Many middle school students come to Computer Science (CS) classes without any previous CS instruction or any Computational Thinking (CT) skills that are needed to be successful. To overcome this, many curriculums and programming environments have been used to engage students and to instill a love of CS. Which curriculum should be used to develop…

In a nationwide initiative to increase computer science Education in K-12, many teachers were recruited to CS teaching positions but without adequate preparation, which can lead to lack of confidence and feelings of isolation [35, 54]. In response to these issues, the purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a newly developed…

The research objectives were to 1) study the current conditions, problems, and good practices regarding teaching and learning 2) develop a blended instructional model using problem-based learning with graphic organizers to enhance systems thinking skills in computational science for students in lower secondary school and 3) study the results of…

RoblockLLy is an educational robotics simulator designed for primary and secondary school students, whose goal is to increase their interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. In the particular case of computer science, it allows developing computational thinking skills. It has been designed with ease of use in mind. This free…

Background & Context: Many efforts have been dedicated to building computer science (CS) teacher capacity through offering professional development (PD) programs. Previous reviews indicated the need to offer more continual support for teachers. Recent research has shifted its focus to scaling up PD and sustaining teaching capacity by…

Since teaching robotics in schools is still new for teachers, studies on how to integrate computational thinking concepts in robotics courses are still rare. In this direction, teacher training sessions for teaching robotics should be visited. Accordingly, in this exploratory case study, a professional development program for teachers was…

Multilingual learners, also known as English learners (ELs), are underrepresented in K-12 computer science (CS) courses, where they often struggle. This paper demonstrates how a Computer Science for English Learners (CSforEL) professional development (PD) program supported Advanced Placement CS Principles (APCSP) teachers in attending to both…

Young people need digital competency and confidence to effectively harness computing power to solve problems and design solutions; a core component is improving young people's computational thinking. Unfortunately, access to computer science education is lacking for all youth, and in particular for youth who live in lower-income households, who…

The purpose of this research project was to design, deliver, and informally assess the content and methodology of an introductory online course for the educators of Deaf and Hard of Hearing students (N=20) that focused on the block-based coding language, Scratch. Prior work by The Playful Learning Lab examined various STEM resources and their…

The use of computer applications as learning media has been widely used in the learning process. One such computer application is Augmented Reality. Augmented Reality has advantages in ease of use, media appeal, and mobility because it can be used on cell phones and tablets. Creative thinking is a skill that students need in solving problems in a…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the implementation and impact of the Pack program. The Pack was developed by the New York Hall of Science (NYSCI) and includes a digital game and set of curricular and professional development resources that aim to support computational thinking teaching and learning in middle school science and computer…

This study aimed to integrate the results of prior studies on the effectiveness of AI education in K-12 Korean classrooms to draw systematic and comprehensive conclusions. To achieve this goal, a review of 64 studies on AI education in Korea that were conducted from 2019 to 2023 was subjected to a meta-analysis. The total effect size of AI…

Students living in rural areas are less likely to attend schools that offer computer science (CS) courses largely because educational institutions in these remote areas lack the resources to staff teaching positions for these courses. This study investigated the impact of WeTeach_CS, a program designed to train teachers to become certified to…

Purpose: There is a critical need to understand how to attract Black girls and other girls of color to the science, technology, engineering, math, and computer science (STEM+CS) field. This study aims to look at the design and implementation of a CS learning ecosystem that supports girls of color in acquiring critical CS skills starting in middle…

This study explored factors impacting the decision for gifted females to pursue a career in computer science. The study used a phenomenological approach to delve into the experiences of ten gifted alumnae of The Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science (Gatton), a residential STEM program, aiming to reveal nuanced insights into factors shaping…