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Contributions: The underrepresentation of women in computer science (CS) majors has long been a focus of attention in many academic documents, the majority of them from the United States and Europe. There is, however, a lack of information about educational interventions (EIs) for women in computing in Latin America. The contribution of this article is to cover this gap and describe what researchers in Latin American countries have been publishing about the recruitment and retention of women in the CS field. Background: Many EIs targeting female students at different educational levels--K-12, undergraduate, and graduate--have been undertaken to increase the participation of women in computing in Latin America. However, descriptions of these activities rarely are included in international academic databases. Research Questions: This literature mapping addresses two main research questions (RQ) about the topic of women in computing in academic publications in Latin American countries: RQ1) what are the characteristics of the publications about women in computing in Latin America? and RQ2) what are the published interventions to recruit and retain women in computing in Latin America? To answer RQ1, six subquestions were created covering year, language, country of origin, document type, and professional track. Furthermore, for RQ2, two subquestions were created involving educational level and the use of software development with a female theme. Methodology: This investigation used the systematic literature mapping process. To achieve a broad coverage of papers, the following sources were included: Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, EBSCO, the proceedings of the Latin American Women in Computing Conference (LAWCC), and those of the Women in Technology (WIT) workshop colocated with the annual conference of the Brazilian Computer Society (SBC). The included papers were published in the last decade (2010-2020) and written in English, Portuguese, or Spanish. Findings: The literature mapping encompasses 197 academic documents, 48.2% of which were written in Portuguese, 28.7% in English, and 23.1% in Spanish. The papers originated from 15 of the 20 Latin American countries. Brazil and Costa Rica have the highest number of publications overall. The documents describe initiatives to increase the participation of women in computing majors that cover the entire educational spectrum, from K-12 to graduate programs, but papers targeting populations in higher education have started to appear recently.

This small scale study aims to analyze the question papers of Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education in the subject of computer science with reference to item analysis and Bloom's taxonomy. Data were collected from 100 students of Grade 9th and 10th from the schools of Lahore city using convenient sampling technique. Data collected on the papers developed by Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education for the year of 2015 and 2016. Item analyses were performed using Conquest software. Findings of the study shows that in the question papers conducted by Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education the majority questions were measuring the student abilities of knowledge and comprehension and only few questions were given to measure the student abilities to analyze, synthesize and evaluate, and this can be very helpful for the policy makers. Result of item analysis shows that many questions were not in the acceptable range of item difficulty and item discrimination. Items in the question papers were either too easy or too difficult. Findings revealed that the papers conducted and administered by Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education were not up to the mark, with reference to Bloom's taxonomy. The researcher recommended to train the assessment committee/panel developing the items. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite being in a digital age, the diversity of young people choosing to study and work in computing is of ongoing concern, especially low numbers of girls. This paper aims to determine the profile of students who are more likely to aspire to be computer scientists and provide insights into the key factors that shape their aspirations in this area. We draw on questionnaire data from 4,983 secondary school students in England, in schools that have a higher-than-average uptake of GCSE Computer Science (a national exam taken by students at age 16). Amongst students who have chosen to study GCSE Computer Science, girls have a lower odds of aspiring to be a Computer Scientist compared to boys. Amongst younger students yet to pick their GCSE options, there are significantly more girls than boys wanting to work in digital art. Multivariable regression analysis identified 10 factors that were associated with aspirations to become a computer scientist. These include being a boy, being of Asian ethnicity, currently studying GCSE Computer Science, having a parent in computing, as well as having higher 'coding self-belief', elevated levels of 'family support' and aspiring towards 'technical jobs'. Implications for practice and curriculum design are discussed.

In a course of the degree of computer science, the programming project has changed from individual to teamed work, tentatively in couples (pair programming). Students have full freedom to team up with minimum intervention from teachers. The analysis of the working groups made indicates that students do not tend to associate with students with a similar academic performance, perhaps because general cognitive parameters do not drive the choice of academic partners. Pair programming seems to give great results, so the efforts of future research in this field should focus precisely on how these pairs are formed, underpinning the mechanisms of human social interactions. [Paper presented at the International Conference on University Teaching and Innovation (CIDUI): Learning and Teaching Innovation Impacts (9th, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain, Jul 5-7 2016.)]

The teaching-learning methodology adopted in the Introduction to Computer Science classes may be a process that makes it difficult to understand the principles of programming language for undergraduate students in Computer Science and related areas, generating high failure and course drop out rates. This paper presents an analysis of the results obtained in the Introduction to Computer Science classes taught in Computer Science and Engineering courses at University of Brasília (UnB). The evaluation questionnaire answered by the undergraduate students in 2017 was analyzed, a validation was performed, and we checked the level of students satisfaction in relation to the evaluated subject and the association among the level of satisfaction, the percentage of practical activities of the discipline, student performance and the level of absenteeism.

