Learning to code has been an increasingly frequent topic of conversation both in academic circles and popular media. Learning to code recently received renewed attention with the announcement of the White House's Computer Science for All initiative (Smith 2016). This initiative intends "to empower all American students from kindergarten…

This article explores the suitability of static analysis techniques based on the abstract syntax tree (AST) for the automated assessment of early/mid degree level programming. Focus is on fairness, timeliness and consistency of grades and feedback. Following investigation into manual marking practises, including a survey of markers, the assessment…

Computer programming skills are important to many current careers; teaching robot coding to elementary students can start a positive foundation for technological careers, develop problem-solving skills, and growth mindsets. This study, through a repeated measures design involving students in two classrooms at two widely-separated grade levels…

Programing is difficult for beginners because they need to learn the new language of computers. Developing software, especially complex software, is bound to result in problems, frustration, and the need to think in new ways. Identifying the learning behavior behind programing by way of empirical studies can help beginners learn more easily. In…

This paper is a report on the findings of research and development into the instructional model 'enhancing Thai Generation Z' creative thinking with Scratch through the spiral mode. The purposes of this study are: 1) to develop; 2) to evaluate and gain experts' opinion on the proposed model, adapted from a creative thinking spiral first used in…

This article is based on the experiences of two statistics professors who have taught students to write and effectively utilize code-based software in a college-level introductory statistics course. Advantages of using software and code-based software in this context are discussed. Suggestions are made on how to ease students into using code with…

The purpose of this study is to explore students' understanding of loops and nested loops concepts. Sixty-three mechanical engineering students attending an introductory programming course participated in the study. APOS (Action, Process, Object, Schema) is a constructivist theory developed originally for mathematics education. This study is the…

Sprego is programming with spreadsheet functions. The present paper provides introductory Sprego examples which have so far only been available in Hungarian. Spreadsheet environments offer both a programming tool which best serves beginner and end-user programmers' interest, and an approach which lightens the burden of coding and language details.…

Learning analytics is an emerging discipline and, as such, benefits from new tools and methodological approaches. This work reviews and summarizes our workshop on microgenetic data analysis techniques using R, held at the second annual Learning Analytics Summer Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on 30 June 2014. Specifically, this paper…

Despite the critical societal importance of computer security, security is not well integrated into the undergraduate computing curriculum. Security classes and tracks treat security issues as separable topics as opposed to fundamental issues that pervade all aspects of software development. Recently, there has been an increasing focus on security…

The rise of apps and mobile devices has opened the door to small, dedicated software programs that are focused on singular tasks. From the author's perspective as head of digital access and web service manager at Montana State University, these apps offered an opportunity to build a focused digital service aimed at allowing someone to enter a…

There is a perception amongst some of those learning computer programming that the principles of object-oriented programming (where behaviour is often encapsulated across multiple class files) can be difficult to grasp, especially when taught through a traditional, didactic "talk-and-chalk" method or in a lecture-based environment. We…

Purpose: In response to recent calls for research relating to employers' perceptions of the workplace readiness of new graduates in a variety of fields, the purpose of this paper is to report North Florida employers' perceptions of information technology (IT) program graduates' workplace readiness. These findings are relevant to stakeholders in…

We report on an empirical study grounded in our sustained implementation over ten years of a sequence of three-term undergraduate core mathematics courses centred on microworlds. The survey study investigates students' views on 15 competencies potentially developed as they, individually or in pairs, create 12 Exploratory Objects, i.e.,…

A key finding from the Speak Up Research Project findings is the increasing use of digital content, tools, and resources in the classroom to level the in-school playing field and empower the acquisition of those new skills by all students. Significant within this environment today is a seemingly universal agreement about the value of students…