Обсуждение:Построение сетевых сообществ

Actrion 1. Collect the text of your own article from objects of different categories, using a query in the language аsk Semantic MediaWiki

	Description	Адрес сообщества
CoMSES	CoMSES Net - Сеть для вычислительного моделирования в социальных и экологических науках. Это - открытое сообщество исследователей и преподавателей. Репозиторий - цифровое хранилище, поддерживающее исследования и передовые методы цитирования программного обеспечения, цифрового хранения, воспроизводимости и повторного использования моделей.	https://www.comses.net/
GitHub	Социальная сеть программистов, с возможностью хранить репозиторий проекта и все его изменения. GitHub - контроль доступа, багтрекинг, управлением задачами и вики для каждого проекта. Используется прежде всего для поддержания версий кода	https://github.com
Glitch	Сообщество для разработки веб-приложений	https://glitch.com/
Habr	Хабр русскоязычный веб-сайт в формате системы тематических коллективных блогов (именуемых хабами) с элементами новостного сайта, созданный для публикации новостей, аналитических статей, мыслей, связанных с информационными технологиями, бизнесом и интернетом.	https://habr.com/ru/all/
Modeling Commons	Сообщество, участники которого создают и обмениваются моделями NetLogo.	http://modelingcommons.org
Roblox	Roblox — игровая онлайн-платформа и система создания игр, позволяющая любому пользователю создавать свои собственные и играть в созданные другими игры.	https://www.roblox.com/
Stack OverFlow	Сеть создания контента в форме вопросов и ответов о программировании.	http://stackoverflow.com/
Сообщество GeoGebra	Социальная сеть, участники которой обмениваются материалами, созданными при помощи программы GeoGebra	https://www.geogebra.org/
Сообщество NetLogo	Сообщество пользователей, которые обмениваются моделями, написанными на языке NetLogo.	http://ccl.northwestern.edu/netlogo/models/community/
Сообщество Scratch	Сетевое сообщество детей и взрослых, обменивающихся своими проектами, написанными на языке Scratch	http://scratch.mit.edu
Сообщество Snap!	Сообщество исследователей, учителей и учащихся, использующих в своей деятельности язык Snap! Участники могут делиться своими проектами (Share, Publish). Создавать коллекции проектов, следить с действиями других участников (following)	http://snap.berkeley.edu/
Сообщество StarLogo	Сообщества обмена моделями и объектами в среде StarLogo Nova. Участники могут использовать код проектов других участников. Создавать свои коллекции и приглашать других участников к работе над версиями своих проектов.	https://www.slnova.org/

Create from scratch or modify a community diagram in dgl or mermaid languages. Use the examples from the Diagram category

Present data from an external dataset on a wiki page using various MediaWiki extensions. Use the examples from the Dataset category

Title	Publication Title	Author	Abstract	URL
Computational Thinking	Commun. ACM	Wing, Jeannette M.	It represents a universally applicable attitude and skill set everyone, not just computer scientists, would be eager to learn and use.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1118178.1118215
Scratch: Programming for All	Commun. ACM	Resnick, Mitchel; Maloney, John; Monroy-Hernández, Andrés; Rusk, Natalie; Eastmond, Evelyn; Brennan, Karen; Millner, Amon; Rosenbaum, Eric; Silver, Jay; Silverman, Brian; Kafai, Yasmin	"Digital fluency" should mean designing, creating, and remixing, not just browsing, chatting, and interacting.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1592761.1592779
Bringing Computational Thinking to K-12: What is Involved and What is the Role of the Computer Science Education Community?	ACM Inroads	Barr, Valerie; Stephenson, Chris	The process of increasing student exposure to computational thinking in K-12 is complex, requiring systemic change, teacher engagement, and development of signifi cant resources. Collaboration with the computer science education community is vital to this effort.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1929887.1929905
Data Science and Prediction	Commun. ACM	Dhar, Vasant	Big data promises automated actionable knowledge creation and predictive models for use by both humans and computers.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2500499
Computer Science Curricula 2013: Curriculum Guidelines for Undergraduate Degree Programs in Computer Science		Joint Task Force on Computing Curricula, Association for Computing Machinery (ACM); Society, IEEE Computer
Bridging the Gap between Physical Location and Online Social Networks	Proceedings of the 12th ACM International Conference on Ubiquitous Computing	Cranshaw, Justin; Toch, Eran; Hong, Jason; Kittur, Aniket; Sadeh, Norman	This paper examines the location traces of 489 users of a location sharing social network for relationships between the users' mobility patterns and structural properties of their underlying social network. We introduce a novel set of location-based features for analyzing the social context of a geographic region, including location entropy, which measures the diversity of unique visitors of a location. Using these features, we provide a model for predicting friendship between two users by analyzing their location trails. Our model achieves significant gains over simpler models based only on direct properties of the co-location histories, such as the number of co-locations. We also show a positive relationship between the entropy of the locations the user visits and the number of social ties that user has in the network. We discuss how the offline mobility of users can have implications for both researchers and designers of online social networks.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1864349.1864380
Computational Thinking for Youth in Practice	ACM Inroads	Lee, Irene; Martin, Fred; Denner, Jill; Coulter, Bob; Allan, Walter; Erickson, Jeri; Malyn-Smith, Joyce; Werner, Linda	Computational thinking (CT) has been described as the use of abstraction, automation, and analysis in problem-solving [3]. We examine how these ways of thinking take shape for middle and high school youth in a set of NSF-supported programs. We discuss opportunities and challenges in both in-school and after-school contexts. Based on these observations, we present a "use-modify-create" framework, representing three phases of students' cognitive and practical activity in computational thinking. We recommend continued investment in the development of CT-rich learning environments, in educators who can facilitate their use, and in research on the broader value of computational thinking.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1929887.1929902
Is Abstraction the Key to Computing?	Commun. ACM	Kramer, Jeff	Why is it that some software engineers and computer scientists are able to produce clear, elegant designs and programs, while others cannot? Is it possible to improve these skills through education and training? Critical to these questions is the notion of abstraction.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1232743.1232745
The Challenges Ahead for Bio-Inspired 'soft' Robotics	Commun. ACM	Pfeifer, Rolf; Lungarella, Max; Iida, Fumiya	Soft materials may enable the automation of tasks beyond the capacities of current robotic technology.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2366316.2366335
Procedural Content Generation for Games: A Survey	ACM Trans. Multimedia Comput. Commun. Appl.	Hendrikx, Mark; Meijer, Sebastiaan; Van Der Velden, Joeri; Iosup, Alexandru	Hundreds of millions of people play computer games every day. For them, game content—from 3D objects to abstract puzzles—plays a major entertainment role. Manual labor has so far ensured that the quality and quantity of game content matched the demands of the playing community, but is facing new scalability challenges due to the exponential growth over the last decade of both the gamer population and the production costs. Procedural Content Generation for Games (PCG-G) may address these challenges by automating, or aiding in, game content generation. PCG-G is difficult, since the generator has to create the content, satisfy constraints imposed by the artist, and return interesting instances for gamers. Despite a large body of research focusing on PCG-G, particularly over the past decade, ours is the first comprehensive survey of the field of PCG-G. We first introduce a comprehensive, six-layered taxonomy of game content: bits, space, systems, scenarios, design, and derived. Second, we survey the methods used across the whole field of PCG-G from a large research body. Third, we map PCG-G methods to game content layers; it turns out that many of the methods used to generate game content from one layer can be used to generate content from another. We also survey the use of methods in practice, that is, in commercial or prototype games. Fourth and last, we discuss several directions for future research in PCG-G, which we believe deserve close attention in the near future.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2422956.2422957
Education\textlessbr\textgreater\textlessbr\textgreaterPaving the Way for Computational Thinking	Commun. ACM	Guzdial, Mark	Drawing on methods from diverse disciplines—including computer science, education, sociology, and psychology—to improve computing education.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1378704.1378713
Computational Thinking in Elementary and Secondary Teacher Education	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Yadav, Aman; Mayfield, Chris; Zhou, Ninger; Hambrusch, Susanne; Korb, John T.	Computational thinking (CT) is broadly defined as the mental activity for abstracting problems and formulating solutions that can be automated. In an increasingly information-based society, CT is becoming an essential skill for everyone. To ensure that students develop this ability at the K-12 level, it is important to provide teachers with an adequate knowledge about CT and how to incorporate it into their teaching. This article describes a study on designing and introducing computational thinking modules and assessing their impact on preservice teachers’ understanding of CT concepts, as well as their attitude towards computing. Results demonstrate that introducing computational thinking into education courses can effectively influence preservice teachers’ understanding of CT concepts.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2576872
A "Nutrition Label" for Privacy	Proceedings of the 5th Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security	Kelley, Patrick Gage; Bresee, Joanna; Cranor, Lorrie Faith; Reeder, Robert W.	We used an iterative design process to develop a privacy label that presents to consumers the ways organizations collect, use, and share personal information. Many surveys have shown that consumers are concerned about online privacy, yet current mechanisms to present website privacy policies have not been successful. This research addresses the present gap in the communication and understanding of privacy policies, by creating an information design that improves the visual presentation and comprehensibility of privacy policies. Drawing from nutrition, warning, and energy labeling, as well as from the effort towards creating a standardized banking privacy notification, we present our process for constructing and refining a label tuned to privacy. This paper describes our design methodology; findings from two focus groups; and accuracy, timing, and likeability results from a laboratory study with 24 participants. Our study results demonstrate that compared to existing natural language privacy policies, the proposed privacy label allows participants to find information more quickly and accurately, and provides a more enjoyable information seeking experience.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1572532.1572538
To Block or Not to Block, That is the Question: Students' Perceptions of Blocks-Based Programming	Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Weintrop, David; Wilensky, Uri	Blocks-based programming tools are becoming increasingly common in high-school introductory computer science classes. Such contexts are quite different than the younger audience and informal settings where these tools are more often used. This paper reports findings from a study looking at how high school students view blocks-based programming tools, what they identify as contributing to the perceived ease-of-use of such tools, and what they see as the most salient differences between blocks-based and text-based programming. Students report that numerous factors contribute to making blocks-based programming easy, including the natural language description of blocks, the drag-and-drop composition interaction, and the ease of browsing the language. Students also identify drawbacks to blocks-based programming compared to the conventional text-based approach, including a perceived lack of authenticity and being less powerful. These findings, along with the identified differences between blocks-based and text-based programming, contribute to our understanding of the suitability of using such tools in formal high school settings and can be used to inform the design of new, and revision of existing, introductory programming tools.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2771839.2771860
The Fairy Performance Assessment: Measuring Computational Thinking in Middle School	Proceedings of the 43rd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Werner, Linda; Denner, Jill; Campe, Shannon; Kawamoto, Damon Chizuru	Computational thinking (CT) has been described as an essential capacity to prepare students for computer science, as well as to be productive members of society. But efforts to engage K-12 students in CT are hampered by a lack of definition and assessment tools. In this paper, we describe the first results of a newly created performance assessment tool for measuring CT in middle school. We briefly describe the context for the performance assessment (game-programming courses), the aspects of CT that are measured, the results, and the factors that are associated with performance. We see the development of assessment tools as a critical step in efforts to bring CT to K-12, and to strengthen the use of game programming in middle school. We discuss problems and implications of our results.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2157136.2157200
Scalable Game Design and the Development of a Checklist for Getting Computational Thinking into Public Schools	Proceedings of the 41st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Repenning, Alexander; Webb, David; Ioannidou, Andri	Game design appears to be a promising approach to interest K-12 students in Computer Science. Unfortunately, balancing motivational and educational concerns is truly challenging. Over a number of years, we have explored how to achieve a functional balance by creating a curriculum that combines increasingly complex game designs, computational thinking patterns and authoring tools. Scalable Game Design is a research project exploring new strategies of how to scale up from after school and summer programs into required curriculum of public schools through game design approaches. The project includes inner city schools, remote rural areas and Native American communities. A requirement checklist of computational thinking tools regarding curriculum, teacher training, standards and authoring tools has been developed and is being tested with thousands of students.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1734263.1734357
Moving on from Weiser's Vision of Calm Computing: Engaging Ubicomp Experiences	Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Ubiquitous Computing	Rogers, Yvonne	A motivation behind much UbiComp research has been to make our lives convenient, comfortable and informed, following in the footsteps of Weiser's calm computing vision. Three themes that have dominated are context awareness, ambient intelligence and monitoring/tracking. While these avenues of research have been fruitful their accomplishments do not match up to anything like Weiser's world. This paper discusses why this is so and argues that is time for a change of direction in the field. An alternative agenda is outlined that focuses on engaging rather than calming people. Humans are very resourceful at exploiting their environments and extending their capabilities using existing strategies and tools. I describe how pervasive technologies can be added to the mix, outlining three areas of practice where there is much potential for professionals and laypeople alike to combine, adapt and use them in creative and constructive ways.	https://doi.org/10.1007/11853565_24
Restart: The Resurgence of Computer Science in UK Schools	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Brown, Neil C. C.; Sentance, Sue; Crick, Tom; Humphreys, Simon	Computer science in UK schools is undergoing a remarkable transformation. While the changes are not consistent across each of the four devolved nations of the UK (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland), there are developments in each that are moving the subject to become mandatory for all pupils from age 5 onwards. In this article, we detail how computer science declined in the UK, and the developments that led to its revitalisation: a mixture of industry and interest group lobbying, with a particular focus on the value of the subject to all school pupils, not just those who would study it at degree level. This rapid growth in the subject is not without issues, however: there remain significant forthcoming challenges with its delivery, especially surrounding the issue of training sufficient numbers of teachers. We describe a national network of teaching excellence which is being set up to combat this problem, and look at the other challenges that lie ahead.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2602484
Remaining Trouble Spots with Computational Thinking	Commun. ACM	Denning, Peter J.	Addressing unresolved questions concerning computational thinking.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2998438
The Profession of IT\textlessbr\textgreater\textlessbr\textgreaterBeyond Computational Thinking	Commun. ACM	Denning, Peter J.	If we are not careful, our fascination with "computational thinking" may lead us back into the trap we are trying to escape.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1516046.1516054
Thinking about Computational Thinking	SIGCSE Bull.	Lu, James J.; Fletcher, George H.L.	Jeannette Wing's call for teaching Computational Thinking (CT) as a formative skill on par with reading, writing, and arithmetic places computer science in the category of basic knowledge. Just as proficiency in basic language arts helps us to effectively communicate and in basic math helps us to successfully quantitate, proficiency in computational thinking helps us to systematically and efficiently process information and tasks. But while teaching everyone to think computationally is a noble goal, there are pedagogical challenges. Perhaps the most confounding issue is the role of programming, and whether we can separate it from teaching basic computer science. How much programming, if any, should be required for CT proficiency?We believe that to successfully broaden participation in computer science, efforts must be made to lay the foundations of CT long before students experience their first programming language. We posit that programming is to Computer Science what proof construction is to mathematics, and what literary analysis is to English. Hence by analogy, programming should be the entrance into higher CS, and not the student's first encounter in CS. We argue that in the absence of programming, teaching CT should focus on establishing vocabularies and symbols that can be used to annotate and describe computation and abstraction, suggest information and execution, and provide notation around which mental models of processes can be built. Lastly, we conjecture that students with sustained exposure to CT in their formative education will be better prepared for programming and the CS curriculum, and, furthermore, that they might choose to major in CS not only for career opportunities, but also for its intellectual content.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1539024.1508959
Understanding Understanding Source Code with Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging	Proceedings of the 36th International Conference on Software Engineering	Siegmund, Janet; Kästner, Christian; Apel, Sven; Parnin, Chris; Bethmann, Anja; Leich, Thomas; Saake, Gunter; Brechmann, André	Program comprehension is an important cognitive process that inherently eludes direct measurement. Thus, researchers are struggling with providing suitable programming languages, tools, or coding conventions to support developers in their everyday work. In this paper, we explore whether functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which is well established in cognitive neuroscience, is feasible to soundly measure program comprehension. In a controlled experiment, we observed 17 participants inside an fMRI scanner while they were comprehending short source-code snippets, which we contrasted with locating syntax errors. We found a clear, distinct activation pattern of five brain regions, which are related to working memory, attention, and language processing—all processes that fit well to our understanding of program comprehension. Our results encourage us and, hopefully, other researchers to use fMRI in future studies to measure program comprehension and, in the long run, answer questions, such as: Can we predict whether someone will be an excellent programmer? How effective are new languages and tools for program understanding? How should we train programmers?	https://doi.org/10.1145/2568225.2568252
Understanding and Capturing People's Privacy Policies in a Mobile Social Networking Application	Personal Ubiquitous Comput.	Sadeh, Norman; Hong, Jason; Cranor, Lorrie; Fette, Ian; Kelley, Patrick; Prabaker, Madhu; Rao, Jinghai	A number of mobile applications have emerged that allow users to locate one another. However, people have expressed concerns about the privacy implications associated with this class of software, suggesting that broad adoption may only happen to the extent that these concerns are adequately addressed. In this article, we report on our work on PeopleFinder, an application that enables cell phone and laptop users to selectively share their locations with others (e.g. friends, family, and colleagues). The objective of our work has been to better understand people's attitudes and behaviors towards privacy as they interact with such an application, and to explore technologies that empower users to more effectively and efficiently specify their privacy preferences (or "policies"). These technologies include user interfaces for specifying rules and auditing disclosures, as well as machine learning techniques to refine user policies based on their feedback. We present evaluations of these technologies in the context of one laboratory study and three field studies.	https://doi.org/10.1007/s00779-008-0214-3
From Computational Thinking to Computational Participation in K–12 Education	Commun. ACM	Kafai, Yasmin	Seeking to reframe computational thinking as computational participation.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2955114
A Crafts-Oriented Approach to Computing in High School: Introducing Computational Concepts, Practices, and Perspectives with Electronic Textiles	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Kafai, Yasmin; Lee, Eunkyoung; Searle, Kristin; Fields, Deborah; Kaplan, Eliot; Lui, Debora	In this article, we examine the use of electronic textiles (e-textiles) for introducing key computational concepts and practices while broadening perceptions about computing. The starting point of our work was the design and implementation of a curriculum module using the LilyPad Arduino in a pre-AP high school computer science class. To understand students’ learning, we analyzed the structure and functionality of their circuits and program code as well as their design approaches to making and debugging their e-textile creations and their views of computing. We also studied students’ changing perceptions of computing. Our discussion addresses the need for and design of scaffolded challenges and the potential for using crafts materials and activities such as e-textiles for designing introductory courses that can broaden participation in computing.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2576874
Introducing Computational Thinking in Education Courses	Proceedings of the 42nd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Yadav, Aman; Zhou, Ninger; Mayfield, Chris; Hambrusch, Susanne; Korb, John T.	As computational thinking becomes a fundamental skill for the 21st century, K-12 teachers should be exposed to computing principles. This paper describes the implementation and evaluation of a computational thinking module in a required course for elementary and secondary education majors. We summarize the results from open-ended and multiple-choice questionnaires given both before and after the module to assess the students' attitudes toward and understanding of computational thinking. The results suggest that given relevant information about computational thinking, education students' attitudes toward computer science becomes more favorable and they will be more likely to integrate computing principles in their future teaching.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1953163.1953297
Retaining Nearly One-Third More Majors with a Trio of Instructional Best Practices in CS1	Proceeding of the 44th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Porter, Leo; Simon, Beth	Beginning in 2008, we introduced a new CS1 incorporating a trio of best practices intended to improve the quality of the course, appeal to a broader student body, and, hopefully, improve retention in the major. This trio included Media Computation, Pair Programming, and Peer Instruction. After 3 and 1/2 years (8 CS1 classes, 3 different instructors, and 1011 students passing the course) we find that 89% of the majors who pass the course are still studying computing one year later. This is an improvement of 18% over our average retention of 71% for the previous version of the course (measured since Fall 2001). If the focus shifts from retention of passing CS1 majors to retention of CS1 initially enrolled majors, multiple improvements–fewer students drop, more students pass, and more passing students are retained–compound to increase retention by 31% (from 51% to 82%). In this paper we analyze further aspects of these results, detail the three instructional design choices, and consider how they impact issues known to affect retention.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2445196.2445248
Empirical Models of Privacy in Location Sharing	Proceedings of the 12th ACM International Conference on Ubiquitous Computing	Toch, Eran; Cranshaw, Justin; Drielsma, Paul Hankes; Tsai, Janice Y.; Kelley, Patrick Gage; Springfield, James; Cranor, Lorrie; Hong, Jason; Sadeh, Norman	The rapid adoption of location tracking and mobile social networking technologies raises significant privacy challenges. Today our understanding of people's location sharing privacy preferences remains very limited, including how these preferences are impacted by the type of location tracking device or the nature of the locations visited. To address this gap, we deployed Locaccino, a mobile location sharing system, in a four week long field study, where we examined the behavior of study participants (n=28) who shared their location with their acquaintances (n=373.) Our results show that users appear more comfortable sharing their presence at locations visited by a large and diverse set of people. Our study also indicates that people who visit a wider number of places tend to also be the subject of a greater number of requests for their locations. Over time these same people tend to also evolve more sophisticated privacy preferences, reflected by an increase in time- and location-based restrictions. We conclude by discussing the implications our findings.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1864349.1864364
Measuring Student Learning in Introductory Block-Based Programming: Examining Misconceptions of Loops, Variables, and Boolean Logic	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Grover, Shuchi; Basu, Satabdi	Programming in block-based environments is a key element of introductory computer science (CS) curricula in K-12 settings. Past research conducted in the context of text-based programming points to several challenges related to novice learners' understanding of foundational programming constructs such as variables, loops, and expressions. This research aims to develop assessment items for measuring student understanding in introductory CS classrooms in middle school using a principled approach for assessment design. This paper describes the design of assessments items that were piloted with 100 6th, 7th, 8th graders who had completed an introductory programming course using Scratch. The results and follow-up cognitive thinkalouds indicate that students are generally unfamiliar with the use of variables, and harbor misconceptions about them. They also have trouble with other aspects of introductory programming such as how loops work, and how the Boolean operators work. These findings point to the need for pedagogy that combines popular constructionist activities with those that target conceptual learning, along with better professional development to support teachers' conceptual learning of these foundational constructs.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3017680.3017723
