The paper examines how computational thinking can be taught to young children with the use of educational robotics using the kit LEGO WeDo. Computational thinking was measured in terms of four sub-skills, namely, sequencing, correspondence between actions and instructions, debugging, and flow of control. Students were assigned to an experimental…

Collaborative problem solving in computer-supported environments is of critical importance to the modern workforce. Coworkers or collaborators must be able to co-create and navigate a shared problem space using discourse and non-verbal cues. Analyzing this discourse can give insights into how consensus is reached and can estimate the depth of…

There is a shortage of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) educated workforce in the US, especially among minority and underrepresented groups. Recruiting and retaining STEM majors has been a major problem for universities and community colleges for many years. The Computer Science department of University of Houston-Clear Lake…

This article describes the purpose, development, and implementation of a cognitive-based instructional intervention and its impact on learning motivation. The study was conducted in a programming-based problemsolving course for first-year engineering students. The results suggest that the instructional intervention developed based on the…