This study critically reviews sixteen empirical studies that investigate the various difficulties that primary school students encounter while learning programming through educational games. Specifically, the challenges that students face in understanding basic programming concepts and the game elements that contribute to these difficulties, as…

An intervention using the unplugged programming and storytelling (UPS) strategy was implemented in this study to cultivate students' programming learning motivation and concepts. The participants were 49 second graders at a primary school in southern Taiwan. The course was conducted for 12 lessons (40 min each lesson). A quasi-experimental design…

Computational thinking (CT) involves breaking a problem into smaller components and solving it using algorithmic thinking and abstraction. CT is no longer exclusively for computer scientists but for everyone. While CT does not necessarily require programming, learning programming to enhance CT skills at a young age can help shape the next…

Advances in technology have caused high schools to update their computer science curricula; however there has been little analogous attention to technology-related education in middle schools. With respect to computer-related knowledge and skills, middle school students are at a critical phase in life, exploring individualized education options…

For many years computing in New Zealand schools was focused on teaching students how to use computers, and there was little opportunity for students to learn about programming and computer science as formal subjects. In this article we review a series of initiatives that occurred from 2007 to 2009 that led to programming and computer science being…

A study investigated the degree to which changes made in a traditional introductory computer course addressed student expectations. The revised curriculum focused on computer literacy and computer awareness rather than programming skills. Evaluation suggests that, although neither course realized student expectations fully, the revised course…

Content analysis of 13 textbooks and 2 Department of Education documents was conducted to ascertain common word processing, database, and spreadsheet software skills in order to determine which specific skills should be taught in a high school computer literacy course. Aspects of a basic computer course, created from this analysis, are described.…

The dramatic changes that occurred in information technology in the 1990s have rendered the curricular offerings of many college and university information systems and computer science programs obselete. This paper identifies some of the most desirable skills in the current technology environment. By being astute innovators with college curricula,…

This paper discusses in detail the nature of the conceptual development in beginning computing education for teachers and makes a case for the inclusion of programming experiences. The controversial nature of this perspective is addressed directly including a historical perspective. The discussion includes an account of some specific notions of…

These proceedings contain the papers of the International Conference e-Learning 2014, which was organised by the International Association for Development of the Information Society and is part of the Multi Conference on Computer Science and Information Systems (Lisbon, Portugal July 15-19, 2014). The e-Learning 2014 conference aims to address the…