be used to promote informatics (computer science) in primary and secondary education. Applying the proposed activities can change students' perception of informatics from seeing it as merely using computers to seeing its relationship with mathematics. The experience can also help…

This paper elaborates on the notion of object-oriented collaborative learning by building on empirical material from two case studies in higher education. Prior empirical findings show how knowledge objects are evolving entities, shaped by the interactions between participants, and how students learn from engaging in knowledge practice that…