Recently, computational thinking (CT) has attracted much research attention, especially within primary and secondary education settings. However, incorporating in mathematics or other disciplines is not a straightforward process and introduces many challenges concerning the way disciplines are organised and taught in school. The aim of this paper is to identify what characterises CT in mathematics education and which CT aspects can be addressed within mathematics education. First, we present a systematic literature review that identifies characteristics of CT that have been explored in mathematics education research. Second, we present the results of a Delphi study conducted to capture the collective opinion of 25 mathematics and computer science experts regarding the opportunities for addressing CT in mathematics education. The results of the Delphi study, which corroborate the findings of the literature review, highlight three important aspects of CT to be addressed in mathematics education: problem solving, cognitive processes, and transposition.

In Italy, teaching coding at primary and secondary levels is emerging as a major educational issue, particularly in light of the recent reforms now being implemented. Consequently, there has been increased research on how to introduce information technology in lower secondary schools. This paper presents an exploratory survey, carried out through an intensive workshop on coding, which was designed to introduce the basic principles of computer science to be included in the future school curriculum. Specifically, the paper examines three key aspects of the coding unit for lower secondary schools: (a) the students' perception of their self-efficacy in carrying out coding; (b) the involvement of students' cognition and perception; (c) the principal obstacles students might encounter while coding. The results are encouraging as they demonstrate that coding turns out to be both highly interesting and motivating for students.

A new, interdisciplinary, team-taught course has been designed to educate students in Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) so that they can respond to global and urgent issues concerning computer control systems in nuclear power plants. This paper discusses our experience and assessment of the interdisciplinary computer and nuclear energy course, which was developed and offered primarily to ECE students at Howard University. A unique team-teaching model utilized with ECE professors and nuclear field experts was applied to teach the two diverse subjects: computer safety and nuclear energy. The survey result from the first offering of the course showed a very positive response from the majority of the students about the team-teaching method and the knowledge acquired on the two subjects.

In this paper we have examined the position and roles of Computer Science in curricula in the light of recent calls for curriculum change and we have proposed principles and issues to consider in curriculum design as well as identifying priority areas for further research. The paper is based on discussions within and beyond the International Federation of Information Processing (IFIP) Education Community since 2012 as well as an analysis of curriculum developments in five different countries. Emerging themes have been discussed with reference to important perspectives from curriculum theory including "powerful knowledge" as a key element of entitlement and management of the growth of expertise. Based on this analysis we have identified areas of consensus as well as constraints, risks and issues that are still subject to controversy. There is an emerging consensus of the importance of Computer Science and the nature of its "powerful knowledge". Furthermore current understanding of the opportunities and benefits for starting to learn Computer Science early in primary schools has identified this early start as an entitlement and equity issue. There is a strong consensus that teacher professional development in Computer Science Education is critical for supporting curriculum change and is currently a major challenge in many countries. Other key issues include understanding how the growth of expertise affects potential structure and sequencing in the curriculum and the balance of content. Further considerations include how new technological opportunities interact with pedagogical approaches and can provide new potential for the growth of expertise.

Computer science has been a discipline for some years, and its position in the school curriculum has been contested differently in several countries. This paper looks at its role in three countries to illustrate these differences. A reconsideration of computer science as a separate subject both in primary and secondary education is suggested. At EDUsummIT 2015 it was argued that the major rationales for including computer science as a subject in the K-12 curriculum are economic, social and cultural. The paper explores these three rationales and also a beneficence matrix to assist curriculum designers. It also argues computer science is rapidly becoming critical for generating new knowledge, and should be taught as a distinct subject or content area, especially in secondary schools. The paper concludes by looking at some of the key questions to be considered when implementing computer science in the school curriculum, and at ways its role might change in the future.

In this paper we present a software platform called Chatbot designed to introduce high school students to Computer Science (CS) concepts in an innovative way: by programming chatbots. A chatbot is a bot that can be programmed to have a conversation with a human or robotic partner in some natural language such as English or Spanish. While programming their chatbots, students use fundamental CS constructs such as variables, conditionals, and finite state automata, among others. Chatbot uses pattern matching, state of the art lemmatization techniques, and finite state automata in order to provide automatic formative assessment to the students. When an error is found, the formative feedback generated is immediate and task-level. We evaluated Chatbot in two observational studies. An online nation-wide competition where more than 10,000 students participated. And, a mandatory in-class 15-lesson pilot course in three high schools. We measured indicators of student engagement (task completion, participation, self reported interest, etc.) and found that girls' engagement with Chatbot was higher than boys' for most indicators. Also, in the online competition, the task completion rate for the students that decided to use Chatbot was five times higher than for the students that chose to use the renowned animation and game programming tool Alice. Our results suggest that the availability of automatic formative assessment may have an impact on task completion and other engagement indicators among high school students.

