This paper explores Computational Thinking (CT) through the experiences and interactions of sixth-grade students as they were engaging in a science lesson utilizing robotics. This robotics unit institutes the shifting from traditional to engaging hands-on activities coupled with CT skills that are exciting, intriguing, and inviting to students.…

Computer games are effective instructional tools used in programming courses to increase students' motivation and engagement. This participatory action research aims to redesign the Object-Oriented Programming course in which the first author is both the instructor and researcher to make it more effective and efficient. In the first step of the…

This discussion examines the ever-increasing impact of top-down nation-wide educational reforms on teachers in Japan, exemplified in the 2020 reform. Its unique contribution is a suggestion of an interdisciplinary framework: programming education and English as a foreign language education in elementary schools. Many elementary school teachers are…

The rapid expansion of computer science (CS) instruction in primary and secondary education has highlighted the shortage of teachers qualified to teach the subject. A key strategy for building CS teaching capacity has been preparing teachers of other subjects (e.g., math, technology applications, business) to teach introductory CS through…

Implementing remote and blended higher education courses motivated the design for new support services for autonomous learning. Thus, combining a competence-based approach and self-regulation, the COMPER project offers a service to be used in addition to the courses. It consists of a graphical presentation of the learners' competency profile…

A department of computer science (CS) has faced a peculiar situation regarding their selection of introductory programming course. This course is a required course for the students enrolled in the CS program and is a prerequisite to their other advanced programming courses. At the same time, the course can be considered a general education course…

A department of computer science (CS) has faced a peculiar situation regarding their selection of introductory programming course. This course is a required course for the students enrolled in the CS program and is a prerequisite to their other advanced programming courses. At the same time, the course can be considered a general education course…

The purpose of this study is to investigate and conceptualize the ranks of importance of social cognitive variables on university students' computer programming performances. Spatial ability, working memory, self-efficacy, gender, prior knowledge and the universities students attend were taken as variables to be analyzed. The study has been…

Software is a vital resource for modern life. For software to be successful, programming skills are of the utmost importance. These skills are used both by programmers and also by systems analysts and designers during the phases of software development. Therefore, both technical and non-technical stakeholders within the software development…

Video games are an oft-cited reason for young learners getting interested in programming and computer science. As such, many learning opportunities build on this interest by having kids program their own video games. This approach, while sometimes successful, has its drawbacks stemming from the fact that the challenge of programming and game…

Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITSs) have shown success in the domain of programming, in part by providing customized hints and feedback to students. However, many popular novice programming environments still lack these intelligent features. This is due in part to their use of open-ended programming assignments, which are difficult to support with…

Computational Science and Engineering (CSE) has been denominated as the third pillar of science and as a set of important skills to solve the problems of a global society. Along with the theoretical and the experimental approaches, computation offers a third alternative to solve complex problems that require processing large amounts of data, or…

Changes to degree programs in Information Systems are often attributed to quickly-evolving technology and the subsequent changing needs of the employers who hire IS graduates. In this paper, we explore other social and economic factors that were the inspiration for curriculum changes by assigning them to one of four eras in the IS timeline. Using…

Background and Context: The use of block-based programming environments is purported to be a good way to gently introduce novice computer programmers to computer programming. A small, but growing body of research examines the differences between block-based and text-based programming environments. Objective: Thus, the purpose of this study was to…

This paper reports the findings of a study done to determine if increasing the number of exams in a course had an effect on student grades. Some studies have found that more frequent exams positively influence scores while other studies have found more frequent exams do not make a difference in student achievement. This study examines the impact…