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Globally, student retention is a concern in computer science (CS) study programmes. Using a qualitative longitudinal case study, this research explores how psychological capital (PsyCap) and its factors: self-efficacy, optimism, hope and resilience influence first-year computer science students' experiences and retention from a threshold concepts (TC) perspective. The longitudinal case study contained three rounds of semi-structured interviews that were conducted with a group of 16 first-year computer science students from a Dutch university of applied sciences. The aim was to gain insights into their PsyCap and experiences in relation to student retention. In each interview round a different graphic elicitation method was applied, both as an interview stimulus and as an additional data source. Meyer and Land's TC (2006c) provided an overarching framework to enable comparisons between the participants' PsyCap and their experiences. The findings report on what I refer to as troublesome experiences of participants, which are a combination of troublesome knowledge (Perkins, 1999), skills and emotions, that relate mainly to students' academic integration. In navigating liminality across TC, the identified participant groups: leavers, persisters and stayers reached different levels of success in crossing thresholds, leading to differences in their transformation towards becoming a CS student and potentially a (future) computer scientist. Findings reveal that the affective elements of the troublesome experiences influenced the participants' psychological capital and vice versa. The interplay between individual factors, self-efficacy, hope and resilience appeared important in the participants' retention, with hope being the main driver. The findings led to the development of an explanatory model for transition to higher education from a TC perspective. This research showed that many personal and academic variables influence participants' troublesome experiences and these experiences influence their efforts to navigate liminality. Fostering the development of self-efficacy, hope and resilience in students could improve their transformation into successful computer science students.

The current study was developed to research the learning approaches (deep versus surface) used by two diverse entry pathways’ (diploma versus A-Level) students studying computing degree programmes, and to examine the relationship between their academic performance and approaches to learning within the context of a private education institution (PEI) in Singapore. In this study, the epistemological and methodological position was grounded in the pragmatic paradigm of mixed methods which combines both quantitative and qualitative methods. A theoretical model based on Biggs, Kember, and Leung’s (2001) 3P (presage-process-product) model of teaching and learning was used to investigate the interrelationships among entry pathways (presage), approaches to learning (process), and academic performance (product). This study applied an embedded design, whereby the qualitative study was embedded within a larger quantitative sample. The group qualitative interview data complemented the quantitative results by providing rich insights into the quantitative results obtained. Both data sets were subsequently merged to examine the research questions (RQs). The Biggs et al.’s (2001) Revised Two Factor Study Process Questionnaire (R-SPQ-2F) was used to collect data from 415 students. Data analysis was performed through the use of descriptive and inferential statistics using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24. The mixed methods results of the study showed that (1) the entry pathway and gender do not have significant effects on the learning approaches adopted by the students; (2) there was an association between age and students’ approaches to learning (SAL) in terms of the deep approach (DA) scores and deep motive (DM) scores; (3) there were significant differences in SAL in terms of the scales and subscales of R-SPQ-2F between different years of study; (4) SAL did not predict their academic performance; and (5) DA to learning is the more dominant learning approach regardless of student characteristics. Finally, the interaction effects of entry pathway and learning approaches adopted by computing undergraduates were not significant, therefore, indicating that the effect of learning approaches on academic performance did not depend on the entry pathway. However, the findings of the study indicated a statistically significant relationship between entry pathway and academic performance, where students with A-Level entry pathway performed better compared to the students with the polytechnic entry pathway. The study recommended that further investigation could be done using a longitudinal study. Such a study should examine whether the approaches to learning of computing students change over time as they go through their tertiary education.