Data Structures and Algorithms are a central part of Computer Science. Due to their abstract and dynamic nature, they are a difficult topic to learn for many students. To alleviate these learning difficulties, instructors have turned to algorithm visualizations (AV) and AV systems. Research has shown that especially engaging AVs can have an impact on student learning of DSA topics. Until recently, most AV systems were Java-based systems. But, the popularity of Java has declined and is being supplanted by HTML5 and JavaScript content online. In this paper, we present JSAV: the JavaScript AV development library. JSAV goes beyond traditional AV library support for displaying standard data structures components, to provide functionality to simplify creation of AVs on many engagement levels including interactive exercises. We describe the growing body of content created with JSAV and summarize our three years of experience and research results from using JSAV to build content that supports CS education.

This paper presents a qualitative study of 12 computer science lecturers' experiences of curriculum design of several degree programmes during a time of transition from year-long to semesterised courses, due to institutional policy change. The background to the study is outlined, as are the reasons for choosing the research methodology. The main findings are presented and the implications of the study described. The methodology chosen was hermeneutic phenomenology. The data were the texts of interview transcripts of the 12 participant lecturers. The experiences that emerged from analysis of the data grouped naturally in identifiable and presentable themes and these themes represent the findings of the study. The findings of our study describe the computer science lecturers' lived experiences as curriculum designers, most especially in relation to institutional policy, and a new modularisation/semesterisation approach to curriculum design. Findings include the feeling lecturers have that much of the formality of curriculum design is bureaucratic, and that academics and staff do not communicate very much in relation to policy. Also, modularisation and semesterisation causes difficulty for lecturers in their designing of curricula. The findings also suggest that lecturers feel obliged to do the best they can for students. The findings lead to points of discussion that are relevant to groups and individuals associated with third-level education.

Graduate employability has become an issue since there are broad mismatches between the acquired graduate skills from university and the required skills by employers. While previous researches have outlined the salient skills that need to be embedded in graduate education, to date no studies have attempted to methodically identify and synthesize the literature on graduate attributes. In this paper a total of 39 relevant studies on graduate skills and attributes in the subject areas of business and management, accounting, and computer science were extracted from Scopus® (database). This revealed a total of 53 graduate attributes, with some being highly used, such as communication, teamwork, problem solving, technological skills, creativity, interpersonal skills, leadership skills, self-management and flexibility/adaptability. The majority of studies used a quantitative survey method to collect and rank graduate attributes, and Australia emerged as the most active country in researching the domain.

Stepwise program refinement techniques can be used to simplify program verification. Programs are better understood since their main properties are clearly stated, and verification of rather complex algorithms is reduced to proving simple statements connecting successive program specifications. Additionally, it is easy to analyse similar algorithms and to compare their properties within a single formalization. Usually, formal analysis is not done in the educational setting due to complexity of verification and a lack of tools and procedures to make comparison easy. Verification of an algorithm should not only give a correctness proof, but also better understanding of an algorithm. If the verification is based on a small step program refinement, it can become simple enough to be demonstrated within the university-level computer science curriculum. In this paper we demonstrate this and give a formal analysis of two well- known algorithms (Selection Sort and Heap Sort) using the proof assistant Isabelle/HOL and program refinement techniques.

This paper articulates an approach to incorporating instructor feedback in design-based research. Throughout the process of designing and implementing curriculum to support middle school students' debugging practices in a summer computer science workshop, our research and practice team utilized instructor-generated conjecture maps as boundary objects, providing insight into the instructors' reflections on their classroom teaching. We develop an analytic tool for categorizing instructors' reflections on their conjecture maps, attending specifically to how instructors push back on design choices, whether by envisioning new mediating processes, introducing new connections, discussing new design features, articulating confusion/uncertainty, and/or presenting hopes and predictions. The tool is then applied to seven instructors' daily reflections over the course of four weeks of instruction, focused on three conjecture maps. Overall, the paper documents a range of tensions that instructors encounter when aiming to provide sustained debugging support to students and introduces a tool for understanding the detailed ways that instructors critique design conjectures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computational thinking, defined as a way of thinking that can be applied to various fields that require problem-solving skills, has become prevalent in education. Students, i.e., future specialists, have to be prepared for complex thinking competence, necessary for solving business and societal problems, for which a combination of mathematical thinking and computational thinking is essential. The preliminary premise is that there is a correlation between ability in specific mathematical and computational fields. Therefore, this paper aims to highlight the significance of investigating the relations between those fields from linguistic point of view. In order to better understand the relationship between abilities in specific mathematical and computational fields, this paper presents an analysis of a new approach, namely, developing hypotheses for exploring the relationship between metalanguages of different fields of Mathematics and Computer Science. Additionally, the paper describes the first stage of a study on a doctoral level in an attempt to suggest possible statistical analyses suitable for testing hypotheses based on meta-analysis of the current literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The words "Programming is the second literacy" were coined more than 40 years ago [13], but never came to life. The paper develops and details that old slogan by proposing that the mainstream mathematics education in schools should merge with education in computer science/programming. Of course, this means a deep structural reform of school mathematics education. We are not talking