This study focuses on students' self-assessment during their learning process related to computer programming concepts, taking into account challenges and obstacles both teachers and students face, with the aim to contribute to the development of guiding principles and practices and enhance the teaching process of computer programming in primary…

The paper presents research that aims to expose students' understanding of the "this" reference in object-oriented programming. The study was conducted with high school students (N = 86) and college engineering students (N = 77). Conceptualization of "this" reflects an understanding of objects in general and involves aspects of…

Many initiatives have focused on attracting girls and young women (K-12 or college) to computer science education. However, professional women who never learned to program have been largely ignored, despite the fact that such individuals may have many opportunities to benefit from enhanced skills and attitudes about computer programming. To…

A common belief among students is that computing is a boring subject that lacks a connection to the real world. The first class (one 80-minute session) in an introductory computer science course may be an appropriate instance to combat such a belief. Previous studies have used course-wide interventions, e.g., games and physical/tangible devices to…

Active and collaborative learning has shown considerable promise for improving student outcomes and reducing group disparities. As one common form of collaborative learning, pair programming is an adapted work practice implemented widely in higher education computing programs. In the classroom setting, it typically involves two computer science…

Computer science students often evaluate the behavior of the code they write by running it on specific inputs and studying the outputs, and then apply their comprehension to a more general understanding of the code. While this is a good starting point in the student's career, successful graduates must be able to reason analytically about the code…

Cooperative learning manifests itself as pair programming in coding education. There is a limited number of studies experimentally demonstrating that pair programming is effective in the educational context. Therefore, in this study, solo and pair programming were compared in terms of flow experience, coding quality, and coding achievement. The…

In education, we have noticed a significant gap between the ability of students to program in an educational visual programming environment and the ability to write code in a professional programming environment. The aim of our research was to verify the methodology of transition from visual programming of mobile applications in MIT App Inventor 2…

This research seeks to introduce concepts for programming, a key element of computing, to K-12 students. A central goal is to better understand the benefits of concept-integrated game mechanics in teaching basic programming concepts. The context of this research is also one of broadening participation. Thus the studies have been conducted in…

Computing has become essential in modern-day problem-solving, making computational literacy necessary for practicing scientists and engineers. However, K-12 science education has not reflected this computational shift. Integrating computational thinking (CT) into core science courses is an avenue that can build computational literacies in all…

It is critical to teach all learners to program and think through programming. But to do so requires that early childhood teacher candidates learn to teach computer science. This in turn requires novel pedagogy that can both help such teachers learn the needed skills, but also provide a model for their future teaching. In this study, we examined…

The challenge of learning programming in a MOOC is twofold: acquiring programming skills and learning online, independently. Automated testing and feedback systems, often offered in programming courses, may scaffold MOOC learners by providing immediate feedback and unlimited re-submissions of code assignments. However, research still lacks…

Online learning systems should support students preparedness for professional practice by equipping them with the necessary skills while keeping them engaged and active. In that regard, the development of online learning systems that support students' development and engagement with programming is a challenging process. Early career computer…

Novice programmers, who have yet to form effective mental models of the domain, often experience high cognitive load, low confidence, and high anxiety, negatively affecting learning and retention rates. These cognitive and affective limitations pose an instructional challenge. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a whole-task…

Access Foundation Programmes are a widening-participation initiative designed to encourage engagement in higher education among underrepresented groups, including those with socioeconomic and educational disadvantage. In particular, mature students enrolled in these programmes experience greater difficulties making the transition to tertiary…