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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]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To support teachers to implement Computer Science curricula into classrooms from the very first year of school, teachers, schools and organisations seek quality curriculum resources to support implementation and teacher professional development. Until now, many Computer Science resources and outreach initiatives have targeted K-12 school-age children, with the intention to engage children and increase interest, rather than to formally teach concepts and skills. What is the educational quality of existing Computer Science resources and to what extent are they suitable for classroom learning and teaching? In this paper, an assessment framework is presented to evaluate the quality of online Computer Science resources. Further, a semi-systematic review of available online Computer Science resources was conducted to evaluate resources available for classroom learning and teaching and to identify gaps in resource availability, using the Australian curriculum as a case study analysis. The findings reveal a predominance of quality resources, however, a number of critical gaps were identified. This paper provides recommendations and guidance for the development of new and supplementary resources and future research. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Hardware-based courses in computer science studies require much effort from both students and teachers. The most important part of students' learning is attending in person and actively working on laboratory exercises on hardware equipment. This paper deals with a specific group of students, those who are marginalized by not being able to regularly attend lessons and perform the laboratory exercises. This group of “busy students” includes older students, and those who travel, are employed or are parents. In particular it describes how such students achieved impressive results in a hardware-based course by using Open Educational Resources (OER). These facilitated students' learning process and gave busy students the opportunity to organize their learning time so as to work on the hardware courses remotely from home when they had time and opportunity. The results of the evaluation show significant improvements, both in grade distribution and course throughput, after implementing the new Open Educational Resources approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we argue that the traditional syllabus of logic courses for computer science is outdated and missing its purposes, therefore contributing to the gradual relegation of logic from the computing curricula. We further provide some practical recommendations and directions that need to be considered in the adaptation of the logic course syllabi to the needs of modern computing practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Informatics or computer science (the terms informatics and computer science are used as synonyms in this paper) in Austrian secondary schools is often considered “difficult” and “not interesting” because of mainly mathematical and economical contents. But informatics is much more; it is used in almost every part of the working life and can also cooperate with every subject at school. It offers a wide range of possibilities for COOL (COoperative Open Learning), an Austrian teaching model based on the Dalton Plan that provides also cooperation between different subject matters. Besides the COOL concept this paper describes some ideas for cooperation between informatics and foreign languages at secondary schools and at University level besides just ICT (Information and Communication Technology) or computer-assisted language learning. The presented tasks are part of the project “COOL Informatics” (according to COoperative Open Learning) that aims at developing COOL teaching material based on neurodidactical (Neurodidactics is a relatively young research field that combines the findings of brain research, pedagogy, cognitive psychology and other related fields.) principles for informatics and cross-curricular cooperation from primary school up to University. On the basis of the developed material the following main research questions of the project shall be examined in the course of the next school year: (1) Can COoperative Open Learning methods help to enhance learning? (2) Can learning be enhanced by considering neurodidactical principles in the design of teaching material and in the classroom? As the first test phase of the developed material is still in progress the evaluation is not available at the moment. But the first informal feedback of a vocational school and a programming course at the University shows that it is worth fostering COoperative Open Learning and cross-curricular cooperation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Teaching larger software engineering project courses at the end of a computing curriculum is a way for students to learn some aspects of real-world jobs in industry. Such courses, often referred to as capstone courses, are effective for learning how to apply the skills they have acquired in, for example, design, test, and configuration management. However, these courses are typically performed in small teams, giving only a limited realistic perspective of problems faced when working in real companies. This paper describes an alternative approach to classic capstone projects, with the aim of being more realistic from an organizational, process, and communication perspective. This methodology, called the company approach, is described by intended learning outcomes, teaching/learning activities, and assessment tasks. The approach is implemented and evaluated in a larger Master's student course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new school subject, Leaving Certificate Computer Science, was introduced in September 2018 into Irish schools in a period of curriculum reform and change. Drawing on concepts of teacher agency and learner agency, and viewed through a figurational sociology lens, this paper explored the realities of teaching LCCS and the role teacher agency and learner agency played in such enactment. Through a case study design, four teachers were interviewed in a focus group semi-structured manner. To delve deeper into the pedagogical approaches used in LCCS, a further one teacher and their nine students were interviewed. The findings highlight an influential relationship (positive and negative, encouraging and discouraging) between teachers' agentic decisions in their process of achieving