about adapting the 20th century mathematics to the 21st century—as it outlined in [10, 19], we mean the 21st century mathematics education for the 21st century mathematics. To the best of our knowledge, this paper is perhaps the first known attempt to start a proper feasibility study for this reform. The scope of the paper does not allow us to touch the delicate socio-political (and financial) sides of the reform, we are looking only at general curricular and didactic aspects and possible directions of the reform. In particular, we indicate approaches to development of a Domain Specifiic Language (DSL) as a basis for all programming aspects of a new course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of this study is to examine the implementation of active methodologies in the teaching–learning process in computer science. To achieve this objective, a systematic review using the PRISMA method was performed; the search for articles was conducted through the Scopus and Web of Science databases and the scientific search engine Google Scholar. By establishing inclusion and exclusion criteria, 15 research papers were selected addressing the use of various active methodologies which have had a positive impact on students' learning processes. Among the principal active methodologies highlighted are problem-based learning, flipped classrooms, and gamification. The results of the review show how active methodologies promote significant learning, in addition to fostering more outstanding commitment, participation, and motivation on the students' part. It was observed that active methodologies contribute to the development of fundamental cognitive and socio-emotional skills for their professional growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a nationwide effort to increase the representation and engagement of minoritized students in computer science education. Discourse about the barriers to diversity among computer science majors is often characterized by student pathologies and does not consider the impacts of classroom culture and instructor pedagogies. Amid the push for strategies to recruit and retain minoritized students in computer science, little has been done to transform curriculum and analyze faculty perspectives on curriculum and pedagogy as methods to increase students' access to the computer science major. This paper presents an example of curriculum redesign for an undergraduate introductory computer science course (ICS) that sought to address issues of inequitable representation by centering student identities and redistributing power in favor of students. The authors draw upon critical sociocultural and the 4Es heuristic for disciplinary literacy to reimagine the ICS course as a space that centers on the important roles of identity and power in solving for diversity in computer science education. We highlight for researchers and practitioners how our work may be used to disrupt meritocratic practices that alienate minoritized and economically disadvantaged students and to expand definitions of mastery and expertise in computer science education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to offer a bibliometric and coding analysis of blockchain articles published in the accounting, auditing and accountability fields. Design/methodology/approach: The data were collected using the Scopus database and a bibliometric and qualitative coding analysis with the keywords "blockchain" and "accounting" or "auditing" or "accountability." Of the 514 initial sources, 93 peer-reviewed papers, book chapters and conference proceedings in the areas of business, management and accounting were finally selected. Nonscientific sources such as nonpeer-reviewed books and white papers were excluded. Findings: This study reveals a promising and multidisciplinary field of research dominated by scholars and less by practitioners. Qualitative research, especially discourse analysis, is the most used method among authors. This study gives some useful insights about blockchain's definition and characteristics, business models, processes involved, connection with other technologies and relationships with accounting theories. Among the most interesting insights, the results confirm that technology as an external force can create an intersection among several research areas: accounting, auditing, accountability, business, management, computer science and engineering fields. Finally, in terms of research themes, although blockchain has a clear effect on auditing accounting, the links with the area of accountability are less clear and validated. Originality/value: This study highlights the current state of the field, combining methodological approaches and providing valuable future research insights. Additionally, it is also a starting point for professionals to fully understand blockchain's characteristics and potential with a constructive and systemic approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I came to the world of educational technology in the 1980s from a position as a computer science professor at a regional state university in Alabama where I had been practicing as an educational technologist without awareness that I was doing so. In the intervening years, I have come to realize the complexities and challenge of educational technology and instructional design, thanks to mentors such as Robert Gagné, David Merrill, Robert Tennyson, and many others too numerous to name. Those learning experiences were largely unplanned and happened more or less by coincidence as I left teaching computer science to become the senior scientist for instructional systems at the Air Force Human Recourses Laboratory (a.k.a. Armstrong Laboratory) in San Antonio, Texas. I have also had the pleasure of being a tenured professor at the University of Bergen, Syracuse University, Florida State University, the University of Georgia, and the University of North Texas, where I have tried to apply the lessons learned along the way. Regretfully, what I see now happening in the broad domain of educational technology is a return to the beliefs I had when I entered this field so many years ago. Those unaware of the complexities and challenges and untrained in educational technology and learning science but adept with one or more technologies believe they can apply their technology knowledge to solve any educational problem that arises. If these remarks have any benefit, it is to help those technophiles understand that the emphasis and focus in educational technology and learning science should be placed initially and primarily on the learner and not on a particular technology nor the content to be learned. Technologies come and go, and those with keep knowledge in a content domain have already indicated what can be learned in that domain. As a result of my focus on the individual learner in this paper, this will not be a typical academic research paper. Rather it will be a plea to consider what really matters -- not one's own prominence or advancement but helping others develop their own thoughts and understanding. Onward through the fog (a slogan borrowed from Oat Willie's in Austin, Texas). