Computer science education should not be based on short-term developments but on content that is observable in multiple domains of computer science, may be taught at every intellectual level, will be relevant in the longer term, and is related to everyday language and/or thinking. Recently, a catalogue of "central concepts" for computer…

In order to maximize the effectiveness of our pedagogies, we must understand how our pedagogies align with prevailing theories of cognition and motivation and design our pedagogies according to this understanding. When implementing Contributing Student Pedagogies (CSPs), students are expected to make meaningful contributions to the learning of…

Non-determinism is one of the most important, yet abstract, recurring concepts of Computer Science. It plays an important role in Computer Science areas such as formal language theory, computability theory, distributed computing, and operating systems. We conducted a series of studies on the perception of non-determinism. In the current research,…

Learning to program is known to be difficult for novices. High attrition and high failure rates in foundation-level programming courses undertaken at tertiary level in Computer Science programs, are commonly reported. A common approach to evaluating novice programming ability is through a combination of formative and summative assessments, with…

Lab-centric instruction emphasizes supervised, hands-on activities by substituting lab for lecture time. It combines a multitude of pedagogical techniques into the format of an extended, structured closed lab. We discuss the range of benefits for students, including increased staff interaction, frequent and varied self-assessments, integrated…

As computing makes the world a smaller place there will be an increase in the mobility of information technology workers and companies. The European Union has recognized the need for mobility and is instituting educational reforms to provide recognition of worker qualifications. Within computing there have been a number of model curricula proposed…

This article describes a computer science course that uses service learning as a vehicle to accomplish a range of pedagogical and BPC (broadening participation in computing) goals: (1) to attract a diverse group of students and engage them in outreach to younger students to help build a diverse computer science pipeline, (2) to develop leadership…

A senior project course is often employed to expose students to industrial problems and teamwork. Students are expected to use industrial strength tools to deal with issues such as requirements, design, process models, collaboration, management, testing, maintenance and more. In addition, the senior project often plays a large role in satisfying…

This article reports on the use of a virtual world ("Second Life") in computing education, and identifies the precursors of current virtual world systems. The article reviews the potential for virtual worlds as tools in computing education. It describes two areas where "Second Life" has been used in computing education: as a…

This paper reviews the literature related to the learning and teaching of debugging computer programs. Debugging is an important skill that continues to be both difficult for novice programmers to learn and challenging for computer science educators to teach. These challenges persist despite a wealth of important research on the subject dating…

Programming education is a widely researched and intensely discussed topic. The literature proposes a broad variety of pedagogical viewpoints, practical approaches, learning theories, motivational vehicles, and other elements of the learning situation. However, little effort has been put on understanding cultural and contextual differences in…

Model-driven software development (MDSD) aims to support the development and evolution of software intensive systems using the basic concepts of model, metamodel, and model transformation. In parallel with the ongoing academic research, MDSD is more and more applied in industrial practices. After being accepted both by a broad community 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…

A national web-based survey was administered to 700 undergraduate computer science (CS) programs in the United States as part of a stratified random sample of 797 undergraduate CS programs. The 251 program responses (36% response rate) regarding social and professional issues are presented. This article describes the demographics of the…

This article explores factors that contribute to low participation rates in computing and information technology (CIT) courses in senior secondary school, particularly for females. Partly drawing on the Values-Expectancy Theory the following variables are explored separately and within a single model: gender, ability and values beliefs, access and…