Community colleges are a vital source of students in the STEM career pipeline. Yet, research indicates that rather than diversifying the STEM workforce, community colleges may be perpetuating gender imbalances. This qualitative phenomenological study was designed to examine differences in male and female experiences in two male-dominated community…

Over the past two decades, the integration of computational thinking, as well as information and communications technology within educational programs, has gained importance. A primary obstacle to integrating computational thinking into teaching and learning is the level of teachers' knowledge, skills, and perceptions related to this topic. This…

Background and Context: In today's increasingly digital world, it is critical that all students learn to think computationally from an early age. Assessments of Computational Thinking (CT) are essential for capturing information about student learning and challenges. When programming is used as a vehicle to foster CT skills, assessment of CT…

We recommend the conceptualization of computing as a critical literacy, and ground this conceptualization in considerations of historical and current realities in computing. The frameworks of connected learning and computational participation are recommended as guides for "doing" critical computing literacy. We present the findings from…

Recent years have witnessed a growing demand for business analytics-oriented curricula. This paper presents the implementation of an introductory Python course at a business university and the attempt to elevate the course's relevance by introducing data analytics topics. The results from a survey of 64 undergraduate students of the course are…

The policy--English as a medium of instruction (EMI)--in computing education plays an important role in achieving the outcomes of computer science programs. This study examines the effects of Saudi Arabia's English as a medium of instruction (EMI) policy in undergraduate computer science programs at public universities. Study data was collected…

Background and Context: Computational thinking (CT) is considered as a valuable literacy for all students, and its inclusion in compulsory schooling could increase the numbers of underrepresented students who pursue computing-related careers. Computer Science Unplugged (CSU) had success in making computer science (CS) accessible to K-12 students…

This research investigates the personality characteristics of Information Technology students (CIT) in UAE University (UAEU) and how such features impact their IT learning. To achieve this objective, this research attempts to explain the impact of the Big-5 factors on learning using survey research. Results from 179 respondents suggested that…

Fitts' Law is, more often than not, thought of as standard knowledge in the field of Human-Computer Interaction. However, in many occasions, interface components are being built by professionals with little or no knowledge of HCI principles (e.g., software menus are often being built by software developers with no designer input). How much…

The incorporation of advanced information and communication technologies into the field of education has made the design and deployment of courses and instructional units more and more complicated. In order to support such complex task, methods and techniques have been proposed in the last years for the standardization, formalization and modelling…

The role of the specialized high-school computer teacher is challenged by both students' and non-computer teachers' growing expertise in computers and technology in general. It is also challenged by a need to keep pace with a field that is constantly changing. Yet, few studies have investigated the complex variables that may affect computer…

This article describes how with a non-formal education, a scholar has to choose courses among various domains to meet the research aims. In spite of this, the availability of large number of courses, makes the process of selecting the appropriate course a tedious, time-consuming, and risky decision, and the course selection will directly affect…

Bad smells affect maintainability and performance of model-to-model transformations. There are studies that define a set of transformation bad smells, and some of them propose techniques to recognize and--according to their complexity--fix them in a (semi)automated way. In academia it is necessary to make students aware of this subject and provide…

Motivation and success in computer-science courses are influenced by the strength of students' self-efficacy (SE) beliefs in their learning abilities. Students with weak SE may struggle to be successful in a computer-science course. This study investigated the factors that enhance or impede the computer self-efficacy (CSE) of computer-science…

Modern capstone courses use agile methods to deliver and demonstrate software early in the project. However, a simple demonstration of functional and static aspects does not provide real-world software usage context, although this is integral to understand software requirements. Software engineering involves capabilities such as creativity,…