Introductory undergraduate computer programming courses are renowned for higher than average failure and withdrawal rates when compared to other subject areas. The closer partnership between higher education and the rapidly expanding digital technology industry, as demonstrated by the establishment of new Degree Apprenticeships in computer science and digital technologies, requires efficient and effective means for teaching programming skills. This research, therefore, aimed to identify reliable predictors of success in learning programming or vulnerability to failure. The research also aimed to evaluate teaching methods and remedial interventions towards recommending a teaching model that supported and engaged learners in contemporary contexts that were relevant to the workplace. Investigation of qualifications designed to prepare students for undergraduate computer science courses revealed that A-level entrants achieved significantly higher programming grades than BTEC students. However, there was little difference between the grades of those with and those without previous qualifications in computing or ICT subjects. Analysis of engagement metrics revealed a strong correlation between extent of co-operation and programming grade, in contrast to a weak correlation between programming grade and code understanding. Further analysis of video recordings, interviews and observational records distinguished between the type of communication that helped peers comprehend tasks and concepts, and other forms of communication that were only concerned with completing tasks. Following the introduction of periodic assessment, essentially converting a single final assessment to three staged summative assessment points, it was found that failing students often pass only one of the three assignment parts. Furthermore, only 10% of those who failed overall had attempted all three assignments. Reasons for failure were attributed to ‘surface’ motivations (such as regulating efforts to achieve a minimum pass of 40%), ineffective working habits or stressful personal circumstances rather than any fundamental difficulty encountered with subject material. A key contribution to pedagogical practice made by this research is to propose an ‘incremental’ teaching model. This model is informed by educational theory and empirical evidence and comprises short cycles of three activities: presenting new topic information, tasking students with a relevant exercise and then demonstrating and discussing the exercise solution. The effectiveness of this model is evidenced by increased engagement, increased quiz scores at the end of each teaching session and increased retention of code knowledge at the end of the course.

This study investigates characteristics related to learning programming for gifted first year computer science students. These characteristics include mental representations, knowledge representations, coding strategies, and attitudes and personality traits. This study was motivated by developing a theoretical framework to define giftedness in programming. In doing so, it aims to close the gap between gifted education and computer science education, allowing gifted programmers to be supported. Previous studies indicated a lack of theoretical foundation of gifted education in computer science, especially for identifying gifted programmers, which may have resulted in identification process concerns and/or inappropriate support. The study starts by investigating the relationship between mathematics and programming. We collected 3060 records of raw data of students' grades from 1996 to 2015. Descriptive statistics and the Pearson product-moment correlation test were used for the analysis. The results indicate a statistically significant positive correlation between mathematics and programming in general and between specific mathematics and programming modules. The study evolves to investigate other programming-related characteristics using case study methodology and collecting quantitative and qualitative data. A sample of n=9 cases of gifted students was selected and was interviewed. In addition, we collected the students' grades, code-writing problems and project (Witter) source codes and analysed these data using specific analysis procedures according to each method. The results indicate that gifted student programmers might possess a single or multiple characteristics that have large overlaps. We introduced a model to define giftedness in programming that consists of three profiles: mathematical ability, creativity and personal traits, and each profile consists of sub-characteristics.

This thesis concerns a longitudinal study of the practice of Live Peer Assessment on two University courses in Computer Science. By Live Peer Assessment I mean a practice of whole-class collective marking using electronic devices of student artefacts demonstrated in a class or lecture theatre with instantaneous aggregated results displayed on screen immediately after each grading decision. This is radically different from historical peer-assessment in universities which has primarily been asynchronous process of marking of students' work by small subsets of the cohort (e.g. 1 student artefact is marked by < 3 fellow students). Live Peer Assessment takes place in public, is marked by (as far as practically possible) the whole cohort, and results are instantaneous. This study observes this practice, first on a level 4 course in E-Media Design where students' main assignment is a multimedia CV (or resume) and secondly on a level 7 course in Multimedia Specification Design and Production where students produce a multimedia information artefact in both prototype and final versions. In both cases, students learned about these assignments from reviewing works done by previous students in Live Peer Evaluation events where they were asked to collectively publicly mark those works according to the same rubrics that the tutors would be using. In this level 4 course, this was used to help students get a better understanding of the marks criteria. In the level 7 course, this goal was also pursued, but was also used for the peer marking of students' own work. Among the major findings of this study are: • In the level 4 course student attainment in the final assessment improved on average by 13% over 4 iterations of the course, with very marked increase among students in the lower percentiles • The effectiveness of Live Peer Assessment in improving student work comes from o Raising the profile of the marking rubric o Establishing a repertoire of example work o Modelling the 'noticing' of salient features (of quality or defect) enabling students to self-monitor more effectively • In the major accepted measure of peer-assessment reliability (correlation between student awarded marks and tutor awarded marks) Live Peer Assessment is superior to traditional peer assessment. That is to say, students mark more like tutors when using Live Peer Assessment • In the second major measure (effect-size) which calculates if students are more strict or generous than tutors, (where the ideal would be no difference), Live Peer Assessment is broadly comparable with traditional peer assessment but this is susceptible to the conditions under which it takes place • The reason for the better greater alignment of student and tutor marks comes from the training sessions but also from the public nature of the marking where individuals can compare their marking practice with that of the rest of the class on a criterion by criterion basis • New measures proposed in this thesis to measure the health of peer assessment events comprise: Krippendorf's Alpha, Magin's Reciprocity Matrix, the median pairwise tutor student marks correlation, the Skewness and Kurtosis of the distribution of pairwise tutor student marking correlations • Recommendations for practice comprise that: o summative peer assessment should not take place under conditions of anonymity but that very light conditions of marking competence should be enforced on student markers (e.g. > 0.2 correlation between individual student marking and that of tutors) o That rubrics can be more suggestive and colloquial in the conditions of Live Peer Assessment because the marking criteria can be instantiated in specific examples of student attainment and therefore the criteria may be less legalistically drafted because a more holistic understanding of quality can be communicated.

