Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research

Abstract

We are delighted to welcome you to the sixteenth annual International Computing Education Research conference, ICER 2020, sponsored by the ACM Special Interest Group on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE). Dunedin, New Zealand is the host city, but the conference is being held online due to the circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. ICER is the premier ACM forum for dissemination and discussion of computing education research. ICER research papers represent significant, rigorous contributions to the field. One hundred and nineteen Research Papers were submitted, with twenty seven accepted for publication in the proceedings in the ACM Digital Library (a 23% acceptance rate). This year's reviewing process was the most rigorous ever for ICER. All papers were double-blind peer reviewed by three reviewers, and meta-reviewed by one senior reviewer. Complex and borderline submissions were discussed in a series of online meetings between groups of senior reviewers and the Program Chairs. As usual, ICER includes a number of other activities, with various levels of discussion and interaction between the presenter and audience. Poster sessions present early results, inviting discussion, and allowing presenters to gain feedback or find collaborators. Lightning Talks are a special session of 3-minute presentations about "Novel, not fully explored or tested work". The Doctoral Consortium serves a vital mentoring and advising role for upcoming discipline-based computing education researchers. The Work in Progress workshop is a venue for attendees to provide and receive friendly, constructive feedback on research during formative stages of development. Abstracts from both the Poster sessions and the Doctoral Consortium are included in the proceedings. As is customary, we will also have two awards for papers, the Chairs' Award, and the John Henry Award (chosen by the conference attendees). This year we are honored to welcome Professor Tim Bell of the University of Canterbury, New Zealand, to deliver the keynote presentation. Professor Bell's "Computer Science Unplugged" project, which introduces students and teachers to computer science without using computers, is widely used internationally, and has been translated into over 25 languages. He has received several awards and honors, including the 2018 ACM SIGCSE Outstanding Contribution to Computer Science Education award. Professor Bell's presentation, Teaching Teachers to Teach Computer Science - Unplugged or Plugged-in?, examines the impact of the new computing curricula being rolled out in schools around the world, the issues that are faced by teachers, and how best to help them engage with this challenging new field.