This study aimed to investigate the effects of robotic coding supported Design-Based Science Instruction (RC-DBSI) on sixth-grade students' science process skills. One-group pretest-posttest experimental design was employed in the study. Participants consisted of thirty-nine sixth-grade students enrolled in a public middle school located in the…

Learning to program is increasingly important. Yet, it is becoming clear that most students struggle when learning to program (McCracken et al., 2001). This is leading to a divide where some people can program but many others can't. Prior research has traced poor student outcomes to their early experiences learning programming. Still, little is…

Adaptive learning is an area of educational technology that consists in delivering personalized learning experiences to address the unique needs of each learner. An important subfield of adaptive learning is learning path personalization: it aims at designing systems that recommend sequences of educational activities to maximize students' learning…

This paper proposes a scenario-based learning (SBL) methodology for teaching Computational Thinking (CT). The presented scenario includes educational material that teaches the basic concepts of a Python course for beginners. The scenario allows the educator to utilize a combination of tools and services and follow a mind map. Moreover, it presents…

This study investigates pre-service computer science (CS) teachers' perspectives on the factors affecting their programming abilities, concerns about their future professional lives, and pedagogical suggestions for effective programming teaching. The participants of the study were twenty-eight pre-service CS teachers studying at eighteen different…

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the Bioinformatics course to switch from on-site teaching to remote learning. This shift has prompted a change in teaching methods and laboratory activities. Students need to have a basic understanding of DNA sequences and how to analyze them using custom scripts. To facilitate learning, we have modified the course…

Many introductory computer science (CS) courses are intended to address the increased demand for computer literacy and the development of cross-cutting concepts and practices of computational thinking (CT). Colleges and universities offer introductory CS courses every semester toward this end. The issue is centered on how to support CT learning in…

Social network analysis involves delicate and sophisticated mathematical concepts which are abstract and challenging to acquire by traditional methods. Many studies show that female students perform poorly in computer science-related courses compared to male students. To address these issues, this research investigates the impact of employing a…

In this study, an interactive programming learning environment was built with two types of error prompt functions: 1) the key prompt and 2) step-by-step prompt. A quasi-experimental study was conducted for five weeks, in which 75 sixth grade students from disadvantaged learning environments in Taipei, Taiwan, were divided into three groups: 1) the…

An intervention using the unplugged programming and storytelling (UPS) strategy was implemented in this study to cultivate students' programming learning motivation and concepts. The participants were 49 second graders at a primary school in southern Taiwan. The course was conducted for 12 lessons (40 min each lesson). A quasi-experimental design…

Spark, one of the products offered by MyQ (formerly Plethora), is a game-based platform meticulously designed to introduce students to the foundational concepts of computer science. By navigating through logical challenges, users delve into topics like abstraction, loops, and graph patterns. Setting itself apart from its counterparts, Spark boasts…

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…

Contribution: A systematic literature review on the empirical evidence regarding the usage of programming languages for learning purposes is presented. The review analyzes different methods and tools at different educational levels and with different objectives. Background: Learning programming has gained relevance in the last decade. This is due…

This paper examines the effectiveness of programming in pairs in the Scratch environment in primary school. The motivation for tackling this issue is based on the successful use of Scratch as a learning environment for any students of programming. The analysis has shown that that programming in pairs produces better results for beginners 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…