This research project focuses on the design, development and implementation of a blended learning strategy at the Faculty of Science in Omar Al-Mukhtar University, Libya. The researcher's experience as a lecturer in Computer Science within this university represents a valuable asset which has enabled her to carry out this research project in an effective manner by demonstrating how technological innovation changes the way that universities teach and students learn. The implementation of a blended learning approach in the Computer Science course has enabled students to experience better learning outside of the classroom, and increased lecturers' availability during taught sessions by combining the advantages of digital and in-person pedagogies. Initially, the structure and characteristics of the Computer Science course are presented alongside the aims, objectives and research questions for this thesis. Then, the conclusions of the literature review, which is related to the theory of teaching and learning, School Based Learning (SBL), Lab Based Learning (LBL), e-learning and blended learning, are described. The assessment of these sources brings to light the powerful connections between lab-based learning, the use of technology for the procedures of teaching and learning, theories and paradigms of learning and structures of information quality. The three questionnaires used in this research project were designed by considering aspects of reliability, validity, bias and triangulation. The results of quantitative and qualitative analysis of the responses have been used to formulate the blended learning approach and to design and evaluate the e-learning package. The quantitative analysis used a statistical technique, while the qualitative analysis was achieved by looking at the answers to open-ended questions. Questionnaire 1 was completed by lecturers and lab instructors in order to identify the skills gap between SBL and LBL. Questionnaire 2 was completed by students in order to determine their preferred learning styles for lab classes. The conclusions from the quantitative and qualitative analysis of the responses were used to design both the LBL skills model and the blended learning approach, whereby students receive theoretical explanations during lectures and then are asked to solve exercises from and e-learning package before attending the face-to-face lab sessions. The design, development and implementation of the e-learning package was achieved by using a user-centred approach comprising the following phases: user analysis, structure and representation, knowledge and communication analysis, and interface and navigation design. Case study 1 contained theoretical concepts and exercises related to the design of a website using the attributes and main elements of HTML coding. Case study 2 included exercises associated with the design of a simple website using Dreamweaver software and enabling the development of students' 'soft skills', including communication skills and decision-making. Other exercises provided an introduction to methods of improving the look of web pages with a one or two column layout. Case study 3 aimed to enable feasible collaborative learning in groups, in which students developed and designed websites by using HTML links, images, headers and paragraphs. Questionnaire 3 was completed by both students and lecturers to provide an evaluation of the e-learning package using the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). The conclusions from analysis of the responses provided were used to formulate a set of recommendations for the design of blended learning strategy in the Faculty of Science at Omar Al-Mukhtar University, Libya.

