Gamification Applied in Computer Science Education: A Preliminary Approach

Motivation: Recent efforts to expand K-12 computer science education highlight the great need for well-prepared computer science (CS) teachers. Teacher identity theory offers a particular conceptual lens for us to understand computer science teacher preparation and professional development. The emerging literature suggests that teacher identity is central to sustaining motivation, efficacy, job satisfaction, and commitment, and these attributes are crucial in determining teacher retention. While the benefits associated with a strong sense of teacher identity are great, teachers face unique challenges and tensions in developing their professional identity for teaching computer science. Objectives: This exploratory study attempts to operationalize computer science teacher identity through discussing the potential domains, proposing and testing a quantitative instrument for assessing computer science teachers’ professional identity. Method: We first discussed the potential domains of computer science teacher identity based on recent teacher identity literature and considerations on some unique challenges for computer science teachers. Then we proposed the computer science teacher identity scale, which was piloted through a national K-12 computer science teacher survey with 3,540 completed responses. The survey results were analyzed with a series of factor analyses to test the internal structure of the computer science teacher identity scale. Results: Our analyses reveal a four-factor solution for the computer science teacher identity scale, which is composed of CS teaching commitment, CS pedagogical confidence, confidence to engage students, and sense of community/belonging. There were significant differences among the teachers with different computer science teaching experiences. In general, teachers with more computer science teaching experience had higher computer science teacher identity scores on all four factors. Discussion: The four-factor model along with a large national dataset invites a deeper analysis of the data and can provide important benchmarks. Such an instrument can be used to explore developmental patterns in computer science teacher identity, and function as a pedagogical tool to provoke discussion and reflection among teachers about their professional development. This study may also contribute to understanding computer science teachers’ professional development needs and inform efforts to prepare, develop, and retain computer science teachers.

Background & Context Continuously developing teachers’ knowledge, practice, and professional identity is one of the key standards for effective computer science (CS) teachers. Objective This study aims to understand the landscape of CS teachers in the United States, the professional identity they hold, and how their background and teaching context are associated with their CS teacher identity. Method Using data of 3540 teachers, we performed a two-step cluster analysis to reveal homogeneous subgroups of CS teachers. The relationship between teachers’ backgrounds and their CS teacher identity was also assessed. Findings This study identified four profiles of CS teachers based on their professional identity. . CS teacher identity is strongly associated with teachers’ Computer Science Teachers Association membership, teaching responsibility, teaching experience, and their exposure to CS coursework. Implications More professional support is needed for CS teachers, especially for early-career CS teachers, elementary school teachers, and teachers with multiple responsibilities and little CS background.

This study aims to identify effective teaching strategies and challenges in computer science (CS) teaching and K-12 CS teachers’ needs for professional development (PD). The data were collected through semi-structured interviews with five K-12 CS teachers and eight CS instructors in higher education and analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings indicated that (1) connecting the classroom to the real world, project-based assessment, and teamwork are effective teaching strategies; (2) teaching challenges include CS teachers’ knowledge gaps, students’ technology access and use, and elective courses; and (3) teachers’ PD opportunities and needs include content and pedagogical knowledge and an ongoing learning community. The findings offer implications for K-12 CS education and teachers’ PD.

K-12 computer science (CS) education has emerged as a vital component of modern education, nurturing computational thinking, problem-solving, and digital literacy. This study examines the K-12 CS education dynamics, emphasizing its impact and implications, particularly in the context of equity. Twitter data from 2017 to 2021 were collected, focusing on English-language tweets within the United States. This collection was completed before Elon Musk’s acquisition of the company and its subsequent rebranding to X. Three keyword sets span CS education, computational thinking – a core competency of CS learners and CS education organizations and conferences. The findings indicate: (1) a significant decrease in tweet volumes for each set of keywords after 2019, (2) the critical role of coding within a broader STEM education framework, and (3) the centrality of students in semantic networks formed by the tweets, highlighting the pertinence of a student-centered learning strategy in K-12 CS education. To ensure equitable access and opportunities, K-12 CS education in a broader STEM ecosystem should adopt student-centered learning, with teachers facilitating coding, programming, and technology education. These insights inform educators, policymakers, and researchers about K-12 CS education’s significance in preparing students for the future, with a strong emphasis on equity and inclusion.