Gears of Our Childhood: Constructionist Toolkits, Robotics, and Physical Computing, Past and Future	Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Blikstein, Paulo	Microcontroller-based toolkits and physical computing devices have been used in educational settings for many years for robotics, environmental sensing, scientific experimentation, and interactive art. Based on a historical analysis of the development of these devices, this study examines the design principles underlying the several available platforms for physical computing and presents a framework to analyze various platforms and their use in education. Given the now widespread use of these devices among children and their long history in the field, a historical review and analysis of this technology would be useful for interaction designers.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2485760.2485786
A Multidisciplinary Approach towards Computational Thinking for Science Majors	SIGCSE Bull.	Hambrusch, Susanne; Hoffmann, Christoph; Korb, John T.; Haugan, Mark; Hosking, Antony L.	This paper describes the development and initial evaluation of a new course “Introduction to Computational Thinking” taken by science majors to fulfill a college computing requirement. The course was developed by computer science faculty in collaboration with science faculty and it focuses on the role of computing and computational principles in scientific inquiry. It uses Python and Python libraries to teach computational thinking via basic programming concepts, data management concepts, simulation, and visualization. Problems with a computational aspect are drawn from different scientific disciplines and are complemented with lectures from faculty in those areas. Our initial evaluation indicates that the problem-driven approach focused on scientific discovery and computational principles increases the student's interest in computing.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1539024.1508931
Algorithmic Systems Biology	Commun. ACM	Priami, Corrado	The convergence of CS and biology will serve both disciplines, providing each with greater power and relevance.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1506409.1506427
Modeling the Learning Progressions of Computational Thinking of Primary Grade Students	Proceedings of the Ninth Annual International ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research	Seiter, Linda; Foreman, Brendan	We introduce the Progression of Early Computational Thinking (PECT) Model, a framework for understanding and assessing computational thinking in the primary grades (Grades 1 to 6). The model synthesizes measurable evidence from student work with broader, more abstract coding design patterns, which are then mapped onto computational thinking concepts.We present the results of a pilot-test study of the PECT Model in order to demonstrate its potential efficacy in detecting both differences in computational thinking among students of various ages as well as any clear overall progressions in increasing computational sophistication. Results of this sort are vital for establishing research-based and age-appropriate curricula for students in the primary grades, i.e., developing non-trivial, challenging but not overly daunting lesson plans that utilize the cognitive development stage of each grade level most effectively.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2493394.2493403
Computational Thinking in K-9 Education	Proceedings of the Working Group Reports of the 2014 on Innovation & Technology in Computer Science Education Conference	Mannila, Linda; Dagiene, Valentina; Demo, Barbara; Grgurina, Natasa; Mirolo, Claudio; Rolandsson, Lennart; Settle, Amber	In this report we consider the current status of the coverage of computer science in education at the lowest levels of education in multiple countries. Our focus is on computational thinking (CT), a term meant to encompass a set of concepts and thought processes that aid in formulating problems and their solutions in different fields in a way that could involve computers [130].The main goal of this report is to help teachers, those involved in teacher education, and decision makers to make informed decisions about how and when CT can be included in their local institutions. We begin by defining CT and then discuss the current state of CT in K-9 education in multiple countries in Europe as well as the United States. Since many students are exposed to CT outside of school, we also discuss the current state of informal educational initiatives in the same set of countries.An important contribution of the report is a survey distributed to K-9 teachers, aiming at revealing to what extent different aspects of CT are already part of teachers' classroom practice and how this is done. The survey data suggest that some teachers are already involved in activities that have strong potential for introducing some aspects of CT. In addition to the examples given by teachers participating in the survey, we present some additional sample activities and lesson plans for working with aspects of CT in different subjects. We also discuss ways in which teacher training can be coordinated as well as the issue of repositories. We conclude with future directions for research in CT at school.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2713609.2713610
Introductory Programming: A Systematic Literature Review	Proceedings Companion of the 23rd Annual ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Luxton-Reilly, Andrew; Simon; Albluwi, Ibrahim; Becker, Brett A.; Giannakos, Michail; Kumar, Amruth N.; Ott, Linda; Paterson, James; Scott, Michael James; Sheard, Judy; Szabo, Claudia	As computing becomes a mainstream discipline embedded in the school curriculum and acts as an enabler for an increasing range of academic disciplines in higher education, the literature on introductory programming is growing. Although there have been several reviews that focus on specific aspects of introductory programming, there has been no broad overview of the literature exploring recent trends across the breadth of introductory programming. This paper is the report of an ITiCSE working group that conducted a systematic review in order to gain an overview of the introductory programming literature. Partitioning the literature into papers addressing the student, teaching, the curriculum, and assessment, we explore trends, highlight advances in knowledge over the past 15 years, and indicate possible directions for future research.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3293881.3295779
Bridges: A Uniquely Flexible HPC Resource for New Communities and Data Analytics	Proceedings of the 2015 XSEDE Conference: Scientific Advancements Enabled by Enhanced Cyberinfrastructure	Nystrom, Nicholas A.; Levine, Michael J.; Roskies, Ralph Z.; Scott, J. Ray	In this paper, we describe Bridges, a new HPC resource that will integrate advanced memory technologies with a uniquely flexible, user-focused, data-centric environment to empower new research communities, bring desktop convenience to HPC, connect to campuses, and drive complex workflows. Bridges will differ from traditional HPC systems and support new communities through extensive interactivity, gateways (convenient web interfaces that hide complex functionality and ease access to HPC resources) and tools for gateway building, persistent databases and web servers, high-productivity programming languages, and virtualization. Bridges will feature three tiers of processing nodes having 128GB, 3TB, and 12TB of hardware-enabled coherent shared memory per node to support memory-intensive applications and ease of use, together with persistent database and web nodes and nodes for logins, data transfer, and system management. State-of-the-art Intel® Xeon® CPUs and NVIDIA Tesla GPUs will power Bridges' compute nodes. Multiple filesystems will provide optimal handling for different data needs: a high-performance, parallel, shared filesystem, node-local filesystems, and memory filesystems. Bridges' nodes and parallel filesystem will be interconnected by the Intel Omni-Path Fabric, configured in a topology developed by PSC to be optimal for the anticipated data-centric workload. Bridges will be a resource on XSEDE, the NSF Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment, and will interoperate with other advanced cyberinfrastructure resources. Through a pilot project with Temple University, Bridges will develop infrastructure and processes for campus bridging, consisting of offloading jobs at periods of unusually high load to the other site and facilitating cross-site data management. Education, training, and outreach activities will raise awareness of Bridges and data-intensive science across K-12 and university communities, industry, and the general public.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2792745.2792775
Who's Viewed You? The Impact of Feedback in a Mobile Location-Sharing Application	Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems	Tsai, Janice Y.; Kelley, Patrick; Drielsma, Paul; Cranor, Lorrie Faith; Hong, Jason; Sadeh, Norman	Feedback is viewed as an essential element of ubiquitous computing systems in the HCI literature for helping people manage their privacy. However, the success of online social networks and existing commercial systems for mobile location sharing which do not incorporate feedback would seem to call the importance of feedback into question. We investigated this issue in the context of a mobile location sharing system. Specifically, we report on the findings of a field de-ployment of Locyoution, a mobile location sharing system. In our study of 56 users, one group was given feedback in the form of a history of location requests, and a second group was given no feedback at all. Our major contribution has been to show that feedback is an important contributing factor towards improving user comfort levels and allaying privacy concerns. Participants' privacy concerns were reduced after using the mobile location sharing system. Additionally,our study suggests that peer opinion and technical savviness contribute most to whether or not participants thought they would continue to use a mobile location technology.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1518701.1519005
Rethinking Location Sharing: Exploring the Implications of Social-Driven vs. Purpose-Driven Location Sharing	Proceedings of the 12th ACM International Conference on Ubiquitous Computing	Tang, Karen P.; Lin, Jialiu; Hong, Jason I.; Siewiorek, Daniel P.; Sadeh, Norman	The popularity of micro-blogging has made general-purpose information sharing a pervasive phenomenon. This trend is now impacting location sharing applications (LSAs) such that users are sharing their location data with a much wider and more diverse audience. In this paper, we describe this as social-driven sharing, distinguishing it from past examples of what we refer to as purpose-driven location sharing. We explore the differences between these two types of sharing by conducting a comparative two-week study with nine participants. We found significant differences in terms of users' decisions about what location information to share, their privacy concerns, and how privacy-preserving their disclosures were. Based on these results, we provide design implications for future LSAs.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1864349.1864363
Exploring Computer Science: A Case Study of School Reform	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Goode, Joanna; Margolis, Jane	This article will detail efforts to broaden participation in computing in urban schools through a comprehensive reform effort of curricular development, teacher professional development, and policy changes. Beginning with an account of the curricular development of Exploring Computer Science, we will describe the inquiry-based research that underlies these learning materials. Next, we argue that accompanying professional development that supports the curriculum is essential for supporting this inquiry-based approach to computer science instruction. We then explain the policy strategies used to designate this course as a college-preparatory elective and place it in 17 Los Angeles high schools. Finally, we share the initial results of how students experience this course and ongoing challenges encountered when working in the public school system. The article concludes with a discussion of how longitudinal reform effort requires a strong foundation and deep roots to successfully democratize computer science education.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1993069.1993076
Teaching Computer Science in Context	ACM Inroads	Cooper, Steve; Cunningham, Steve	Do we need another editorial about engaging students in learning computer science so they will stay in the field and prepare for a career or further study? We wish it were not so, but in spite of some progress, there is little evidence that our students complete courses or stay in their degree programs at better rates than a few years ago. There are bright spots in the picture and some promising results here and there, but an overall pattern of change and improvement is not yet evident.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1721933.1721934
The Makers' Movement and FabLabs in Education: Experiences, Technologies, and Research	Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Blikstein, Paulo; Krannich, Dennis	In this paper, we introduce the origins and applications of digital fabrication and "making" in education, and discuss how they can be implemented, researched, and developed in schools. Our discussion is based on several papers and posters that we summarize into three categories: research, technology development, and experiences in formal and informal education.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2485760.2485884
Standardizing Privacy Notices: An Online Study of the Nutrition Label Approach	Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems	Kelley, Patrick Gage; Cesca, Lucian; Bresee, Joanna; Cranor, Lorrie Faith	Earlier work has shown that consumers cannot effectively find information in privacy policies and that they do not enjoy using them. In our previous research we developed a standardized table format for privacy policies. We compared this standardized format, and two short variants (one tabular, one text) with the current status quo: full text natural-language policies and layered policies. We conducted an online user study of 764 participants to test if these three more-intentionally designed, standardized privacy policy formats, assisted by consumer education, can benefit consumers. Our results show that standardized privacy policy presentations can have significant positive effects on accuracy and speed of information finding and on reader enjoyment of privacy policies.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1753326.1753561
Examining Values: An Analysis of Nine Years of IDC Research	Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Yarosh, Svetlana; Radu, Iulian; Hunter, Seth; Rosenbaum, Eric	Explicitly examining the values held by a research community provides a tool in which participants can define its culture, conduct informed research, and reflect on their design process. We conducted a content analysis of the values expressed in the full text of IDC papers between 2002 and 2010, as well as a survey of the first authors of these papers. We discuss the types of contributions IDC papers make, the behaviors and qualities they seek to support in children, the audience for which IDC designs, the role of the child in creating these designs, the theories and models that inform this research, and the criteria that inform IDC's technical design choices. Based on our findings, we discuss trends, core values, and implications for the community and highlight opportunities for future IDC contributions.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1999030.1999046
The Proper Care and Feeding of Hackerspaces: Care Ethics and Cultures of Making	Proceedings of the 33rd Annual ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems	Toombs, Austin L.; Bardzell, Shaowen; Bardzell, Jeffrey	Communities of making have been at the center of attention in popular, business, political, and academic research circles in recent years. In HCI, they seem to carry the promise of new forms of computer use, education, innovation, and even ways of life. In the West in particular, the maker manifestos of these communities have shown strong elements of a neoliberal ethos, one that prizes self-determination, tech-savvy, independence, freedom from government, suspicion of authority, and so forth. Yet such communities, to function as communities, also require values of collaboration, cooperation, interpersonal support-in a word, care. In this ethnographic study, we studied and participated as members of a hackerspace for 19 months, focusing in particular not on their technical achievements, innovations, or for glimmers of a more sustainable future, but rather to make visible and to analyze the community maintenance labor that helps the hackerspace support the practices that its members, society, and HCI research are so interested in. We found that the maker ethic entails a complex negotiation of both a neoliberal libertarian ethos and a care ethos.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2702123.2702522
Beyond Curriculum: The Exploring Computer Science Program	ACM Inroads	Goode, Joanna; Chapman, Gail; Margolis, Jane		https://doi.org/10.1145/2189835.2189851
Comparing Block-Based and Text-Based Programming in High School Computer Science Classrooms	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Weintrop, David; Wilensky, Uri	The number of students taking high school computer science classes is growing. Increasingly, these students are learning with graphical, block-based programming environments either in place of or prior to traditional text-based programming languages. Despite their growing use in formal settings, relatively little empirical work has been done to understand the impacts of using block-based programming environments in high school classrooms. In this article, we present the results of a 5-week, quasi-experimental study comparing isomorphic block-based and text-based programming environments in an introductory high school programming class. The findings from this study show students in both conditions improved their scores between pre- and postassessments; however, students in the blocks condition showed greater learning gains and a higher level of interest in future computing courses. Students in the text condition viewed their programming experience as more similar to what professional programmers do and as more effective at improving their programming ability. No difference was found between students in the two conditions with respect to confidence or enjoyment. The implications of these findings with respect to pedagogy and design are discussed, along with directions for future work.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3089799
Subgoal-Labeled Instructional Material Improves Performance and Transfer in Learning to Develop Mobile Applications	Proceedings of the Ninth Annual International Conference on International Computing Education Research	Margulieux, Lauren E.; Guzdial, Mark; Catrambone, Richard	Mental models are mental representations of how an action changes a problem state. Creating a mental model early in the learning process is a strong predictor of success in computer science classes. One major problem in computer science education, however, is that novices have difficulty creating mental models perhaps because of the cognitive overload caused by traditional teaching methods. The present study employed subgoal-labeled instructional materials to promote the creation of mental models when teaching novices to program in Android App Inventor. Utilizing this and other well-established educational tools, such as scaffolding, to reduce cognitive load in computer science education improved the performance of participants on novel tasks when learning to develop mobile applications.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2361276.2361291
The CS Principles Project	ACM Inroads	Astrachan, Owen; Briggs, Amy		https://doi.org/10.1145/2189835.2189849
Scalable Game Design: A Strategy to Bring Systemic Computer Science Education to Schools through Game Design and Simulation Creation	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Repenning, Alexander; Webb, David C.; Koh, Kyu Han; Nickerson, Hilarie; Miller, Susan B.; Brand, Catharine; Horses, Ian Her Many; Basawapatna, Ashok; Gluck, Fred; Grover, Ryan; Gutierrez, Kris; Repenning, Nadia	An educated citizenry that participates in and contributes to science technology engineering and mathematics innovation in the 21st century will require broad literacy and skills in computer science (CS). School systems will need to give increased attention to opportunities for students to engage in computational thinking and ways to promote a deeper understanding of how technologies and software are used as design tools. However, K-12 students in the United States are facing a broken pipeline for CS education. In response to this problem, we have developed the Scalable Game Design curriculum based on a strategy to integrate CS education into the regular school curriculum. This strategy includes opportunities for students to design and program games and science technology engineering and mathematics simulations. An approach called Computational Thinking Pattern Analysis has been developed to measure and correlate computational thinking skills relevant to game design and simulations. Results from a study with more than 10,000 students demonstrate rapid adoption of this curriculum by teachers from multiple disciplines, high student motivation, high levels of participation by women, and interest regardless of demographic background.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2700517
Using Commutative Assessments to Compare Conceptual Understanding in Blocks-Based and Text-Based Programs	Proceedings of the Eleventh Annual International Conference on International Computing Education Research	Weintrop, David; Wilensky, Uri	Blocks-based programming environments are becoming increasingly common in introductory programming courses, but to date, little comparative work has been done to understand if and how this approach affects students' emerging understanding of fundamental programming concepts. In an effort to understand how tools like Scratch and Blockly differ from more conventional text-based introductory programming languages with respect to conceptual understanding, we developed a set of "commutative" assessments. Each multiple-choice question on the assessment includes a short program that can be displayed in either a blocks- based or text-based form. The set of potential answers for each question includes the correct answer along with choices informed by prior research on novice programming misconceptions. In this paper we introduce the Commutative Assessment, discuss the theoretical and practical motivations for the assessment, and present findings from a study that used the assessment. The study had 90 high school students take the assessment at three points over the course of the first ten weeks of an introduction to programming course, alternating the modality (blocks vs. text) for each question over the course of the three administrations of the assessment. Our analysis reveals differences on performance between blocks-based and text-based questions as well as differences in the frequency of misconceptions based on the modality. Future work, potential implications, and limitations of these findings are also discussed.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2787622.2787721
CS4HS: An Outreach Program for High School CS Teachers	SIGCSE Bull.	Blum, Lenore; Cortina, Thomas J.	In this paper, we describe a pilot summer workshop (CS4HS) held at Carnegie Mellon University in July 2006 for high school CS teachers to provide compelling material that the teachers can use in their classes to emphasize computational thinking and the many possibilities of computer science. Diversity and broadening participation was explicitly addressed throughout the workshop. We focused on broadening the image of what CS is – and who computer scientists are – since the reasons for under-representation in the field are very much the same as the reasons for the huge decline in interest. We describe the design of the workshop along with results from initial surveys and evaluations. Short-term evaluations show that this workshop was successful in changing the perception of CS for these teachers and giving them the impetus to include broader topics in their programming courses for the upcoming school year. Future surveys will track the long-term effect of this workshop.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1227504.1227320
The Long Quest for Computational Thinking	Proceedings of the 16th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research	Tedre, Matti; Denning, Peter J.	Computational thinking (CT) is a popular phrase that refers to a collection of computational ideas and habits of mind that people in computing disciplines acquire through their work in designing programs, software, simulations, and computations performed by machinery. Recently a computational thinking for K-12 movement has spawned initiatives across the education sector, and educational reforms are under way in many countries. However, modern CT initiatives should be well aware of the broad and deep history of computational thinking, or risk repeating already refuted claims, past mistakes, and already solved problems, or losing some of the richest and most ambitious ideas in CT. This paper presents an overview of three important historical currents from which CT has developed: evolution of computing's disciplinary ways of thinking and practicing, educational research and efforts in computing, and emergence of computational science and digitalization of society. The paper examines a number of threats to CT initiatives: lack of ambition, dogmatism, knowing versus doing, exaggerated claims, narrow views of computing, overemphasis on formulation, and lost sight of computational models.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2999541.2999542
Computational Thinking for Teacher Education	Commun. ACM	Yadav, Aman; Stephenson, Chris; Hong, Hai	This framework for developing pre-service teachers' knowledge does not necessarily depend on computers or other educational technology.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2994591
Low Depth Cache-Oblivious Algorithms	Proceedings of the Twenty-Second Annual ACM Symposium on Parallelism in Algorithms and Architectures	Blelloch, Guy E.; Gibbons, Phillip B.; Simhadri, Harsha Vardhan	In this paper we explore a simple and general approach for developing parallel algorithms that lead to good cache complexity on parallel machines with private or shared caches. The approach is to design nested-parallel algorithms that have low depth (span, critical path length) and for which the natural sequential evaluation order has low cache complexity in the cache-oblivious model. We describe several cache-oblivious algorithms with optimal work, polylogarithmic depth, and sequential cache complexities that match the best sequential algorithms, including the first such algorithms for sorting and for sparse-matrix vector multiply on matrices with good vertex separators.Using known mappings, our results lead to low cache complexities on shared-memory multiprocessors with a single level of private caches or a single shared cache. We generalize these mappings to multi-level cache hierarchies of private or shared caches, implying that our algorithms also have low cache complexities on such hierarchies. The key factor in obtaining these low parallel cache complexities is the low depth of the algorithms we propose.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1810479.1810519
Making Decisions Based on the Preferences of Multiple Agents	Commun. ACM	Conitzer, Vincent	Computer scientists have made great strides in how decision-making mechanisms are used.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1666420.1666442
Parrot: A Practical Runtime for Deterministic, Stable, and Reliable Threads	Proceedings of the Twenty-Fourth ACM Symposium on Operating Systems Principles	Cui, Heming; Simsa, Jiri; Lin, Yi-Hong; Li, Hao; Blum, Ben; Xu, Xinan; Yang, Junfeng; Gibson, Garth A.; Bryant, Randal E.	Multithreaded programs are hard to get right. A key reason is that the contract between developers and runtimes grants exponentially many schedules to the runtimes. We present Parrot, a simple, practical runtime with a new contract to developers. By default, it orders thread synchronizations in the well-defined round-robin order, vastly reducing schedules to provide determinism (more precisely, deterministic synchronizations) and stability (i.e., robustness against input or code perturbations, a more useful property than determinism). When default schedules are slow, it allows developers to write intuitive performance hints in their code to switch or add schedules for speed. We believe this "meet in the middle" contract eases writing correct, efficient programs.We further present an ecosystem formed by integrating Parrot with a model checker called dbug. This ecosystem is more effective than either system alone: dbug checks the schedules that matter to Parrot, and Parrot greatly increases the coverage of dbug.Results on a diverse set of 108 programs, roughly 10× more than any prior evaluation, show that Parrot is easy to use (averaging 1.2 lines of hints per program); achieves low overhead (6.9% for 55 real-world programs and 12.7% for all 108 programs), 10× better than two prior systems; scales well to the maximum allowed cores on a 24-core server and to different scales/types of workloads; and increases Dbug's coverage by 106–1019734 for 56 programs. Parrot's source code, entire benchmark suite, and raw results are available at github.com/columbia/smt-mc.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2517349.2522735