The massive advances in information and communication technology (ICT), in the last few decades, encouraged many developed and developing countries to invest in the ICT sector in education. The internet, computers, interactive whiteboards and an assortment of other technological tools have now turned out to be valuable teaching and learning resources. Saudi Arabia is not in isolation from this, they have invested heavily in the ICT field. However, the progression has often been disappointing; there is still a great gap between the availability of ICT technology and methods of implementation, resulting in a number of serious questions being raised for decision-makers and educators alike. One of the most important of these questions is 'what factors affect the successful implementation of ICT in schools’. Hence, the importance of this study is to find an answer to this question and related questions from the participants' perspective. Consequently, the research issue is addressed through a cross-sectional case study strategy, qualitative and quantitative mixed-method choices. In addition, a closed questionnaire and semi-structured interviews were used to collect data from four different perspectives (head teachers, teachers, students in Jeddah secondary school and two ICT directors in Saudi Ministry of Education). Generally, the results showed that ICT was perceived as an important tool in improving performance, collaboration, learning experience and learning outcomes. However, the study found some challenges that affect the application of ICT in Saudi schools, for example, the lack of space, resources, maintenance, a lack of ICT skills among school along with a lack in ICT training and a lack of clear ICT policies. However, the overcoming of such challenges could turn them from ‘challenges ‘into ‘positive factors’ to aid in the success of ICT implementation. Hence, the importance of this research is to suggest a strategic approach to guide decision-makers, educators and further studies in the future to promote the successful implementation of ICT in education, in general, and in Saudi secondary schools in particular.

This dissertation describes an authoring environment, called IWE, which allows a teacher to develop computer-based interactive worked examples without bespoke programming. The focus is on worked examples that involve transforming one representation into another using judgments not algorithms or rules. The worked examples created are all drawn from Computing Science; for example, transforming a requirements specification into an entity-relationship diagram. Teachers model the problem-solving process as a sequence of steps demonstrating how the problem is translated step-by-step into a solution, explaining the decision-making in each step. They can incorporate questions within the examples to increase student engagement and encourage students to do active thinking. Students interact with the transformation process at their own pace to obtain experience of problem-solving. Teachers are able to evolve the examples based on feedback from students and usage data from the system. A review of educational literature identified the best practice guidelines for designing and presenting effective worked examples for novices and faded worked examples for intermediate learners. These guidelines informed the essential requirements of IWE. A prototype authoring environment was designed, implemented and evaluated. Educational literature also recommends using worked examples combined with practice of problem solving. A field study was conducted applying these recommendations to evaluate the usability of IWE. Evaluations were carried out with teachers to assess their ability to create and modify interactive worked examples while the teaching of their courses was in progress. Evaluations were also carried out with students to assess the usability of IWE. The main conclusion of this research, based on analysis of the evaluations, is that the prototype of IWE is useable by both teachers and students. It allows teachers to create interactive worked examples following best practice and evolve existing examples on the basis of feedback. It allows students to use interactive worked examples independently following best practice. Finally, the dissertation identifies some possibilities for widening the scope of this research.

This research targeted complex abstract concepts in Computer Science and focused on bringing about the visualisation of such concepts using virtual world technologies. The research proposed the use of virtual world elements to support the understanding and learning of six computer science subjects having difficult theory concepts at the Higher Education level. The researcher decided to choose Higher Education as the platform for this research, due to the significant need to understand and learn complex abstract concepts of Computer Science at this level. The framework of the research is Higher Education within Further Education, which was chosen for its challenging nature with regards to students’ background and the level of additional support required for their success. The Second Life virtual world was selected and utilised to build purposely designed and scripted scenarios to empower the visualisation of complex theory concepts of the selected computer science subjects. These scenarios were embedded, in a predetermined order, within the curriculum delivery of a number of selected Computer Science modules from a Foundation Degree and a BSc (Hons) in Computing Programmes in a FE college in England. The research activities were carried out in two academic years, 2012/2013 and 2013/2014, in order to involve more students and obtain additional data to effectively, and more accurately, answer the research questions. The research aimed at identifying the extent to which using virtual world technologies to visualise difficult theory concepts in Computer Science subjects, might enhance students' learning and achievement. The research outcomes provided positive answers to the four research questions, which pursued the extent to which the visualisation of such concepts using Second life virtual world might, 1) facilitate students’ understanding of the complex abstract concepts in their HE Computer Science subjects, 2) increase students’ engagement in their HE Computer Science sessions, 3) enhance affective quality (to include elements such as appeal, enjoyment, interest and appreciation), and 4) improve student’s achievement (i.e. grades) in the targeted modules. In answer to these questions, the research outcomes showed that subject difficulty was reduced by 25% and around three quarters of students acknowledged enhanced learning in the virtual environment. Seventy percent of students acknowledged becoming more engaged in their study sessions that were carried out in virtual worlds, and more than three quarters of students acknowledged enhanced affective quality. Finally, around 85% of the modules covered by the research witnessed improved students’ achievement (i.e. higher grades). The researcher explained potential use, advantages and limitations of employing Second Life in Higher Education in general and HE Computer Science in particular, and provided recommendations to academic institutions that are interested in applying such virtual world technologies to overcome the challenges involved.

