Computer Science Education Research Articles

Research Implications for Computer Science Education based on Darmstadt Model

The purpose of the current study is to examine published studies in computer science education in a systematic way, and to present a history of the research and new research trends in this area. This research study reports the findings of the systematic literature review according to the educational relevant areas dimension of the Darmstadt Model. The procedures of systematic text analysis were performed as a qualitative content analysis. Prior to the systematic text analysis, the primary term ‘computer science education and K-12’ was searched for along with data in the abstract, title and keyword section for publications between 2013 and 2018 in the databases and digital libraries of Academic Search Complete, Business Source Complete, Eric, Science Direct, and the IEEE Digital Library. A total of 87 articles formed the sample of the study. Although the current study was limited to the stated journal articles, it provides insight to the field by shedding light on important issues relevant to future research studies.

The case for alternative endpoints in computing education

AbstractThis paper argues for a re‐examination of the nature and goals of broad computing education initiatives. Instead of starting with specific values or goals, we instead begin by considering various desired endpoints of computing instruction and then work backward to reason about what form learning activities might take and what are the underlying values and principles that support learners in reaching these endpoints. The result of this exercise is a push for rethinking the form of contemporary computing education with an eye toward more diverse, equitable and meaningful endpoints. With a focus on the role that constructionist‐focused pedagogies and designs can play in supporting these endpoints, we examine four distinct cases and the endpoints they support. This paper is not intended to encompass all the possible alternate endpoints for computer science education; rather, this work seeks to start a conversation around the nature of and need for alternate endpoints, as a means to re‐evaluate the current tools and curricula to prepare learners for a future of active and empowered computing‐literate citizens. Practitioner notesWhat is already known about this topic There is a growing call for computing education to be a core educational component. Computing education traditionally has a narrow goal of training people for programming jobs. Computing education fails to connect with students underrepresented in STEM. What this paper adds An argument for why we need more and diverse endpoints to computing education. That many possible endpoints for computing education can be more inclusive, just and equitable than software engineering. Constructionism is a particularly useful paradigm for approaching and supporting alternate endpoints. Implications for practice and policy Helps reframe the goals of computing education, to truly be “for all.” Provides a set of cases for how this reframing can be achieved. Gives policy new lenses for understanding, evaluating and implementing computing education.

Teaching other teachers how to teach CS better

The Communications website, http://cacm.acm.org, features more than a dozen bloggers in the BLOG@CACM community. In each issue of Communications , we'll publish selected posts or excerpts. twitter Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/blogCACM http://cacm.acm.org/blogs/blog-cacm Mark Guzdial shares how he assesses the efforts of other computer science teachers.

МЕТОДИКА ПРЕПОДАВАНИЯ ИНФОРМАТИКИ В ВЫСШИХ УЧЕБНЫХ ЗАВЕДЕНИЯХ

This article discusses the definition of teaching methods as a science, its object and subject, and features. The main components of the connection between the methodology of teaching computer science as a science and the main concepts of the educational process are also identified. The main focus is on generalizing the experience of teaching the discipline "Informatics" to students of humanitarian universities and highlighting interdisciplinary connections. The purpose of the article is to describe the intermediate results obtained during the study of the effective use of information technologies in the course of teaching students of a humanitarian university in the discipline "Informatics". The structure of the e-course in the self-study support system is presented. The place of the discipline "Informatics" in the training programs of students of the 1st year of the bachelor's degree in the areas of "Economics" is highlighted, the types of tasks for independent work of students are described, and an example of the design of educational materials for the case in the discipline "Informatics" is given. The main directions of improving the methodology of teaching the discipline "Informatics" are also outlined.

Introducing Sustainable Development Topics into Computer Science Education: Design and Evaluation of the Eco JSity Game

With increasing awareness of the advantages of game-based learning, there is a growing number of studies showing its application to both computer science education and sustainable development education. In this paper, we describe, with the example of the Eco JSity application, how both of these areas can be combined into a single tool. The presented evaluation results showed that despite incorporating the sustainable development topics into both the theme and mechanics of the educational game, both the usefulness and ease-of-use of the application were still assessed positively by students. We also identified three clusters of students depending on their attitude towards combining education on computer science and sustainable development. We concluded that game-based learning provided a capable means of incorporating sustainable development topics into teaching of unrelated technical skills.

