The field of Cryptography is rapidly evolving, and the development of quantum computers is on the rise. Lattice-based cryptosystems are promising candidates for quantum resistance, and it is the responsibility of institutions to prepare students for related careers. Undergraduate students in mathematics and mathematics-adjacent fields can -- and…

Software vulnerabilities in commercial products are an issue of national importance. The most prevalent breaches are input validation vulnerabilities, and these are easily avoidable. This dissertation contributes to cybersecurity education with a set of hands-on interventions tailored for three CS courses, a set of reflection prompts to encourage…

Introductory computer programming (i.e. CS1) is the entry point into the computer science major at higher education institutions worldwide. It introduces foundational concepts to students that are then built upon in future courses. Computer science as a whole has struggled to attract and retain students in the major, particularly women and…

While there is high demand for university computer science (CS) courses, students often struggle when learning to program. Prior work has identified that student perceptions of their programming ability may contribute to these challenges. For example, studies show that students often perceive that they do not belong, are not capable of succeeding,…

The rise in demand for computer programming jobs has created a significant need for computer programming training. Online learning can be an effective tool for meeting the needs of these job demands. The challenge for universities is that computer programming is perceived as a difficult course by many students (Askar & Davenport, 2009; Baser,…

The STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) learning model is touted by its proponents for its potential in broadening access and participation in STEM learning through deep, authentic engagement in integrated STEM and arts practices. One location STEAM learning occurs is the new media arts classroom, where learners use…

With ongoing concerns in undergraduate computer science education like growing enrollment and broadening participation, there is a need for reform. While there are many stakeholder perspectives to consider in reforms, students deserve to be prioritized because they face a variety of environmental challenges that lead to negative outcomes like…

The computer science industry and college degree programs for computer science throughout the country suffer from the "pipeline shrinkage problem", which describes the declining number of qualified people in various industries (Kordaki & Berdousis, 2014). For computer science, the specific population decline relates to a shortage of…

This doctoral dissertation documents the experiences of women (student and faculty) in computer science programs. The research emerges from the literature on the gender gap in computing and video gaming. Thus, the author seeks to find the meaning that participants have granted to their experiences as undergraduate students and faculty, in a…

There has been an increase of both neurodivergent students and enrollment in Computer Science programs in higher education. These increases have brought attention to two separate challenges: neurodivergent college students struggle more compared to their neurotypical peers and many students struggle in introductory computer science courses. This…

The study investigated the effect of Game Development-Based Learning (GDBL) on the ability of IT undergraduates in Jordanian universities to define the concepts of computer programming and Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) and their ability to program in C++. An instruction was designed for an eight-week-long online course to allow the…

All engineering careers require some level of programming proficiency. However, beginning programming classes are challenging for many students. Difficulties have been well-documented and contribute to high drop-out rates which prevent students from pursuing engineering. While many approaches have been tried to improve the performance of students…

In computer science education, introductory computer programming courses tend to be the most challenging for novices, with higher dropout rates than other computer science courses. Recruitment and retention of students in computer science fields is an important area of focus in computer science education research, and previous research has…

Novice programmers need well-designed instruction and assessment informed by research and critical perspectives to conquer the historical challenges associated with completing introductory computer programming courses successfully. These issues include high dropout and failure rates, the struggle to acquire and retain basic programming knowledge,…

Software modeling is an integral practice for software engineers especially as the complexity of software solutions increase. There is precedent in industry to model information systems in terms of functions, structures, and behaviors. While constructing these models, abstraction and systems thinking are employed to determine elements essential to…