This study investigated the role of virtual reality (VR) in computer science (CS) education over the last 10 years by conducting a bibliometric and content analysis of articles related to the use of VR in CS education. A total of 971 articles published in peer-reviewed journals and conferences were collected from Web of Science and Scopus databases to conduct the bibliometric analysis. Furthermore, content analysis was conducted on 39 articles that met the inclusion criteria. This study demonstrates that VR research for CS education was faring well around 2011 but witnessed low production output between the years 2013 and 2016. However, scholars have increased their contribution in this field recently, starting from the year 2017. This study also revealed prolific scholars contributing to the field. It provides insightful information regarding research hotspots in VR that have emerged recently, which can be further explored to enhance CS education. In addition, the quantitative method remains the most preferred research method, while the questionnaire was the most used data collection technique. Moreover, descriptive analysis was primarily used in studies on VR in CS education. The study concludes that even though scholars are leveraging VR to advance CS education, more effort needs to be made by stakeholders across countries and institutions. In addition, a more rigorous methodological approach needs to be employed in future studies to provide more evidence-based research output. Our future study would investigate the pedagogy, content, and context of studies on VR in CS education.

Objectives : Limited research exists on how new computer science (CS) teachers understand fundamental Internet principles. This knowledge gap hinders the development of effective upskilling courses, especially as new CS curricula are being introduced worldwide. This study investigates new CS teachers’ conceptions of fundamental Internet principles, compares them with children’s understanding, and examines the relationship between teachers’ Internet knowledge and their knowledge of basic digital trace topics. Study Methods : A convergent mixed-methods approach was used, involving semi-structured interviews and drawing tasks with 50 new CS teachers. Data from a separate sample of 165 children (Grades 4, 6, 8) were included for comparison. A thematic analysis and frequency analysis of interview transcripts were conducted. Findings : Most new CS teachers recognized the Internet as a global network but had varied and often unstable conceptions about data storage and transfer. Compared to children, teachers demonstrated a more advanced understanding but still exhibited substantial knowledge gaps. There was no significant correlation between understanding Internet principles and basic digital trace topics, though a moderate relationship was found regarding news feed personalization. Conclusions : The study highlights the need for targeted interventions to improve new CS teachers’ understanding of Internet principles, especially the invisible aspects, such as data storage and transfer mechanisms. By providing new data on a rarely studied group, this study contributes to both CS education and broader fields like developmental psychology and conceptual change, offering insights into the developmental trajectories of Internet comprehension and the integration of everyday and scientific knowledge.

Computer science (CS) education is rapidly expanding in the United States[4]. That said, the CS education field is still grappling with coming to consensus about definitions of K-12 CS and how to reach all students. While the CS education community has made great efforts to expand opportunity for under served groups, students with disabilities have regularly been left out of the conversation. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, approximately 13% of all students enrolled in public schools in the US receive special education services and 95% of these students are taught either part or full time in the regular classroom[3] . One aim of CSforALL is to increase equity in CS education and opportunities[5]. Recent studies have examined the challenges faced by students with disabilities in K12 CS education[1][2]. Including students with disabilities in CS classes not only increases their access to academic and career opportunities in CS, but it also gives them the opportunity to develop new ways of thinking and participating in the world that they would otherwise be potentially without. This panel addresses the inclusion of students with disabilities as part of the national all and seeks to augment the discussion initiated by the CSforALL Consortium and AccessCSforALL with the introduction of the Accessibility Pledge at the annual CSforALL Summit. This panel brings together four different experts, with a wide range of experience in regards to computer science education and students with disabilities, in an effort to expand both the national conversation and increase efforts related to including students with disabilities equitably in CS education. In this panel we present a group of CS education community members who represent multiple approaches to accessibility and serving students with disabilities, as well as diverse implementations; peer-to-peer mentoring, initiatives focused on a single subpopulation of students with disabilities, curriculum and platform providers, and district and state-wide solutions. The panelists, and the organizations they represent have a diversity of experiences to share, including current high school students and parents of students with disabilities.