How Kids Code and How We Know: An Exploratory Study on the Scratch Repository	Proceedings of the 2016 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research	Aivaloglou, Efthimia; Hermans, Felienne	Block-based programming languages like Scratch, Alice and Blockly are becoming increasingly common as introductory languages in programming education. There is substantial research showing that these visual programming environments are suitable for teaching programming concepts. But, what do people do when they use Scratch? In this paper we explore the characteristics of Scratch programs. To this end we have scraped the Scratch public repository and retrieved 250,000 projects. We present an analysis of these projects in three different dimensions. Initially, we look at the types of blocks used and the size of the projects. We then investigate complexity, used abstractions and programming concepts. Finally we detect code smells such as large scripts, dead code and duplicated code blocks. Our results show that 1) most Scratch programs are small, however Scratch programs consisting of over 100 sprites exist, 2) programming abstraction concepts like procedures are not commonly used and 3) Scratch programs do suffer from code smells including large scripts and unmatched broadcast signals.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2960310.2960325
A Framework for Computational Thinking across the Curriculum	Proceedings of the Fifteenth Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Perković, Ljubomir; Settle, Amber; Hwang, Sungsoon; Jones, Joshua	We describe a framework for implementing computational thinking in a broad variety of general education courses. The framework is designed to be used by faculty without formal training in information technology in order to understand and integrate computational thinking into their own general education courses. The framework includes examples of computational thinking in a variety of general education courses, as well as sample in-class activities, assignments, and other assessments for the courses. The examples in the different courses are related and differentiated using categories taken from Denning Great Principles of Computing, so that similar types of computational thinking appearing in different contexts are brought together. This aids understanding of the computational thinking found in the courses and provides a template for future work on new course materials. Specific examples of computational thinking in the design category are provided in the context of three distinct courses.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1822090.1822126
Recognizing Computational Thinking Patterns	Proceedings of the 42nd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Basawapatna, Ashok; Koh, Kyu Han; Repenning, Alexander; Webb, David C.; Marshall, Krista Sekeres	End-user game design tools are effective in motivating and exposing students with no prior programming experience to computer science. However, while there is good evidence that these environments are effective motivators, the question remains what do students actually learn? For our purposes, using AgentSheets, we would like to know if students can apply the knowledge obtained from programming games to creating science simulations. Specifically, we want to better understand if students are able to recognize Computational Thinking Patterns (CTP) from their game programming experience. Computational Thinking Patterns are abstract programming patterns that enable agent interactions not only in games but also in science simulations. Students and teachers who participated in a game design summer institute were administered a Computational Thinking Pattern Quiz (CTP Quiz). This quiz tested the participants' ability to recognize and understand patterns in a context removed from game programming. We found that participants, for the most part, were able to understand and recognize the patterns in a variety of contexts	https://doi.org/10.1145/1953163.1953241
Should Your 8-Year-Old Learn Coding?	Proceedings of the 9th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Duncan, Caitlin; Bell, Tim; Tanimoto, Steve	There has been considerable interest in teaching "coding" to primary school aged students, and many creative "Initial Learning Environments" (ILEs) have been released to encourage this. Announcements and commentaries about such developments can polarise opinions, with some calling for widespread teaching of coding, while others see it as too soon to have students learning industry-specific skills. It is not always clear what is meant by teaching coding (which is often used as a synonym for programming), and what the benefits and costs of this are. Here we explore the meaning and potential impact of learning coding/programming for younger students. We collect the arguments for and against learning coding at a young age, and review the initiatives that have been developed to achieve this (including new languages, school curricula, and teaching resources). This leads to a set of criteria around the value of teaching young people to code, to inform curriculum designers, teachers and parents. The age at which coding should be taught can depend on many factors, including the learning tools used, context, teacher training and confidence, culture, specific skills taught, how engaging an ILE is, how much it lets students explore concepts for themselves, and whether opportunities exist to continue learning after an early introduction.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2670757.2670774
The Profession of IT\textlessbr\textgreater\textlessbr\textgreaterComputing's Paradigm	Commun. ACM	Denning, Peter J.; Freeman, Peter A.	Trying to categorize computing as engineering, science, or math is fruitless; we have our own paradigm.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1610252.1610265
Integrating Computational Thinking across the K–8 Curriculum	ACM Inroads	Lee, Irene; Martin, Fred; Apone, Katie		https://doi.org/10.1145/2684721.2684736
Differentially Private Data Analysis of Social Networks via Restricted Sensitivity	Proceedings of the 4th Conference on Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science	Blocki, Jeremiah; Blum, Avrim; Datta, Anupam; Sheffet, Or	We introduce the notion of restricted sensitivity as an alternative to global and smooth sensitivity to improve accuracy in differentially private data analysis. The definition of restricted sensitivity is similar to that of global sensitivity except that instead of quantifying over all possible datasets, we take advantage of any beliefs about the dataset that a querier may have, to quantify over a restricted class of datasets. Specifically, given a query f and a hypothesis HH about the structure of a dataset D, we show generically how to transform f into a new query fHH whose global sensitivity (over all datasets including those that do not satisfy HH) matches the restricted sensitivity of the query f. Moreover, if the belief of the querier is correct (i.e., D ∈ HH) then fHH(D) = f(D). If the belief is incorrect, then fHH(D) may be inaccurate.We demonstrate the usefulness of this notion by considering the task of answering queries regarding social-networks, which we model as a combination of a graph and a labeling of its vertices. In particular, while our generic procedure is computationally inefficient, for the specific definition of H as graphs of bounded degree, we exhibit efficient ways of constructing fH using different projection-based techniques. We then analyze two important query classes: subgraph counting queries (e.g., number of triangles) and local profile queries (e.g., number of people who know a spy and a computer-scientist who know each other). We demonstrate that the restricted sensitivity of such queries can be significantly lower than their smooth sensitivity. Thus, using restricted sensitivity we can maintain privacy whether or not D ∈ HH, while providing more accurate results in the event that HH holds true.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2422436.2422449
Dr. Scratch: A Web Tool to Automatically Evaluate Scratch Projects	Proceedings of the Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Moreno-León, Jesús; Robles, Gregorio	This poster paper presents the operation and the new features of Dr. Scratch, an award-winning gamified web application that allows to perform automatic analysis of Scratch projects to assess the development of computational thinking and detect some bad programming habits that are common in students learning to program in this environment.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2818314.2818338
Enabling Collaboration in Learning Computer Programing Inclusive of Children with Vision Impairments	Proceedings of the 2017 Conference on Designing Interactive Systems	Thieme, Anja; Morrison, Cecily; Villar, Nicolas; Grayson, Martin; Lindley, Siân	We investigate how technology can support collaborative learning by children with mixed-visual abilities. Responding to a growing need for tools inclusive of children with vision impairments (VI) for the teaching of computer programing to novice learners, we explore Torino – a physical programing language for teaching programing constructs and computational thinking to children age 7-11. We draw insights from 12 learning sessions with Torino that involved five pairs of children with vision ranging from blindness to full-sight. Our findings show how sense-making of the technology, collaboration, and learning were enabled through an interplay of system design, programing tasks and social interactions, and how this differed between the pairs. The paper contributes insights on the role of touch, audio and visual representations in designs inclusive of people with VI, and discusses the importance and opportunities provided through the 'social' in negotiations of accessibility, for learning, and for self-perceptions of ability and self-esteem.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3064663.3064689
Block Model: An Educational Model of Program Comprehension as a Tool for a Scholarly Approach to Teaching	Proceedings of the Fourth International Workshop on Computing Education Research	Schulte, Carsten	In this paper, the Block Model, an educational model of program comprehension, is introduced. Its use for planning and analyzing lessons on algorithms is evaluated in a qualitative study with prospective computer science teachers. In addition, the background of the model, its use in computer science education research and for developing competence models is discussed.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1404520.1404535
A Global Snapshot of Computer Science Education in K-12 Schools	Proceedings of the 2015 ITiCSE on Working Group Reports	Hubwieser, Peter; Giannakos, Michail N.; Berges, Marc; Brinda, Torsten; Diethelm, Ira; Magenheim, Johannes; Pal, Yogendra; Jackova, Jana; Jasute, Egle	In two special issues of the ACM journal "Transactions on Computing Education" (TOCE), 14 extensive case studies about the various situations of Computer Science Education (CSE) in K-12 schools in 12 countries (respectively states) were collected. During the work at the ITiCSE 2015, we have performed a deductive qualitative text analysis on these case studies in order to extract the most useful information. As a category system, we applied some selected categories of the Darmstadt Model that was developed by the working group "Computer Science/Informatics in Secondary Schools" at the ITiCSE 2011. Based on the coding results, we summarized information about the different fields of Computing Education at schools, the intended goals and competencies, the taught content, the applied programming languages and tools and the different forms of assessment and teacher education. Despite the limitations of the analyzed articles, representing just snapshots of complex situations from the specific viewpoint of the respective authors, we were able to collect some interesting results.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2858796.2858799
Computational Epidemiology	Commun. ACM	Marathe, Madhav; Vullikanti, Anil Kumar S.	The challenge of developing and using computer models to understand and control the diffusion of disease through populations.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2483852.2483871
Running on Empty: The Failure to Teach K–12 Computer Science in the Digital Age		Wilson, Cameron; Sudol, Leigh Ann; Stephenson, Chris; Stehlik, Mark
Tangible Interaction and Learning: The Case for a Hybrid Approach	Personal Ubiquitous Comput.	Horn, Michael S.; Crouser, R. Jordan; Bers, Marina U.	Research involving tangible interaction and children has often focused on how tangibles might support or improve learning compared to more traditional methods. In this paper, we review three of our research studies involving tangible computer programming that have addressed this question in a variety of learning environments with a diverse population of children. Through these studies, we identify situations in which tangible interaction seems to offer advantages for learning; however, we have also identify situations in which tangible interaction proves less useful and an alternative interaction style provides a more appropriate medium for learning. Thus, we advocate for a hybrid approach–one that offers teachers and learners the flexibility to select the most appropriate interaction style to meet the needs of a specific situation.	https://doi.org/10.1007/s00779-011-0404-2
Ethnocomputing with Electronic Textiles: Culturally Responsive Open Design to Broaden Participation in Computing in American Indian Youth and Communities	Proceedings of the 45th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Kafai, Yasmin; Searle, Kristin; Martinez, Crîstobal; Brayboy, Bryan	There have been many efforts to increase access and participation of indigenous communities in computer science education using ethnocomputing. In this paper, we extend culturally responsive computing by using electronic textiles that leverage traditional crafting and sewing practices to help students learn about engineering and computing as they also engage with local indigenous knowledges. Electronic textiles include sewable microcontrollers that can be connected to sensors and actuators by stitching circuits with conductive thread. We present findings from a junior high Native Arts class and an academically-oriented summer camp in which Native American youth ages 12-15 years created individual and collective e-textile designs using the LilyPad Arduino. In our discussion we address how a culturally responsive open design approach to ethnocomputing with e-textile activities can provide a productive but also challenging context for design agency and cultural connections for American Indian youth, and how these findings can inform the design of a broader range of introductory computational activities for all.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2538862.2538903
Mediated Transfer: Alice 3 to Java	Proceedings of the 43rd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Dann, Wanda; Cosgrove, Dennis; Slater, Don; Culyba, Dave; Cooper, Steve	In this paper, we describe a pedagogy for an undergraduate programming course using Alice 3 and Java. We applied the educational theory of mediated transfer to develop a new version of the Alice system and accompanying instructional materials. The pedagogy was implemented and tested over two years. Student test scores in experimental, treatment course sections showed dramatic improvement over scores in comparable non-treatment sections.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2157136.2157180
Distributed Information Processing in Biological and Computational Systems	Commun. ACM	Navlakha, Saket; Bar-Joseph, Ziv	Exploring the similarities and differences between distributed computations in biological and computational systems.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2678280
Remixing as a Pathway to Computational Thinking	Proceedings of the 19th ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work & Social Computing	Dasgupta, Sayamindu; Hale, William; Monroy-Hernández, Andrés; Hill, Benjamin Mako	Theorists and advocates of “remixing” have suggested that appropriation can act as a pathway for learning. We test this theory quantitatively using data from more than 2.4 million multimedia programming projects shared by more than 1 million users in the Scratch online community. First, we show that users who remix more often have larger repertoires of programming commands even after controlling for the numbers of projects and amount of code shared. Second, we show that exposure to computational thinking concepts through remixing is associated with increased likelihood of using those concepts. Our results support theories that young people learn through remixing, and have important implications for designers of social computing systems.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2818048.2819984
A Pilot Computer Science and Programming Course for Primary School Students	Proceedings of the Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Duncan, Caitlin; Bell, Tim	Computer Science and programming are being introduced to school curricula in many western countries in an effort to equip students with Computational Thinking skills. However, as these subjects are still relatively new to pre-tertiary education there is much investigation to be done into how best to present these topics and how to prepare teachers. In this study we focus on the presentation of topics relating to computing, Computational Thinking, and Computer Science for primary schools.We analyse English-language curricula that have been published, specifically the English, Australian and CSTA curricula for primary schools. From this we establish the main topics covered, and how they are positioned to be suitable for students from the first year of school to approximately their eighth year.We then report on a pilot study of a curriculum based on Computational Thinking; long term the study will encompass a range of topics and year levels, but the pilot focused on topics suitable for 11 to 12 year old students. Here we detail the design of this part of the curriculum, the manner of its delivery, and the experiences and observations of the generalist teacher who taught the course. Through assessment data, student responses to an attitude survey, and class observations we have evaluated the pilot curriculum. The findings of this study are being used to inform the design of a planned larger scale study.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2818314.2818328
Toward Culturally Responsive Computing Education	Commun. ACM	Eglash, Ron; Gilbert, Juan E.; Foster, Ellen	Improving academic success and social development by merging computational thinking with cultural practices.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2483852.2483864
Fostering Computational Literacy in Science Classrooms	Commun. ACM	Wilensky, Uri; Brady, Corey E.; Horn, Michael S.	An agent-based approach to integrating computing in secondary-school science courses.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2633031
Circuit Stickers: Peel-and-Stick Construction of Interactive Electronic Prototypes	Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems	Hodges, Steve; Villar, Nicolas; Chen, Nicholas; Chugh, Tushar; Qi, Jie; Nowacka, Diana; Kawahara, Yoshihiro	We present a novel approach to the construction of electronic prototypes which can support a variety of interactive devices. Our technique, which we call circuit stickers, involves adhering physical interface elements such as LEDs, sounders, buttons and sensors onto a cheap and easy-to-make substrate which provides electrical connectivity. This assembly may include control electronics and a battery for standalone operation, or it can be interfaced to a microcontroller or PC. In this paper we illustrate different points in the design space and demonstrate the technical feasibility of our approach. We have found circuit stickers to be versatile and low-cost, supporting quick and easy construction of physically flexible interactive prototypes. Building extra copies of a device is straightforward. We believe this technology has potential for design exploration, research proto-typing, education and for hobbyist projects.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2556288.2557150
A Model for High School Computer Science Education: The Four Key Elements That Make It!	Proceedings of the 39th SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Hazzan, Orit; Gal-Ezer, Judith; Blum, Lenore	This paper presents a model program for high school computer science education. It is based on an analysis of the structure of the Israeli high school computer science curriculum considered to be one of the leading curricula worldwide. The model consists of four key elements as well as interconnections between these elements. It is proposed that such a model be considered and/or adapted when a country wishes to implement a nation-wide program for high school computer science education.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1352135.1352233
A Model for High School Computer Science Education: The Four Key Elements That Make It!	SIGCSE Bull.	Hazzan, Orit; Gal-Ezer, Judith; Blum, Lenore	This paper presents a model program for high school computer science education. It is based on an analysis of the structure of the Israeli high school computer science curriculum considered to be one of the leading curricula worldwide. The model consists of four key elements as well as interconnections between these elements. It is proposed that such a model be considered and/or adapted when a country wishes to implement a nation-wide program for high school computer science education.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1352322.1352233
Beyond Access: Broadening Participation in High School Computer Science	ACM Inroads	Margolis, Jane; Ryoo, Jean J.; Sandoval, Cueponcaxochitl D. M.; Lee, Clifford; Goode, Joanna; Chapman, Gail		https://doi.org/10.1145/2381083.2381102
Assessing Computational Learning in K-12	Proceedings of the 2014 Conference on Innovation & Technology in Computer Science Education	Grover, Shuchi; Cooper, Stephen; Pea, Roy	As computing curricula continue to make their way into K-12 schools, the issue of assessing student learning of computational concepts remains a thorny one. This paper describes the multiple forms of assessments used in a 6-week middle school curriculum with the goal of capturing a holistic view of student learning. A key aspect of this research is the use of instruments developed and shared in prior research. Included among these were several questions used in an Israeli nationwide exam to test middle school student learning of programming in Scratch. This paper reports on the use of the curriculum in two studies conducted in a public US middle school classroom, and compares performances of these students with those reported by the Israeli Ministry of Education in their large-scale study. It also argues for multiple modes of assessment of computational learning in K-12 settings.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2591708.2591713
How We Teach Impacts Student Learning: Peer Instruction vs. Lecture in CS0	Proceeding of the 44th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Simon, Beth; Parris, Julian; Spacco, Jaime	In this paper we look at the impact on student learning of how a class is taught. We compare 2 sections of a non-majors CS0 course offered in the same term, by the same instructor, covering the same content and utilizing the same book, labs and exams. One section was taught using standard lecture practices including lecture from slides, live coding and weekly quizzes. The other section was taught using the Peer Instruction (PI) method that actively engages students in constructing their own learning, instead of absorbing understanding from the instructor's explanations. Using a factorial analysis of variance, we find a main effect of instructional method on final exam grade (F (1,200) = 5.87, p = 0.016) with students in the Peer Instruction section scoring an average 5.7% higher than in the standard lecture practices section. We find no significant interactions among gender and grade or class status (lower or upper division) and grade. In a separate analysis, we also find the interaction of instructional method and high school background to be significant (F (1,147) = 7.48, p = 0.007). In discussion we consider the meaning of these results for educators and describe questions for future work.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2445196.2445215
The Beauty and Joy of Computing	ACM Inroads	Garcia, Dan; Harvey, Brian; Barnes, Tiffany		https://doi.org/10.1145/2835184
A Case Study of the Introduction of Computer Science in NZ Schools	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Bell, Tim; Andreae, Peter; Robins, Anthony	For many years computing in New Zealand schools was focused on teaching students how to use computers, and there was little opportunity for students to learn about programming and computer science as formal subjects. In this article we review a series of initiatives that occurred from 2007 to 2009 that led to programming and computer science being made available formally as part of the National Certificate in Educational Achievement (NCEA), the main school-leaving assessment, in 2011. The changes were phased in from 2011 to 2013, and we review this process using the Darmstadt model, including describing the context of the school system, the socio-cultural factors in play before, during and after the changes, the nature of the new standards, the reactions and roles of the various stakeholders, and the teaching materials and methods that developed. The changes occurred very quickly, and we discuss the advantages and disadvantages of having such a rapid process. In all these changes, teachers have emerged as having a central role, as they have been key in instigating and implementing change.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2602485
Computational Thinking: What It Might Mean and What We Might Do about It	Proceedings of the 16th Annual Joint Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Hu, Chenglie	Computational thinking has been promoted in recent years as a skill that is as fundamental as being able to read, write, and do arithmetic. However, what computational thinking really means remains speculative. While wonders, discussions and debates will likely continue, this article provides some analysis aimed to further the understanding of the notion. It argues that computational thinking is likely a hybrid thinking paradigm that must accommodate different thinking modes in terms of the way each would influence what we do in computation. Furthermore, the article makes an attempt to define computational thinking and connect the (potential) thinking elements to the known thinking paradigms. Finally, the author discusses some implications of the analysis.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1999747.1999811
Computer Science/Informatics in Secondary Education	Proceedings of the 16th Annual Conference Reports on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education - Working Group Reports	Hubwieser, Peter; Armoni, Michal; Brinda, Torsten; Dagiene, Valentina; Diethelm, Ira; Giannakos, Michail N.; Knobelsdorf, Maria; Magenheim, Johannes; Mittermeir, Roland; Schubert, Sigrid	Computer Science (CS) Education research, specifically when focusing on secondary education, faces the difficulty of regionally differing political, legal, or curricular constraints. To date, many different studies exist that document the specific regional situations of teaching CS in secondary schools. This ITiCSE working group report documents the process of collecting, evaluating, and integrating research findings about CS in secondary schools from different countries. As an outcome, it presents a category system (Darmstadt Model), as a first step towards a framework that sup-ports future research activities in this field and that supports the transfer of results between researchers and teachers in CS education (CSE) across regional or national boundaries. Exemplary application of the Darmstadt model shows in several important categories how different the situation of CSE in secondary education in various countries can be. The Darmstadt Model (DM) is now ready for discussion and suggestions for improvement by the CSE-community.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2078856.2078859
Computational Thinking in Educational Activities: An Evaluation of the Educational Game Light-Bot	Proceedings of the 18th ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Gouws, Lindsey Ann; Bradshaw, Karen; Wentworth, Peter	Computational thinking is gaining recognition as an important skill set for students, both in computer science and other disciplines. Although there has been much focus on this field in recent years, it is rarely taught as a formal course within the curriculum, and there is little consensus on what exactly computational thinking entails and how to teach and evaluate it. To address these concerns, we have developed a computational thinking framework to be used as a planning and evaluative tool. Within this framework, we aim to unify the differing opinions about what computational thinking should involve. As a case study, we have applied the framework to Light-Bot, an educational game with a strong focus on programming, and found that the framework provides us with insight into the usefulness of the game to reinforce computer science concepts.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2462476.2466518
Modkit: Blending and Extending Approachable Platforms for Creating Computer Programs and Interactive Objects	Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Millner, Amon; Baafi, Edward	This paper describes Modkit - a toolkit that makes it possible for novices and experienced designers to create their own interactive objects by combining graphical blocks inspired by the Scratch programming environment and the Arduino platform. The demonstration will feature the current Modkit components, activities, and projects that illustrate how the toolkit blends Scratch and Arduino platforms to extend what and how young people are able to create. We will present example projects made by young people, discuss the details of the system implementation, and highlight the implications our design decisions had in informal learning environments.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1999030.1999074
