The purpose of the current study was to explore the effect of modality (constructionist mBlock, Scratch, and Python interventions) on six-grade students' computational thinking, programming attitude, and achievement. The pre-test and post-test quasi-experimental design was used to explore the research questions. The study group consisted of 105…

This study aims to explore the influences of the CS-unplugged activities in developing problem solving skills of preschool children. The participants were 11 children (4-5 aged) enrolled in a public preschool and Code.org activities were used as an instructional package. Activity evaluation form and interviews were used to understand children's…

To help novice learners overcome the obstacles of learning computational thinking (CT) through programming, it is vital to identify difficult CT components. This study aimed to determine the computational concepts and practices that learners may have difficulties acquiring and discuss how programming instructions should be designed to facilitate…

In light of current developments, there is an increasing effort to integrate computing-oriented activities into the education of children as young as two years old. Although the computing strand is not officially addressed in the Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory Framework (DfES, 2024), a small number of early years teachers in England…

A national curriculum for the study of computing became compulsory in English secondary schools in September 2014, replacing the study of information and communications technology with computer science (CS). This posed difficulties for teachers and students who did not have knowledge or experience of programming. This study was designed to…

Computers and smart devices have become ubiquitous staples of our lives. Computers and computer-controlled devices are used in all industries from medicine to engineering, and textile production. One field where computers have inevitably spread into is education, and one pre-requisite of controlling computers, or increasing the level and…

Although teachers need to assess computational thinking (CT) for computer science education in K-12, it is not easy for them to evaluate students' programs based on the perspective. The purpose of this study was to investigate students' CT skills reflected in their Scratch programs. The context of the study was a middle school coding club where…

Research indicates that understanding levels of abstraction (LOA) and being able to move between the levels is essential to programming success. For K-5 contexts LOA levels have been named: problem, design, code and running the code. In a qualitative exploratory study, five K-5 teachers were interviewed on their uses of LOA, particularly the…

Evaluating the quality of students' programs is necessary for better teaching and learning. Although many innovative learning environments for computer science have been introduced, the scarcity of program evaluation frames and tools is a demanding issue in the teaching practice. This study examined the quality of students' Scratch programs by…

Given the increasing needs of employees with computational skills, understanding the core competencies of K-12 computer science (CS) education is vital. This phenomenological research aims to identify critical factors of CS education in K-12 schools from the perspectives and visions of CS faculties in higher education and teachers in K-12 schools.…

Current research has not fully explored how summer programming camps can help students increase motivation and interest to pursue computing career, and their programming knowledge. Informal CS education through summer programming camps provides K-12 students the opportunity to learn how to code through fun and interactive activities outside of…

Software security is inevitably dependent on developers' ability to to design and implement software without security bugs. Perhaps unsurprisingly, developers often fail to do this. Our goal is to understand this from a usability perspective, identifying how we might best train developers and equip them with the right software tools. To this end,…

This study is an investigation of the effects of plugged and unplugged activities in a programming course using the Programming in Seven Steps (PSS) model on pupils' satisfaction and activity type preferences. A case study method was used in the classroom was the case. Data included students' diary, their responses on semi-structured interview…

The main goal of the current study is to develop a reliable instrument to measure programming anxiety in university students. A pool of 33 items based on extensive literature review and experts' opinions were created by researchers. The draft scale comprised three factors applied to 392 university students from two different universities in Turkey…

This study examines the relationship between students' pre-college experience with computers and their later success in introductory computer science classes in college. Data were drawn from a nationally representative sample of 10,197 students enrolled in computer science at 118 colleges and universities in the United States. We found that…