The push to make computer science (CS) education available to all students has been closely followed by increased efforts to collect and report better data on where CS is offered, who is teaching CS, and which students have access to, enroll in, and ultimately benefit from learning CS. These efforts can be highly influential on the evolution of CS education policy, as education leaders and policymakers often rely heavily on data to make decisions. Because of this, it is critical that CS education researchers understand how to collect, analyze, and report data in ways that reflect reality without masking disparities between subpopulations. Similarly, it is important that CS education leaders and policymakers understand how to judiciously interpret the data and translate information into action to scale CS education in ways designed to eliminate inequities. To that end, this article expands on recent research regarding the use of data to assess and inform progress in scaling and broadening participation in CS education. We describe the CAPE framework for assessing equity with respect to the capacity for, access to, participation in, and experience of CS education and explicate how it can be applied to analyze and interpret data to inform policy decisions at multiple levels of educational systems. We provide examples using large, statewide datasets containing educational and demographic information for K-12 students and schools, thereby giving leaders and policymakers a roadmap to assess and address issues of equity in their own schools, districts, or states. We compare and contrast different approaches to measuring and reporting inequities and discuss how data can influence the future of CS education through its impact on policy.

Background and Context Based on issues arising around how to best prepare CS teachers and the constantly changing nature of the CS education content, curriculum, and instructional methods, it is crucial to examine the needs of secondary CS teachers. Objective The primary purpose of this study was to identify secondary computer science (CS) teachers’ needs and make recommendations for future CS education research and practices in the U.S. Method Using a mixed-method research design, the data were collected from Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA)’s email listserv member discussions (n = 1,706 from 482 unique members), questionnaire responses from 222 secondary CS teachers, and semi-structured interviews with eight CS teachers in the US. Findings Updating curriculum resources was an important ongoing need for secondary CS teachers. Curriculum resources, materials to assess students learning, and embedding the principles of computational thinking into curriculum were reported as major needs for secondary teachers. Teachers also reported that they need to learn more about student-centered teaching strategies (e.g. problem-based learning and pair programming) and guide students’ learning using scaffolding and team-management strategies. The findings suggest that teachers perceived the need for administrators’, parents’, and other CS teachers’ support. Having an online community for teachers was critical to address their curricular and pedagogical needs. Furthermore, increasing student enrollment and interest in CS was critical for the future of CS education. Implications The findings of this research have implications for creating professional development plans and support that can address secondary CS teachers’ needs in the US.

The COVID-19 pandemic has completely transformed the education sector. Almost all universities and colleges have had to convert their normal classroom teaching to online/remote or hybrid teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. Online teaching has been found quite useful during an emergency situation. This switch to online teaching forced educators to come out of their comfort zone and learn new tools and techniques for online teaching. It is important, therefore, to analyse the problems faced by educators in online teaching because this has become the new normal. There are several studies identifying the issues faced by educators in online teaching but less is known about the issues faced by Computer Science (CS) educators. In this paper, we perform an exploratory study of the problems, questions, and associated responses from CS educators posted on popular Q&A forums, e.g., CS educators StackExchange. We identified six main challenges related to online teaching: platform recommendation, Q&A management, academic dishonesty, pair programming, and feedback mechanism. Several recommendations are provided by other CS educators in each of the categories, which are discussed in detail in this paper. This study will help organizations come up with better solutions to support their educators so that they can deliver better quality education and reduce the overall stress levels of staff.

This paper explores the attitudes of Computer Science (CS) teachers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) who are confronted by the Saudi Teaching Competencies Standards (STCS). The STCS is a response to a substantial need to develop both subject-specific pedagogical ability as well as teachers subject area knowledge. The Ministry of Education in the KSA is encouraging teachers to improve their practices to achieve the new quality requirements for education. This paper presents the results of an investigation of CS teachers’ views on educational belief changes in the KSA schools. The paper addresses how and why CS teachers adopt new educational beliefs in their teaching. The paper presents the results of the investigation of the CS teachers views on educational belief changes in the KSA schools and the STCS policy document guidelines. Research in the area of changing educational epistemology in teaching CS identifies six factors that influence teachers, these are personal pedagogical beliefs, peer learning, curriculum, self-directed learning, student feedback and the STCS. A mixed method study approach was adopted in this work. Content analysis has been applied to the interview transcript and thematic coding analysis to the government policy document (STCS). The results provide a valuable case study in the KSA and emphasize the weak relationship between educational epistemology change and the STCS norms. The findings show that the STCS should provide stronger guidance for CS teachers to keep changing beliefs in teaching CS. The STCS should offer supporting official resources to CS teachers to help them in changing their beliefs in regard to teaching CS.

