As technology and curricula continue to evolve and develop, the prevalence and effectiveness of continuing professional development (CPD) opportunities for computer science teachers is becoming increasingly more important. However, key questions remain about what the characteristics are for effective CPD in this context. Through the presentation…

Background and Context: A key challenge in advancing computer science education in K-12 schools is teacher preparation and support. School-university partnerships and service-learning programs where undergraduates assist teachers represent one promising approach to supporting K-12 computer science teaching. Objectives: In this work, we examine the…

A design case is a form of scholarly writing in which the author embarks on a reflective journey sharing rich descriptions of their design, design processes, challenges, etc. This paper presents two design cases that demonstrate how learning theories and instructional design concepts were purposefully incorporated in two instructional applications…

This article provides an in-depth look at how K-12 students should be introduced to Machine Learning and the knowledge and skills they will develop as a result. We begin with an overview of the AI4K12 Initiative, which is developing national guidelines for teaching AI in K-12, and briefly discuss each of the "Five Big Ideas in AI" that…

There is a recognized need for research on how to teach computer programming in primary schools in Sweden grades 4-6 (10-12-year-old pupils). Studies of teaching show the importance of teachers' knowledge of content and pedagogy and how these two parts affect each other (i.e. pedagogical content knowledge [PCK]). Most teachers in Sweden have…

The importance of computational thinking (CT) as a 21st-century skill for future generations has been a key consideration in the reforms of many national and regional educational systems. Much attention has been paid to integrating CT into the traditional subject classrooms. This paper describes a scoping review of learning tools for integrating…

This report presents the results of the 2023 data collection on the structural indicators for monitoring education and training systems in the area of digital competence. The report contains six indicators on key policies in the following areas: 1. curriculum, 2. teachers, 3. assessment, 4. the digital education ecosystem. The paper contains…

In this case study, we present our findings regarding a massive open online Scratch programming course. The course, which followed a project-based learning approach, was delivered from July 4 to 30, 2022 to 186 students in Brazil. The students were challenged to develop individual coding projects. Our research goal was to investigate teaching and…

The Purpose of this dissertation is to explore undergraduate Computer Science (CS) students' writing processes and transfer as they occur in the process of completing a writing assignment in a CS course. In particular, I observe and analyze students' writing processes, and investigate examples of writing knowledge transfer from prior and…

Teamwork skills are an important part of business school curriculum typically taught using project-based experiential methods. This paper presents best practices for teaching teamwork skills to Gen Z students using a project-based learning, peer mentoring approach. With experiential learning theory as a guide, an interdisciplinary process was…

This dissertation was a comparative study of computer science in secondary schools in both Ireland and the United States. Computer science was a new subject compared to more established subjects in both Ireland and the United States. This dissertation looked at how this subject could be accessed by students in both countries. I used a document…

Past efforts to teach novices programming through pair programming and project-based learning utilizing different low floors, high ceilings and wide walls platforms have been successful. Building from related work, this study investigates the effectiveness of Productive Failure (PF) pedagogical design in supporting youth and novices when learning…

This study developed a physical computing game-design project that incorporates block-based programming, physical computing, and computer game design for Taiwan's high school technology education curriculum to strengthen students' computational thinking. The project asked students to develop a somatosensory computer game using a block-based…

Self-efficacy, or the belief in one's ability to accomplish a task or achieve a goal, can significantly influence the effectiveness of various instructional methods to induce learning gains. The importance of self-efficacy is particularly pronounced in complex subjects like Computer Science, where students with high self-efficacy are more likely…

A typical first computer science course (CS1) introduces the student to coding conventions, variables, methods, control structures, conditionals, and the semantics of classes and objects. Advanced concepts of inheritance, polymorphism, abstract classes, interfaces, and their use in the design process, are covered in a second-level course (CS2).…