An Introduction to Computer Science for Non-Majors Using Principles of Computation	Proceedings of the 38th SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Cortina, Thomas J.	In this paper, the design and implementation of a novel introductory computer science course for non-majors is presented. This course focuses on the major contributions in computer science from the perspective of the process of computation. This course differs from most introductory courses in computer science in that it does not include programming using a computer programming language. Students focus on algorithms and the principle of computational thinking, and use a flowchart simulator to experiment with various short algorithms and build simple computer games without dealing with programming language syntax. Steadily increasing enrollments and interest from various departments on campus indicate that this course has become a successful addition to our introductory CS offerings.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1227310.1227387
An Introduction to Computer Science for Non-Majors Using Principles of Computation	SIGCSE Bull.	Cortina, Thomas J.	In this paper, the design and implementation of a novel introductory computer science course for non-majors is presented. This course focuses on the major contributions in computer science from the perspective of the process of computation. This course differs from most introductory courses in computer science in that it does not include programming using a computer programming language. Students focus on algorithms and the principle of computational thinking, and use a flowchart simulator to experiment with various short algorithms and build simple computer games without dealing with programming language syntax. Steadily increasing enrollments and interest from various departments on campus indicate that this course has become a successful addition to our introductory CS offerings.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1227504.1227387
Learning on the Job: Characterizing the Programming Knowledge and Learning Strategies of Web Designers	Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems	Dorn, Brian; Guzdial, Mark	This paper reports on a study of professional web designers and developers. We provide a detailed characterization of their knowledge of fundamental programming concepts elicited through card sorting. Additionally, we present qualitative findings regarding their motivation to learn new concepts and the learning strategies they employ. We find a high level of recognition of basic concepts, but we identify a number of concepts that they do not fully understand, consider difficult to learn, and use infrequently. We also note that their learning process is motivated by work projects and often follows a pattern of trial and error. We conclude with implications for end-user programming researchers.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1753326.1753430
Capacity of Non-Malleable Codes	Proceedings of the 5th Conference on Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science	Cheraghchi, Mahdi; Guruswami, Venkatesan	Non-malleable codes, introduced by Dziembowski, Pietrzak and Wichs (ICS 2010), encode messages s in a manner so that tampering the codeword causes the decoder to either output s or a message that is independent of s. While this is an impossible goal to achieve against unrestricted tampering functions, rather surprisingly non-malleable coding becomes possible against every fixed family F of tampering functions that is not too large (for instance, when lF\textbar ≤ 22αn for some α < 1 where n is the number of bits in a codeword).In this work, we study the "capacity of non-malleable coding", and establish optimal bounds on the achievable rate as a function of the family size, answering an open problem from Dziembowski et al. (ICS 2010). Specifically, We prove that for every family F with lF\textbar ≤ 22αn, there exist non-malleable codes against F with rate arbitrarily close to 1 - α (this is achieved w.h.p. by a randomized construction).We show the existence of families of size exp(;nO(1) 2αn) against which there is no non-malleable code of rate 1 - α (in fact this is the case w.h.p for a random family of this size).We also show that 1 - α is the best achievable rate for the family of functions which are only allowed to tamper the first αn bits of the codeword, which is of special interest.As a corollary, this implies that the capacity of non-malleable coding in the split-state model (where the tampering function acts independently but arbitrarily on the two halves of the codeword, a model which has received some attention recently) equals 1/2.We also give an efficient Monte Carlo construction of codes of rate close to 1 with polynomial time encoding and decoding that is non-malleable against any fixed c > 0 and family F of size 2nc, in particular tampering functions with, say, cubic size circuits.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2554797.2554814
Using Scalable Game Design to Teach Computer Science from Middle School to Graduate School	Proceedings of the Fifteenth Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Basawapatna, Ashok R.; Koh, Kyu Han; Repenning, Alexander	A variety of approaches exist to teach computer science concepts to students from K-12 to graduate school. One such approach involves using the mass appeal of game design and creation to introduce students to programming and computational thinking. Specifically, Scalable Game Design enables students with varying levels of expertise to learn important concepts relative to their experience. This paper presents our observations using Scalable Game Design over multiple years to teach middle school students, college level students, graduate students, and even middle school teachers fundamental to complex computer science and education concepts. Results indicate that Scalable Game Design appeals broadly to students, regardless of background, and is a powerful teaching tool in getting students of all ages exposed and interested in computer science. Furthermore, it is observed that many student projects exhibit transfer enabling their games to explain complex ideas, from all disciplines, to the general public.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1822090.1822154
App Inventor for Android: Report from a Summer Camp	Proceedings of the 43rd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Roy, Krishnendu	Google's App Inventor for Android (AIA) is the newest visual "blocks" programming language designed to introduce students to programming through creation of mobile applications (apps). AIA opens up the world of mobile apps to novice programmers. Success stories of using AIA to introduce college students to programming exist. We used AIA in computing summer camps for high school students that we offer at our university. This paper is an experience report about using AIA in our camps. We provide a detailed description of designing our camps with AIA including the process of selecting and setting-up an Android device and instructional materials that we developed and made available to everyone. We evaluated our camps through surveys to determine the effects on the students. We found that there was mostly a slight increase in the favorable disposition towards computing. We also share our successes with using AIA and what still needs improvement for wider use.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2157136.2157222
Experience Report: A Multi-Classroom Report on the Value of Peer Instruction	Proceedings of the 16th Annual Joint Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Porter, Leo; Bailey Lee, Cynthia; Simon, Beth; Cutts, Quintin; Zingaro, Daniel	Peer Instruction (PI) has a significant following in physics, biology, and chemistry education. Although many CS educators are aware of PI as a pedagogy, the adoption rate in CS is low. This paper reports on four instructors with varying motivations and course contexts and the value they found in adopting PI. Although there are many documented benefits of PI for students (e.g. increased learning), here we describe the experience of the instructor by looking in detail at one particular question they posed in class. Through discussion of the instructors' experiences in their classrooms, we support educators in consideration of whether they would like to have similar classroom experiences. Our primary findings show instructors appreciate that PI assists students in addressing course concepts at a deep level, assists instructors in dynamically adapting their class to address student misunderstandings and, overall, that PI encourages students to be engaged in conversations which help build technical communication skills. We propose that using PI to engage students in these activities can effectively support training in analysis and teamwork skills.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1999747.1999788
Increasing Women's Participation in Computing at Harvey Mudd College	ACM Inroads	Alvarado, Christine; Dodds, Zachary; Libeskind-Hadas, Ran		https://doi.org/10.1145/2381083.2381100
Computational Thinking	Proceedings of the 38th SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Henderson, Peter B.; Cortina, Thomas J.; Wing, Jeannette M.		https://doi.org/10.1145/1227310.1227378
Computational Thinking	SIGCSE Bull.	Henderson, Peter B.; Cortina, Thomas J.; Wing, Jeannette M.		https://doi.org/10.1145/1227504.1227378
Relationships: Computational Thinking, Pedagogy of Programming, and Bloom's Taxonomy	Proceedings of the Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Selby, Cynthia C.	This study explores the relationship between computational thinking, teaching programming, and Bloom's Taxonomy. Data is collected from teachers, academics, and professionals, purposively selected because of their knowledge of the topics of problem solving, computational thinking, or the teaching of programming. This data is analysed following a grounded theory approach. A computational thinking taxonomy is developed. The relationships between cognitive processes, the pedagogy of programming, and the perceived levels of difficulty of computational thinking skills are illustrated by a model.Specifically, a definition for computational thinking is presented. The skills identified are mapped to Bloom's Taxonomy: Cognitive Domain. This mapping concentrates computational skills at the application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation levels. Analysis of the data indicates that abstraction of functionality is less difficult than abstraction of data, but both are perceived as difficult. The most difficult computational thinking skill is reported as decomposition. This ordering of difficulty for learners is a reversal of the cognitive complexity predicted by Bloom's model. The plausibility of this inconsistency is explored.The taxonomy, model, and the other results of this study may be used by educators to focus learning onto the computational thinking skills acquired by the learners, while using programming as a tool. They may also be employed in the design of curriculum subjects, such as ICT, computing, or computer science.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2818314.2818315
Toward an Emergent Theory of Broadening Participation in Computer Science Education	Proceedings of the 43rd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Webb, David C.; Repenning, Alexander; Koh, Kyu Han	A fundamental challenge to computer science education is the difficulty of broadening participation of women and underserved communities. The idea of game design and game programming as an activity to introduce children at an early age to computational thinking in a motivational way is quickly gaining momentum. A pedagogical approach called Project First has allowed the Scalable Game Design project to reach a large group of middle schools students including a large percentage of female (45%) and underrepresented (48%) students. With over 4000 students in inner city, remote rural, and Native American communities Scalable Game Design has investigated the impact on students' interest level of pedagogical approaches employed by teachers such as mediation and scaffolding. Findings suggest strong gender effects based on classroom scaffolding approaches. For instance, girls are substantially less likely to be motivated through scaffolding based on direct instruction. Conversely, guided discovery scaffolding approaches are highly motivating to the point where they can even overcome other negative predictors such as small girls to boys class participation ratios. This paper introduces the project, discusses different scaffolding approaches and presents data connecting gender specific motivational levels with scaffolding approaches.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2157136.2157191
Data Science: Challenges and Directions	Commun. ACM	Cao, Longbing	While it may not be possible to build a data brain identical to a human, data science can still aspire to imaginative machine thinking.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3015456
A Plea for Modesty	ACM Inroads	Hemmendinger, David	From time to time a movement arises that promises to save the world, or at least to make it vastly better. The extraordinary achievements of digital computing make it a locus of such movements today. Yet we should be wary; when movements fail they provoke backlash that rejects the more limited gains that they might have afforded. Today "computational thinking" has a considerable following, and I would like to discuss some problems with its discourse. It is too often presented in terms that could be interpreted as arrogant or that are overstated. Its descriptions too often lack appropriate examples, and perhaps as a result, it gets misunderstood in casual writing.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1805724.1805725
Growing Growth Mindset with a Social Robot Peer	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction	Park, Hae Won; Rosenberg-Kima, Rinat; Rosenberg, Maor; Gordon, Goren; Breazeal, Cynthia	Mindset has been shown to have a large impact on people's academic, social, and work achievements. A growth mindset, i.e., the belief that success comes from effort and perseverance, is a better indicator of higher achievements as compared to a fixed mindset, i.e., the belief that things are set and cannot be changed. Interventions aimed at promoting a growth mindset in children range from teaching about the brain's ability to learn and change, to playing computer games that grant brain points for effort rather than success. This work explores a novel paradigm to foster a growth mindset in young children where they play a puzzle solving game with a peer-like social robot. The social robot is fully autonomous and programmed with behaviors suggestive of it having either a growth mindset or a neutral mindset as it plays puzzle games with the child. We measure the mindset of children before and after interacting with the peer-like robot, in addition to measuring their problem solving behavior when faced with a challenging puzzle. We found that children who played with a growth-mindset robot 1) self-reported having a stronger growth mindset and 2) tried harder during a challenging task, as compared to children who played with the neutral-mindset robot. These results suggest that interacting with peer-like social robot with a growth mindset can promote the same mindset in children.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2909824.3020213
Teaching Computational Thinking through Musical Live Coding in Scratch	Proceedings of the 41st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Ruthmann, Alex; Heines, Jesse M.; Greher, Gena R.; Laidler, Paul; Saulters, Charles	This paper discusses our ongoing experiences in developing an interdisciplinary general education course called Sound Thinking that is offered jointly by our Dept. of Computer Science and Dept. of Music. It focuses on the student outcomes we are trying to achieve and the projects we are using to help students realize those outcomes. It explains why we are moving from a web-based environment using HTML and JavaScript to Scratch and discusses the potential for Scratch's "musical live coding" capability to reinforce those concepts even more strongly.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1734263.1734384
Programming in the Wild: Trends in Youth Computational Participation in the Online Scratch Community	Proceedings of the 9th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Fields, Deborah A.; Giang, Michael; Kafai, Yasmin	Most research in primary and secondary computing education has focused on understanding learners within formal classroom communities, leaving aside the growing number of promising informal online programming communities where young learners contribute, comment, and collaborate on programs. In this paper, we examined trends in computational participation in Scratch, an online community with over 1 million registered youth designers primarily 11-18 years of age. Drawing on a random sample of 5,000 youth programmers and their activities over three months in early 2012, we examined the quantity of programming concepts used in projects in relation to level of participation, gender, and account age of Scratch programmers. Latent class analyses revealed four unique groups of programmers. While there was no significant link between level of online participation, ranging from low to high, and level of programming sophistication, the exception was a small group of highly engaged users who were most likely to use more complex programming concepts. Groups who only used few of the more sophisticated programming concepts, such as Booleans, variables and operators, were identified as Scratch users new to the site and girls. In the discussion we address the challenges of analyzing young learners' programming in informal online communities and opportunities for designing more equitable computational participation.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2670757.2670768
Using App Inventor in a K-12 Summer Camp	Proceeding of the 44th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Wagner, Amber; Gray, Jeff; Corley, Jonathan; Wolber, David	Educators are often seeking new ways to motivate or inspire students to learn. Our past efforts in K-12 outreach included robotics and media computation as the contexts for teaching Computer Science (CS). With the deep interest in mobile technologies among teenagers, our recent outreach has focused on using smartphones as a new context. This paper is an experience report describing our approach and observations from teaching a summer camp for high school students using App Inventor (AI). The paper describes two separate methods (one using a visual block language, and another using Java) that were taught to high school students as a way to create Android applications. We observed that initiating the instruction with the block language, and then showing the direct mapping to an equivalent Java version, assisted students in understanding app development in Java. Our evaluation of the camp includes observations of student work and artifact assessment of student projects. Although the assessment suggests the camp was successful in several areas, we present numerous lessons learned based on our own reflection on the camp content and instruction.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2445196.2445377
Modeling People's Place Naming Preferences in Location Sharing	Proceedings of the 12th ACM International Conference on Ubiquitous Computing	Lin, Jialiu; Xiang, Guang; Hong, Jason I.; Sadeh, Norman	Most location sharing applications display people's locations on a map. However, people use a rich variety of terms to refer to their locations, such as "home," "Starbucks," or "the bus stop near my house." Our long-term goal is to create a system that can automatically generate appropriate place names based on real-time context and user preferences. As a first step, we analyze data from a two-week study involving 26 participants in two different cities, focusing on how people refer to places in location sharing. We derive a taxonomy of different place naming methods, and show that factors such as a person's perceived familiarity with a place and the entropy of that place (i.e. the variety of people who visit it) strongly influence the way people refer to it when interacting with others. We also present a machine learning model for predicting how people name places. Using our data, this model is able to predict the place naming method people choose with an average accuracy higher than 85%.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1864349.1864362
K-8 Learning Trajectories Derived from Research Literature: Sequence, Repetition, Conditionals	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research	Rich, Kathryn M.; Strickland, Carla; Binkowski, T. Andrew; Moran, Cheryl; Franklin, Diana	Computing curricula are being developed for elementary school classrooms, yet research evidence is scant for learning trajectories that drive curricular decisions about what topics should be addressed at each grade level, at what depth, and in what order. This study presents learning trajectories based on an in-depth review of over 100 scholarly articles in computer science education research. We present three levels of results. First, we present the characteristics of the 600+ learning goals and their research context that affected the learning trajectory creation process. Second, we describe our first three learning trajectories (Sequence, Repetition, and Conditionals), and the relationship between the learning goals and the resulting trajectories. Finally, we discuss the ways in which assumptions about the context (mathematics) and language (e.g., Scratch) directly influenced the trajectories.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3105726.3106166
The CS10K Project: Mobilizing the Community to Transform High School Computing	Proceedings of the 42nd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Astrachan, Owen; Cuny, Jan; Stephenson, Chris; Wilson, Cameron	The CS10K project is a large-scale, collaborative project bringing together stakeholders from wide-ranging constituencies with the goal of systematically changing the scale, curriculum, and pedagogy of teaching computer science at all levels, but focusing in particular on computer science in U.S. high schools as well as introductory computing at the college level. As part of the systemic changes in teaching computer science the CS10K project aims to have 10,000 teachers in 10,000 high schools teaching a new curriculum by 2015.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1953163.1953193
MakerWear: A Tangible Approach to Interactive Wearable Creation for Children	Proceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems	Kazemitabaar, Majeed; McPeak, Jason; Jiao, Alexander; He, Liang; Outing, Thomas; Froehlich, Jon E.	Wearable construction toolkits have shown promise in broadening participation in computing and empowering users to create personally meaningful computational designs. However, these kits present a high barrier of entry for some users, particularly young children (K-6). In this paper, we introduce MakerWear, a new wearable construction kit for children that uses a tangible, modular approach to wearable creation. We describe our participatory design process, the iterative development of MakerWear, and results from single- and multi-session workshops with 32 children (ages 5-12; M=8.3 years). Our findings reveal how children engage in wearable design, what they make (and want to make), and what challenges they face. As a secondary analysis, we also explore age-related differences.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3025453.3025887
Translating Network Position into Performance: Importance of Centrality in Different Network Configurations	Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Learning Analytics & Knowledge	Joksimović, Srećko; Manataki, Areti; Gašević, Dragan; Dawson, Shane; Kovanović, Vitomir; de Kereki, Inés Friss	As the field of learning analytics continues to mature, there is a corresponding evolution and sophistication of the associated analytical methods and techniques. In this regard social network analysis (SNA) has emerged as one of the cornerstones of learning analytics methodologies. However, despite the noted importance of social networks for facilitating the learning process, it remains unclear how and to what extent such network measures are associated with specific learning outcomes. Motivated by Simmel's theory of social interactions and building on the argument that social centrality does not always imply benefits, this study aimed to further contribute to the understanding of the association between students' social centrality and their academic performance. The study reveals that learning analytics research drawing on SNA should incorporate both - descriptive and statistical methods to provide a more comprehensive and holistic understanding of a students' network position. In so doing researchers can undertake more nuanced and contextually salient inferences about learning in network settings. Specifically, we show how differences in the factors framing students' interactions within two instances of a MOOC affect the association between the three social network centrality measures (i.e., degree, closeness, and betweenness) and the final course outcome.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2883851.2883928
Infusing Computational Thinking into the Middle- and High-School Curriculum	Proceedings of the 17th ACM Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Settle, Amber; Franke, Baker; Hansen, Ruth; Spaltro, Frances; Jurisson, Cynthia; Rennert-May, Colin; Wildeman, Brian	In recent years there have been significant efforts to revamp undergraduate and K-12 curricula to emphasize computational thinking, a term popularized by Jeannette Wing in 2006. We describe work introducing and enhancing computational thinking activities and assessments in the middle- and high-school curriculum at the University of Chicago Lab Schools. In total six courses were altered as a part of the Computational Thinking across the Curriculum Project: middle-school and high-school computer science, and high-school Latin, graphic arts, English, and history. We detail the modifications to the curriculum and discuss the successes and challenges of the project.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2325296.2325306
Factors Influencing Computer Science Learning in Middle School	Proceedings of the 47th ACM Technical Symposium on Computing Science Education	Grover, Shuchi; Pea, Roy; Cooper, Stephen	In this paper, we describe research conducted around a 7-week curriculum designed to introduce middle school students to computer science with a focus on algorithmic thinking and programming. The pedagogical ideas employed in this curriculum were drawn from past research. Empirical investigations over two studies in a public middle school in the US examined changes in students' understanding of algorithmic constructs and the factors affecting that learning. Multi-level analyses revealed that students in both studies (1) achieved substantial learning gains in algorithmic thinking skills and significant growth towards a more mature understanding of computing as a discipline, and (2) found certain CT ideas and constructs more difficult than others. Prior computing experiences and math and English ability were found to be predictors of learning outcomes. Extracurricular experiences with technology also appeared to impact outcomes.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2839509.2844564
Strawbies: Explorations in Tangible Programming	Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Hu, Felix; Zekelman, Ariel; Horn, Michael; Judd, Frances	In this demo we present Strawbies, a realtime tangible programming game designed for children ages 5 to 10. Strawbies is played by constructing physical programs out of wooden tiles in front of an iPad. This interaction is made possible with the use of an Osmo play system that includes a mirror to reflect images in front of the iPad through the front-facing camera. We combined this system with the TopCodes computer vision library for fast and reliable image recognition. Here we describe a set of principles that guided our iterative design process along with an overview of testing sessions with children that informed our most recent instantiation of Strawbies.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2771839.2771866
Using POGIL to Help Students Learn to Program	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Hu, Helen H.; Shepherd, Tricia D.	POGIL has been successfully implemented in a scientific computing course to teach science students how to program in Python. Following POGIL guidelines, the authors have developed guided inquiry activities that lead student teams to discover and understand programming concepts. With each iteration of the scientific computing course, the authors have refined the activities and learned how to better adapt POGIL for the computer science classroom. This article details how POGIL activities differ from both traditional computer science labs and other active-learning pedagogies. Background is provided on POGIL's effectiveness. The article then includes a full description of how POGIL activities were used in the scientific computing course, as well as an example POGIL activity on recursion. Discussion is provided on how to facilitate and develop POGIL activities. Quotes from student evaluations and an assessment on how well students learned to program are provided.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2499947.2499950
