In the dynamic educational context of Malaysia, this study examines the impact of integrating Unplugged Activities (UA) with Block-Based Programming (BBP) on improving the computational thinking (CT) skills of secondary students in full boarding schools in Northern Peninsular Malaysia. Using a quasi-experimental design and mixed-methods analysis,…

Visualizations have become more complex in recent years so that users need to learn how to use these systems. Onboarding systems can help users to learn how to interact with a visualization efficiently. Simple tutorials are often not sufficient. There are still open questions on how to design such onboarding systems. So far, a few usability…

As the use of artificial intelligence (AI), especially machine learning (ML), has dramatically increased, K-12 schools have begun to deliver AI education; however, little is known about teachers' views on the field. This qualitative study investigated how U.S. high school computer science (CS) teachers conceptualize AI, the role of AI in their CS…

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools were met with a mix of enthusiasm, skepticism, and fear. AI adoption soared as people discovered compelling use cases--developers wrote code, realtors generated narratives for their websites, students wrote essays, and much more. Calls for caution attempted to temper AI enthusiasm. Experts highlighted…

Purpose: This study investigates the impact of AI-assisted pair programming on undergraduate students' intrinsic motivation, programming anxiety, and performance, relative to both human-human pair programming and individual programming approaches. Methods: A quasi-experimental design was conducted over two academic years (2023-2024) with 234…

Evaluating a software design is an important practice of expert software designers. They spend significant time evaluating their solution, by developing an integrated mental model of the software design and the requirements. However, sufficient emphasis has not been given on teaching and learning of evaluation practices in software design courses,…

Over the last decade, there has been an explosion of national interest in computer science (CS) education. In response to this, several organizations and initiatives have emerged in recent years to expand the CS pipeline. However, within these broad and laudable efforts, one important area has been largely overlooked--the instruction of CS to…

The adoption of computational thinking in the classroom has been growing in the last years. Its use needs to be supported by the correct digital technologies and teaching methods, and for this, is required, capable teachers. This work aims to understand how computational thinking is addressed by Computer Science Teacher Education courses in…

Background: Artificial intelligence (AI) has created new opportunities, challenges, and potentials in teaching; however, issues related to the philosophy of using AI technology in learners' learning have not been addressed and have caused some issues and concerns. This issue is due to the research gap in addressing issues related to ethical and…

One of the biggest hurdles of teaching data science and programming techniques to beginners is simply getting started with the technology. With multiple versions of the same coding language available (e.g., Python 2 and Python 3), various additional libraries and packages to install, as well as integrated development environments to navigate, the…

ChatGPT, an AI-based chatbot with automatic code generation abilities, has shown its promise in improving the quality of programming education by providing learners with opportunities to better understand the principles of programming. However, limited empirical studies have explored the impact of ChatGPT on learners' programming processes. This…

In recent years, subject content such as programming and digital literacy has become an integral part of technology education. However, research shows that many programming teachers lack sufficient formal education to teach programming and show disparate educational and professional experiences. This study investigates how three teachers'…

Microcontrollers are widely used in agriculture, yet most undergraduate agriculture students do not have the programming skills necessary to make use of these devices in their academic programs or careers. However, generative artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots, such as ChatGPT, have the ability to write complex microcontroller programs when…

Learning computer programming is typically difficult for newcomers. Demotivation and learned helplessness have received much attention. Besides the subject's intricacy, low in-class participation has been associated with poor student achievement. This paper presents a follow-up, stage 2 study on the novel instructional technique, Student-Driven…

Background: Students experience higher-order thinking skills by finding ways to solve the problem, debugging errors while applying the solution, and testing the solution in programming. However, the inability to create schemas that will characterise programming structures is one of the difficulties during this process. Objectives: This study aimed…