University Students' Attitude and Anxiety Towards Computer Science Education through Computational Thinking

Background/Objectives: In the 21st century, communication and collaboration between people is an important element of talent. As artificial intelligence (AI), the cutting edge of computer science, develops, AI and collaboration will become important in the near future.
 Methods/Statistical analysis: To achieve this, it is necessary to understand how artificial AI based on computer science works, and how problem-based programming education is effective in computer science education. In this study, 177 college students who received programming education focused on problem-solving learning were identified with computational thinking (CT) at the beginning of the semester, and their satisfaction and post-education satisfaction survey showed that their attitudes and interests influenced their education.
 Findings: To pretest the learners, they were diagnosed using a measurement sheet. The learners’ current knowledge statuses were checked, and the correlation between the evaluation results, based on what was taught according to the problem-solving learning technique, was analyzed according to the proposed method. The analysis of the group average score of the learners showed that the learning effect was significant. The results of the measures of the students’ CT at the beginning of the semester were correlated with problem-solving learning, teaching method, lecture satisfaction, and other environmental factors. The ability to solve a variety of problems using CT will become increasingly important, so if students seek to improve their satisfaction with problem-solving learning techniques for computer science education, it will be possible for universities to develop convergence talent more efficiently.
 Improvements/Applications: if you pursue a problem-solving learning technique and a way to improve students’ satisfaction, it will help students improve their problem-solving skills. If the method of deriving and improving computational thinking ability in this paper is applied to computer education, it will induce student interest, thereby increasing the learning effect.

Legaltech and Lawtech: Global Perspectives, Challenges, and Opportunities

Legaltech refers to the application of new technologies to the world of law, to carry out tasks that, until recently, were performed by lawyers or other personnel working in law firms. From 2015 onwards the Lawtech alternative has emerged. In this work, the concepts of Legaltech and Lawtech have been analyzed by searching the two main scientific information databases such as Scopus and Wed of Science (WoS). There has been a clear trend to use the concept of Legaltech against Lawtech. Six clear research lines have been detected from the whole of the published documents regarding these concepts. These are the related to Computer Science, Justice, Legal profession, Legal design, Law firms, and Legal Education. It is proposed to use the term Legaltech to include all technological advances in the legal field. From the point of view of opportunities, the irruption of Legaltech will be able to offer accurate legal advice to the public, reducing the price of this and on the other hand, analyze large amounts of data that law firms and legal advisors will use to improve their management and increase their productivity. In short, Legaltech and Lawtech are opening up new opportunities in the legal sector encouraging technological innovation, giving greater access to legal services, even try to achieve the goal of universal access to justice.

ABOUT SOFTWARE ENVIRONMENTS USING BIG DATA IN THE LEARNING PROCESS

The article discusses several types of programs for teaching big data and analyzes data on the implementation of big data in some educational institutions. For the introduction and implementation of special courses in the educational process in the areas of magistracy in the educational program Computer Science, the curriculum, educational and methodological complex, digital educational resources are considered. As well as hardware and software that collects, stores, sorts big data, and the introduction into the educational process of theoretical foundations and methods of using the developed technical and technological equipment. This article reflects information on the conduct of a special course on the use of big data in the educational, educational process of senior students and undergraduates of the specialty "Informatics", the Faculty of Information Technologies, LN Gumilyov Eurasian National University. The first module of the course examines the ERA 500 network controller as an example of a turnstile network controller.

Interaction effects of race and gender in elementary CS attitudes: A validation and cross-sectional study

Computer science (CS) initiatives for elementary students, including brief Hour of Code activities and longer in- and after-school programs that emphasize robotics and coding, have continued to increase in popularity. Many of these initiatives are intended to increase CS exposure to students who historically have been underrepresented in CS academic trajectories, including women and students of color. This study aimed at examining the gender and race difference in elementary students’ attitudes toward CS. To that end we developed and validated a survey instrument called Elementary Computer Science Attitudes (E-CSA) which consisted of the constructs of CS self-efficacy and outcome expectancy , through a combination of classical test theory and item response theory. The target audience for this instrument and study was upper elementary students (grades 4 and 5, ages 8 to 11). The E-CSA was found to be a gender and race bias-free instrument. A two-way ANOVA test was then used to answer research questions. We found no significant interaction effect between gender and race in the two constructs of CS Attitudes. We also did not see a significant difference based on race. However, a significant difference was found in both CS attitudes constructs based on gender, whereby male students had higher CS attitudes than female students. We discuss our findings from the perspective of the equity issue in CS education. Furthermore, we believe the E-CSA instrument can inform classroom-based interventions, the development of curricular materials, and reinforce findings from cross-sectional CS studies. • E-CSA instrument includes the constructs of CS self-efficacy and outcome expectancy. • The E-CSA was found to be a psychometrically gender bias-free instrument. • Found that male students had significantly higher CS attitudes than female students

PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE OF A FUTURE TEACHER OF INFORMATICS AS A SUBJECT OF SCIENTIFIC AND METHODOLOGICAL RESEARCH

We consider the professional competence of a future teacher of computer science as: the purpose of professional training on the educational program “Secondary education (computer science)”; professional and personal characteristics of a motivated personality; the ability of an individual to apply fundamental knowledge according to the subject of professional activity; readiness of an individual to perform professional duties; prerequisite for personal and professional development. Professional competence is a dynamic formation distinguished between the professional competence of a future teacher as of a graduate and of the one, who is already a teacher. Speaking of the formation of a competence, we mean mastering it at a certain level. In particular, in the course of higher education we distinguish purposeful formation. Its further development is carried out after obtaining a qualification, in the process of professional activity. The components of this competence are general (pedagogical) and special (subject) competencies, the latter reflecting the specifics of the teacher’s activities in teaching and learning a particular subject. In this list we highlight the methodological competence. This phenomenon is difficult, because the question of developing a unified approach to the interpretation of content and structural components remains open, but these features are not fundamentally different. They emphasize the uniqueness of pedagogical activities. The formation of professional competence is defined as a purposeful process for: mastering fundamental, integrated, systematic knowledge of Pedagogy, Psychology, Computer Science as a basic science and methods of its teaching; strengthening the motivational and value principles of continuous self-education and self-improvement, creative and responsible attitude to the profession; formation of skills to apply the acquired knowledge in practical situations that simulate professional activity; enrichment of professional experience, which should be formed in the institution of higher education at a minimum level; development of professionally significant personal qualities. The peculiarities of this process are due to the requirements of employers, the ideas of implementation in practice of psychological and pedagogical innovations and modern technologies, specified by the specifics of teaching the subject.

The symbiotic relationship between educational robotics and computer science in formal education

Educational Robotics (ER) has the potential to provide significant benefits to education, provided an increase in outreach by transitioning from the extra-curricular initiatives in which ER has thrived to formal education. As Computer Science (CS) Education is undergoing curricular reforms worldwide, the present study addresses the case of a Digital Education reform that included ER as a means to teach core CS concepts. Approximately 350 teachers from the first four grades of primary school participated in a mandatory two-year continuing professional development (CPD) program. The first year of the program was dedicated to CS and introduced teachers to CS Unplugged (CSU) and Robotics Unplugged (RU) activities. As such, we analyse the interplay between these activities and focus on teachers’ voluntary adoption of the proposed content in classrooms. This is complemented by an analysis of their perception and recommendation of ER. The findings highlight three main points. Firstly, ER benefits from the integration in the CS CPD, as this provides the necessary traction to introduce ER into teacher practices (the teachers freely devoted 2275 h to ER activities in their classrooms, over two years). Secondly, the presence of ER activities in the CS-CPD allows a higher proportion of teachers to adopt the CS content, as there are teachers that favour one type of activity over the other. Finally, the globally positive perception of ER registered in this study is relevant for two reasons: teachers were not voluntarily participating in the CPD, and results did not differ between pioneers and novices.

Critical computing literacy: Possibilities in K-12 computer science education

ABSTRACT 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 an interpretive case study of the SciGirls Code (SGC) program. This program was piloted with 16 after–school programs for middle school girls that engaged them in computer science (NSF #1543209). This research investigated girls’ learning, attitudes, and participation involving 84 participants across 11 sites aged 10-14 and in 5th-8th grades. Through sharing a vignette from one site and highlighting findings from this study, we illustrate ways to do critical computing literacy and examine the potential of using connected learning and computational participation in designing more equitable computer science education offerings.

Common membership across SIGs

Conferences allow for sharing of knowledge in a particular domain, computing education for us. Many of us tend to participate in different conferences. CS Educators, after all, teach CS covering all areas of CS. This means that many of us are also members of other ACM SIGs.

As a CS educator, how do you think we can address inequity issues that exist in the field?

We asked several CS education researchers to offer brief remarks (about 200 words) to spark discussion and provide ideas for actions we can all take to address inequity issues. Two responses are included below.

Design Tasks As A Method Of Training Specialists - Future Informatic Teachers

The article discusses issues related to the methods of implementation and use of project tasks in the educational process in the training of specialists - future teachers of computer science based on information and communication technologies.

