This article presents two case studies aimed at exploring the use of self-explanations in the context of computational science and engineering (CSE) education. The self-explanations were elicited as students' in-code comments of a set of worked-examples, and the cases involved two different approaches to CSE education: glass box and black box. The…

The Purdue Polytechnic Institute was created two years ago from the former College of Technology. This was more than a name change; it represented a transformation which will have an impact not only the curriculum, but on learning, and teaching methods. Students need technical skills but they must also be able to collaborate, be problem solvers,…

As society moves into the information age, it has generated the need for people capable of computational, and computer-oriented tasks. Universities have responded with more disciplines requiring at least one programming course, but educators stand witness to students of all degree majors struggling in these introductory programming courses.…

The development of elementary-aged students' STEM and computer science (CS) literacy is critical in this evolving technological landscape, thus, promoting success for college, career, and STEM/CS professional paths. Research has suggested that elementary-aged students need developmentally appropriate STEM integrated opportunities in the classroom;…

This paper describes a unit designed to promote the development of narrative writing skills among 5th grade students through the use of LEGO robotics. Over the course of four, two and one-half hour sessions (one day per week for four consecutive weeks), the students learned how to construct and program robots, write and present a proposal to…

Academics teaching software development courses are experimenting with teaching methods aiming to improve students' learning experience and learning outcomes. Since Agile software development is gaining popularity in industry due to positive effects on managing projects, academics implement similar Agile approaches in student-centered learning…

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…

In support of efforts to foreground functions as central objects of study in algebra, this study provides evidence of how secondary students use trigonometric functions in contextual tasks. I examined secondary students' work on a problem involving modeling the periodic motion of a Ferris wheel through the use of a visual programming environment.…

Intelligent tutoring systems can support students in solving multi-step tasks by providing hints regarding what to do next. However, engineering such next-step hints manually or via an expert model becomes infeasible if the space of possible states is too large. Therefore, several approaches have emerged to infer next-step hints automatically,…

In recent years, Singapore has increased its national emphasis on technology and engineering in early childhood education. Their newest initiative, the Playmaker Programme, has focused on teaching robotics and coding in preschool settings. Robotics offers a playful and collaborative way for children to engage with foundational technology and…

This study investigates how multimodal user-generated data can be used to reinforce learner reflection, improve teaching practices, and close the learning analytics loop. In particular, the aim of the study is to utilize user gaze and action-based data to examine the role of a mirroring tool (i.e., Exercise View in Eclipse) in orchestrating basic…

Difficulties in learning computer programming for novices is a subject of abundant scientific literature. These difficulties seem to be accentuated in students whose academic choice is not computation, like architecture students. However, they need to study programming, since it is part of the new academic curricula. The results presented here are…

Games with educational purposes usually follow a computer-assisted instruction concept that is predefined and rigid, offering no adaptability to each student. To overcome such problem, some ideas from Intelligent Tutoring Systems have been used in educational games such as teaching introductory programming. The objective of this study was to…

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…

Teaching programming concepts to enhance students' problem solving and computational thinking skills is a challenging task, especially when students enter college with little to no preparation, or they lack the interest or capacity for programming. Online platforms that serve as automated practice and assessment systems have been offered as…