Prior programming knowledge of students has a major impact on introductory programming courses. Those with prior experience often seem to breeze through the course. Those without prior experience see others breeze through the course and disengage from the material or drop out. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that novice student…

Background: Despite ongoing calls for prioritizing K-12 computer science (CS) education, an enduring gender gap exists. Objective: We explored one high school CS program where female participation was consistently higher than state averages to better understand how the program was developed. Method: Using a case study method, data were collected…

It has become increasingly important for future business professionals to understand statistical computing methods as data science has gained widespread use in contemporary organizational decision processes in recent years. Used by scores of academics and practitioners in a variety of fields, Monte Carlo simulation is one of the most broadly…

While significant advancements in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) are at the forefront of society, there continues to be a considerable gender and racial gap in the advancement of women of color in these fields (Espinosa, 2011; Ong et al., 2011; Shein, 2018). Low completion rates are even greater when looking at Black and…

This study aimed to evaluate the Online Flipped Classroom (OFC) instruction process in the context of Transactional Distance (TD) and Cognitive Load (CL). The study was conducted using a mixed-methods design. The participants were nine graduate students. One of them participated in the process asynchronously and seven of them participated…

Purpose: There is a critical need to understand how to attract Black girls and other girls of color to the science, technology, engineering, math, and computer science (STEM+CS) field. This study aims to look at the design and implementation of a CS learning ecosystem that supports girls of color in acquiring critical CS skills starting in middle…

Educators across disciplines are implementing lessons and activities that integrate computing concepts into their curriculum to broaden participation in computing. Out of myriad important introductory computing skills, it is unknown which--and to what extent--these concepts are included in these integrated experiences, especially when compared to…

Despite the technical competence of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) graduates of the Department of Computer Science (DCS) at the University of Guyana, stakeholders' perception generally holds that they lack affective and behavioural (soft) skills. These soft skills are expected of them to lead and champion technological change in…

This research discusses the use of a gamified web platform for studying software modeling with Unified Modeling Language (UML). Although UML is constantly being improved and studied, many works show that there is difficulty in teaching and learning the subject, due to the complexity of its concepts and the students' cognitive difficulties with…

This study explores the direction and magnitude of racial disparities on three advanced placement (AP) computer science (CS) exams, namely AP CS Principles, AP CS A, and AP CS AB, based on the test scores of more than one million students who have taken AP CS exams between 1997 and 2020. Using Mann-Kendall test and Sen's slope procedures we found…

"Motivation": Enrollments in Brazilian computing degrees are at an all-time high, but graduation numbers have not increased at the same rate. Moreover, enrollment growth has mainly attracted male students, steadily expanding the gender gap in Brazilian computing programs. Such high attrition rates have a great economic impact and may…

While more universities are including IT accessibility in their computer science programs for undergraduate and graduate students, there is little accessibility training available for K-12 teachers. We created an intervention through which postsecondary students had opportunities to experience five computer games with a simulated impairment…

Background: CS4All is an $81 million private-public investment aimed at creating the necessary infrastructure to provide computer science experiences to all New York City public-school students by 2025. Purpose: In this paper, we examine the history of the CS4All initiative and document the network of actors and their relationships in the system…

The purpose of this study is to explore the pedagogical design of massive open online courses (MOOCs) using evidence-based e-learning principles. MOOCs have become an important part of discourse in higher education. However, there has been shared concern on the quality of MOOCs as learning systems for engaging learners as well as fulfilling their…

Background/Context: Computer science has been making its way into K-12 education for some time now. As computer science education has moved into learning spaces, research has focused on teaching computer science skills and principles but has not sufficiently explored the emotional aspects of students' experiences. This topic warrants further study…