Computational thinking (CT) is an emerging and multifaceted competence important to the computing era. However, despite the growing consensus that CT is a competence domain, its theoretical and empirical account remain scarce in the current literature. To address this issue, rigorous psychometric evaluation procedures were adopted to investigate…

Background and Context: Valid assessment of understanding of programming concepts in primary school children is essential to implement and improve programming education. Objective: We developed and validated the Computerized Adaptive Programming Concepts Test (CAPCT) with a novel application of Item Response Theory. The CAPCT is a web-based and…

The main goal of the current study is to develop a reliable instrument to measure programming anxiety in university students. A pool of 33 items based on extensive literature review and experts' opinions were created by researchers. The draft scale comprised three factors applied to 392 university students from two different universities in Turkey…

This study is designed to reveal the research trends of graduate theses published in the field of computer programming in K-12 between 2018 and 2022. Document analysis was used for data collection in this study. The data was divided into 9 categories, and the results demonstrated that the scholars in the Departments of Computer Educational and…

Automatic item generation represents a relatively new but rapidly evolving research area where cognitive and psychometric theories are used to produce tests that include items generated using computer technology. Automatic item generation requires two steps. First, test development specialists create item models, which are comparable to templates…

Compared to other subjects, the typical introductory programming (CS1) course has higher than usual rates of both failing and high grades, creating a characteristic bimodal grade distribution. In this article, I explore two possible explanations. The conventional explanation has been that learners naturally fall into populations of programmers and…

A model for predicting student performance on introductory programming modules is presented. The model uses attributes identified in a study carried out at four third-level institutions in the Republic of Ireland. Four instruments were used to collect the data and over 25 attributes were examined. A data reduction technique was applied and a…