Background and Context: Although context-based teaching and learning has been investigated extensively in science education, little is known regarding the use of contexts for teaching CS in secondary education. Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the characteristics of contexts suitable for teaching algorithms and to investigate…

In this study, we examined freshmen students' sorting algorithm implementations in data structures and algorithms' course in two phases: at the beginning of the course before the students received any instruction on sorting algorithms, and after taking a lecture on sorting algorithms. The analysis revealed that many students have insufficient…

Conventional introduction to computer science presents individual algorithmic paradigms in the context of specific, prototypical problems. To complement this algorithm-centric instruction, this study additionally advocates problem-centric instruction. I present an original problem drawn from students' life that is simply stated but provides rich…

Reduction is a central ingredient of computational thinking, and an important tool in algorithm design, in computability theory, and in complexity theory. Reduction has been recognized to be a difficult topic for students to learn. Previous studies on teaching reduction have concentrated on its use in special courses on the theory of computing. As…

Reversing is the notion of thinking or working in reverse. Computer science textbooks and tutors recognize it primarily in the form of recursion. However, recursion is only one form of reversing. Reversing appears in the computer science curriculum in many other forms, at various intellectual levels, in a variety of fundamental courses. As such,…

Educators in the computing fields are often familiar with the characterization of computing as a combination of theoretical, scientific, and engineering traditions. That distinction is often used to guide the work and disciplinary self-identity of computing professionals. But the distinction is, by no means, an easy one. The three traditions of…

Abstraction is a major concept in computer science and serves as a powerful tool in software development. Pattern-oriented instruction (POI) is a pedagogical approach that incorporates patterns in an introductory computer science course in order to structure the learning of algorithmic problem solving. This paper examines abstraction processes in…

This case study considered the syllabus of the first and second year studies in computer science. The aim of the study was to reveal which topics covered in the syllabi were really needed during the following years of study or in working life. The program that was assessed in the study was a Masters program in computer science and engineering at a…

Realizing the importance of teaching efficiency at early stages of the program of study in computer science (CS) on one hand, and the difficulties encountered when introducing this concept on the other, we advocate a different didactic approach in the introductory CS course (CS1). This paper describes the approach as it is used at the Open…