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a 10-year review study that focuses on the investigation of the use of computer card games (CCGs) as learning tools in Computer Science (CS) Education. Specific search terms keyed into 10 large scientific electronic databases identified 24 papers referring to the use of CCGs for the learning of CS matters during the last decade. The findings revealed that the CCGs reported by the reviewed papers were used for the learning of diverse CS issues. The motivation behind the use of the aforementioned CCGs was based on: (a) students' familiarity with the CGs at hand, so that they might focus on the construction of their simulation, (b) the fact that, the logic of CGs is suitable for the teaching of various CS concepts, and (c) CCG-play as a motivational activity to engage learners in their learning. CCGs were used in two ways: as CCG-construction context based on supportive data provided by educators, and as CCG-play educational tools. The constructivist learning approach was implied behind the design and use of most of the CCGs reported in the articles reviewed. Evaluation of some CCGs also provided positive results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There can be many reasons why students fail to answer correctly to summative tests in advanced computer science courses: often the cause is a lack of prerequisites or misconceptions about topics presented in previous courses. One of the ITiCSE 2020 working groups investigated the possibility of designing assessments suitable for differentiating between fragilities in prerequisites (in particular, knowledge and skills related to introductory programming courses) and advanced topics. This paper reports on an empirical evaluation of an instrument focusing on data structures, among those proposed by the ITiCSE working group. The evaluation aimed at understanding what fragile knowledge and skills the instrument is actually able to detect and to what extent it is able to differentiate them. Our results support that the instrument is able to distinguish between some specific fragilities (e.g., value vs. reference semantics), but not all of those claimed in the original report. In addition, our findings highlight the role of relevant skills at a level between prerequisite and advanced skills, such as program comprehension and reasoning about constraints. We also suggest ways to improve the questions in the instrument, both by improving the distractors of the multiple-choice questions, and by slightly changing the content or phrasing of the questions. We argue that these improvements will increase the effectiveness of the instrument in assessing prerequisites as a whole, but also to pinpoint specific fragilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Popular discourses of computing and computer science can often frame the sector and the people within it as highly intelligent yet socially challenged, contributing to stereotypes that can potentially exclude those perceived to lack these skills or characteristics. For young people, such stereotypes can influence their educational and career aspirations, especially if there are discrepancies between their own identity and perceptions of what is desirable for computer science students. Drawing on open-ended questionnaire data from 3235 young people in England (aged 11–16), we collected 9442 keywords that students used to describe their “ideal student” in computer science education. An understanding of these perceptions allows us to recognise the prevailing stereotypes that may be shaping young people’s views and aspirations. In this paper, we employ an innovative large-scale descriptive analysis of the most common words that students use to describe the ideal computer science student, including its differences, if any, by students’ demographic background (e.g. gender, ethnicity, free school meal) and responses to the questionnaire (e.g. aspirations to be a computer scientist). We tentatively identified eight clusters of popular ideal student characteristics, namely being Smart & Clever; Knowledgeable & Interested; Determined & Hardworking; Kind & Helpful; Creative; Independent; Confident; and Collaborative. By examining how students imagine the ideal student in computer science, we gain better understanding of their educational aspirations and choice of study and provide educators with valuable insights to potentially challenge and reshape these perceptions. These insights can inform educational interventions to foster a more inclusive computing education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Education 4.0 is a recently introduced concept focused on innovation, novelty, use of technology and connections with employment and industry. In particular, in engineering disciplines like computer science (CS) it is essential that educators keep up to date with industry developments. Indeed, how CS educators effectively design and implement innovative teaching and learning deserves more systematic attention. This study aims to catalogue and synthesise learning design approaches to teaching and learning within CS: (1) Which innovative pedagogic approaches are used in teaching of CS? (2) Which approaches align with Education 4.0? (3) What skills and competences do educators require to align CS teaching with Education 4.0? Our systematic literature review (SLR) included CS papers published between 2016 and 2020. Two hundred and thirty‐one studies were identified of which 66 were included in the final phase, which were coded by a multidisciplinary team. The findings indicated that many CS educators included Education 4.0 learning design elements. We found a clear distinctive three‐cluster solution: (1) EDU4 light, (2) project‐based/hands‐on learning and (3) full EDU4 (refer to Reference [7] conceptualisation, while Education 4.0 refers to our own definition [Reference 71]. These findings suggest three broad flavours when designing innovative CS practices, which might help educators align their practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introducing computational thinking at elementary school can develop students' capabilities and interest in Computing skills. In this study, we introduced the Computer Science unplugged (CS-unplugged) technique in Pakistan. We use paper-based activities to equip students with basic Computer Science skills without introducing any programming language. This study contributes twofold: First, we report the impact of CS-Unplugged training on more than 350 elementary students. The empirical study reveals that the students perform better in solving problems after unplugged training. Improved results in the post-training activity support this impact. Second, we applied machine learning to predict students' performance. We employed different supervised machine learning algorithms to predict the students' performance. Our results indicate that the Logistic regression-based model can predict the positive response of the student with a 0.91 receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC curve). This pilot study results encourage introducing unplugged techniques at elementary schools in third-world countries. The goal is to have minimal changes in infrastructure and focus on better student learning. In the future, we plan to introduce more unplugged problem-solving techniques to elementary students by providing little training to the science or math teacher. