What is Computing Education Research (CER), why are we doing this type of research, and what should the community achieve? As associate editors to this special edition we provide our perspectives and discuss how they have influenced the evolution of the Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research over the last nine years. The two articles in the special issue have been selected from among the twenty eight conference contributions for their originality and contribution to CER in the areas the Koli Calling Conference aims to emphasize. We hope that you find them inspiring reading.