Engineering for Chaos

The global COVID-19 pandemic has transformed the way we live, learn, and teach - impacting both "how we learn" and "what we learn." Software system resilience has emerged as a critical concept, a departure from historical system objectives obsessed with high performance. In practice, there are many situations when development focused on efficiency, creates a system that is not very resilient. Fortunately, some technology companies have prioritized stability and availability over efficiency in order to deliver to customers a more consistent experience. Governments also value resilience to reliably serve their communities in the face of crises like cyber hacking and COVID-19. System resilience is a topic often neglected in computer science curricula. This paper reports on a recent virtual ACM SPLASH-E Education Symposium panel session held in November 2020 that discussed resilience, efficiency, and the impact of COVID-19 on computer science education. The panel featured Steven Fraser (panel impresario) and panelists Rebecca Mercuri, Landon Noll, Ales Plsek, and Moshe Vardi.

The Impact of a Motivation Booster in Blended Learning Experiences in Computer Science Education

The outcomes presented in this paper are associated with the impact of motivational messages sent by a Motivation Booster to the students that participated in blended learning experiences. The aim of the Motivation Booster is to provide personalized and summarized feedback, by means of motivational messages, to the users of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning systems on their completed collaborative learning activities. The developed Motivation Booster was integrated into the Moodle system. Two blended learning experiences were put into practice at the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana Montería (Colombia) over an academic year with students enrolled in the course called “Software Engineering” at the Computer Science Department. A group of students participated in the first blended learning experience, and they used the Moodle system without the Motivation Booster. And another group of students participated in the second blended learning experience, where they used Moodle with the developed Motivation Booster. The experimental results give us evidences that the students felt more motivated to work with the Moodle system when they received motivational messages due to the Motivation Booster. Especially students were stimulated to work in a group manner.

ON THE METHODOLOGY OF TEACHING COMPUTER MODELING TO COMPUTER SCIENCE TEACHERS USING DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES

method of teaching computer modeling to future teachers of computer science is proposed by the example of solving the problem of determining the patterns of dangerously destructive stress concentrations on the contour of a mine work. The method of obtaining the results of scientific research, involving the methods of mechanical and mathematical modeling, combined with the use of the numerical finite element method, is described. As an object of scientific research, we consider a shaft mining of a vaulted profile, designed in a mountain massif of a complex anisotropic structure, moreover, consisting of different layers. The meaning of the methodology for teaching computer modeling to future computer science teachers is that, based on the skills and knowledge gained on the use of digital technology, they should be able to show students the sequence of the course of solving a scientific problem that has a specific practical significance. The adequacy of the research is shown-the logical connections of the stages: the choice of a real object and its problem, a specific research issue, the development of a computational scheme for solving the problem, the development of a mathematical model, the direct solution of the problem, the analysis of the results and the method of presentation in the form of tables, diagrams, drawings.

USING OF VIRTUAL INTERACTIVE ENVIRONMENT IN COMPUTER SCIENCE

We will conduct a practical and theoretical analysis of the virtual learning environment in computer science. Consider the goals and objectives of the study and analyze the effectiveness of training programs. We also discuss topical issues of "virtual technologies”," virtual interactive learning environment” and "online learning platform", etc. The scientific relevance of the work is due to the fact that modern technologies and virtual life affect children. Under the influence of globalization and informatization, new interactive approaches to teaching computer science have emerged. And virtual technologies are one of these ways. Virtual teaching in the country is not outdated. It is obvious that in the future, specialists working in this direction will need methodological guidance. After analyzing the results of the research work, I propose a manual for teachers. That is, to determine the practical significance of the research work and formulate rules for organizing and implementing a virtual interactive environment. In this project, we will look at ways to use and organize interactive computer technologies. Keywords: computer science, learning platform, educational process, IT technologies, virtual environment, programming languages, interactive learning.

Climbing out of a software black hole

AbstractAs we become ever more dependent on computer systems for much of what we do, we are losing the battle with cyber criminals and suffer from poor‐quality offerings. Mission‐critical, life‐critical, and infrastructure‐critical systems should be secure, reliable, and worthy of trust. Yet, that is not our experience. Many firms complain that entry‐level software workers do not have the skills and abilities to do what is required and yet we continue to teach computer science in ways very similar to what we did in the 1970s and '80s. As we spiral downward, it's hard to know precisely where the event horizon might be, so let us deal with it now. It's time for an educational and societal sea change when it comes to computing. Society has demonstrated the willingness to deal with such issues in medicine and other critical domains. Highly‐skilled clinical professors teach new physicians and specialists using the processes, methods, tools, and disciplines learners are expected to use as practicing professionals. It is time for the crucial software domains to leverage these proven methods and stop pushing off to employers these critical aspects of what it means to be a software professional.