Software vulnerabilities in commercial products are an issue of national importance. The most prevalent breaches are input validation vulnerabilities, and these are easily avoidable. This dissertation contributes to cybersecurity education with a set of hands-on interventions tailored for three CS courses, a set of reflection prompts to encourage…

Impending climate crises, profound wealth inequality and unprecedented vulnerability to global catastrophe at the hands of technology make working towards justice a necessity, and a desperate one at that. However, engaging in work towards justice requires deconstructing the dominant narratives and norms that restrict what actions are permissible…

Block-based programming environments have become increasingly commonplace in computer science education. Despite a rapidly expanding ecosystem of block-based programming environments, text-based languages remain the dominant programming paradigm outside of educational contexts, motivating the transition from block-based to text-based programming.…

The national conversation about STEM education continues. While math and science have been a constant in K-12 and higher education, curriculum in technology and engineering have not been consistently part of the tapestry of American education. As such, there is a dearth of qualified candidates for the ever-growing number of computer science and…

Many middle school students come to Computer Science (CS) classes without any previous CS instruction or any Computational Thinking (CT) skills that are needed to be successful. To overcome this, many curriculums and programming environments have been used to engage students and to instill a love of CS. Which curriculum should be used to develop…

This dissertation focuses on strategies and techniques to enhance code comprehension skills among students enrolled in introductory computer science courses (CS1 and CS2). We propose a novel tutoring system, "DeepCodeTutor," designed to improve the code comprehension abilities of novices. DeepCodeTutor employs scaffolded self-explanation…

This study explored the role of faith in the motivation of undergraduate computer science students and considered the implications for Christian Higher Education in the United States, by reviewing the existing literature on the subject. Academic motivation of computer science students is a global concern evidenced by studies around the world that…

Transgender and gender nonconforming (TGNC) students are underrepresented in CS education and have been found to leave the field at higher rates than their counterparts. While there is a great deal of Computer Science (CS) education research focused on other underrepresented groups, it rarely includes those who are TGNC. Overall, there is a dearth…

The meteoric rise in software and technology has altered the paradigm of information security and privacy. Classified information, stored earlier behind locked doors, is now stored on the internet on servers that can be accessed from anywhere on the globe. As a result of these advancements, we are now vulnerable to cyber-attacks. Cyber-attacks are…

This convergent parallel mixed methods study with qualitative and quantitative content analysis was conducted to analyze and describe the cognitive complexity of the publicly released Advanced Placement Computer Science Principles Exam questions compared to the language of higher-order thinking found in research literature. Hess' Cognitive Rigor…

Organizations are looking for a well-qualified workforce with the requisite skills, knowledge, and abilities to implement an effective cyber strategy. Academic institutions are facing challenges in meeting the demand for employees with hands-on experience. This exploratory study investigated how academic institutions can use internships to equip…

Gamification is a teaching strategy often praised for its effectiveness in the classroom. The problem was the lack of information regarding teachers' perceptions regarding gamification in high school Advanced Placement (AP) computer science courses. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the perceptions of computer science teachers…

A disproportionate number of European American male students are enrolled in cyberscience undergraduate degree programs, despite attempts to attract diverse student populations in the field. The purpose of the basic qualitative study was to gain a better understanding on how cyberscience academic experts perceive the challenges related to the…

I situate computer programming as a cultural practice. I develop this perspective in two ways: exploring how programming practices can support intercultural learning, and examining how programming tools themselves embed cultural assumptions and values. For the former, I study how relationships across difference are formed over computing activities…

This study sought to understand the "influence of robotics on self-efficacy and interest in computer science." It provides the background that has led to the current research need. The study conducted was a double pre-test, repeated measures post-test quasi-experimental study, performed by the researcher to determine the effects of a…