Background and Context: Efforts to engage adult learners in computer science in the United States have been largely unsuccessful. While research examining the use of music for teaching computer programming with K-12 learners is emerging, little research with adult learners exists. Objective: This study evaluates the effect of computer coding…

Background and Context: Learning to create self-directed and personally authentic programming projects involves encountering challenges and learning to get unstuck. Objective: This article investigates how one U.S. fourth-grade classroom engaged in practices which emphasized community supports, in the context of the classroom's implementation and…

Background and Context: Self-regulated learning (SRL) skills are critical aspect of learning to program and are predictive of academic success. Early college students often struggle to use these skills, but can improve when given targeted instruction. However, it is not yet clear what skills are best to prioritize. Objective: We seek to create a…

Background and Context: automated feedback for programming assignments has great potential in promoting just-in-time learning, but there has been little work investigating the design of feedback in this context. Objective: to investigate the impacts of different designs of automated feedback on student learning at a fine-grained level, and how…

Background and Context: We explored how learning trajectories (LTs) might be used to design variables instruction. Objective: We aimed to develop an LT for variables and use it to guide curriculum development for fourth graders working in Scratch in an integrated mathematics+CS curriculum. Method: We synthesized learning goals (LGs) and levels of…

Background and Context: Assessing team members' indivdiual contributions to software development projects poses a key problem for computing instructors. While instructors typically rely on subjective assessments, objective assessments could provide a more robust picture. To explore this possibility, In a 2020 paper, Buffardi presented a…

Background and Context: Based on issues arising around how to best prepare CS teachers and the constantly changing nature of the CS education content, curriculum, and instructional methods, it is crucial to examine the needs of secondary CS teachers. Objective: The primary purpose of this study was to identify secondary computer science (CS)…

Background and Context: Researchers and practitioners have begun to incorporate collaboration in programming because of its reported instructional and professional benefits. However, younger students need guidance on how to collaborate in environments that require substantial interpersonal interaction and negotiation. Previous research indicates…

Background and Context: Computing education is expanding, while the teaching of algorithms is less well studied. Objective: The aim of this study was to examine teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for teaching algorithms. Method: We conducted semi-structured interviews with seven computer science (CS) teachers in upper secondary…

Background and Context: Collaborative and cooperative learning is important to prepare students for their future work and to increase their learning performance in university courses. Several studies have shown promising results regarding team activities, such as pair programming. However, there is little information on how teamwork is currently…

Background and Context: Productive failure (PF) is a learning paradigm that flips the order of instruction: students work on a problem, then receive a lesson. PF increases learning, but less is known about student emotions and collaboration during PF, particularly in a computer science context. Objective: To provide insight on students' emotions…

Background and Context: To educate students about programming plagiarism and collusion, we introduced an approach that automatically reports how similar a submitted program is to others. However, as most students receive similar feedback, those who engage in plagiarism and collusion might feel inadequately warned. Objective: When students are…

Background: As teachers work to broaden the participation of racially and ethnically underrepresented groups in computer science (CS), culturally responsive computing (CRC) becomes more pertinent to formal settings. Objective: Yet, equity-oriented literature offers limited guidance for developing deep forms of CRC in the classroom. In response, we…

Background and Context: GitHub has been recently used in Software Engineering (SE) classes to facilitate collaboration in student team projects as well as help teachers to evaluate the contributions of their students more objectively. Objective: We explore the benefits and drawbacks of using GitHub as a means for team collaboration and performance…

Background and Context: Computational Thinking (CT) is a skill all students should learn. This requires using inclusive approaches to teach CT to a wide spectrum of students. However, strategies for teaching CT to students with exceptionalities are not well studied. Objective: This study draws on lessons learned in two fourth-grade classrooms --…