Beyond Dominant Resource Fairness: Extensions, Limitations, and Indivisibilities	ACM Trans. Econ. Comput.	Parkes, David C.; Procaccia, Ariel D.; Shah, Nisarg	We study the problem of allocating multiple resources to agents with heterogeneous demands. Technological advances such as cloud computing and data centers provide a new impetus for investigating this problem under the assumption that agents demand the resources in fixed proportions, known in economics as Leontief preferences. In a recent paper, Ghodsi et al. [2011] introduced the dominant resource fairness (DRF) mechanism, which was shown to possess highly desirable theoretical properties under Leontief preferences. We extend their results in three directions. First, we show that DRF generalizes to more expressive settings, and leverage a new technical framework to formally extend its guarantees. Second, we study the relation between social welfare and properties such as truthfulness; DRF performs poorly in terms of social welfare, but we show that this is an unavoidable shortcoming that is shared by every mechanism that satisfies one of three basic properties. Third, and most importantly, we study a realistic setting that involves indivisibilities. We chart the boundaries of the possible in this setting, contributing a new relaxed notion of fairness and providing both possibility and impossibility results.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2739040
Robots Make Computer Science Personal	Commun. ACM	Blank, Douglas	They also make it more hands-on, real, practical, and immediate, inspiring a new generation of scientists' deep interest in the field.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1183236.1183254
Ohmage: A General and Extensible End-to-End Participatory Sensing Platform	ACM Trans. Intell. Syst. Technol.	Tangmunarunkit, H.; Hsieh, C. K.; Longstaff, B.; Nolen, S.; Jenkins, J.; Ketcham, C.; Selsky, J.; Alquaddoomi, F.; George, D.; Kang, J.; Khalapyan, Z.; Ooms, J.; Ramanathan, N.; Estrin, D.	Participatory sensing (PS) is a distributed data collection and analysis approach where individuals, acting alone or in groups, use their personal mobile devices to systematically explore interesting aspects of their lives and communities [Burke et al. 2006]. These mobile devices can be used to capture diverse spatiotemporal data through both intermittent self-report and continuous recording from on-board sensors and applications.Ohmage (http://ohmage.org) is a modular and extensible open-source, mobile to Web PS platform that records, stores, analyzes, and visualizes data from both prompted self-report and continuous data streams. These data streams are authorable and can dynamically be deployed in diverse settings. Feedback from hundreds of behavioral and technology researchers, focus group participants, and end users has been integrated into ohmage through an iterative participatory design process. Ohmage has been used as an enabling platform in more than 20 independent projects in many disciplines. We summarize the PS requirements, challenges and key design objectives learned through our design process, and ohmage system architecture to achieve those objectives. The flexibility, modularity, and extensibility of ohmage in supporting diverse deployment settings are presented through three distinct case studies in education, health, and clinical research.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2717318
Children Learning Computer Science Concepts via Alice Game-Programming	Proceedings of the 43rd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Werner, Linda; Campe, Shannon; Denner, Jill	Programming environments that incorporate drag-and-drop methods and many pre-defined objects and operations are being widely used in K-12 settings. But can middle school students learn complex computer science concepts by using these programming environments when computer science is not the focus of the course? In this paper, we describe a semester-long game-programming course where 325 middle school students used Alice. We report on our analysis of 231 final games where we measured the frequency of successful execution of programming constructs. Our results show that many games exhibit successful uses of high level computer science concepts such as student-created abstractions, concurrent execution, and event handlers.We discuss the implications of these results for designing effective game programming courses for young students.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2157136.2157263
Democratizing Computing with App Inventor	GetMobile: Mobile Comp. and Comm.	Wolber, David; Abelson, Harold; Friedman, Mark	MIT App Inventor is a visual blocks language that enables beginners and non-programmers to create apps for their phones and tablets. It has empowered thousands to create software with real-world usefulness, and see themselves as creators rather than only consumers in the mobile computing environment. Educationally, it offers a "gateway drug" that can help broaden and diversify participation in computing education.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2721914.2721935
"Creating Cool Stuff": Pupils' Experience of the BBC Micro:Bit	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Sentance, Sue; Waite, Jane; Hodges, Steve; MacLeod, Emily; Yeomans, Lucy	The recent introduction of computer science (CS) education into schools in many countries has led to a surge in interest in programming tools and approaches which make CS concepts and tasks engaging, motivating and accessible to all. There is renewed interest in supporting learning through physical computing, which has been shown to be motivational whilst offering opportunities for collaboration and creativity. Within this context the BBC recently led a collaborative venture in the UK to develop a portable and low-cost programmable device. The consortium funded and produced one million devices, enough for every 11-12 year-old in the UK. In this paper, we report on what we believe to be the first study to investigate the usability and affordances of the BBC micro:bit. We interviewed 15 teachers and 54 pupils in schools in England about their experiences with the device who were, in general, enthusiastic about the potential of the BBC micro:bit. We describe pupils' experiences in terms of usability, creativity, the tangibility of the device and their learning of programming, and analyse their experiences in the context of previously reported benefits of physical computing.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3017680.3017749
Assessment of Computer Science Learning in a Scratch-Based Outreach Program	Proceeding of the 44th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Franklin, Diana; Conrad, Phillip; Boe, Bryce; Nilsen, Katy; Hill, Charlotte; Len, Michelle; Dreschler, Greg; Aldana, Gerardo; Almeida-Tanaka, Paulo; Kiefer, Brynn; Laird, Chelsea; Lopez, Felicia; Pham, Christine; Suarez, Jessica; Waite, Robert	Many institutions have created and deployed outreach programs for middle school students with the goal of increasing the number and diversity of students who later pursue careers in computer science. While these programs have been shown to increase interest in computer science, there has been less work on showing whether participants learn computer science content.We address two questions, one specific, and the other more general: (1) "What computer science did our middle school students learn in our interdisciplinary two-week summer camp?" (2) "How can computer science concepts be assessed in the context of Scratch-based outreach programs"? We address both questions by presenting the design of our summer camp, an overview of our curriculum, our assessment methodology, and our assessment results.Though the sample size is not statistically significant, the results show that a two-week, interdisciplinary, non-academic summer camp can be effective not only for engaging students, but also for imparting CS content. In just two weeks, with a curriculum not entirely focused on computer science, students displayed competence with event-driven programming, initialization of state, message passing, and say/sound synchronization. We have employed assessment methodologies that avoid written exams, an approach both outreach and classroom-based programs may find useful.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2445196.2445304
Send Mixed Signals: Earn More, Work Less	Proceedings of the 13th ACM Conference on Electronic Commerce	Bro Miltersen, Peter; Sheffet, Or	Emek et al presented a model of probabilistic single-item second price auctions where an auctioneer who is informed about the type of an item for sale, broadcasts a signal about this type to uninformed bidders. They proved that finding the optimal (for the purpose of generating revenue) pure signaling scheme is strongly NP-hard. In contrast, we prove that finding the optimal mixed signaling scheme can be done in polynomial time using linear programming. For the proof, we show that the problem is strongly related to a problem of optimally bundling divisible goods for auctioning. We also prove that a mixed signaling scheme can in some cases generate twice as much revenue as the best pure signaling scheme and we prove a generally applicable lower bound on the revenue generated by the best mixed signaling scheme.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2229012.2229033
Computational Thinking and Expository Writing in the Middle School	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Wolz, Ursula; Stone, Meredith; Pearson, Kim; Pulimood, Sarah Monisha; Switzer, Mary	To broaden participation in computing we need to look beyond traditional domains of inquiry and expertise. We present results from a demonstration project in which interactive journalism was used to infuse computational thinking into the standard curriculum and regular classroom experience at a middle school with a diverse population. Outcomes indicate that we were able to develop positive attitudes about computational thinking and programming among students and teachers who did not necessarily view themselves as “math types.” By partnering with language arts, technology and math teachers at Fisher Middle School, Ewing New Jersey, we introduced the isomorphism between the journalistic process and computational thinking to 7th and 8th graders. An intense summer institute, first with the teachers and then with students recruited from the school, immersed them in the “newsroom of the future” where they researched and wrote news stories, shot and edited video, and developed procedural animations in Scratch to support their storylines. An afterschool club sustained the experience. The teachers adapted interactive journalism and Scratch programming to enrich standard language arts curriculum and are infusing computational thinking in classroom experiences throughout the school.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1993069.1993073
The Social Turn in K-12 Programming: Moving from Computational Thinking to Computational Participation	Proceeding of the 44th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Kafai, Yasmin; Burke, Quinn	In this conceptual paper, we argue that recent developments in K-12 programming education are suggestive of what can be called a "social turn", a shift in the field in which learning to code has shifted from being a predominantly individualistic and tool-oriented approach to now one that is decidedly sociologically and culturally grounded in the creation and sharing of digital media. We discuss in detail three dimensions of this social turn (1) from writing code to creating applications, (2) from composing "from scratch" to remixing the work of others, and (3) from designing tools to facilitating communities. These three shifts illustrate how the development of artifacts, tools, and communities of programming lead us to move from computational thinking to computational participation. We draw from examples of past and current research, both inside and outside of school, and situate these developments in the context of current discussions around computational thinking, which has become a driving force in revitalizing programming in K-12 curricula and altogether broadening participation in computing.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2445196.2445373
The Zones of Proximal Flow: Guiding Students through a Space of Computational Thinking Skills and Challenges	Proceedings of the Ninth Annual International ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research	Basawapatna, Ashok R.; Repenning, Alexander; Koh, Kyu Han; Nickerson, Hilarie	This paper presents a novel pedagogical framework, entitled the Zones of Proximal Flow, which integrates Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development theory with Csikszentmihalyi's ideas about Flow. Flow focuses on the individual– an individual is in Flow when challenges are balanced with skills. The Zone of Proximal Development, on the other hand, brings in a social learning aspect focusing on a student's ability to learn concepts with external support. From our research experiences bringing game and simulation design into middle school classrooms, we attempt to provide students with appropriate challenges using a project-first based approach that aims to keep students in Flow. The project-first approach employs inquiry based scaffolding to guide students, with appropriate support by their teachers, through Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development, back in to Csikszentmihalyi's state of Flow for an ideal learning experience. We call this space the Zones of Proximal Flow. Data indicate that the Zones of Proximal Flow approach works, keeping classrooms engaged in the act of game design and enabling students to advance to more complex program creations.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2493394.2493404
Education\textlessbr\textgreater\textlessbr\textgreaterHuman Computing Skills: Rethinking the K-12 Experience	Commun. ACM	Fletcher, George H. L.; Lu, James J.	Establishing the fundamentals of computational thinking is essential to improving computer science education.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1461928.1461938
The Design of Alice	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Cooper, Stephen	This article explores the major design characteristics (both pedagogic as well as technical) that helped to shape Alice 2. It identifies several strengths of Alice as well as several weaknesses. An example problem is solved in Alice, covering many of the design characteristics. Finally, the effects and impacts of Alice instruction are presented, and the future directions of Alice development are provided.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1868358.1868362
Computer Science and the Liberal Arts: A Philosophical Examination	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Walker, Henry M.; Kelemen, Charles	This article explores the philosophy and position of the discipline of computer science within the liberal arts, based upon a discussion of the nature of computer science and a review of the characteristics of the liberal arts. A liberal arts environment provides important opportunities for undergraduate programs, but also presents important constraints. A well designed program can flourish in this environment, and evidence indicates that a liberal arts program in computer science can indeed succeed well.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1731041.1731043
Development of Computational Thinking Skills through Unplugged Activities in Primary School	Proceedings of the 12th Workshop on Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Brackmann, Christian P.; Román-González, Marcos; Robles, Gregorio; Moreno-León, Jesús; Casali, Ana; Barone, Dante	Computational thinking is nowadays being widely adopted and investigated. Educators and researchers are using two main approaches to teach these skills in schools: with computer programming exercises, and with unplugged activities that do not require the use of digital devices or any kind of specific hardware. While the former is the mainstream approach, the latter is especially important for schools that do not have proper technology resources, Internet connections or even electrical power. However, there is a lack of investigations that prove the effectiveness of the unplugged activities in the development of computational thinking skills, particularly for primary schools. This paper, which summarizes a quasi-experiment carried out in two primary schools in Spain, tries to shed some light on this regard. The results show that students in the experimental groups, who took part in the unplugged activities, enhanced their computational thinking skills significantly more than their peers in the control groups who did not participate during the classes, proving that the unplugged approach may be effective for the development of this ability.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3137065.3137069
The Writers' Workshop for Youth Programmers: Digital Storytelling with Scratch in Middle School Classrooms	Proceedings of the 43rd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Burke, Quinn; Kafai, Yasmin	This study investigates the potential to introduce basic programming concepts to middle school children within the context of a classroom writing-workshop. In this paper we describe how students drafted, revised, and published their own digital stories using the introductory programming language Scratch and in the process learned fundamental CS concepts as well as the wider connection between programming and writing as interrelated processes of composition.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2157136.2157264
K–12 Computational Learning	Commun. ACM	Cooper, Stephen; Pérez, Lance C.; Rainey, Daphne	Enhancing student learning and understanding by combining theories of learning with the computer's unique attributes.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1839676.1839686
The Abstraction Transition Taxonomy: Developing Desired Learning Outcomes through the Lens of Situated Cognition	Proceedings of the Ninth Annual International Conference on International Computing Education Research	Cutts, Quintin; Esper, Sarah; Fecho, Marlena; Foster, Stephen R.; Simon, Beth	We report on a post-hoc analysis of introductory programming lecture materials. The purpose of this analysis is to identify what knowledge and skills we are asking students to acquire, as situated in the activity, tools, and culture of what programmers do and how they think. The specific materials analyzed are the 133 Peer Instruction questions used in lecture to support cognitive apprenticeship – honoring the situated nature of knowledge. We propose an Abstraction Transition Taxonomy for classifying the kinds of knowing and practices we engage students in as we seek to apprentice them into the programming world. We find students are asked to answer questions expressed using three levels of abstraction: English, CS Speak, and Code. Moreover, many questions involve asking students to transition between levels of abstraction within the context of a computational problem. Finally, by applying our taxonomy in classifying a range of introductory programming exams, we find that summative assessments (including our own) tend to emphasize a small range of the skills fostered in students during the formative/apprenticeship phase.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2361276.2361290
User-Controllable Learning of Security and Privacy Policies	Proceedings of the 1st ACM Workshop on Workshop on AISec	Kelley, Patrick Gage; Hankes Drielsma, Paul; Sadeh, Norman; Cranor, Lorrie Faith	Studies have shown that users have great difficulty specifying their security and privacy policies in a variety of application domains. While machine learning techniques have successfully been used to refine models of user preferences, such as in recommender systems, they are generally configured as "black boxes" that take control over the entire policy and severely restrict the ways in which the user can manipulate it. This article presents an alternative approach, referred to as user-controllable policy learning. It involves the incremental manipulation of policies in a context where system and user refine a common policy model. The user regularly provides feedback on decisions made based on the current policy. This feedback is used to identify (learn) incremental policy improvements which are presented as suggestions to the user. The user, in turn, can review these suggestions and decide which, if any, to accept. The incremental nature of the suggestions enhances usability, and because the user and the system manipulate a common policy representation, the user retains control and can still make policy modifications by hand. Results obtained using a neighborhood search implementation of this approach are presented in the context of data derived from the deployment of a friend finder application, where users can share their locations with others, subject to privacy policies they refine over time. We present results showing policy accuracy, which averages 60% upon initial definition by our users climbing as high as 90% using our technique.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1456377.1456380
Algorithmic Composition: Computational Thinking in Music	Commun. ACM	Edwards, Michael	The composer still composes but also gets to take a programming-enabled journey of musical discovery.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1965724.1965742
Using a Discourse-Intensive Pedagogy and Android's App Inventor for Introducing Computational Concepts to Middle School Students	Proceeding of the 44th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Grover, Shuchi; Pea, Roy	Past research on children and programming from the 1980s called for deepening the study of the pedagogy of programming in order to help children build better cognitive models of foundational concepts of CS. More recently, computing education researchers are beginning to recognize the need to apply the learning sciences to develop age- and grade-appropriate curricula and pedagogies for developing computational competencies among children. This paper presents the curriculum of an exploratory workshop that employed a discourse-intensive pedagogy to introduce middle school children to programming and foundational concepts of computer science through programming mobile apps in App Inventor for Android (AIA).	https://doi.org/10.1145/2445196.2445404
A Tale of Two Countries: Successes and Challenges in K-12 Computer Science Education in Israel and the United States	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Gal-Ezer, Judith; Stephenson, Chris	This article tells a story of K-12 computer science in two different countries. These two countries differ profoundly in culture, language, government and state structure, and in their education systems. Despite these differences, however, they share the pursuit of excellence and high standards in K-12 education. In Israel, curriculum is determined at the national level. The high-school computer science curriculum has been in place for more than 20 years and is offered in all schools as an elective similar to biology, chemistry, and physics. The picture in the United States is more complex and therefore less amenable to generalization. Because educational policy is set at the state and sometimes even at the school district level, access to computer science courses and the content of those courses can vary even for schools within the same district. This article will describe the development of the curricula/standards in both countries and the current situation, focusing on common issues and challenges in areas such as equity and teacher training.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2602483
Locaccino: A Privacy-Centric Location Sharing Application	Proceedings of the 12th ACM International Conference Adjunct Papers on Ubiquitous Computing - Adjunct	Toch, Eran; Cranshaw, Justin; Hankes-Drielsma, Paul; Springfield, Jay; Kelley, Patrick Gage; Cranor, Lorrie; Hong, Jason; Sadeh, Norman	Locaccino is a location sharing application designed to empower users to effectively control their privacy. It has been piloted by close to 2000 users and has been used by researchers as an experimental platform for conducting research on location-based social networks. Featured technologies include expressive privacy rule creation, detailed feedback mechanisms that help users understand their privacy, algorithms for analyzing privacy preferences, and clients for mobile computers and smartphone devices. In addition, variations of Locaccino are also being piloted as part of research on user-controllable policy learning, learning usable privacy personas and reconciling expressiveness and user burden. The purpose of this demo is to introduce participants to the features of Locaccino, so that they can try out the Locaccino smartphone and laptop applications on their own devices, locate their friends and colleagues, and set rich privacy policies for sharing their location.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1864431.1864446
Evaluating a Breadth-First Cs 1 for Scientists	SIGCSE Bull.	Dodds, Zachary; Libeskind-Hadas, Ran; Alvarado, Christine; Kuenning, Geoff	This paper presents a thorough evaluation of CS for Scientists, a CS 1 course designed to provide future scientists with an overview of the discipline. The course takes a breadth-first approach that leverages its students' interest and experience in science, mathematics, and engineering. In contrast to many other styles of CS 1, this course does not presume that its students will study more computer science, but it does seek to prepare them should they choose to. We summarize the past year's worth of assessments of student learning, retention, and affect – with particular attention paid to women's voices. Where possible, we contrast these student measures with those from a traditional, imperative-first CS1 that this new course replaced. The data thus far suggest that CS for Scientists significantly improves students' understanding of CS, its applications, and practice.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1352322.1352229
Teaching Computational Thinking through Bioinformatics to Biology Students	Proceedings of the 40th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Qin, Hong	Modern biology has transformed from an insular entity into an interdisciplinary science, which in turn demands interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary training for future work force in biology and life sciences. Computational thinking is a way of thinking that uses concepts and methodologies of computing to address questions in a broad range of subjects, and as such, computational thinking offers an important skill set in modern sciences. Despite its importance, the concept of computational thinking has generally been side-stepped in undergraduate biology education. Many students in life sciences are often weak in quantitative/computing skills and tend to avoid computing-orient courses. To address these issues, we incorporated computational thinking into a bioinformatics course for undergraduate life science majors. We developed comprehensive computer laboratory exercises that offer hands-on learning experience for the targeted student pool, and employed peer-assisted collaborative learning environment. Preliminary results of these explorative efforts will be helpful for others to teach computational thinking to biology students.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1508865.1508932
Teaching Computational Thinking through Bioinformatics to Biology Students	SIGCSE Bull.	Qin, Hong	Modern biology has transformed from an insular entity into an interdisciplinary science, which in turn demands interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary training for future work force in biology and life sciences. Computational thinking is a way of thinking that uses concepts and methodologies of computing to address questions in a broad range of subjects, and as such, computational thinking offers an important skill set in modern sciences. Despite its importance, the concept of computational thinking has generally been side-stepped in undergraduate biology education. Many students in life sciences are often weak in quantitative/computing skills and tend to avoid computing-orient courses. To address these issues, we incorporated computational thinking into a bioinformatics course for undergraduate life science majors. We developed comprehensive computer laboratory exercises that offer hands-on learning experience for the targeted student pool, and employed peer-assisted collaborative learning environment. Preliminary results of these explorative efforts will be helpful for others to teach computational thinking to biology students.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1539024.1508932
An Equity Lens for Scaling: A Critical Juncture for Exploring Computer Science	ACM Inroads	Margolis, Jane; Goode, Joanna; Chapman, Gail		https://doi.org/10.1145/2794294
Building upon and Enriching Grade Four Mathematics Standards with Programming Curriculum	Proceedings of the 43rd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Lewis, Colleen M.; Shah, Niral	We found that fifth grade students' scores on Scratch programming quizzes in a summer enrichment course were highly correlated with their scores on a standardized test for mathematics. We identify ways in which the programming curriculum builds upon target skills from the Mathematics Content Standards for California Public Schools. We hypothesize that the programming curriculum leveraged and enriched students' mathematics content knowledge.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2157136.2157156
Computer Science Principles: Analysis of a Proposed Advanced Placement Course	Proceeding of the 44th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Arpaci-Dusseau, Andrea; Astrachan, Owen; Barnett, Dwight; Bauer, Matthew; Carrell, Marilyn; Dovi, Rebecca; Franke, Baker; Gardner, Christina; Gray, Jeff; Griffin, Jean; Kick, Richard; Kuemmel, Andy; Morelli, Ralph; Muralidhar, Deepa; Osborne, R Brook; Uche, Chinma	In this paper we analyze the CS Principles project, a proposed Advanced Placement course, by focusing on the second pilot that took place in 2011-2012. In a previous publication the first pilot of the course was explained, but not in a context related to relevant educational research and philosophy. In this paper we analyze the content and the pedagogical approaches used in the second pilot of the project. We include information about the third pilot being conducted in 2012-2013 and the portfolio exam that is part of that pilot. Both the second and third pilots provide evidence that the CS Principles course is succeeding in changing how computer science is taught and to whom it is taught.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2445196.2445273
