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,…

In recent years, not only has there been a dramatic drop in the number of students enrolling in computer science courses, and attrition from computer science courses continues to be significant. Traditionally, computer programming courses have high failure rates, and as they tend to be core to computer science courses can be a roadblock for many…

Distributed self-assessments and reflections empower learners to take the lead on their knowledge gaining evaluation. Both provide essential elements for practice and self-regulation in learning settings. Nowadays, many sources for practice opportunities are made available to the learners, especially in the Computer Science (CS) and programming…

This dissertation conducted a science classroom intervention using two instructional approaches, computational modeling and paper-based pictorial modeling, in the context of food webs. A series of research papers were written on the impact of the intervention on students' attitudes and learning, and on teachers via professional development and…

The purpose of this quantitative survey study was to test the Leontief input/output theory relating the input of IT certification to the output of the English-speaking U.S. human resource professional perceived IT professional job performance. Participants (N = 104) rated their perceptions of IT certified vs. non-IT certified professionals' job…

Podcasting holds great potential both as a teaching and learning tool. As a result, the podcasting phenomenon has attracted the attention of educators at all levels. Much has been written about the use of podcasting as a learning activity and lecture recording, but there is little research on the social and cognitive impacts of educational…

Problem solving can be thought of in two phases: the first phase is problem formulation and the second solution development. Problem formulation is the process of identifying a problem or opportunity in a situation. Problem Formulation Ability, or PFA, is the ability to perform this process. This research investigated a method to assess PFA and…