Interdisciplinarity has been touted as a means to recruit more racially and gender-diverse students to computing. In this explanatory sequential mixed-methods study, we investigated demographic characteristics among a sample of undergraduate students pursuing interdisciplinary computing major and minor combinations at 15 institutions in the United…

Undergraduate research can stimulate students' interest, especially in STEM disciplines. This research can be formally offered in different formats such as Undergraduate Research Experiences (UREs). One of these is Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs), which are offered as an integral part of scheduled courses. CUREs have been…

For most beginners, learning computer programming is a complex undertaking. Demotivation and learned helplessness have been widely reported. In addition to the subject's complexity, low in-class involvement has been linked to poor student performance. This work introduces a novel instructional technique called Student-Driven Probe Instruction…

This study investigates the delivery of the "Hour of Code" tutorials to college students. The college students who participated in this study were surveyed about their opinion of the Hour of Code. First, the students' comments were discussed. Next, a content analysis of the offered tutorials highlights their reliance on visual…

Contribution: This study evaluates the generalizability of previously identified perceptions among engineering students of assessments in introductory programming (CS1). The students' perceptions of their instructors' and teaching assistants' (TAs) roles in these assessments are also studied, and differences based on prior programming experience,…

Aim/Purpose: The dynamic nature of the information systems (IS) field presents educators with the perpetual challenge of keeping course offerings current and relevant. This paper describes the process at a College of Business (COB) to redesign the introductory IS course to better prepare students for advanced business classes and equip them with…

Many students need assistance in debugging to achieve progress when they learn to write computer programs. Face-to-face interactions with individual students to give feedback on their programs, although definitely effective in facilitating their learning, are becoming difficult to achieve with ever-growing class sizes. This paper proposes a novel…

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…

The problem of Computer Science students' cheating in their homework assignments so far has been handled mainly through administrative punishment of the cheaters. The success of such an approach depends to a large degree on the ability of the instructor to recognize the fact of cheating, which is a complicated task. With a large number of students…

Cloud computing is a rapidly emerging topic, but should it be included in an introductory IT course? The magnitude of cloud computing use, especially cloud infrastructure, along with students' limited knowledge of the topic support adding cloud content to the IT curriculum. There are several arguments that support including cloud computing in an…

All curricula for any given academic discipline evolves over time. This is also true for the Information Systems (IS) model curriculum. Curriculum evolution is driven by several factors, such as changes in technologies, industry shifts to meet customer needs, and perceived student deficiencies. One outcome of such factors has been a change in the…

Transitioning to university is recognised as a challenging endeavour for commencing students. For commencing Computer Science students specifically, evidence suggests a link between poor performance in introductory technical courses, such as programming, and high attrition rates. Building resilience in students, particularly at the start of their…

In this article, we report the results of the impact of prior programming knowledge (PPK) on lecture attendance (LA) and on subsequent final programming exam performance in a university level introductory programming course. This study used Spearman's rank correlation coefficient, multiple regression, Kruskal-Wallis, and Bonferroni correction…

Teaching students to create computer games has become a common practice in both K-12 and tertiary education to introducing programming concepts, increasing student engagement, and recruiting majors and minors in technology fields. This study describes a project where first-year college students in an introductory technology concepts course use a…

Increasing the number of students pursuing Information Systems (IS) majors and careers is vital to the advancement of our knowledge-based economy. Literature suggests that one of the main reasons for students' lack of interest in IS has been the negative stereotypical image of IS professionals. Research has also emphasized that the introductory IS…