The work presented in this thesis is motivated by the need to develop practical guidelines to inform the pedagogical design of learning objects and the instructional contexts in which they are used. The difficulty is that there is no standard definition for pedagogical design or appropriate guidelines, in contrast with technical guidelines. Researchers and academic practitioners hold different understandings of the pedagogical values in the design of learning objects that determine their quality and effectiveness as educational software. Traditionally, empirical studies for the evaluation of learning objects gather rating data from the main consumers (i.e. instructional designers, teachers, and students) to assess a variety of design aspects. In this research, it is argues that, in order to evaluate and improve pedagogical design, valuable information can be extracted by analysing existing differences between students and how they use learning objects in real instructional contexts. Given this scenario, investigating the pedagogical aspects of the design of learning objects and how the study of students' behaviour with them can serve to inform such design became the main research interest of this thesis. The exploratory research presents a review of standard technical guidelines and seven evaluation frameworks for learning objects that emerged in the period from 2000 to 2013, revealing a wide spectrum of criteria used to assess their quality and effectiveness. The review explores the advantages and faults of well-known methodologies and instruments for the evaluation of learning materials and presents a selection of 12 pedagogical attributes of design, with a detailed analysis of their meanings and implications for the development of learning objects. The 12 pedagogical attributes of design are: Learning Objective, Integration, Context, Multimedia Richness, Previous Knowledge, Support, Feedback, Self-direction, Interactivity, Navigation, Assessment, and Alignment. The empirical research is based on two case studies where blended learning techniques are used as a new teaching approach for first-year Computer Programming courses at the Austral University of Chile. A virtual learning environment was customized and used in these courses to deliver different types of learning contents and assignments. Three studies were carried out for each course: the first study shows the relationships between students' interactions with different materials; the second study demonstrates the influence that learning styles exert upon these interactions, and the third study collects students' scores about the twelve pedagogical aspects of the learning resources used during the course. The results demonstrate that a relationship exists between the pedagogical attributes of the design of different learning resources and students' interactions with them. Regardless of the learning style preferences of individuals in both cohorts, the design attributes that have the greatest effect on students' behaviour with learning objects and with the whole instructional context are Interactivity, Support, Feedback, and Assessment. From the three sources of data only a combination of two of them, behavioural data and students' scores are valuable sources of empirical data to inform pedagogical design aspects of learning resources. However, it is necessary to establish a direct mapping between design attributes and expected behavioural indicators to facilitate the identification of improvements in the pedagogical design of learning resources.

This is a case study linked with action research focused on exploring ways to foster the creativity process in Computer and Information Technology (CIT) lessons. The study is divided into three pilot phases and three main phases of implementation. After exploring creativity in the literature, in the pilot phases creativity is defined, and creativity assessment and analysing tools are designed and tested. In the three phases of the Main Study, an Action Research cycle is used with a series of actions identified in every phase. At the end of each phase, actions and strategies are being reviewed with revised actions formulated and implemented in the next phase.