I Would DiYSE for It! A Manifesto for Do-It-Yourself Internet-of-Things Creation	Proceedings of the 7th Nordic Conference on Human-Computer Interaction: Making Sense Through Design	De Roeck, Dries; Slegers, Karin; Criel, Johan; Godon, Marc; Claeys, Laurence; Kilpi, Katriina; Jacobs, An	This paper presents a manifesto directed at developers and designers of internet-of-things creation platforms. Currently, most existing creation platforms are tailored to specific types of end-users, mostly people with a substantial background in or affinity with technology. The thirteen items presented in the manifesto however, resulted from several user studies including non-technical users, and highlight aspects that should be taken into account in order to open up internet-of-things creation to a wider audience. To reach out and involve more people in internet-of-things creation, a relation is made to the social phenomenon of do-it-yourself, which provides valuable insights into how society can be encouraged to get involved in creation activities. Most importantly, the manifesto aims at providing a framework for do-it-yourself systems enabling non-technical users to create internet-of-things applications.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2399016.2399044
Space Profiling for Parallel Functional Programs	Proceedings of the 13th ACM SIGPLAN International Conference on Functional Programming	Spoonhower, Daniel; Blelloch, Guy E.; Harper, Robert; Gibbons, Phillip B.	This paper presents a semantic space profiler for parallel functional programs. Building on previous work in sequential profiling, our tools help programmers to relate runtime resource use back to program source code. Unlike many profiling tools, our profiler is based on a cost semantics. This provides a means to reason about performance without requiring a detailed understanding of the compiler or runtime system. It also provides a specification for language implementers. This is critical in that it enables us to separate cleanly the performance of the application from that of the language implementation.Some aspects of the implementation can have significant effects on performance. Our cost semantics enables programmers to understand the impact of different scheduling policies while hiding many of the details of their implementations. We show applications where the choice of scheduling policy has asymptotic effects on space use. We explain these use patterns through a demonstration of our tools. We also validate our methodology by observing similar performance in our implementation of a parallel extension of Standard ML.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1411204.1411240
Space Profiling for Parallel Functional Programs	SIGPLAN Not.	Spoonhower, Daniel; Blelloch, Guy E.; Harper, Robert; Gibbons, Phillip B.	This paper presents a semantic space profiler for parallel functional programs. Building on previous work in sequential profiling, our tools help programmers to relate runtime resource use back to program source code. Unlike many profiling tools, our profiler is based on a cost semantics. This provides a means to reason about performance without requiring a detailed understanding of the compiler or runtime system. It also provides a specification for language implementers. This is critical in that it enables us to separate cleanly the performance of the application from that of the language implementation.Some aspects of the implementation can have significant effects on performance. Our cost semantics enables programmers to understand the impact of different scheduling policies while hiding many of the details of their implementations. We show applications where the choice of scheduling policy has asymptotic effects on space use. We explain these use patterns through a demonstration of our tools. We also validate our methodology by observing similar performance in our implementation of a parallel extension of Standard ML.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1411203.1411240
Developing Computational Thinking through a Virtual Robotics Programming Curriculum	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Witherspoon, Eben B.; Higashi, Ross M.; Schunn, Christian D.; Baehr, Emily C.; Shoop, Robin	Computational thinking describes key principles from computer science that are broadly generalizable. Robotics programs can be engaging learning environments for acquiring core computational thinking competencies. However, few empirical studies evaluate the effectiveness of a robotics programming curriculum for developing computational thinking knowledge and skills. This study measures pre/post gains with new computational thinking assessments given to middle school students who participated in a virtual robotics programming curriculum. Overall, participation in the virtual robotics curriculum was related to significant gains in pre- to posttest scores, with larger gains for students who made further progress through the curriculum. The success of this intervention suggests that participation in a scaffolded programming curriculum, within the context of virtual robotics, supports the development of generalizable computational thinking knowledge and skills that are associated with increased problem-solving performance on nonrobotics computing tasks. Furthermore, the particular units that students engage in may determine their level of growth in these competencies.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3104982
Accelerating K-12 Computational Thinking Using Scaffolding, Staging, and Abstraction	Proceeding of the 44th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Touretzky, David S.; Marghitu, Daniela; Ludi, Stephanie; Bernstein, Debra; Ni, Lijun	We describe a three-stage model of computing instruction beginning with a simple, highly scaffolded programming environment (Kodu) and progressing to more challenging frameworks (Alice and Lego NXT-G). In moving between frameworks, students explore the similarities and differences in how concepts such as variables, conditionals, and looping are realized. This can potentially lead to a deeper understanding of programming, bringing students closer to true computational thinking. Some novel strategies for teaching with Kodu are outlined. Finally, we briefly report on our methodology and select preliminary results from a pilot study using this curriculum with students ages 10-17, including several with disabilities.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2445196.2445374
Programming in K-12 Science Classrooms	Commun. ACM	Sengupta, Pratim; Dickes, Amanda; Farris, Amy Voss; Karan, Ashlyn; Martin, David; Wright, Mason	Introducing students to visual programming as a pathway to text-based programming.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2822517
Natural Algorithms and Influence Systems	Commun. ACM	Chazelle, Bernard	Algorithms offer a rich, expressive language for modelers of biological and social systems. They lay the grounds for numerical simulations and, crucially, provide a powerful framework for their analysis. The new area of natural algorithms may reprise in the life sciences the role differential equations have long played in the physical sciences. For this to happen, however, an "algorithmic calculus" is needed. We discuss what this program entails in the context of influence systems, a broad family of multiagent models arising in social dynamics.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2380656.2380679
CS Unplugged and Middle-School Students’ Views, Attitudes, and Intentions Regarding CS	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Taub, Rivka; Armoni, Michal; Ben-Ari, Mordechai	Many students hold incorrect ideas and negative attitudes about computer science (CS). In order to address these difficulties, a series of learning activities called Computer Science Unplugged was developed by Tim Bell and his colleagues. These activities expose young people to central concepts in CS in an entertaining way without requiring a computer. The CS Unplugged activities have become more and more popular among CS educators and several activities are recommended in the ACM K-12 curriculum for elementary schools. CS Unplugged is used worldwide and has been translated into many languages.We examined the effect of the CS Unplugged activities on middle-school students’ ideas about CS and their desire to consider and study it in high school. The results indicate that following the activities the ideas of the students on what CS is about were partially improved, but their desire to study CS lessened.In order to provide possible explanations to these results, we analyzed the CS Unplugged activities to determine to what extent the objectives of CS Unplugged were addressed in the activities. In addition, we checked whether the activities were designed according to constructivist principles and whether they were explicitly linked to central concepts in CS. We found that only some of the objectives were addressed in the activities, that the activities do not engage with the students’ prior knowledge and that most of the activities are not explicitly linked to central concepts in CS. We offer suggestions for modifying the CS Unplugged activities so that they will be more likely to achieve their objectives.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2160547.2160551
Children Programming Games: A Strategy for Measuring Computational Learning	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Werner, Linda; Denner, Jill; Campe, Shannon	This article reports the results of a study of the relationship of computer game programming to computational learning (CL). The results contribute to the growing body of knowledge about how to define and measure CL among children by proposing a new concept, Game Computational Sophistication (GCS). We analyzed 231 games programmed by 325 11 and 12 year olds with a range of prior computer experience who attended a voluntary technology class during or after school. Findings suggest that students’ games exhibited a range of GCS: programs composed of sequences of simple programming constructs; programs composed of programming constructs, some of which are used to implement higher-order patterns; and programs composed of game mechanics built from combinations of patterns “glued” together with simple programming constructs. We use case studies of students’ games to illustrate how variation in the use and integration of programming constructs, patterns, and game mechanics can be used to demonstrate evidence of CL. The study contributes to an understanding of what CL looks like in middle school, how to assess it, and how game-programming activities might promote CL.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2677091
Introducing Discipline-Based Computing in Undergraduate Engineering Education	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Magana, Alejandra J.; Falk, Michael L.; Reese, Michael J.	This article investigates the effectiveness of a course employing a discipline-based computing approach. The research questions driving this study were: (1) Can experiences with discipline-based computing promote students’ acquisition and application of foundational computing concepts and procedures? (2) How do students perceive and experience the integration of discipline-based computing as relevant to their future career goals? (3) How do students perceive the structure of the class as useful and engaging for their learning? We used qualitative and quantitative research methods to approach the research questions. The population studied was 20 engineering undergraduates from Johns Hopkins University. Results of this study suggest that students performed proficiently in applying computing methods, procedures, and concepts to the solution of well-structured engineering problems. Results also suggest that student self-perceptions of their overall computing abilities and their abilities to specifically solve engineering problems shifted from low to high confidence. Students consistently found the course to be important and useful for their studies and their future careers. They also found the course to be of very high quality and identified the instructors and the teaching and feedback methods employed as very useful for their learning. Finally, students also described the course as very challenging compared with other courses in their own department and at the university in general.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2534971
On the Automatic Assessment of Computational Thinking Skills: A Comparison with Human Experts	Proceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems	Moreno-León, Jesús; Román-González, Marcos; Harteveld, Casper; Robles, Gregorio	Programming and computational thinking skills are promoted in schools worldwide. However, there is still a lack of tools that assist learners and educators in the assessment of these skills. We have implemented an assessment tool, called Dr. Scratch, that analyzes Scratch projects with the aim to assess the level of development of several aspects of computational thinking. One of the issues to address in order to show its validity is to compare the (automatic) evaluations provided by the tool with the (manual) evaluations by (human) experts. In this paper we compare the assessments provided by Dr. Scratch with over 450 evaluations of Scratch projects given by 16 experts in computer science education. Our results show strong correlations between automatic and manual evaluations. As there is an ample debate among educators on the use of this type of tools, we discuss the implications and limitations, and provide recommendations for further research.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3027063.3053216
Integrating Computational and Creative Thinking to Improve Learning and Performance in CS1	Proceedings of the 45th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Miller, L. D.; Soh, Leen-Kiat; Chiriacescu, Vlad; Ingraham, Elizabeth; Shell, Duane F.; Hazley, Melissa Patterson	Our research is based on an innovative approach that integrates computational thinking and creative thinking in CS1 to improve student learning performance. Referencing Epstein's Generativity Theory, we designed and deployed a suite of creative thinking exercises with linkages to concepts in computer science and computational thinking, with the premise that students can leverage their creative thinking skills to "unlock" their understanding of computational thinking. In this paper, we focus on our study on differential impacts of the exercises on different student populations. For all students there was a linear "dosage effect" where completion of each additional exercise increased retention of course content. The impacts on course grades, however, were more nuanced. CS majors had a consistent increase for each exercise, while non-majors benefited more from completing at least three exercises. It was also important for freshmen to complete all four exercises. We did find differences between women and men but cannot draw conclusions.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2538862.2538940
Older Adults Learning Computer Programming: Motivations, Frustrations, and Design Opportunities	Proceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems	Guo, Philip J.	Computer programming is a highly in-demand skill, but most learn-to-code initiatives and research target some of the youngest members of society: children and college students. We present the first known study of older adults learning computer programming. Using an online survey with 504 respondents aged 60 to 85 who are from 52 different countries, we discovered that older adults were motivated to learn to keep their brains challenged as they aged, to make up for missed opportunities during youth, to connect with younger family members, and to improve job prospects. They reported frustrations including a perceived decline in cognitive abilities, lack of opportunities to interact with tutors and peers, and trouble dealing with constantly-changing software technologies. Based on these findings, we propose a learner-centered design of techniques and tools for motivating older adults to learn programming and discuss broader societal implications of a future where more older adults have access to computer programming – not merely computer literacy – as a skill set.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3025453.3025945
Education\textlessbr\textgreater\textlessbr\textgreaterAlice 3: Concrete to Abstract	Commun. ACM	Dann, Wanda; Cooper, Stephen	The innovative Alice 3 programming environment, currently in beta testing, teaches students to program with Alice and Java software.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1536616.1536628
Learning Practices of Making: Developing a Framework for Design	Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Wardrip, Peter S.; Brahms, Lisa	While the Maker Movement has gained momentum in formal and informal settings, the practice has been ahead of the research, especially on learning. In this paper, we introduce a framework of learning practices (LPs) of making for the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh's makerspace, called MAKESHOP. Through a collaborative and iterative process with the Teaching Artists, we developed and revised a framework of LPs of making. The LPs are described and illustrative data from a circuit block activity are provided to further explain the practices. Implications and some future work are discussed.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2771839.2771920
Scratching the Surface of Advanced Topics in Software Engineering: A Workshop Module for Middle School Students	Proceedings of the 39th SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Sivilotti, Paolo A. G.; Laugel, Stacey A.	A common approach for introducing computer science to middle school students is to teach them a simple yet engaging programming language A different approach is to teach them some advanced topic independent of any particular language or syntax We describe a 3-hour workshop module designed to do both This module has been piloted with a group of thirty 8th grade girls. It uses the Scratch programming language to develop the advanced software engineering concepts of specifications, refinement, and composition After this module, students were enthusiastic about continuing to program in Scratch independently and also felt they learned something about computer science as a discipline.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1352135.1352235
Scratching the Surface of Advanced Topics in Software Engineering: A Workshop Module for Middle School Students	SIGCSE Bull.	Sivilotti, Paolo A. G.; Laugel, Stacey A.	A common approach for introducing computer science to middle school students is to teach them a simple yet engaging programming language A different approach is to teach them some advanced topic independent of any particular language or syntax We describe a 3-hour workshop module designed to do both This module has been piloted with a group of thirty 8th grade girls. It uses the Scratch programming language to develop the advanced software engineering concepts of specifications, refinement, and composition After this module, students were enthusiastic about continuing to program in Scratch independently and also felt they learned something about computer science as a discipline.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1352322.1352235
Understanding Programming Expertise: An Empirical Study of Phasic Brain Wave Changes	ACM Trans. Comput.-Hum. Interact.	Crk, Igor; Kluthe, Timothy; Stefik, Andreas	Recent decades have seen a resurgence of interest in electroencephalography (EEG), as neuroscience develops new models of cognition and refines old ones, associating them with detectable indicators of brain activity. This article presents a more direct measure of programmer expertise, derived from noninvasive observation of the brain’s electrical activity. This article provides a foundational approach for investigating the role of expertise in programming language comprehension, showing that this electrical activity in the brain can indicate (1) prior programming experience by class level (current state of progression through an undergraduate computer science program), and (2) self-reported experience levels.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2829945
Introducing Teachers to Computational Thinking Using Unplugged Storytelling	Proceedings of the 9th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Curzon, Paul; McOwan, Peter W.; Plant, Nicola; Meagher, Laura R.	Many countries are introducing new school computing syllabuses that make programming and computational thinking core components. However, many of the teachers involved have major knowledge, skill and pedagogy gaps. We have explored the effectiveness of using 'unplugged' methods (constructivist, often kinaesthetic, activities away from computers) with contextually rich storytelling to introduce teachers to these topics in a non-threatening way. We describe the approach we have used in workshops for teachers and its survey based evaluation. Teachers were highly positive that the approach was inspiring, confidence building and gave them a greater understanding of the concepts involved, as well as giving practical teaching techniques that they would use.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2670757.2670767
Ubiquity Symposium: Computation and Computational Thinking	Ubiquity	Aho, Alfred V.	In this ninth piece to the Ubiquity symposium discussing What is computation? Alfred V. Aho shares his views about the importance of computational thinking in answering the question. –Editor	https://doi.org/10.1145/1922681.1922682
A Nationwide Exam as a Tool for Improving a New Curriculum	Proceedings of the 18th ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Zur-Bargury, Iris; Pârv, Bazil; Lanzberg, Dvir	Israel's Ministry of Education has decided to strengthen the STEM studies, including computer science (CS). A new curriculum for CS for junior high, which focuses on developing computational thinking, was developed, implemented, and evaluated. The evaluation contains a nationwide test at the end of each year. This paper describes the 2012 nationwide exam and its evaluation.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2462476.2462479
A Survey of Computational Kits for Young Children	Proceedings of the 17th ACM Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Yu, Junnan; Roque, Ricarose	This paper presents a survey of computational kits that enable young children (ages 7 years old and under) to explore computing ideas and practices. We examined physical, virtual, and hybrid kits across three different perspectives: how they are designed, how they support children to explore computational concepts and practices, and how they enable children to engage in a range of projects and activities. Based on our analysis, we present design suggestions and opportunities to expand the possibilities in how children can engage in computing, what kinds of projects children can make, and what kinds of computational ideas children can explore.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3202185.3202738
Visions of Computer Science Education: Unpacking Arguments for and Projected Impacts of CS4All Initiatives	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Vogel, Sara; Santo, Rafi; Ching, Dixie	As momentum grows to expand K12 Computer Science (CS) education, associated public narratives often assume core questions about why CS should be taught to all students have been sufficiently answered. Having clarity around the core purposes that varied stakeholders are envisioning is critical to ensuring the coherence of CS4All initiatives. This study presents a framework examining the range of arguments for and projected impacts of CS education programs. Based on data drawn from a researcher- facilitated participatory knowledge building process involving 26 CS education stakeholders who articulated 161 arguments, we identify seven areas of impact present in arguments for universal CS education: (1) economic and workforce development, (2) equity and social justice, (3) competencies and literacies, (4) citizenship and civic life, (5) scientific, technological and social innovation, (6) school improvement and reform and (7) fun, fulfillment and personal agency. Findings show that individual arguments and visions for CS education often reference multiple impact areas. We intend for this framework to support reflection by CS education stakeholders to consider how their current initiatives index different ideologies about what CS4All projects are meant to achieve.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3017680.3017755
Can Middle-Schoolers Use Storytelling Alice to Make Games? Results of a Pilot Study	Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Foundations of Digital Games	Werner, Linda; Denner, Jill; Bliesner, Michelle; Rex, Pat	In this paper we share experiences from two 2-week summer courses for middle-school students in game programming using Storytelling Alice (SA). The students spent 20 hours learning SA and creating their own 'games' alone and in pairs. We discuss problems and preliminary findings regarding game programming by middle-school students. Our findings suggest that middle-school students can use SA to make games, and that this activity can be used to build information technology fluency.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1536513.1536552
Remedying Misperceptions of Computer Science among Middle School Students	Proceedings of the 45th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Grover, Shuchi; Pea, Roy; Cooper, Stephen	Past research extensively points to gross misperceptions of the discipline of Computer Science among students in middle and high school. As efforts to introduce computing education in K-12 gains traction in tandem with initiatives that address issues of interest and attitudes towards CS, misperceptions of computing as a discipline must also be addressed as early as middle school, which is known to be a key time for identity building. This paper shares the results of a curricular intervention that aims to show CS to students in a new light - in real world contexts and as a creative and problem-solving discipline; as something bigger and broader than the "computer-centric" view that students are known to harbor.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2538862.2538934
'Computing, We Have a Problem …'	ACM Inroads	Camp, Tracy	In May 2005, Jim Foley (Board Chair of the Computing Research Association) published an abstract that was titled with these words: "Computing, We Have a Problem …". The main purpose of Dr. Foley's article was to discuss the image problem within computing, that "the public does not fully understand, and hence does not appreciate, what computing is and why computing and computing research are important" [1]. He then considered the consequences of this image problem (e.g., decreased enrollments in computing degree programs) and stated what CRA planned to do to rectify the situation.While Dr. Foley's article did not mention women, minorities, or persons with disabilities, it is clear that several groups in our society are tremendously impacted by the image problem that exists within computing. In this article, we begin by discussing the lack of participation that exists for those who are trained in computing (i.e., people who have the skills to develop computer hardware and software). We then discuss why this digital divide should be of high concern to everyone, what we can learn from other previously male-dominated fields, what you can do to help improve the current situation, and what the future might hold.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2381083.2381097
Student and Faculty Attitudes and Beliefs about Computer Science	Commun. ACM	Lewis, Clayton; Jackson, Michele H.; Waite, William M.	The curriculum should inspire students to view CS as both accomplishment and intellectual discipline.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1735223.1735244
An Effective Personal Mobile Robot Agent through Symbiotic Human-Robot Interaction	Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems: Volume 1 - Volume 1	Rosenthal, Stephanie; Biswas, Joydeep; Veloso, Manuela	Several researchers, present authors included, envision personal mobile robot agents that can assist humans in their daily tasks. Despite many advances in robotics, such mobile robot agents still face many limitations in their perception, cognition, and action capabilities. In this work, we propose a symbiotic interaction between robot agents and humans to overcome the robot limitations while allowing robots to also help humans. We introduce a visitor's companion robot agent, as a natural task for such symbiotic interaction. The visitor lacks knowledge of the environment but can easily open a door or read a door label, while the mobile robot with no arms cannot open a door and may be confused about its exact location, but can plan paths well through the building and can provide useful relevant information to the visitor. We present this visitor companion task in detail with an enumeration and formalization of the actions of the robot agent in its interaction with the human. We briefly describe the wifi-based robot localization algorithm and show results of the different levels of human help to the robot during its navigation. We then test the value of robot help to the visitor during the task to understand the relationship tradeoffs. Our work has been fully implemented in a mobile robot agent, CoBot, which has successfully navigated for several hours and continues to navigate in our indoor environment.
