Objectives: Physical computing systems are increasingly being integrated into secondary school science and STEM instruction, yet little is known about how teachers, especially those with little background and experience in computing, help students during the inevitable debugging moments that arise. In this article, we describe a framework,…

In many countries, computer programming is becoming an integral part of the secondary school curriculum. However, many teachers, especially in the first years of Flemish secondary school, have limited experience with teaching programming. To improve their knowledge about programming, many different types of professional development programs have…

The 1980s and 1990s saw a robust connection between computer science education and cognitive psychology as researchers worked to understand how students learn to program. More recently, academic disciplines such as science and engineering have begun drawing on cognitive psychology research and theories of learning to create instructional materials…

Context: With the introduction of Computer Science (CS) into curricula worldwide, teachers' adoption of CS pedagogical content is essential to ensure the long-term success of reform initiatives. Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programs play a key role in this process. Unfortunately, adoption is seldom evaluated in CS-CPDs or CPDs in…

Effective and equitable CS [computer science] teaching is contingent on teachers' robust understanding of equity issues in CS classrooms. To this end, this study examined high school teachers' perceptions of equity during their participation in a CS teacher certificate program over two years. The participants are from various disciplines and from…

Self-efficacy is an important construct for CS teachers' professional development, because it can predict both teaching behaviors as well as student outcomes. Research has shown that teachers' self-efficacy can be as influential as their actual level of knowledge and abilities. However, there has been very limited research on CS teachers'…

As technology and curricula continue to evolve and develop, the prevalence and effectiveness of continuing professional development (CPD) opportunities for computer science teachers is becoming increasingly more important. However, key questions remain about what the characteristics are for effective CPD in this context. Through the presentation…

Through a mixed-methods approach that utilized teacher surveys and a focus group with computer science (CS) instructional coaches, this study examined elementary teachers' confidence in meeting the needs of students with disabilities, the extent to which the teachers could use the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework in CS education, and…

Motivation: As K-12 computing education becomes more established throughout the world, there is an increasing focus on accessibility for all, whether in a particular country or setting or in areas of the world that may not yet have computing established. This is primarily articulated as an equity issue. The recently developed "capacity…

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…

Objectives: Computer Science (CS) education has become increasingly prevalent in elementary schools because of multiple rationales, such as the importance of computational literacy and the growing demand for CS-related workforce preparation. As elementary CS standards continue to be adopted by many states, more examples and voices from the field…

Developing student interest is critical to supporting student learning in computer science. Research indicates that student interest is a key predictor of persistence and achievement. While there is a growing body of work on developing computing identities for diverse students, little research focuses on early exposure to develop multilingual…

The introduction of Computing to the national curriculum in England has led to a situation where in-service teachers need to develop subject knowledge and pedagogical expertise in computer science, which presents a significant challenge. Professional learning opportunities can support this; these may be most effective when situated in the…

This article compares self-reported learning gains and experiences of teachers in four professional development courses funded through Google's 2014 Computer Science for High School program. The courses were designed and taught independently at four universities and started late enough in the year to participate in our pre-post study. Two of the…

This article describes the impact of in-classroom coaching for computer science (CS) educators. Coaching is a way to support teachers in their classroom while teachers master new curricula or educational approaches and is not evaluative in purpose. Using qualitative methods to analyze computer science classroom observations, teacher surveys,…