Integrated computing curricula combine learning objectives in computing with those in another discipline, like literacy, math, or science, to give all students experience with computing, typically before they must decide whether to take standalone CS courses. One goal of integrated computing curricula is to provide an accessible path to an…

The principles of programming language design for learning and teaching have been described and discussed for several decades. Most influential was the work of Niklaus Wirth, describing principles such as simplicity, modularity, orthogonality, and readability. So why is this still an area of fundamental disagreement among educators? Why can…

We report findings from qualitatively analyzing audio recordings and teacher-generated products from a two-day in-person collaborative design (co-design) workshop where nine experienced high school CS teachers revised parts of an existing introductory high school program toward justice. In response to our research question of how teachers…

The purpose of the current study was to explore the effect of modality (constructionist mBlock, Scratch, and Python interventions) on six-grade students' computational thinking, programming attitude, and achievement. The pre-test and post-test quasi-experimental design was used to explore the research questions. The study group consisted of 105…

Introduction: Computer Science Education does not have a universally defined set of concepts consistently covered in all introductory courses (CS1). One approach to understanding the concepts covered in CS1 is to ask educators. In 2004, Nell Dale did just this. She also collected their perceptions on challenging topics to teach. Dale mused how the…

This study investigated common student errors and underlying difficulties of two groups of Chinese middle school students in an introductory Python programming course using data in the automated assessment tool (AAT) Mulberry. One group of students was from a typical middle school while the other group was from a high-ability middle school. By…

Objectives: The goal of this paper is to introduce and describe a new introductory computer science course. Research results from the implementation of this curriculum will be presented to demonstrate the nature of teachers' experiences with the curriculum. Participants: Participants are teachers implementing the new curriculum at two schools in…

Is there a pattern in how students solve Parsons puzzles? Is there a difference between the puzzle-solving strategies of C++ and Java students? We used Markov transition matrix to answer these questions. We analyzed the solutions of introductory programming students solving Parsons puzzles involving if-else statements and while loops in C++ and…

Background: Despite ongoing calls for prioritizing K-12 computer science (CS) education, an enduring gender gap exists. Objective: We explored one high school CS program where female participation was consistently higher than state averages to better understand how the program was developed. Method: Using a case study method, data were collected…

This dissertation was a comparative study of computer science in secondary schools in both Ireland and the United States. Computer science was a new subject compared to more established subjects in both Ireland and the United States. This dissertation looked at how this subject could be accessed by students in both countries. I used a document…

Quantum computers are at the forefront of computing; however, few people understand how they work and their capabilities. We present two versions of an interactive activity designed for high school students (ages 13 to 18) that introduce a core quantum concept--"entanglement." The first version illustrates a simple connection between two…

Teaching computer programming to children and adolescents has become popular in recent years. This popularity has resulted in increased research into techniques for teaching introductory programming using visual languages, especially block-based languages. This study aims to explore new possibilities for teaching programming by adopting a hybrid…

Background: Group size is one of the important factors that affect collaborative learning, however, there is no consensus in the literature on how many students should the groups be composed of during the problem-solving process. Objectives: This study investigated the effect of group size in a K-12 introductory Artificial Intelligence course by…

Background and Context: While assessment of computational thinking concepts, practices, and perspectives is at the forefront of K-12 CS education, supporting student "communication about computation" has received relatively little attention. Objective: To examine the usability of process-based portfolios for capturing students'…

Abstraction is one of the most fundamental ideas in computer science (CS), and as such, according to Bruner, it should be taught spirally, starting as early as possible and revisited at every level of education. However, teaching CS abstraction to novices is a very challenging task, and CS educational research has often demonstrated students'…