Learning computer programming is a challenging process. Among the current approaches for overcoming this challenge, visual programming languages (VPLs), such as Scratch, have shown very promising results for beginners. Interestingly, some higher education institutions have started to use VPLs to introduce basic programming concepts, mainly in CS1…

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…

Over the past years, higher education institutions have been exploring different mechanisms to adapt their learning and teaching practices to increase students' engagement. One of the proposals has been to reuse Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs) as Small Online Private Courses (SPOCs), or as complementary resources in traditional courses through…

This research study was designed to explore the teaching-learning approaches to distance education and measuring students' learning perceptions. Using the multi-stage sampling technique, eight hundred and two (802) students of the Master of Arts in a distance education university were taken using the universal sampling. Data were collected through…

Aim/Purpose: This paper presents the results of a systematic literature review that sought to identify the studies that relate the different pedagogical techniques by which active learning is developed in the context of the teaching/learning of computer programming, with the objective to characterize the approaches, the pedagogical techniques…

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…

Models are expanding their use for many different purposes in the field of software engineering and, due to their importance, universities have started incorporating modeling courses into their programs. Being a relatively new discipline, teaching modeling concepts brings in new challenges. Our contribution in this paper is threefold. First, we…

The emergence of new technologies such as three-dimensional virtual worlds brings new opportunities for teaching and learning. We conducted an action research approach to the analysis of how teaching and learning of computer programming at the university level could be developed within the Second Life virtual world. Results support the notion that…

More and more information technology (IT) programs are offering distance learning courses to their students. However, to date, there are a very limited number of published articles in the IT education literature that compare how different methods of delivering distance course relate to undergraduate students' learning outcomes in IT software…

The need for professional programmers in embedded applications has become critical for industry growth. This need has increased the popularity of embedded software design courses, which are resource-intensive and space-limited in traditional real lab-based instruction. To overcome geographic and time barriers in enhancing practical skills that…

The IADIS CELDA 2012 Conference intention was to address the main issues concerned with evolving learning processes and supporting pedagogies and applications in the digital age. There had been advances in both cognitive psychology and computing that have affected the educational arena. The convergence of these two disciplines is increasing at a…