This paper discusses the design of interactive gamified assessments for an introductory programming course based on the multimedia segmenting principle and gamification. The objective is to develop more engaging online programming assessments for low-achieving students. The general design follows Nielsen's design guidelines and incorporates…

Background: Computational thinking (CT) is crucial to fostering critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Many elementary schools have been cultivating students' CT through block-based programming languages such as Scratch using traditional teacher-centered teaching methods. However, the approach excessively relies on teacher lectures, so the…

This study analyzes the impact of the Chicago Alliance for Equity in Computer Science (CAFÉCS) Research Practice Partnership (RPP) on the Chicago Public School (CPS) Office of Computer Science (OCS). Using a qualitative analysis drawing on data from leadership team meetings, published articles and presentations, and evaluation reports from 11…

Liberalisation of higher education in Uganda meant opening its provision to the private sector, and also running a public-private mix model at public institutions. Consequently, the composition and needs of the student population at universities have changed due to flexibility in provision of study programmes and access routes. Students who had…

Educators and researchers often think of program design and program evaluation as separate endeavors, even intentionally creating a firewall between them. But what if designers and evaluators worked together, combining their insights to strengthen both the program and the study of it? In the work of evaluating a statewide professional learning…

This study was designed to test how well a commercial intervention with a highly feminized role model (Barbie) worked to improve pre-adolescent girls' interest and performance in computer science. Concurrently, this study examined how overtly feminist texts and images of real women would impact girls compared to the traditional highly feminized…

The purpose of this article is to share worked examples of skills profiling within the universal micro-credential framework, a novel approach designed to further the enablement of 21st century skills which are defined here as a generalized series of competencies gained by a learner that enable them to self-reflect, self-regulate and self-optimize…

Teaching programming efficiently to students in the first year of computer science education is challenging. It is especially cumbersome to retain the interest of both groups, when the student group consists of novice (i.e., those who have never programmed before) and expert programmers in the same crowd. Thus, individualized teaching cannot be…

This study proposed a conceptualization for the e-training of computer science teachers based on the TAWOCK model. After analyzing several scientific papers, a proposed conceptualization based on the TAWOCK model was presented for training computer science teachers in specialized topics in the field of computing and reviewed by several…

Due to swift technological changes in society, programming tasks are proliferating in formal and informal education around the globe. However, challenges arise regarding the acquisition of programming skills. Many students are unequipped to develop programming skills due to limited instruction or background and therefore feel insecure when…

As our society has advanced in the era of digital transformation, education has been transformed from knowledge-centered to competency-centered to solve future problems in the light of unpredictable changes and events in our lives. Programming education provides the basic knowledge needed, and fosters higher-order thinking skills in the process of…

2022 opened with World War C, the first major cyber world war. Wanting to capitalize on history in the making, Information Systems faculty are integrating real time events to increase student engagement, comprehension, and application of IS concepts. This paper outlines a successful midterm evaluation pivot that leverages current events. We…

Tiny and affordable computers (e.g. Raspberry Pi and Arduino) have been widely applied to technology-enhanced hands-on learning (THL). However, little scholarly attention has been devoted to the key factors behind students' performance in THL contexts. Therefore, this study not only helped the participants learn computer science through THL, but…

Motivating girls to enroll in computer science (CS) courses is critically important. Stereotypes that girls are less interested than boys in CS may deter girls. Three preregistered experimental studies (N = 1,053) examined causal links between gender-interest stereotypes and middle school students' CS motivation. Experiment 1 showed that…

Cluster randomized trials are frequently used in educational research for methodological reasons. This study aims to improve the efficiency of cluster randomized trials on computer/information literacy and computational thinking. The study employs a two-level hierarchical linear model to estimate: (1) intraclass correlation coefficients; (2) the…