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to study the blockchain concept domain in the computer science field due to bibliometric study. Authors employed bibliometric and network analysis techniques to analyze existing literature. In total, 719 articles in the period of 2019 to August 2023 from the Web of Science (WOS) database were analyzed after applying search string, and criteria for inclusion and exclusion. Initial data screening involved the extraction of fundamental information, followed by data analysis based on co-occurrence, bibliographic coupling, and citation using special program software VOSviewer and R program. research areas "compute science" and "engineering". In addition to that, VOSviewer and R-based tools illustrate the application of text mining involves utilizing computational techniques to extract, analyze, and represent the key concepts and relationships within the field of blockchain technology. Data analysis primarily involved co-occurrence analysis, bibliographic coupling, co-authorship examination, citation analysis, and co-citation analysis. In the context of a blockchain concept thematic analysis, was applied clustering by coupling. Furthermore, it was conducted the thematic analysis to scrutinize the content of prior studies in the computer science field using clustering by coupling. Ranking of the authors, organizations, and countries was applied according to total link strength metric which was used to quantify the overall strength of connections between nodes within a network. Besides, citation analysis has also been conducted to assess the articles' ranking, considering both worldwide and localized citations. Bibliometric results indicate blockchain concepts within such thematic frameworks as access control scheme, identity management system, supply chain management, artificial intelligence integration, blockchain technology applications, and blockchain smart contract. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computer Science and programming courses are generally considered to be difficult, particularly for students in the first year of a third-level course. As such, it is an important role to support these students as they begin their education in order to better cement their learning, and to reduce drop-out rates and other early issues. In Ireland, many third-level institutions offer additional dedicated supports to their Computer Science and programming students to augment the traditional lectures, tutorials, and laboratory sessions. This paper provides a review of the current state of Computer Science Support in Ireland. It features case studies from a sample of six third-level institutions, with authors from each institution detailing the support services they offer to their students. A survey was also sent to all third-level institutions in Ireland, asking for feedback about their support services (or lack thereof). Fifteen responses were received from institutions who provide additional supports (no responses were received from institutions without). From the results of this survey, and the authors' personal perspectives and experience, recommendations will be made for those looking to develop their own support services, or to improve upon existing ones. Some of the key findings from this survey are that most supports in Ireland come in the form of dedicated tutors or support centres, more support is offered on average earlier in undergraduate degrees and that most respondents agree that we need to support novice programmers. Some of the recommendations include all institutions offering some form of support service, offering it as a free service and ensuring all ability levels are catered for. Advertising the service appropriately is also important. It is the correct time to undertake such a review due to the continued growth of Computer Science as a subject, not only at third level, but now also at second level with the introduction of Computer Science to the Leaving Certificate options. Further work is ongoing in this area, with both a national group setup and an annual workshop planned to enter its second iteration in 2022. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to evaluate the impact of using augmented reality, gamification, and serious games in computer science education. The study presents the development process of an educational mobile application, describes an experiment that was conducted and involved 117 higher education students, and analyzes the results of a 49-item paper-based questionnaire. In total, 8 research questions were explored. The results of the study revealed that several educational benefits can be yielded when integrating such applications in teaching and learning activities and actively involving students in the design and development process. In particular, the application was assessed as an effective learning tool that could enrich and improve the educational process and create interactive, inclusive, and student-centered learning environments. Its use led mostly to positive effects and experiences while maintaining the negative ones to a minimum and most students expressed positive emotions. Students were able to learn in a more enjoyable and interesting manner, and their motivation, engagement, self-efficacy, and immersion were greatly increased. Students' innate need for autonomy, competence, and relatedness was satisfactorily met and both their intrinsic and extrinsic learning motivations were triggered. They felt a sense of belonging and cultivated their social skills. The potential of the application to improve students' knowledge acquisition and academic achievements was also observed. The application also enabled students to improve their computational thinking and critical thinking skills. Therefore, the potential of combining augmented reality, gamification, and serious games to enhance students' cognitive and social–emotional development was highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper proposes a novel index to classify how well UK Computer Science courses articulate cybersecurity-related content through their course/module pages. The aim of this work is to raise awareness among British Universities to pay more attention to include and standardize cybersecurity content in computer science courses. Our results show that 80% of analyzed courses scored 1 or 2-stars on a 5-Stars scale. The results also suggest the need for a formal delivery of cybersecurity content from the first year of the courses and possibly in a collaborative manner with the British Computer Society (BCS). To emphasize cybersecurity education in mitigating security lapses, the analogy is: it is better if most people know how to use a match than to train many fire-fighters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Outcome-Based Education (OBE) is the most prominent method for teachers to improve student learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, however, achieving OBE in an online learning environment is a challenging task for teachers. In India, the ability to implement OBE with limited online resources is crucial. Major online learning platforms such as Google Classroom, Zoom and Microsoft Teams are preferred by many universities. The goal of this paper is to analyze the results of OBE implementation during COVID-19 lockdown. OBJECTIVES: In lockdown difficult implement OBE, educational institutions has no