Educators across disciplines are implementing lessons and activities that integrate computing concepts into their curriculum to broaden participation in computing. Out of myriad important introductory computing skills, it is unknown which--and to what extent--these concepts are included in these integrated experiences, especially when compared to…

Despite recent high interest among researchers and practitioners in learning programming, even the most dedicated learners can struggle to find motivation for studying and practicing programming. Therefore, in recent years, several strategies (e.g., educational games, flipped classrooms, and visual programming languages) have been employed to…

This study investigates pre-service computer science (CS) teachers' perspectives on the factors affecting their programming abilities, concerns about their future professional lives, and pedagogical suggestions for effective programming teaching. The participants of the study were twenty-eight pre-service CS teachers studying at eighteen different…

Background and Context: Current programming learning research often compares novices and experienced programmers, leaving early learning stages and emotional and cognitive states under-explored. Objective: Our study investigates relationships between cognitive and emotional states and learning performance in early stage programming learners with…

Is there a pattern in how students solve Parsons puzzles? Is there a difference between the puzzle-solving strategies of C++ and Java students? We used Markov transition matrix to answer these questions. We analyzed the solutions of introductory programming students solving Parsons puzzles involving if-else statements and while loops in C++ and…

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the pre-enrollment attributes of first-year students at Computer Science BSc programs of the University of Miskolc, Hungary in order to find those that mostly contribute to failure on the Programming Basics first-semester course and, consequently to dropout. Our aim is to detect at-risk students early,…

This study aimed to understand the identity and attitude of students enrolled in computer science (CS) or programming-related course at community colleges nationwide. This study quantitatively evaluation data for estimating the relationships between students' identity and attitudes toward computer science with prior programming experience and…

Programming is a major subject in various Information Systems (IS) programs, with students often finding it a challenging skill to acquire. While there is extensive literature on factors helping students learn to program, most of which focuses on non-IS students. Due to the increasing demand for professionals with programming skills, there is a…

Digital literacy is considered to be crucial for social and professional participation. Hence, several projects have been launched in school, as well as extracurricular activities to promote digital literacy in middle school. They aim, among other things, to increase interest in the so-called STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering, and…

Most studies suggest that students develop computational thinking (CT) through learning programming. However, when the target of CT is decoupled from programming, emerging evidence challenges the assertion of CT transferability from programming. In this study, CT was operationalized in everyday problem-solving contexts in a learning experiment (n…

MOOCs for learning the basics of programming have become popular among people with a diverse range of backgrounds, interests and learning contexts. Studies show that learners who enrol in MOOCs tend to have different motivation from learners in traditional courses, but it is not known how motivation differs for people with different backgrounds.…

SCRATCH, developed by the Media Lab at MIT, is a kid-friendly visual programming language, designed to introduce programming to children and teens in a "more thinkable, more meaningful, and more social" way. Although it was initially intended for K-12 students, educators have used it for higher education as well, and found it…

Recent years have witnessed a growing demand for business analytics-oriented curricula. This paper presents the implementation of an introductory Python course at a business university and the attempt to elevate the course's relevance by introducing data analytics topics. The results from a survey of 64 undergraduate students of the course are…

The aim of this study was to investigate the factors affecting the pre-service computer science teachers' attitudes towards computer programming (ATCP). The sample consists of 119 preservice teachers at a public state university. The influences of students' demographic characteristics (gender, grade level, and high school type), their achievement…

The number of computer science (CS) courses has been dramatically expanding in U.S. high schools (HS). In comparison with well-established courses in mathematics and science, little is known about how the decisions made by HS CS teachers regarding how and what to teach impact student performance later in introductory college CS courses. Drawing on…