Multimodal Analysis of the Implicit Affective Channel in Computer-Mediated Textual Communication	Proceedings of the 14th ACM International Conference on Multimodal Interaction	Grafsgaard, Joseph F.; Fulton, Robert M.; Boyer, Kristy Elizabeth; Wiebe, Eric; Lester, James C.	Computer-mediated textual communication has become ubiquitous in recent years. Compared to face-to-face interactions, there is decreased bandwidth in affective information, yet studies show that interactions in this medium still produce rich and fulfilling affective outcomes. While overt communication (e.g., emoticons or explicit discussion of emotion) can explain some aspects of affect conveyed through textual dialogue, there may also be an underlying implicit affective channel through which participants perceive additional emotional information. To investigate this phenomenon, computer-mediated tutoring sessions were recorded with Kinect video and depth images and processed with novel tracking techniques for posture and hand-to-face gestures. Analyses demonstrated that tutors implicitly perceived students' focused attention, physical demand, and frustration. Additionally, bodily expressions of posture and gesture correlated with student cognitive-affective states that were perceived by tutors through the implicit affective channel. Finally, posture and gesture complement each other in multimodal predictive models of student cognitive-affective states, explaining greater variance than either modality alone. This approach of empirically studying the implicit affective channel may identify details of human behavior that can inform the design of future textual dialogue systems modeled on naturalistic interaction.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2388676.2388708
From Computational Thinking to Computational Making	Proceedings of the 2015 ACM International Joint Conference on Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing	Rode, Jennifer A.; Weibert, Anne; Marshall, Andrea; Aal, Konstantin; von Rekowski, Thomas; El Mimouni, Houda; Booker, Jennifer	Computational thinking is considered best practice for teaching computing and more broadly to solve problems and design systems, however as computing extends beyond the desktop (for instance increased integration of ubicomp technologies) so too must our educational methods. Exposure to ubicomp technologies is most accessible through the maker movement. With this in mind we argue we must move from computational thinking to computational making as an educational framework. Here we present a case study of children's making to support our vision for a broader conception of computational making.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2750858.2804261
A Framework for Using Hypothesis-Driven Approaches to Support Data-Driven Learning Analytics in Measuring Computational Thinking in Block-Based Programming Environments	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Grover, Shuchi; Basu, Satabdi; Bienkowski, Marie; Eagle, Michael; Diana, Nicholas; Stamper, John	Systematic endeavors to take computer science (CS) and computational thinking (CT) to scale in middle and high school classrooms are underway with curricula that emphasize the enactment of authentic CT skills, especially in the context of programming in block-based programming environments. There is, therefore, a growing need to measure students’ learning of CT in the context of programming and also support all learners through this process of learning computational problem solving. The goal of this research is to explore hypothesis-driven approaches that can be combined with data-driven ones to better interpret student actions and processes in log data captured from block-based programming environments with the goal of measuring and assessing students’ CT skills. Informed by past literature and based on our empirical work examining a dataset from the use of the Fairy Assessment in the Alice programming environment in middle schools, we present a framework that formalizes a process where a hypothesis-driven approach informed by Evidence-Centered Design effectively complements data-driven learning analytics in interpreting students’ programming process and assessing CT in block-based programming environments. We apply the framework to the design of Alice tasks for high school CS to be used for measuring CT during programming.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3105910
Concepts in K-9 Computer Science Education	Proceedings of the 2015 ITiCSE on Working Group Reports	Barendsen, Erik; Mannila, Linda; Demo, Barbara; Grgurina, Nataša; Izu, Cruz; Mirolo, Claudio; Sentance, Sue; Settle, Amber; Stupurienundefined, Gabrielundefined	This exploratory study focuses on concepts and their assessment in K-9 computer science (CS) education. We analyzed concepts in local curriculum documents and guidelines, as well as interviewed K-9 teachers in two countries about their teaching and assessment practices. Moreover, we investigated the 'task based assessment' approach of the international Bebras contest by classifying the conceptual content and question structure of Bebras tasks spanning five years. Our results show a variety in breadth and focus in curriculum documents, with the notion of algorithm as a significant common concept. Teachers' practice appears to vary, depending on their respective backgrounds. Informal assessment practices are predominant, especially in the case of younger students. In the Bebras tasks, algorithms and data representation were found to be the main concept categories. The question structure follows specific patterns, but the relative frequencies of the patterns employed in the tasks vary over the years. Our analysis methods appear to be interesting in themselves, and the results of our study give rise to suggestions for follow-up research.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2858796.2858800
Reflections on Teaching Abstraction and Other Soft Ideas	SIGCSE Bull.	Hazzan, Orit	This essay relies on my research works about abstraction conducted over the past decade. It addresses the importance of increasing students' awareness to the concept of abstraction and other soft ideas and suggests several approaches for the teaching of soft ideas in general and of the concept of abstraction in particular.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1383602.1383631
Polynomial Integrality Gaps for Strong SDP Relaxations of Densest k-Subgraph	Proceedings of the Twenty-Third Annual ACM-SIAM Symposium on Discrete Algorithms	Bhaskara, Aditya; Charikar, Moses; Vijayaraghavan, Aravindan; Guruswami, Venkatesan; Zhou, Yuan	The Densest k-subgraph problem (i.e. find a size k subgraph with maximum number of edges), is one of the notorious problems in approximation algorithms. There is a significant gap between known upper and lower bounds for Densest k-subgraph: the current best algorithm gives an ≈ O(n1/4) approximation, while even showing a small constant factor hardness requires significantly stronger assumptions than P ≠ NP. In addition to interest in designing better algorithms, a number of recent results have exploited the conjectured hardness of Densest k-subgraph and its variants. Thus, understanding the approximability of Densest k-subgraph is an important challenge.In this work, we give evidence for the hardness of approximating Densest k-subgraph within polynomial factors. Specifically, we expose the limitations of strong semidefinite programs from SDP hierarchies in solving Densest k-subgraph. Our results include:• A lower bound of Ω(n1/4/log3 n) on the integrality gap for Ω(log n/log log n) rounds of the Sherali-Adams relaxation for Densest k-subgraph. This also holds for the relaxation obtained from Sherali-Adams with an added SDP constraint. Our gap instances are in fact Erdös-Renyi random graphs.• For every ε > 0, a lower bound of n2/53−ε on the integrality gap of nΩ(ε) rounds of the Lasserre SDP relaxation for Densest k-subgraph, and an nΩε(1) gap for n1−ε rounds. Our construction proceeds via a reduction from random instances of a certain Max-CSP over large domains.In the absence of inapproximability results for Densest k-subgraph, our results show that beating a factor of nΩ(1) is a barrier for even the most powerful SDPs, and in fact even beating the best known n1/4 factor is a barrier for current techniques.Our results indicate that approximating Densest k-subgraph within a polynomial factor might be a harder problem than Unique Games or Small Set Expansion, since these problems were recently shown to be solvable using nεΩ(1) rounds of the Lasserre hierarchy, where ε is the completeness parameter in Unique Games and Small Set Expansion.
A New Curriculum for Junior-High in Computer Science	Proceedings of the 17th ACM Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Zur Bargury, Iris	Israel's Ministry of Education has launched a unique program to enhance science - technology education. It is a six year program for grades seven through twelve. The program introduces a new curriculum in computer science for junior-high school students. The computer science curriculum focuses on developing computational thinking. The purpose of this paper is to describe that curriculum and the preliminary evaluation of students' achievements.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2325296.2325347
Of Elephants and Nested Loops: How to Introduce Computing to Youth in Rural India	Proceedings of the The 15th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Unnikrishnan, R.; Amrita, N.; Muir, Alexander; Rao, Bhavani	We present Haathi Mera Saathi (My Elephant Friend), a game concept which serves as a tool for teaching programming and computational thinking to underprivileged children in rural India. It provides a metaphor and gameplay for embodied and tangible games, and creates a soft early ramp up into the conceptual and digital space of learning to code. We discuss the urgency of digital inclusion for Indian rural children, with reference to technology as an amplifier which they need to learn to direct. We contrast the grounded, embodied style of Haathi Mera Saathi with the current crop of mini-languages and coding games, with particular emphasis on the need for physicality and tangibility in the very early stages of learning to code. We further discuss our experience conducting workshops for students from the tribal and rural belts of India, where we see HMS as an effective approach for taking them from a state of having no background in computers or computing, to a state where they create interactive applications in a Java based environment. Recommendations are given for researchers interested in working with rural village children.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2930674.2930678
From Sonic Pi to Overtone: Creative Musical Experiences with Domain-Specific and Functional Languages	Proceedings of the First ACM SIGPLAN Workshop on Functional Art, Music, Modeling & Design	Aaron, Samuel; Blackwell, Alan F.	Domain Specific and Functional languages provide an excellent linguistic context for exploring new forms of music notation – not just for formalising compositions but also for live interaction workflows. This experience report describes two novel live coding systems that employ code execution to modify live sounds and music. The first of these systems, Sonic Pi, aims at teaching core computing notions to school students using live-coded music as a means of stimulating and maintaining student engagement. We describe how an emphasis on a functional style improves the ease in which core computer science concepts can be communicated to students. Secondly we describe Overtone, a functional language and live coding environment aimed towards mprofessional electronic musicians. We describe how Overtone's abstractions and architecture strongly benefit from a functional-oriented implementation. Both Sonic Pi and Overtone are freely available open-source platforms.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2505341.2505346
Floors and Flexibility: Designing a Programming Environment for 4th-6th Grade Classrooms	Proceedings of the 46th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Hill, Charlotte; Dwyer, Hilary A.; Martinez, Tim; Harlow, Danielle; Franklin, Diana	The recent renaissance in early computer science education has provided K-12 teachers with multiple options for introducing children to computer science. However, tools for teaching programming for children with wide-scale adoption have been targeted mostly at pre-readers or middle school and higher grade-levels. This leaves a gap for 4th – 6th grade students, who differ developmentally from older and younger students.In this paper, we investigate block-based programming languages targeted at elementary and middle school students and demonstrate a gap in existing programming languages appropriate for 4th – 6th grade classrooms. We analyze the benefits of Scratch, ScratchJr, and Blockly for students and curriculum developers. We describe the design principles we created based on our experiences using block-based programming in 4th – 6th grade classrooms, and introduce LaPlaya, a language and development environment designed specifically for children in the gap between grades K-3 and middle school students.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2676723.2677275
Digital Playgrounds for Early Computing Education	ACM Inroads	Kumar, Deepak		https://doi.org/10.1145/2568195.2568200
The Roles of Mathematics in Computer Science	ACM Inroads	Baldwin, Douglas; Walker, Henry M.; Henderson, Peter B.		https://doi.org/10.1145/2537753.2537777
Assessing Computational Thinking in CS Unplugged Activities	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Rodriguez, Brandon; Kennicutt, Stephen; Rader, Cyndi; Camp, Tracy	Computer Science (CS) Unplugged activities have been deployed in many informal settings to present computing concepts in an engaging manner. To justify use in the classroom, however, it is critical for activities to have a strong educational component. For the past three years, we have been developing and refining a CS Unplugged curriculum for use in middle school classrooms. In this paper, we describe an assessment that maps questions from a comprehensive project to computational thinking (CT) skills and Bloom's Taxonomy. We present results from two different deployments and discuss limitations and implications of our approach.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3017680.3017779
Sewing Interest in E-Textiles: Analyzing Making from a Gendered Perspective	Proceedings of the 2014 Conference on Designing Interactive Systems	Weibert, Anne; Marshall, Andrea; Aal, Konstantin; Schubert, Kai; Rode, Jennifer	In this paper we explore the appropriateness of e-textiles for teaching programming to mixed gender groups ages 8-12, allowing children to construct maker identities around technology. Our findings demonstrate the potential of e-textiles to promote girls' and boys' computational literacy, and the required craft and programming skills for making that can disrupt binary gender roles. We argue it allows both girls and boys to demonstrate technical mastery as well as to explore and construct a spectrum of gendered sociotechnical identities that might otherwise be obscured by conventional masculinist attitudes towards technology.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2598510.2600886
Students' Initial Course Motivation and Their Achievement and Retention in College CS1 Courses	Proceedings of the 47th ACM Technical Symposium on Computing Science Education	Shell, Duane F.; Soh, Leen-Kiat; Flanigan, Abraham E.; Peteranetz, Markeya S.	The goal of this study was to investigate how students' entering motivation for the course in a suite of CS1 introductory computer science courses was associated with their subsequent course achievement and retention. Courses were tailored for specific student populations (CS majors, engineering majors, business-CS combined honors program). Students' goal orientations (learning, performance, task), perceived instrumentality (endogenous, exogenous), career connectedness, self-efficacy, and mindsets (growth or fixed) were assessed at the start of the course. Grades were significantly predicted from entering motivation; but prediction was highly variable across courses, ranging from not predicted for the engineering courses to highly predictable for the business-CS honors program. Course withdrawal was significantly predicted. Likelihood of withdrawing was decreased by future time career connectedness and learning approach goal orientation and increased by having an incremental theory of intelligence. Findings suggest that CS1 students who set learning approach goals for their classes have better academic outcomes and higher retention. Other motivational beliefs were inconsistent in their impacts and varied by course and student population. Except for students in an honors program, entering motivational beliefs weakly predicted achievement and retention, suggesting that impacts of the course itself on motivation and how motivation changes during the course are perhaps more important than student's initial motivation.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2839509.2844606
The Science in Computer Science	Commun. ACM	Denning, Peter J.	Computer science is in a period of renaissance as it rediscovers its science roots.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2447976.2447988
Perspectives and Visions of Computer Science Education in Primary and Secondary (K-12) Schools	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Hubwieser, Peter; Armoni, Michal; Giannakos, Michail N.; Mittermeir, Roland T.	In view of the recent developments in many countries, for example, in the USA and in the UK, it appears that computer science education (CSE) in primary or secondary schools (K-12) has reached a significant turning point, shifting its focus from ICT-oriented to rigorous computer science concepts. The goal of this special issue is to offer a publication platform for soundly based in-depth experiences that have been made around the world with concepts, approaches, or initiatives that aim at supporting this shift. For this purpose, the article format was kept as large as possible, enabling the authors to explain many facets of their concepts and experiences in detail. Regarding the structure of the articles, we had encouraged the authors to lean on the Darmstadt Model, a category system that was developed to support the development, improvement, and investigation of K-12 CSE across regional or national boundaries. This model could serve as a unifying framework that might provide a proper structure for a well-founded critical discussion about the future of K-12 CSE. Curriculum designers or policy stakeholders, who have to decide, which approach an upcoming national initiative should follow, could benefit from this discussion as well as researchers who are investigating K12 CSE in any regard. With this goal in mind, we have selected six extensive and two short case studies from the UK, New Zealand, USA/Israel, France, Sweden, Georgia (USA), Russia, and Italy that provide an in-depth analysis of K-12 CSE in their respective country or state.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2602482
Boys' Needlework: Understanding Gendered and Indigenous Perspectives on Computing and Crafting with Electronic Textiles	Proceedings of the Eleventh Annual International Conference on International Computing Education Research	Searle, Kristin A.; Kafai, Yasmin	We draw attention to the intersection of race/ethnicity and gender in computing education by examining the experiences of ten American Indian boys (12-14 years old) who participated in introductory computing activities with electronic textiles. To date, the use of electronic textiles (e-textiles) materials in introductory computing activities have been shown to be particularly appealing to girls and women because they combine craft, circuitry, and computing. We hypothesized that e-textiles would be appealing to American Indian boys because of a strong community-based craft tradition linked to heritage cultural practices. In order to understand boys' perspectives on learning computing through making culturally-relevant e-textiles artifacts, we analyzed boys' completed artifacts as documented in photographs and code screenshots, their design practices as documented in daily field notes and video logs of classroom sessions, and their reflections from interviews guided by the following research questions: (1) How did American Indian boys initially engage with e-textiles materials? (2) How did boys? computational perspectives develop through the process of making and programming their own e-textiles artifacts? Our findings highlight the importance of connecting to larger community value systems as a context for doing computing, the importance of allowing space for youth to make decisions within the constraints of the design task, and the value of tangible e-textiles artifacts in providing linkages between home and school spaces. We connect our work to other efforts to engage racial and ethnic minority students in computing and discuss the implications of our work for computer science educators designing computing curricula for increasingly diverse groups of students, especially as pertains to the emerging field of culturally responsive computing.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2787622.2787724
Creative Coding and Visual Portfolios for CS1	Proceedings of the 43rd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Greenberg, Ira; Kumar, Deepak; Xu, Dianna	In this paper, we present the design and development of a new approach to teaching the college-level introductory computing course (CS1) using the context of art and creative coding. Over the course of a semester, students create a portfolio of aesthetic visual designs that employ basic computing structures typically taught in traditional CS1 courses using the Processing programming language. The goal of this approach is to bring the excitement, creativity, and innovation fostered by the context of creative coding. We also present results from a comparative study involving two offerings of the new course at two different institutions. Additionally, we compare our results with another successful approach that uses personal robots to teach CS1.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2157136.2157214
Bio1 as CS1: Evaluating a Crossdisciplinary CS Context	Proceedings of the 17th ACM Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Dodds, Zachary; Libeskind-Hadas, Ran; Bush, Eliot	We present the curriculum, deployment, and initial evaluation of a course, BioCS1, designed to serve as an introductory course in both biology and CS. Co-taught by professors in both fields, BioCS1 interweaves fundamental biology and computational topics in a manner similar to contextual approaches to CS1. In contrast to other contextual approaches, however, BioCS1 emphasizes both CS and its context equally. The results suggest that such cross-disciplinary collaborations can thrive at the introductory level, just as they have later in the curriculum.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2325296.2325360
A Visual Programming Environment for Learning Distributed Programming	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Broll, Brian; Lédeczi, Akos; Volgyesi, Peter; Sallai, Janos; Maroti, Miklos; Carrillo, Alexia; Weeden-Wright, Stephanie L.; Vanags, Chris; Swartz, Joshua D.; Lu, Melvin	This paper introduces NetsBlox, a visual programming environment for learning distributed programming principles. Extending both the visual formalism and open source code base of Snap!, NetsBlox provides two accessible distributed programming abstractions to simplify the process of creating networked applications: message passing and Remote Procedure Calls (RPC). Messaging passing allows NetsBlox applications to send data to other connected NetsBlox clients. Remote Procedure Calls enable seamless integration of third party services, such as Google Maps, weather, traffic and other public domain data sources, into NetsBlox applications. Other RPCs help coordinating distributed clients which may be difficult for novice programmers allowing the user to more quickly create captivating and sophisticated applications. These abstractions empower users to develop networked programs, including multi-player games and client-server applications. By providing networking support, NetsBlox not only allows users to learn distribute programming concepts but also makes programming more engaging by incorporating diverse services available on the web.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3017680.3017741
Attitudes about Computing in Postsecondary Graduates	Proceedings of the Fourth International Workshop on Computing Education Research	Hewner, Michael; Guzdial, Mark	Computing educators may hope that postsecondary courses both convey content and also give students a new perspective on computing. In the study described in this paper, a sample of students about to graduate with their postsecondary degrees wrote about their relationship with computing and what influenced that relationship. Computing majors wrote expressively about the excitement and breadth of the discipline. Other majors were positive about computing, but the essays indicate that postsecondary education (including introductory computer science courses) did not have a large effect on their attitudes about computing.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1404520.1404528
Beyond Nested Parallelism: Tight Bounds on Work-Stealing Overheads for Parallel Futures	Proceedings of the Twenty-First Annual Symposium on Parallelism in Algorithms and Architectures	Spoonhower, Daniel; Blelloch, Guy E.; Gibbons, Phillip B.; Harper, Robert	Work stealing is a popular method of scheduling fine-grained parallel tasks. The performance of work stealing has been extensively studied, both theoretically and empirically, but primarily for the restricted class of nested-parallel (or fully strict) computations. We extend this prior work by considering a broader class of programs that also supports pipelined parallelism through the use of parallel futures.Though the overhead of work-stealing schedulers is often quantified in terms of the number of steals, we show that a broader metric, the number of deviations, is a better way to quantify work-stealing overhead for less restrictive forms of parallelism, including parallel futures. For such parallelism, we prove bounds on work-stealing overheads–scheduler time and cache misses–as a function of the number of deviations. Deviations can occur, for example, when work is stolen or when a future is touched. We also show instances where deviations can occur independently of steals and touches.Next, we prove that, under work stealing, the expected number of deviations is O(Pd + td) in a P-processor execution of a computation with span d and t touches of futures. Moreover, this bound is existentially tight for any work-stealing scheduler that is parsimonious (those where processors steal only when their queues are empty); this class includes all prior work-stealing schedulers. We also present empirical measurements of the number of deviations incurred by a classic application of futures, Halstead's quicksort, using our parallel implementation of ML. Finally, we identify a family of applications that use futures and, in contrast to quicksort, incur significantly smaller overheads.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1583991.1584019
The Present and Future of Computational Thinking	Proceedings of the 40th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Astrachan, Owen; Hambrusch, Susanne; Peckham, Joan; Settle, Amber		https://doi.org/10.1145/1508865.1509053
The Present and Future of Computational Thinking	SIGCSE Bull.	Astrachan, Owen; Hambrusch, Susanne; Peckham, Joan; Settle, Amber		https://doi.org/10.1145/1539024.1509053
A Model for Piloting Pathways for Computational Thinking in a General Education Curriculum	Proceedings of the 42nd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Dierbach, Charles; Hochheiser, Harry; Collins, Samuel; Jerome, Gerald; Ariza, Christopher; Kelleher, Tina; Kleinsasser, William; Dehlinger, Josh; Kaza, Siddharth	Computational thinking has been identified as a necessary fundamental skill for all students. University curricula, however, are currently not designed to provide such knowledge to a broad student population. In this paper, we report on our experiences in the development of a model for incorporating computational thinking into the undergraduate, general education curriculum at Towson University. We discuss the model in terms of eliciting faculty interest, institutional support, and positive student response. In the first two years of this NSF-funded three-year project, we have developed, piloted and assessed five computational thinking general education courses - an Everyday Computational Thinking course, and four discipline-specific computational thinking general education courses. Initial assessments show promising and significant student, instructor and administration interest in computational thinking as a basis in courses covering multiple disciplines within the general education curriculum.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1953163.1953243