maintenance cost, but it impacts various health conditions of learners and teachers. In online learning, the maximum workload of teachers and learners are spending with electric gadgets that affect the physical body, vital body, and mental body. Computer science students utilize online learning tools adopted through online platforms. METHODS: We introduced a new Teaching-Learning (T-L) pedagogy for students and teachers who adopted the online TL process, the new pedagogy is aimed at providing an algorithmic approach to implementing OBE in an online learning environment. It is an effective methodology on Program Specific Outcomes (PSO) and Course Outcome (CO) mapping functionality. RESULTS: It described the online T-L platform achieved through the OBE had been proved on MATLAB software, the Course Outcomes (CO) and the Program Outcomes (PO) attainment through integrated OBE (iOBE) software. The survey of three institutions is recommended 90% (percentage obtained by the learners' positive rate subtracted with negative rate divides by total number of learners) positive rate of the learners and they recommended through online T-L Methodology. CONCLUSION: The survey responses have shown how an online learning environment has provided more flexibility to computer science students. The three institutions survey also demonstrated how online learning is an effective T-L platform. The attainment of CO-PO mapping has been updated from time to time by using iOBE5.2 software, as per the given methodology more than 85% of learners agreed through the online T-L tool is an effective and the demand computer science education increased during the COVID-19 lockdown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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"Support Centres" are a form of intervention, particularly prevalent in Ireland and the UK through which undergraduate students interact with one or more tutors who help them with their studies. They primarily exist in the Mathematics and Computer Science fields. These centres tend to be remedial, in general aiming to improve the knowledge of struggling students, while also offering additional material to students looking for more of a challenge. The Computer Science Centre at Maynooth University is a drop-in tutoring service which provides free tutoring to students, primarily of programming modules, in the first and second year of their degree. This service has been running in our Computer Science department since 2012. In the 2019-2020 academic year, two full time tutors were hired to refocus and improve the centre. This resulted in the creation of a redevelopment plan and relaunch of the centre, which will be presented in this paper. The results of this redevelopment were very promising with the attendance of the centre increasing by over 800% compared to the 2018-2019 academic year. The students who did attend the centre also performed better on average than those students who did not attend the centre in their first-year undergraduate programming modules. An analysis of data relating to students visits to the centre will be presented and discussed. This paper discusses in detail the redevelopment within the centre and the work carried out by these tutors in their first year, while also presenting future plans for the centre. Guidelines are presented on managing an effective support centre (through our redevelopment plan and support methods), with the hope that more institutions in both Ireland and abroad will consider supporting their students with this methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Computer Science (CS) subject is currently being rolled out nationally into upper second level education in Ireland since September 2018 on a phased basis. The first cohort of students from phase 1 of the subjects' national rollout completed the first ever Computer Science Leaving Certificate examination in June 2020. This addition to computer science education (CSE) in Ireland now offers students an opportunity to attain a formal qualification in CS prior to entering tertiary education. Irish higher education (HE) institutions will now begin to see a change in student intake on their undergraduate CS programmes, where 'LCCS students' might enrol in first year alongside students who do not have the same level of prior knowledge in the discipline. This qualitative study explores CS lecturers' perceptions of the Leaving Certificate Computer Science (LCCS) curriculum and its influence on teaching in HE through semi-structured interviews. Thematic analysis of the interview transcripts identified five key themes. The paper draws attention to aspects which may provide HE policy makers, heads of computer science departments and lecturers with greater insight into the realities of this addition of CS to the Leaving Certificate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teaching Computer Science in all level of education is not easy, because most students are scared of the programming. Therefore, most of the teachers in Slovak schools prefer to teach special software for a spreadsheet editor, presentation programs, etc. This contribution deals with our experience of using an educational board BBC micro:bit in the educational process. We will explain some of our prepared tasks for teaching programming concepts, which we used for teaching with BBC micro:bit in primary, secondary schools, and university. In the article, we will also focus on various types of extensions, which could be used together with micro:bit. We will explain the results of our research and look at whether using BBC micro:bit can increase the student's motivation for learning programming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increasing need for the incorporation of computer science (CS) concepts into elementary and secondary education, it is imperative that the teaching workforce is adequately prepared to ensure that instruction in CS is robust, relevant, and aligned with appropriate learning standards, where appropriate. This paper shares results from a recent survey administered to current computer science educators across the K-12 space in the state of New Jersey. Using these results and recent literature, this research distills actionable, assessed needs to guide the provision of professional learning to ensure that educators have the necessary tools and knowledge to ensure robust and equitable implementation of computer science education. Results point towards a need to expand the present understanding of computer science by effectively differentiating CS from technology-based instruction and addressing an overrepresentation of analytical content domains, reaffirm a commitment to equity by acknowledging the persistent gaps in participation of marginalized student groups, and critically examine when and where the use of technology is necessary in delivering CS instruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Database technology affects many disciplines beyond computer science and business. This paper describes two animations developed with images and color that visually and dynamically introduce fundamental relational database concepts and querying to students of many majors. The goal is for educators in diverse academic disciplines to incorporate the animations in their existing courses in order to meet their