Computer science (CS) education finds itself at a pivotal moment to reckon with what it means to accept, use, and create technologies, with the continued recruitment of minoritized students into the field. In this paper, we build on the oral traditions of educating with stories, and take the reader on two journeys. We begin with a story that leads us in thinking about where computer science education is, in the wake of slavery, under the New Jim Code. Within a BlackCrit framework, we shake the grounds of the computer science field, where technologies are often promoted as objective, but reflect and reproduce existing inequalities. In tune with maintaining current systems of power, efforts to broaden participation in computer science have been heavily driven by industry, government, and military interests. These interests ultimately push us farther away from sustainable relations with the earth and with each other, and risk the very lives of the same communities the field claims to help. However, we can rewrite the narratives of the role of technology in our lives. We present a second story in which we place abolitionist theories and practices in conversation with computer science education. In this paper we explore (1) In what ways does computing education support systems that enable Black death? and (2) How might integrating an abolitionist framework into computer science open up possibilities for world-building and dreaming in the name of Black Life? We imagine a different future where computer science is used as a tool in life-affirming, world-building projects. We invite readers to engage with this piece as a part of an active dialogue towards combating anti-Black logics in the field of computer science education.

Computer science is poised to become a core discipline in K12 education, however there are unresolved tensions between the definitions and purposes of computer science and public education. This study's goal is to explore how logistical and conceptual challenges emerge while designing a comprehensive K12 computer science program in a public school district. While the policy infrastructure for K12 computer science education is rapidly developing, few districts have yet implemented computer science as a core discipline in their K12 programs and very little research has explored the challenges involved in putting ideas into practice. This study reports on a committee designing a comprehensive K12 computer science education program at a small public school district in California. Through a grounded-theory qualitative interpretation of committee-member interviews and board meeting transcripts, we surfaced three themes which were the primary points of tension: how computer science is defined, how it ought to be taught, and what process ought to be used to answer these questions. Grounding these tensions in the academic discourse on K12 computer science education, this study offers recommendations to other districts designing comprehensive computer science education and suggests future directions of computer science education research that will be most useful to stakeholders of these processes.

Computer Science (CS) education has caught a wave -- of media attention, public support, public/private commitments, broad-based participation by educators, and a surge in student enrollments at the undergraduate level. It is a startling change over just the last 5 years. Over that 5 years, much has been accomplished at the high school level. The Exploring Computer Science and Advanced Placement® CS Principles courses were created to engage and inspire a diverse mix of students. Hundreds of teachers and university faculty have collaborated to develop course materials, assessments, MOOCS, and models of teacher professional development. Over 2,000 high schools now offer new CS courses, but that leaves out more than 34,000.Even then, students will need more than a single course, they will need a K-16 CS pathway. At the K-8 level, CS does not have the decades of research on the teaching and learning that is available to many other, more established disciplines. A stronger evidence base is needed as the basis for pedagogy, curricula, standards, and teacher preparation. The CS community must put greater emphasis on research in CS education and broadening participation, and it must build stronger collaborations with researchers in related disciplines.Over the last 5 years, college-level CS departments have been inundated with students. This growth is fueled by a strong job market for CS majors and an increasing awareness that computation is fundamental to many other industry sectors and academic disciplines. How will departments cope with increasing numbers without sacrificing access or quality? How will they respond to increasing diversity of ethnicity and gender, but also of interests, and career goals of their students? For those interested in CS education, it's an exciting time, but it comes with some urgency. This talk will discuss how to catch the current wave, using it to full advantage.

This landscape study explored structural barriers to diversity in computing education by focusing on Computer Science Education State Supervisors (CSEdSS) in state education agencies. Positioned in 41 states, CSEdSS play a crucial role in ensuring equitable access to K-12 CS learning pathways. Despite efforts to expand CS education policy, equity issues in access persist. Based on a survey of CSEdSS (n=32) with a 78% response rate, we applied the Capacity for, Access to, Participation in, and Experience of (CAPE) Framework to analyze CSEdSS survey responses to questions about how they enact their role and the ways in which equity in CS education impacts their work. Findings revealed that CSEdSS leveraged the opportunities available to them to build capacity and advance equitable access to CS education across diverse state contexts, even as they navigated systems that present challenges to equitable implementation. The results highlighted the importance of using a critical analysis approach to interrogate policy enactment through a sociocultural and systems-based lens, addressing the complexities of implementing CS education policies at macrosystem, mesosystem, and microsystem levels to support inclusive and equitable pathways in CS education.