Mastering SQL programming skills is fundamental in computer science education, and Online Judging Systems (OJS) play a critical role in automatically assessing SQL codes, improving the accuracy and efficiency of evaluations. However, these systems are vulnerable to manipulation by students who can submit "cheating codes" that pass the…

Research on mental model representations developed by programmers during parallel program comprehension is important for informing and advancing teaching methods including model-based learning and visualizations. The goals of the research presented here were to determine: how the mental models of programmers change and develop as they learn…

The current educational system relies heavily on manual grading, posing challenges such as delayed feedback and grading inaccuracies. Automated grading tools (AGTs) offer solutions but come with limitations. To address this, "GRAD-AI" is introduced, an advanced AGT that combines automation with teacher involvement for precise grading,…

Learning in the computer laboratory is an important component when students learn computer programming. In this article, we analyse empirical data on novice students working in pairs in the laboratory. Using an approach inspired by phenomenography and variation theory, we specifically focus on how students' learning of theory and their learning of…

Throughout a programming course, students develop various source code tasks. Using these tasks to track students' progress can provide clues to the strengths and weaknesses found in each learning topic. This practice allows the teacher to intervene in learning in the first few weeks of class and maximize student gains. However, the biggest…

The increased trend of incorporating computer programming in the basic education system across countries requires the training of new educators. However, the current effort to increase the number of teachers teaching programming is through professional development programs for computer science (CS) teachers and from other content areas. Meanwhile,…

Teaching and learning programming, and especially Object-Oriented Programming (OOP), is a complicated and challenging task. Students have to comprehend various OOP concepts and utilize them for designing object-oriented programs. Various types of educational programming environments, such as microworlds and educational games, have been devised for…

Hour of Code is a widely recognized global event that aims to introduce programming to novice users and integrate computer science into education. This paper presents an analysis of the effectiveness of the support system and user interface of Minecraft Adventurer, a serious game designed for the Hour of Code global event. Although previous…

A wide range of benefits have been posited from participation in competitive programming contests. However, an analysis of participation in north American regional contests in the International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC) shows that participation in these contests is sharply declining, coinciding with the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover,…

This study investigates the effects of metacognitive and cognitive strategies for computational thinking (CT) on managing cognitive load and enhancing problem-solving skills in collaborative programming. Four different scaffolding conditions were provided to help learners optimize cognitive load and improve their problem-solving abilities. A total…

Background: Academic help-seeking benefits students' achievement, but existing literature either studies important factors in students' selection of all help resources via self-reported surveys or studies their help-seeking behavior in one or two separate help resources via actual help-seeking records. Little is known about whether computing…

Continuing to fill the literature gap, this research replicated and expands a prior study of student performance in database normalization in an introductory database course. The data was collected from four different universities, each having different prerequisite courses for their database course. Student performance on a database normalization…

Despite recent high interest among researchers and practitioners in learning programming, even the most dedicated learners can struggle to find motivation for studying and practicing programming. Therefore, in recent years, several strategies (e.g., educational games, flipped classrooms, and visual programming languages) have been employed to…

Aim/Purpose: This paper is part of a multi-case study that aims to test whether generative AI makes an effective coding assistant. Particularly, this work evaluates the ability of two AI chatbots (ChatGPT and Bing Chat) to generate concise computer code, considers ethical issues related to generative AI, and offers suggestions for how to improve…

Background: Learning analytics (LA) research often aggregates learning process data to extract measurements indicating constructs of interest. However, the warranty that such aggregation will produce reliable measurements has not been explicitly examined. The reliability evidence of aggregate measurements has rarely been reported, leaving an…