Background: Training the memorization of declarative knowledge requires the repetitive presentation of various forms of factual questions to learners. Educational games designed for this purpose should offer activities that are both tailored to individual learners and varied to prevent boredom. Whilst the Technology-Enhanced Learning (TEL)…

Objectives: Athletics and sports represent a focal part of adolescence for millions of youth around the world. However, opportunities to engage in computer science (CS) learning experiences are less prevalent, particularly among Hispanic and low-income communities. Recently, researchers have explored ways to bridge these, seemingly, disparate…

Learning environments for programming education need a comprehensive task set that guides students from basic programming concepts to complex challenges. For creating such a task set, it is beneficial to utilize the concept of a design space--a systematic mapping of design dimensions and choices along these dimensions. We propose an iterative…

Despite the importance of gamification in education, there is still ongoing debate in the literature about how to design effective and useful educational gamification. This is because gamification is a complex concept that requires combining various game elements together. To further contribute to this discussion, this study first develops a…

Automated assessment is well-established within computer science courses but largely absent from human--computer interaction courses. Automating the assessment of human--computer interaction (HCI) is challenging because the coursework tends not to be computational but rather highly creative, such as designing and implementing interactive…

The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence and its increasing societal impacts have turned many computing educators' focus toward early education in machine learning (ML). Limited options for educational tools for teaching novice learners about the mechanisms of ML and data-driven systems presents a recognized challenge in K-12 computing…

Cyberbiosecurity is an emerging field at the convergence of life sciences and the digital world. As technological advances improve operational processes and expose them to vulnerabilities in agriculture and life sciences, cyberbiosecurity has become increasingly important for addressing contemporary concerns. Unfortunately, at this time,…

Computational thinking (CT), an essential competency for comprehending and addressing intricate issues in the digital world, has been incorporated into curriculum planning as a goal for programming education. This study introduced flow design into programming curricula to investigate its impact on undergraduates 'CT skills during pair work. Two…

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…

Algorithm design is a vital skill developed in most undergraduate Computer Science (CS) programs, but few research studies focus on pedagogy related to algorithms coursework. To understand the work that has been done in the area, we present a systematic survey and literature review of CS Education studies. We search for research that is both…

Background and Context: Block-based programming is a popular approach to teaching introductory programming. Block-based programming often works in the context of microworlds, where students solve specific puzzles. It is used, for example, within the Hour of Code event, which targets millions of students. Objective: To identify design guidelines…

Game based-learning have been widely promoted to overcome the difficulties encountered by beginners to learn programming. However, there are many issues to address for the implementation of game-based learning. Indeed, game-based learning is not limited to adding game elements such as rewards to a learning situation, but it rather consists of…

A rich body of empirically grounded results and a solid theory base have often been viewed as signs of a mature discipline. Many disciplines have frequently debated what they should accept as legitimate kinds of theories, the proper roles of theory, and appropriate reference disciplines. Computing education research (CER) in particular has seen a…

Computer programming has become an essential part of K12 education, promoted as a way for students to engage in computational thinking that helps develop students' ability to analyze and solve problems and prepare them for future careers. Tabletop board games are seen as an effective means to help students learn computer programming. Several board…

In this manuscript, we describe a coding club we created and implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic. We were purposeful in creating the club to: (a) focus on design and problem solving as the basis for learning computer coding and (b) include elements to improve the engagement of girls. We ran multiple iterations of a Girls Design with Code Club…