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…

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,…

Generative AI has recently gained the ability to generate computer code. This development is bound to affect how computer programming is taught in higher education. We used past programming assignments and solutions for textbook exercises in our introductory programming class to analyze how accurately one of the leading models, ChatGPT, generates…

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and related technologies have a long history of being used in education for motivating learners and enhancing learning. However, there have also been critiques for a too uncritical and naïve implementation of AI in education (AIED) and the potential misuse of the technology. With the release of the virtual assistant…

Background and Context: Research in programming education seems to show that hands-on writing at the keyboard is beneficial for learning, but we lack an explanation of why that is and an underlying theory to anchor that explanation. Objective: The first objective is to lay out a theoretical foundation for understanding the learning situation when…

Peer review is the standard process within academia for maintaining publication quality, but it is also widely employed in other settings, such as education and industry, for improving work quality and for generating actionable feedback to content authors. For example, in the software industry peer review of program source code--or peer code…

In course design, topic outline organization encompasses the structuring and sequencing of topics to be delivered in a learning environment. Recent studies in topic outline optimization revolve around massive open online courses (MOOCs) due to their abundance but not much has been studied on the traditional courses. This study investigates the…

There are many grey areas in the interpretation of academic integrity in the course on Introduction to Programming, commonly known as CS1. Copying, for example, is a method of learning, a method of cheating and a reuse method in professional practice. Many institutions in India publish the code in the lab course manual. The students are expected…

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced a significant increase in the utilization of video-based e-learning platforms for programming education. These platforms never considered the essential attributes of student characteristics and learning preferences while designing such a problematic subject having high dropout and failure rates. The traditional…

Over the last 10 years, learning analytics have provided educators with both dashboards and tools to understand student behaviors within specific technological environments. However, there is a lack of work to support educators in making data-informed design decisions when designing a blended course and planning appropriate learning activities. In…

As computational thinking becomes increasingly essential, the challenge of designing effective teaching approaches to foster students' abilities in this area persists, especially for higher order thinking skills. This study addresses this challenge by proposing and implementing a peer assessment-based Scrum project (PA-SP) learning approach in…

Computational thinking is the capacity of undertaking a problem-solving process in various disciplines (including STEM, i.e. science, technology, engineering and mathematics) using distinctive techniques that are typical of computer science. It is nowadays considered a fundamental skill for students and citizens, that has the potential to affect…

This study explores the potential of using screen time data in learning management systems (LMS) to estimate student learning time (SLT) and validate the credit value of courses. Gathering comprehensive data on actual student learning time is difficult, so this study uses LMS Moodle logs from a computer programming course with 490 students over 16…

Contribution: This paper adds to the results of previous systematic literature reviews by addressing a more contemporary context of introductory programming. It proposes a categorization of introductory programming challenges, and highlights key issues for a research roadmap on introductory programming learning and teaching in higher education.…

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…