The aim of this research was to investigate students' perceptions of function as they interacted with the different dynamic representations of function made available through computer environments. Microworlds were designed comprising sequences of activities around the software, Function Probe, and two adaptations of DynaGraph, DG Parallel (with parallel axes) and DG Cartesian (using Cartesian axes). A series of case studies of four pairs of students was undertaken in Brazil in order to trace the evolution in students' perceptions of a selection of function properties; namely turning point, variation, range, symmetry and periodicity. This diversity of properties was chosen to examine different ways students analyse functions: pointwise, variational, global and pictorial. Starting with an examination of the curriculum followed by the case study students as a means to describe the origins of their perceptions, a longitudinal investigation was undertaken in order to identify the main features of each of the microworlds that appeared to contribute to students' progress. The students' perceptions were analysed by drawing attention to their origins, their usefulness and their potential limitations (from a mathematical point of view). A methodology for this longitudinal study was devised which incorporated visual presentations to capture the main characteristics of students' perceptions. The results showed that DG Parallel, a 'new' representation, prompted the development of perceptions free of previous limitations and sufficiently robust to allow revision. However, properties previously perceived pictorially were rarely identified in DG Parallel. Together with DG Cartesian, interactions with this microworld provoked the students to develop a variational view of some of the function properties. In addition, DG Cartesian served as a two-way bridge between variational and pictorial views. By way of contrast, using the tools in FP to transform graphs seemed not to shape perceptions, but to assist in the exploration of the function properties.

This thesis is primarilly concerned with the design and implementation of machine independent systems for teaching generalised list processing techniques. Two systems, LSIX and BCL, are considered in detail. LSIX is a London version of Knowlton's L6, and BCL is a general purpose data processing language with special emphasis on the input and output of structured data. The use of BCL here is as a compiler compiler for LSIX and, in an extended form, as a list processor in its own right. Part I, which is largely expository, gives a brief introduction to list processing, outlines those features of the classical list processing systems which are pertinent to this report and describes LSIX and BCL. Part II deals with the implementation of LSIX in BCL, and storage allocation and collection. In general, students have favoured the direct use of BCL as a list processor. The author's extensions to BCL provide a system in which all levels of list processing are possible. It is particularly suitable for teaching, as the student is able to define his own structures and list processing functions. The facilities available are illustrated by a number of BCL list processing programs. This thesis has itself been edited using a BCL list processing program. Further extensions to BCL are proposed in Part III. These allow the user to define, within his program, new types of structured objects, and operations to be performed upon them. The result is a general purpose language which is capable of handling data structures of any complexity, is suitable for teaching, and whose implementation is largely machine independent. The Appendices give details of programs and computer output. A preliminary account of some of the work described in this thesis has already been published in the Computer Journal. The first paper containing the gist of sections 2.1 and 2.2 is included as Appendix 7 and a further paper, on List Processing in BCL, has been accepted for publication

This research project was initiated by the realisation that although the development of Computing learners' reflective skills is essential, reflection is a vague and a poorly defined concept. The dearth of literature (compared to other disciplines) with regards to supporting and defining reflection in the Computing discipline creates facilitation and assessment issues. This study starts with an investigation on the topic of reflection from disciplines who have a more mature practice of using reflection with their learners. The lessons teased out demonstrate the strong links between reflection and learning but also its key dimensions and complexity. The thesis progresses with the establishment of Computing teachers' views and perceptions of using reflection as a learners' evaluation tool. This investigation enabled the distillation of explicit variables (themes) considered key for the support and development of reflective skills in Computing. This work led to the introduction of the new concept of reflective development which entails one's own transformation and growth through a profound and inner meaningful change. Additionally, the thesis supplements existing literature on reflection by proposing a new reflective development framework to support teachers through the nurturing of their learners' reflective skills. Finally, the thesis explores how reflective development can be defined in Computing by analysing sets of learners' reflections and identifying development patterns and concepts which constitute reflective processes. This part of the study enabled the formulation of the reflective development model and attributes of good reflections in Computing. Action research was used throughout the study as a practice-based, problem-solving methodology as the research focuses on the enhancement of teachers and learners' practice but also contributes to educational theories. Four action research cycles were required to formulate the main contribution to knowledge of the thesis i.e. the reflective development concept including its framework and model.