Spatial reasoning plays a vital role in choice of and success in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers, yet the topic is scarce in grade school curricula. We conjecture that this absence may be due to limited knowledge of how spatial reasoning is discussed and engaged across STEM professions. This study aimed to address…

This paper attempts to bridge the gap between classical test theory and item response theory. It is demonstrated that the familiar and popular statistics used in classical test theory can be translated into a Bayesian framework where all of the advantages of the Bayesian paradigm can be realized. In particular, prior opinion can be introduced and…

Modeling student knowledge while students are acquiring new concepts is a crucial stepping stone towards providing personalized automated feedback at scale. We believe that rich information about a student's learning is captured within her responses to open-ended problems with unbounded solution spaces, such as programming exercises. In addition,…

Aim/Purpose: Although many computer science measures have been proposed, visualizing individual students' capabilities is difficult, as those measures often rely on specific tools and methods or are not graded. To solve these problems, we propose a rubric for measuring and visualizing the effects of learning computer programming for elementary…

The study aimed to present suggestions for how a design thinking (DT) approach can be applied in the processes of teaching programming to gifted students and to reveal its effects on the teaching process. The case study method was used. 5 different DT tasks were defined to create solutions for an unstructured problem by using programming tools and…

This study aims to analyze how pre-service informatics teachers design learning scenarios with robotics to teach programming fundamentals and to promote computational thinking skills. A descriptive and exploratory case study design was implemented with 26 pre-service informatics teachers. Data were collected from the participants using qualitative…

Background and Context: Women are underrepresented in the field of computer science, a trend that in part can be traced to girls' early experiences with the discipline. Objective: Our aim is to show how three girls who became strong coders talked about their debugging practice at the intersection of problem solving, emotion, and identity. Method:…

The recent shift in compulsory education from ICT-focused computing curricula to informatics, digital literacy and computer science, has resulted in children being taught computing using block-based programming tools such as Scratch, with teaching that is often limited by school resources and teacher expertise. Even without these limitations,…

Sorting is a fundamental computing concept. As for today, it is taught at the secondary school level. However, this kind of algorithm is an obstacle for some students due to its high level of abstraction. To prevent discouragement as well as to incorporate a fun and challenging algorithmic task, a novel tablet-based digital game,…

Childhood is a key stage in the assimilation of values and behavioural patterns that shape identity. Among the socializing agents that influence this complex process are the audiovisual media. Therefore, the products that are made available to children and the protection of the child from harmful contents are essential to complete the training…

The activities of the students during the summer holidays, learning losses or the forgetfulness of the return of the holidays have been discussed in the educational sciences for a long time. However, very little research is being done and has little place in educational policies. This is especially important in applications and continuity courses…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the use of a simulator for teaching programming to foster student engagement and meaningful learning. Design/methodology/approach: An exploratory mixed-method research approach was adopted in a classroom-based environment at a UK university. A rich account of student engagement dimensions…

For education to provide knowledge reflecting our current and future society, many countries are revising their curricula, including a vivid discussion on digital competence, programming and computational thinking. This article builds an understanding of the maker movement in relation to education in programming, by demonstrating challenges and…

Despite the known benefits of long-term, game-based simulations they remain underutilized in Political Science classrooms. Simulations used are typically designed to reinforce a concept and are short-lived, lasting one or two class sessions; rarely are entire courses designed around a single simulation. Creating real-world conditions in which…

Many students need assistance in debugging to achieve progress when they learn to write computer programs. Face-to-face interactions with individual students to give feedback on their programs, although definitely effective in facilitating their learning, are becoming difficult to achieve with ever-growing class sizes. This paper proposes a novel…