teacher agency and the students process of achieving learner agency. The paper offers a figurational viewpoint of the relationship between teacher agency and learner agency through a constructed Figure. We explicitly argue that the responsibility should not be placed on the teacher and student in achieving agency (as a product) but it is a combination of the teacher and the students and the other interdependent relationships within their figurations, alongside contextual factors, and educational social processes, which determine the fluctuation of the process of achieving teacher and learner agency. The paper provides considerations for computer science teacher education. • Explores the relationship between teacher agency and learner agency in Computer Science subject. • Uses figurational sociology to further understand the process of achieving agency. • Qualitative research study. • Considerations provided for Computer Science teacher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper outlines how Higher Education courses in Computer Science have been adapted to make positive improvements to student pass rates and retention. Introductory programming is taught to large numbers of students involving a substantial commitment of staff time. The project aimed, through team work, to develop a new shared blend of materials for teaching Java programming, a major component being a set of pedagogically rich learning objects integrated into a virtual learning environment (WebCT). Each learning object, covering one discrete topic, derives its richness through its extendable design, which can incorporate examples, simulations and animations. This pedagogic pattern maintains maximum flexibility for re-use and re-purposing for use in other courses. The new blend was introduced and evaluated in 2002-2003. Pass rates improved, and student feedback showed positive views towards the approach. Some evaluation results are presented in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the ubiquity of multimedia technology, it is important that Computer Science students not only learn the basics of multimedia design, but also gain hands-on experience with applications of the technology. This paper describes the integration of multimedia concepts and tools into a Computer Science curriculum. An NSF-sponsored Multimedia Laboratory, was established and used to support three senior-level courses: software engineering, computer graphics, and computer networks. Curriculum development activities, laboratory exercises, and the role of course projects are described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integrating computer science (CS) into school curricula has become a worldwide preoccupation. Therefore, we present a CS and Robotics integration model and its validation through a large-scale pilot study in the administrative region of the Canton Vaud in Switzerland. Approximately 350 primary school teachers followed a mandatory CS continuing professional development program (CPD) of adapted format with a curriculum scaffolded by instruction modality. This included CS Unplugged activities that aim to teach CS concepts without the use of screens, and Robotics Unplugged activities that employed physical robots, without screens, to learn about robotics and CS concepts. Teachers evaluated positively the CPD and their representation of CS improved. Voluntary adoption rates reached 97% during the CPD and 80% the following year. These results combined with the underpinning literature support the generalisability of the model to other contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some people say that undergraduates can't be prepared to participate in original research until, perhaps, their final year of study. This isn't true. Not only can all undergraduates perform original research but, where possible, they should. Toward that end, the Undergraduate Research Alliance provides a channel for faculty and students to discuss their research ideas, successes, failures, needs, and so on. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the common challenges for computer science graduates is market-oriented skills and competencies. Graduates are feeling the gap between curriculum contents and required skills of the job market. No research has been done to provide reliable information that in which extent the graduates of public universities in Kabul city of Afghanistan satisfy the industries- and job-market requirements. Our work is devoted to empirically investigate the required computer science skills and competencies in the job-market of Kabul city and academic curriculum in the public universities of Kabul city. We choose a case-study based research method to bridge the gap between academic curriculum and required job skills in the local- market and industries. The result of our study describes to what extent the current curriculum, and teaching methods reflect the required skills of the local job market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital literacy is critical to the success of both Computer Science and Information Systems majors in the 21st century. This generation of computing majors must be prepared to thrive in today's online environment, regardless of their computing major. The research took place in a large urban university. This study looks at the perceptions of these majors about their digital literacy abilities. We used a 10 item survey based on Renee Hobbs' digital framework to measure differences in perceived digital literacy between Computer Science students and Information Systems students, and between different demographics among all computing students. Our research results indicate that Computer Science students consider themselves significantly more positive in their ability to use the Internet to connect with others than do Information Systems students. In addition, Native English speaking students are significantly better able to examine the quality and credibility of content of messages and to understand the meaning of copyright compared to their non-native English speaking counterparts. Finally, female students are better able to develop multimedia creations and to reflect on their online conduct and online social responsibilities than are male students. We suggest appropriate curriculum enhancements to address these issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computational Thinking is considered a universal competence, which should be added to every child's analytical ability as a vital ingredient of their school learning. In this article we further elaborate on what Computational Thinking is and