pedagogical needs. The introduction of the animations was assessed and evaluated within several contexts, including non-majors courses offered by computer scientists as well as a course on computational molecular biology. The evaluation indicated that student knowledge of fundamental database concepts improved significantly with the use of the courseware. The animations provide visual learners with an engaging method to learn the topics presented with the ability to replay the dynamic presentation. Overall, the evaluation indicates the accessibility of database topics across the disciplines as well as the specific concepts that need further elaboration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Digital learning has become a global trend. Partly or fully automatic learning systems are integrated into education in schools and universities on a previously unseen scale. Learning systems have a lot of potential for re-education, life-long learning and for increasing access to educational resources. Learning systems create massive amounts of data about learning behaviour. Analysing that data for educational decision making has become an important track of research. The purpose of this paper is to analyse data from an intermediate-level computer science course, which was taught to 141 students in spring 2018 at University of Turku, Department of Future Technologies, Finland. Design/methodology/approach: The available variables included number of submissions, submission times, variables of groupwork and final grades. Associations between these variables were looked at to reveal patterns in students' learning behaviour. Findings: It was found that time usage differs per different grades so that students with grade 4 out of 5 used most time. Also, it was found that studying at night is connected to weaker learning outcomes than studying during daytime. Several issues in relation to groupwork were revealed. For example, associations were found between prior skills, preference for individual vs groupwork, and course learning outcomes. Research limitations/implications: The research was limited by the domain of available variables, which is a common limitation in learning analytics research. Practical implications: The practical implications include important ideas for future research and interventions in digital learning. Social implications: The importance of research on soft skills, social skills and collaboration is highlighted. Originality/value: The paper points a number of important ideas for future research. One important observation is that some research questions in learning analytics need qualitative approaches, which need to be added to the toolbox of learning analytics research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Culturally-relevant computing has been discussed as a way to promote K-12 Computer Science education and address ongoing challenges related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. What is not well understood about the practice of culturally-relevant computing, however, is how to bring together existing cultural frameworks and Computer Science curricula effectively. To help address this area, focus group interviews were conducted with ten (n = 10) in-service Computer Science teachers working in the multicultural context of Hawai'i. The focus group sessions were designed to reveal teachers' perceptions of the principles and processes involved in designing and implementing culturally-relevant CS lessons and resources. Results revealed a number of key themes, including important variations in the practitioners' philosophical and operational approaches to culturally-relevant computing. The paper ends with a detailed discussion of the findings and their implications for designers, practitioners, and researchers working in Computer Science education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current research surrounding online computer science education emphasizes the need for high-quality professional development opportunities. However, there is a gap in research in the inclusion of online computer science educators to identify needs and strategies that make the online computer science courses effective. Through a Research-to-Practice Partnership (RPP), this paper examines the instructional strategies and recommendations from online Computer Science teachers. This study seeks to better understand (1) What design, facilitation, and assessment strategies do teachers use to teach programming online? and (2) What recommendations do teachers have for those interested in teaching programming online? The feedback teachers provided during the study assisted in identifying the current needs in online AP Computer Science. The participants suggested additional ways the RPP could support teachers in strengthening their practice, which has assisted in the production of high-quality professional development to support novice teachers entering the field of Computer Science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A well-known challenge on Informatics and Computational Thinking Bebras is based on task solving activity. The Bebras model is known as one of the methods that involves students to the learning and promotes students' reasoning. The Bebras motivates students to be interested more deeply in informatics. This goal can only be reached if the tasks are interesting and provoke some excitement. The interactivity is very typical for computers, so it is clear that a computer oriented challenge / contest should apply interactive elements to solve or explain tasks. This paper presents a tool that is used to code and design dynamic Bebras tasks. The paper has two main goals: 1) to analyse tasks used to engage student's in learning informatics fundamentals, and 2) to provide a description of the tool, so-called the Bebras Lodge, and illustrate application of this tool by discussing several examples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The subject of computer science (CS) and computer science education (CSE) has relatively recently arisen as a subject for inclusion within the compulsory school curriculum. Up to this present time, a major focus of technologies in the school curriculum has in many countries been on applications of existing technologies into subject practice (both software such as office applications, and hardware such as robots and sensors). Through uses of these applications, information and communications technologies (ICT) have focused on activities to support subject and topic learning (across wide age and subject ranges). Very recently, discussions for including computers in the curriculum have shifted to a much greater focus on computing and CS, more concerned with uses of and development of programming, together with fundamental principles of problem-solving and creativity. This paper takes a policy analysis approach; it considers evidence of current implementation of CSE in school curricula, the six main arguments for wider-scale introduction of the subject, the implications for researchers, schools, teachers and learners, the state of current discussions in a range of countries, and evidence of outcomes of CSE in compulsory curricula. The paper concludes by raising key questions for the future from a policy analysis perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]