A Concept Inventory (CI) is an assessment to measure student conceptual understanding of a particular topic. This article presents the results of a CI for basic data structures (BDSI) that has been previously shown to have strong evidence for validity. The goal of this work is to help researchers or instructors who administer the BDSI in their own…

Digital skills are beneficial for young people and society, but some individuals, particularly girls, are less likely to choose computing post-compulsory education. Coding is a crucial skill in the school computing curriculum. The authors collected survey data from 4983 secondary-school students (ages 11-16) as well as conducted exploratory factor…

As a novice, learning computer programming is challenging. It requires learners to be inquisitive and acquire skills to analyze problems to get to solutions critically. Unfortunately, students drop out of programming courses because students think that programming is difficult to understand. The student's understanding of the problem definition is…

Many education systems have recognized the importance of computational thinking and coding skills and are implementing curricular changes to introduce coding into formal school education. A necessary and critical success factor involves the preparation of and support for teachers to teach coding. Thus, understanding the perceptions of teachers…

In this dissertation, I argue that web development can play a pivotal role in developing computational thinking as well as provide a stepping stone to an advanced mastery of computation. The preceding literature has extensively examined not only how learners practice computational thinking with a wide array of programming languages, but also how…

Aim/Purpose: Currently, Information Systems (IS) departments in business schools are moving towards integrating learning to program or code in their undergraduate core courses. Many factors affecting IS student success in learning to program have been identified, but there is still a dearth of knowledge about student perceptions on their own…

This literature review synthesized current research on preservice and in-service programs that improve K-6 teachers' attitudes, self-efficacy, or knowledge to teach computing, coding, or computational thinking. A review of current computing training for elementary teachers revealed 21 studies: 12 involving preservice teachers and nine involving…

The Computer Science Teachers Association has asserted that computational thinking equips students with essential critical thinking which allows them to conceptualize, analyze, and solve more complex problems. These skills are applicable to all content area as students learn to use strategies, ideas, and technological practices more effectively as…

In the last years, a growing trend in different educational contexts focused on Computational Thinking (CT) skills acquisition for both in-service teachers and students. But very low attention has been paid to pre-service teachers' education in regards to CT skills. To solve this issue, an empirical experimentation has been carried out with 141…

The popular press is rife with examples of how students in the United States and around the globe are learning to program, make, and tinker. The Hour of Code, maker-education, and similar efforts are advocating that more students be exposed to principles found within computer science. We propose an expansion beyond simply teaching computational…