present examples of what needs to be taught and how. First we position Computational Thinking in Papert's work with LOGO. We then discuss challenges in defining Computational Thinking and discuss the core and peripheral aspects of a definition. After that we offer examples of how Computational Thinking can be addressed in both formal and informal educational settings. In the conclusion and discussion section an agenda for research and practice is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed at developing a Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game-based (MORPG) Learning system which enabled instructors to construct a game scenario and manage sharable and reusable learning content for multiple courses. It used the curriculum of "Introduction to Computer Science" as a study case to assess students' learning effectiveness on the subject of "computer network". The sample was 56 freshman students, who were randomly assigned to two groups, one of which used the game-based learning and the other one the Web-based video lectures. Furthermore, this study also conducted the System Usability Scale (SUS) to measure satisfaction, usability and learnability of the developed management system for instructors. Five instructors were invited to participate in the practical use and evaluation. The results showed that game-based learning could be exploited as effective learning environments and game design system was usable and learnable for instructors to create learning games. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This study analyses the discourse among the teacher and the students, members of three (3) small groups, who learn in the environment of a stand-alone computer. Two educational environments are examined: the first one, a 'virtual laboratory' (Virtual scale-DELYS) and the second one, a computer modeling environment (ModelsCreator). The 'Virtual Scale' environment provides users with curriculum focused feedback and in that sense it can be categorized as directive. The ModelsCreator environment provides users merely with a representation of their own conception of curriculum concepts, so it can be categorized as an open-ended environment. The goal of this research is to exemplify the way the two educational software environments support (a) the development of collective thinking in peer- and teacher-led discussion and (b) students' autonomy. The software tools of the 'Virtual scale' along with the resources provided for the problem solving created an educational framework of hypothesis testing. This framework did not limit the students' contributions by directing them to give short answers. Moreover, it supported the students' initiatives by providing tools, representations and procedures that offered educationally meaningful feedback. Based on the above results, we discuss a new educationally important structure of software mediation and describe the way the two software activities resourced collective thinking and students' initiatives. Finally, for each type of software environment, we propose certain hypotheses for future research regarding the support of collaborative problem solving. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

First-year computer science (CS1) requires students to simultaneously acquire a technical vocabulary and to develop an array of technical and communication skills. As a result, fewer than two-thirds of students typically complete the course. To improve the course success rate, this faculty-librarian collaboration developed the Learning Outcomes Assessment Matrix (LOAM). LOAM is a process that helps instructors to understand the relationships between multiple perspectives on their course: the instructional settings, learning outcomes, and the cognitive skill levels at which students engage with the material. Using LOAM, the authors explored the information literacy and communication skills necessary to demonstrate CS1 outcomes and discovered opportunities to support required non-technical skills within the course. LOAM is a practical and flexible process that supports teaching practice in any domain. In areas which require quick progression along the cognitive hierarchy or which feature complex structural relationships, LOAM can help instructors identify where the course's instructional settings do no adequately support student development. Although LOAM seeks to relate course learning outcomes to instructional settings and, if needed, to standards, it does not promote the standardization of learning outcomes, unlike related projects. Instead, LOAM facilitates the development of fertile instructional settings by helping instructors analyze the content and cognitive skills required to achieve course learning outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Project MLeXAI (Machine Learning eXperiences in Artificial Intelligence (AI)) seeks to build a set of reusable course curriculum and hands on laboratory projects for the artificial intelligence classroom. In this article, we describe two game-based projects from the second phase of project MLeXAI: Robot Defense - a simple real-time strategy game and Checkers - a classic turn-based board game. From the instructors' prospective, we examine aspects of design and implementation as well as the challenges and rewards of using the curricula. We explore students' responses to the projects via the results of a common survey. Finally, we compare the student perceptions from the game-based projects to non-game based projects from the first phase of Project MLeXAI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A national web-based survey was administered to 700 undergraduate computer science (CS) programs in the United States as part of a stratified random sample of 797 undergraduate CS programs. The 251 program responses (36% response rate) regarding social and professional issues are presented. This article describes the demographics of the respondents, presents results concerning whether programs teach social and professional issues, how social and professional issues are integrated, perceptions of CS faculty regarding the importance of social and professional issues, pedagogies used to teach social and professional issues, and what specific social and professional topics have been included in the CS curriculum. Additionally, we (a) provide suggestions for CS programs regarding the integration of social and professional issues into the CS curriculum, (b) suggest ways to encourage more social and professional coverage in CS programs, pedagogy, and (c) recommend what social and professional topics should be included in future CS curriculum reports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We explain certain learning difficulties in computer science education as resulting from a clash between the students' culture as computer users and the professional computing culture. We propose the concept of fertile zones of cultural encounter as a way of overcoming these learning difficulties. This pedagogical approach aims to bridge the gap between cultures by designing interventions that are appreciated by members of both cultures, yet also guide the student to engage in the practices of the professional culture. The learning difficulties are demonstrated by a detailed analysis of episodes taken from an advanced high school computer science course in concurrency. We show that fertile zones of cultural encounter can be successful in significantly improving learning of this subject. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The diversity and interdisciplinarity of computer science and the multiplicity of its uses in other sciences make it hard to define computer science and to prescribe how computer science should be carried out. The diversity of computer science also causes friction between computer scientists from different branches. Computer science curricula, as they stand, have been criticized for being unable to offer computer scientists proper methodological training or a deep understanding of different research traditions. At the Department of Computer Science and Statistics at the University of Joensuu we decided to include in our curriculum a course that offers our students an awareness of epistemological and methodological issues in computer science, and we wanted to design the course to be meaningful for practicing computer scientists. In this article the needs and aims of our course on the philosophy of computer science are discussed, and the structure and arrangements--the whys, whats, and hows--of that course are explained. The course, which is given entirely on-line, was designed for advanced graduate or postgraduate computer science students from two Finnish universities: the University of Joensuu and the University of Kuopio. The course has four relatively broad themes, and all those themes are tied to the students' everyday work or their own research topics. I have prepared course readings about each of those four themes. The course readings describe, in a compact and simple form, the cruces of the topics that are discussed in the course. The electronic version of the course readings includes hyperlinks to a large number of articles that are available on-line. The course readings are publicly available on the course home page, and they are licensed under the creative commons license. The first theme in the course is centered around a fundamental question--What is computer science? Students are introduced to the disciplinary history of computer science, to a number of characterizations of computer science made by the pioneers of the discipline, and to some methodological and epistemological viewpoints on computer science. The second theme is centered around the question--What is science? Students are introduced to, for instance, the concepts of pure and applied science, "hard" and "soft" sciences, the aims of science, the scientific method, scientific reasoning, the formation of scientific concepts and theories, and the Science Wars. The third theme concerns the division of computer science into its theoretical, engineering, and empirical traditions. The lecture notes introduce the students to descriptions of computer science that emphasize the mathematical tradition over other traditions and to descriptions that emphasize engineering or empirical traditions. The fourth theme is the philosophy of science. Throughout the course terminology of the philosophy of science is used, and the students are introduced to a number of central issues in the philosophy of science, to some of the most notable schools in the philosophy of science, and to some critical views of science. This course is aimed at providing a broad understanding of the different traditions of computer science, of the methodological differences between the branches of computer science, of the strengths and limitations of the different traditions in computer science, and of how the philosophy of science can be of help to computer scientists. In the course, critical reading and well-argumented writing are encouraged. The students learn that there are many problems that do not have clear-cut answers; they learn that there are many open problems where multiple incompatible, yet credible viewpoints can be defended. The students also learn to articulate their own positions, to defend those positions, to comment and criticize other positions, and to reflect and rethink their positions according to criticism. The students also get the chance to think about the intellectual foundations of their own work and their own research studies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

There is a clear call for pre-collegiate students in the United States to become literate in computer science (CS) concepts and practices through integrated, authentic experiences and instruction. Yet, a majority of in-service and pre-service pre-collegiate teachers (instructing children aged five to 18) lack the fundamental skills and self-efficacy to adequately and effectively integrate CS into existing curricula. In this study, 30 pre-collegiate teachers who represent a wide band of experience, grade-levels, and prior CS familiarity participated in a 16-day professional development (PD) course to enhance their content knowledge and self-efficacy in integrating CS into existing lessons and curricula. Using both qualitative and quantitative methodology, a social constructivist approach guided the researchers in the development of the PD, as well as the data collection and analysis on teacher content knowledge and perceptions through a mixed-methods study. Ultimately, participants were introduced to CS concepts and practices through NetLogo, which is a popular multi-agent simulator. The results show that although the pre-collegiate teachers adopted CS instruction, the CS implementation within their curricula was limited to the activities and scope of the PD with few adaptations and minimal systemic change in implementation behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computational science is a challenging subject, yet the sense of accomplishment students can gain by meeting the field's many intellectual challeng es can help them succeed in school and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]