CS Principles: Piloting a New Course at National Scale	Proceedings of the 42nd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Astrachan, Owen; Barnes, Tiffany; Garcia, Daniel D.; Paul, Jody; Simon, Beth; Snyder, Larry	Since 2008, NSF and The College Board, have been developing a "Computer Science: Principles" curriculum to "introduce students to the central ideas of computing and CS, to instill ideas and practices of computational thinking, and to have students engage in activities that show how computing and CS change the world". We report on the initial pilot of the CS Principles curriculum at 5 universities in 2010/11. The instructors from the pilot schools will describe their classes, the piloting experience (teaching under a microscope), and successes and failures. Emphasis will be on: mapping the CS Principles curriculum to a college's specific needs, and how others can use or modify the existing materials for pilots at their schools.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1953163.1953281
Using SOLO to Classify the Programming Responses of Primary Grade Students	Proceedings of the 46th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Seiter, Linda	This paper presents an assessment designed to measure computational thinking skills of fourth grade students. The students in two public schools were given a set of Scratch programming challenges. The SOLO taxonomy was used to classify student programming responses based on the degree of understanding of the problem structure. The majority of fourth grade students from one school demonstrated the ability to synchronize the costume and motion of a single character sprite, as well as synchronize a basic conversation between multiple sprites. However, they struggled to integrate motion and costume changes into a multi-sprite conversation. The majority of fourth grade students from the second school, where reading and math comprehension scores fall below the state minimum requirements for proficiency, were unable to demonstrate a basic understanding of the programming tasks. The results suggest that fourth grade students who read at grade level are capable of understanding the relationships between multiple concerns within a single script, along with synchronizing a single concern across multiple scripts, but are challenged when synchronizing multiple concerns across multiple scripts.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2676723.2677244
Discovering Computing: Perspectives of Web Designers	Proceedings of the Sixth International Workshop on Computing Education Research	Dorn, Brian; Guzdial, Mark	This paper presents findings of an exploratory, qualitative study of professional web and graphic designers who regularly write computer programs. These participants have a wide variety of educational backgrounds, including some who had a few classes in computer science. Our participants report having found a career in which they enjoy being both creative and technical. They want to learn more about computing, but do not find computing curricula as meeting their needs. We discuss their perceptions of the computing discipline, motivational aspects of their jobs, and their interest in learning more about computing. We also consider implications for computing curricula if we were to try to meet the needs of these professionals who are unlikely to appear in our current classes.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1839594.1839600
Codestrates: Literate Computing with Webstrates	Proceedings of the 30th Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology	Rädle, Roman; Nouwens, Midas; Antonsen, Kristian; Eagan, James R.; Klokmose, Clemens N.	We introduce Codestrates, a literate computing approach to developing interactive software. Codestrates blurs the distinction between the use and development of applications. It builds on the literate computing approach, commonly found in interactive notebooks such as Jupyter notebook. Literate computing weaves together prose and live computation in the same document. However, literate computing in interactive notebooks are limited to computation and it is challenging to extend their user interface, reprogram their functionality, or develop stand-alone applications. Codestrates builds literate computing capabilities on top of Webstrates and demonstrates how it can be used for (i) collaborative interactive notebooks, (ii) extending its functionality from within itself, and (iii) developing reprogrammable applications.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3126594.3126642
Non-Native English Speakers Learning Computer Programming: Barriers, Desires, and Design Opportunities	Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems	Guo, Philip J.	People from nearly every country are now learning computer programming, yet the majority of programming languages, libraries, documentation, and instructional materials are in English. What barriers do non-native English speakers face when learning from English-based resources? What desires do they have for improving instructional materials? We investigate these questions by deploying a survey to a programming education website and analyzing 840 responses spanning 86 countries and 74 native languages. We found that non-native English speakers faced barriers with reading instructional materials, technical communication, reading and writing code, and simultaneously learning English and programming. They wanted instructional materials to use simplified English without culturally-specific slang, to use more visuals and multimedia, to use more culturally-agnostic code examples, and to embed inline dictionaries. Programming also motivated some to learn English better and helped clarify logical thinking about natural languages. Based on these findings, we recommend learner-centered design improvements to programming-related instructional resources and tools to make them more accessible to people around the world.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3173574.3173970
Toque: Designing a Cooking-Based Programming Language for and with Children	Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems	Tarkan, Sureyya; Sazawal, Vibha; Druin, Allison; Golub, Evan; Bonsignore, Elizabeth M.; Walsh, Greg; Atrash, Zeina	An intergenerational design team of children (ages 7-11 years old) along with graduate students and faculty in computer science and information studies developed a programming language for children, Toque. Concrete real-world cooking scenarios were used as programming metaphors to support an accessible programming learning experience. The Wiimote and Nunchuk were used as physical programming input devices. The programs that were created were pictorial recipes which dynamically controlled animations of an on-screen chef preparing virtual dishes in a graphical kitchen environment. Through multiple design sessions, programming strategies were explored, cooking metaphors were developed and, prototypes of the Toque environment were iterated. Results of these design experiences have shown us the importance of pair-programming, programming by storytelling, parallel programming, function-argument relationships, and the role of tangibility in overcoming challenges with constraints imposed by the system design.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1753326.1753692
Computing as the 4th "R": A General Education Approach to Computing Education	Proceedings of the Seventh International Workshop on Computing Education Research	Cutts, Quintin; Esper, Sarah; Simon, Beth	Computing and computation are increasingly pervading our lives, careers, and societies - a change driving interest in computing education at the secondary level. But what should define a "general education" computing course at this level? That is, what would you want every person to know, assuming they never take another computing course? We identify possible outcomes for such a course through the experience of designing and implementing a general education university course utilizing best-practice pedagogies. Though we nominally taught programming, the design of the course led students to report gaining core, transferable skills and the confidence to employ them in their future. We discuss how various aspects of the course likely contributed to these gains. Finally, we encourage the community to embrace the challenge of teaching general education computing in contrast to and in conjunction with existing curricula designed primarily to interest students in the field.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2016911.2016938
How Early Does the CS Gender Gap Emerge? A Study of Collaborative Problem Solving in 5th Grade Computer Science	Proceedings of the 47th ACM Technical Symposium on Computing Science Education	Tsan, Jennifer; Boyer, Kristy Elizabeth; Lynch, Collin F.	Elementary computer science has gained increasing attention within the computer science education research community. We have only recently begun to explore the many unanswered questions about how young students learn computer science, how they interact with each other, and how their skill levels and backgrounds vary. One set of unanswered questions focuses on gender equality for young computer science learners. This paper examines how the gender composition of collaborative groups in elementary computer science relates to student achievement. We report on data collected from an in-school 5th grade computer science elective offered over four quarters in 2014-2015. We found a significant difference in the quality of artifacts produced by learner groups depending upon their gender composition, with groups of all female students performing significantly lower than other groups. Our analyses suggest important factors that are influential as these learners begin to solve computer science problems. This new evidence of gender disparities in computer science achievement as young as ten years of age highlights the importance of future study of these factors in order to provide effective, equitable computer science education to learners of all ages.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2839509.2844605
The Case for Sleep States in Servers	Proceedings of the 4th Workshop on Power-Aware Computing and Systems	Gandhi, Anshul; Harchol-Balter, Mor; Kozuch, Michael A.	While sleep states have existed for mobile devices and workstations for some time, these sleep states have largely not been incorporated into the servers in today's data centers.Chip designers have been unmotivated to design sleep states because data center administrators haven't expressed any desire to have them. High setup times make administrators fearful of any form of dynamic power management, whereby servers are suspended or shut down when load drops. This general reluctance has stalled research into whether there might be some feasible sleep state (with sufficiently low setup overhead and/or sufficiently low power) that would actually be beneficial in data centers.This paper uses both experimentation and theory to investigate the regime of sleep states that should be advantageous in data centers. Implementation experiments involve a 24-server multi-tier testbed, serving a web site of the type seen in Facebook or Amazon with key-value workload and a range of hypothetical sleep states. Analytical modeling is used to understand the effect of scaling up to larger data centers. The goal of this research is to encourage data center administrators to consider dynamic power management and to spur chip designers to develop useful sleep states for servers.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2039252.2039254
The Role of Teachers in Implementing Curriculum Changes	Proceeding of the 44th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Thompson, David; Bell, Tim; Andreae, Peter; Robins, Anthony	In 2011 New Zealand introduced computer science into high schools after a long period when computing was mainly focussed on training students to be users. The transition was rapid, and teachers had little time to upskill to prepare for the new topics, and yet there was widespread voluntary adoption of the new standards. The role of teachers and the national teachers' organisation in making the change has been pivotal, and this paper reviews the changes from the teachers' perspective. This story is intended to inform those planning similar changes in other countries, and provide a context for the next steps in NZ. The discussion centres around a survey of 91 teachers, which reveals strong intrinsic motivation from teachers to make the changes, a mixture of prior knowledge and skills that teachers shared with each other through peer support and online communication, a low level of confidence as teachers of computer science, and a need for further professional development.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2445196.2445272
From Computational Thinking to Computational Empowerment: A 21st$ Century PD Agenda	Proceedings of the 15th Participatory Design Conference: Full Papers - Volume 1	Iversen, Ole Sejer; Smith, Rachel Charlotte; Dindler, Christian	We propose computational empowerment as an approach and a Participatory Design response to challenges related to digitalization of society and the emerging need for digital literacy in K12 education. Our approach extends the current focus on computational thinking to include contextual, human-centred and societal challenges and impacts involved in students' creative and critical engagement with digital technology. Our research is based on the FabLab@School project, in which a PD approach to computational empowerment provided opportunities as well as further challenges for the complex agenda of digital technology in education. We argue that PD has the potential to drive a computational empowerment agenda in education by connecting political PD with contemporary visions for addressing a future digitalized labour market and society.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3210586.3210592
A Survey of Resources for Introducing Coding into Schools	Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality	García-Peñalvo, Francisco J.; Rees, Angela Marie; Hughes, Jenny; Jormanainen, Ilkka; Toivonen, Tapani; Vermeersch, Jens	Within TACCLE 3 – Coding European Union Erasmus+ KA2 Programme project, a review and evaluation of a set of resources that can contribute to teaching programming to younger children has made. This paper presents a survey of this review including the most outstanding products in order to help teachers to introduce programming in pre-university studies.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3012430.3012491
Making Computing Interesting to School Students: Teachers' Perspectives	Proceedings of the 18th ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Black, Jonathan; Brodie, Jo; Curzon, Paul; Myketiak, Chrystie; McOwan, Peter W.; Meagher, Laura R.	It is widely agreed that there is a need to excite more school students about computing. Considering teachers' views about student engagement is important to securing their support for any solution. We therefore present the results of a qualitative, questionnaire-based study on teachers' perceptions of the best ways to make the subject interesting. From 115 responses by UK computing teachers emerged a range of themes about the issues they felt were most important. We found that whilst their views reflected a range of approaches that are widely promoted in the literature and in national initiatives, there were also disconnects between teachers' views and wider discourses. Based on the results, we give specific recommendations for areas where more should be done to support teachers in making computing interesting to school students. Academics should do more to engage with teachers, especially if they wish to introduce deep computing principles in schools. Teachers expressed an interest in computing clubs in schools, but a strong support network for them is still needed. This may be an opportunity for businesses and universities to help support teachers.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2462476.2466519
Young Women in Computing: Lessons Learned from an Educational & Outreach Program	Proceedings of the 40th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Pivkina, Inna; Pontelli, Enrico; Jensen, Rachel; Haebe, Jessica	This paper describes the Young Women in Computing program, an ongoing outreach program in Computer Science at New Mexico State University (NMSU). Features of the program include summer camps and academic year activities, computing in context, peer mentoring, and role models. The main goal is to increase interest in computing among female high school students. The paper discusses lessons learned from three years of experience with the program.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1508865.1509042
Young Women in Computing: Lessons Learned from an Educational & Outreach Program	SIGCSE Bull.	Pivkina, Inna; Pontelli, Enrico; Jensen, Rachel; Haebe, Jessica	This paper describes the Young Women in Computing program, an ongoing outreach program in Computer Science at New Mexico State University (NMSU). Features of the program include summer camps and academic year activities, computing in context, peer mentoring, and role models. The main goal is to increase interest in computing among female high school students. The paper discusses lessons learned from three years of experience with the program.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1539024.1509042
"For All" in "Computer Science for All"	Commun. ACM	Ladner, Richard E.; Israel, Maya	Seeking to expand inclusiveness in computer science education.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2971329
Teaching Programming in Secondary Education Through Embodied Computing Platforms: Robotics and Wearables	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Merkouris, Alexandros; Chorianopoulos, Konstantinos; Kameas, Achilles	Pedagogy has emphasized that physical representations and tangible interactive objects benefit learning especially for young students. There are many tangible hardware platforms for introducing computer programming to children, but there is limited comparative evaluation of them in the context of a formal classroom. In this work, we explore the benefits of learning to code for tangible computers, such as robots and wearable computers, in comparison to programming for the desktop computer. For this purpose, 36 students participated in a within-groups study that involved three types of target computer platform tangibility: (1) desktop, (2) wearable, and (3) robotic. We employed similar blocks-based visual programming environments, and we measured emotional engagement, attitudes, and computer programming performance. We found that students were more engaged by and had a higher intention of learning programming with the robotic rather than the desktop computer. Furthermore, tangible computing platforms, either robot or wearable, did not affect the students’ performance in learning basic computational concepts (e.g., sequence, repeat, and decision). Our findings suggest that computer programming should be introduced through multiple target platforms (e.g., robots, smartphones, wearables) to engage children.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3025013
Cupcake Cushions, Scooby Doo Shirts, and Soft Boomboxes: E-Textiles in High School to Promote Computational Concepts, Practices, and Perceptions	Proceeding of the 44th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Kafai, Yasmin; Searle, Kristin; Kaplan, Eliot; Fields, Deborah; Lee, Eunkyoung; Lui, Debora	In this paper, we present and discuss the use of electronic textiles (e-textiles) for introducing key computational concepts and practices and broadening participation and perceptions about computing. The starting point of our work was the design and implementation of a curriculum module using the Lilypad Arduino in a pre-AP high school class. To understand students' learning of concepts, practices, and perceptions of computing, we focused on the structure and functionality of circuits and program code and their design approaches to making and debugging their e-textile creations, and on their views on computing by examining pre-post interviews. Our discussion addresses the challenges and potential of using e-textiles materials and activities for designing introductory courses that can reach a broader student population.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2445196.2445291
Multimodal Analytics to Study Collaborative Problem Solving in Pair Programming	Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Learning Analytics & Knowledge	Grover, Shuchi; Bienkowski, Marie; Tamrakar, Amir; Siddiquie, Behjat; Salter, David; Divakaran, Ajay	Collaborative problem solving (CPS) is seen as a key skill in K-12 education—in computer science as well as other subjects. Efforts to introduce children to computing rely on pair programming as a way of having young learners engage in CPS. Characteristics of quality collaboration are joint exploring or understanding, joint representation, and joint execution. We present a data driven approach to assessing and elucidating collaboration through modeling of multimodal student behavior and performance data.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2883851.2883877
A is for Artificial Intelligence: The Impact of Artificial Intelligence Activities on Young Children's Perceptions of Robots	Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems	Williams, Randi; Park, Hae Won; Breazeal, Cynthia	We developed a novel early childhood artificial intelligence (AI) platform, PopBots, where preschool children train and interact with social robots to learn three AI concepts: knowledge-based systems, supervised machine learning, and generative AI. We evaluated how much children learned by using AI assessments we developed for each activity. The median score on the cumulative assessment was 70% and children understood knowledge-based systems the best. Then, we analyzed the impact of the activities on children's perceptions of robots. Younger children came to see robots as toys that were smarter than them, but their older counterparts saw them more as people that were not as smart as them. Children who performed worse on the AI assessments believed that robots were like toys that were not as smart as them, however children who did better on the assessments saw robots as people who were smarter than them. We believe early AI education can empower children to understand the AI devices that are increasingly in their lives.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3290605.3300677
Jutge.Org: An Educational Programming Judge	Proceedings of the 43rd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Petit, Jordi; Giménez, Omer; Roura, Salvador	Jutge.org is an open access educational online programming judge where students can try to solve more than 800 problems using 22 programming languages. The verdict of their solutions is computed using exhaustive test sets run under time, memory and security restrictions. By contrast to many popular online judges, Jutge.org is designed for students and instructors: On one hand, the problem repository is mainly aimed to beginners, with a clear organization and gradding. On the other hand, the system is designed as a virtual learning environment where instructors can administer their own courses, manage their roster of students and tutors, add problems, attach documents, create lists of problems, assignments, contests and exams. This paper presents Jutge.org and offers some case studies of courses using it.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2157136.2157267
Scratch vs. Karel: Impact on Learning Outcomes and Motivation	Proceedings of the 9th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Ruf, Alexander; Mühling, Andreas; Hubwieser, Peter	This paper presents the results of an experiment regarding the effects of using one of two different programming environments in secondary schools. Both "Scratch" and "Karel the Robot" have been successfully used in these settings previously. These two environments are also representative for two classes of programming environments for beginners.One is more graphically oriented and may therefore alleviate the steep learning curve of programming while the other is text-based and therefore more akin to "real" programming. Also, one places more emphasis on the visualization of program structure and the other emphasizes visualizing program flow.The experiment has been conducted in parallel in two school classes, each using one of the two approaches. The abilities of the students were tested before and after the experiment as well as their intrinsic motivation and the perceived self-regulation. The results show, that the class using Scratch has higher intrinsic motivation and performs better, however the Karel class shows a higher identified regulation.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2670757.2670772
Approximability and Proof Complexity	Proceedings of the Twenty-Fourth Annual ACM-SIAM Symposium on Discrete Algorithms	O'Donnell, Ryan; Zhou, Yuan	This work is concerned with the proof-complexity of certifying that optimization problems do not have good solutions. Specifically we consider bounded-degree "Sum of Squares" (SOS) proofs, a powerful algebraic proof system introduced in 1999 by Grigoriev and Vorobjov. Work of Shor, Lasserre, and Parrilo shows that this proof is automatizable using semidefinite programming (SDP), meaning that any n-variable degree-d proof can be found in time nO(d). Furthermore, the SDP is dual to the well-known Lasserre SDP hierarchy, meaning that the "d/2-round Lasserre value" of an optimization problem is equal to the best bound provable using a degree-d SOS proof. These ideas were exploited in a recent paper by Barak et al. (STOC 2012) which shows that the known "hard instances" for the Unique-Games problem are in fact optimally solved by a constant level of the Lasserre SDP hierarchy.We continue the study of the power of SOS proofs in the context of difficult optimization problems. In particular, we show that the Balanced-Separator integrality gap instances proposed by Devanur et al. can have their optimal value certified by a degree-4 SOS proof. The key ingredient is an SOS proof of the KKL Theorem. We also investigate the extent to which the Khot–Vishnoi Max-Cut integrality gap instances can have their optimum value certified by an SOS proof. We show they can be certified to within a factor .952 (> .878) using a constant-degree proof. These investigations also raise an interesting mathematical question: is there a constant-degree SOS proof of the Central Limit Theorem?
Does Computer Game Design and Programming Benefit Children? A Meta-Synthesis of Research	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Denner, Jill; Campe, Shannon; Werner, Linda	It is widely believed that there are educational benefits to making computer games, but there is no systematic review of research on this topic. This article describes a meta-synthesis of research on children designing and programming computer games that investigates the extent to which there is evidence of benefits for computer science learning and motivation. Over 400 articles were identified, and 68 articles met the inclusion criteria. A systematic analysis and synthesis across studies showed some evidence that computer game design and programming can lead to changes in programming knowledge, problem solving, and computer science attitudes and confidence. However, most of the evidence described engagement in computing-related practices and did not measure learning. The findings were mostly positive, although several studies noted more negative attitudes toward programming after making games. The results were similar across different pedagogical approaches, although social interaction may provide unique opportunities for computer science learning. The synthesis resulted in a list of design elements for studying computer game design and programming activities; these can be used to increase the availability of evidence about learning. The article concludes with the identification of gaps in the research and suggestions for additional research.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3277565
Teaching Graph Algorithms to Children of All Ages	Proceedings of the 17th ACM Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Gibson, J. Paul	We report on our experiences in teaching graph theory and algorithms to school children, aged 5 to 17. Our objectives were to demonstrate that children can discover quite complex mathematical concepts, and are able to work with abstractions and use computation reasoning from quite an early age. We provide details of our incremental approach, which can be used with students of a wide range of abilities. Also, we comment on the importance of problem based learning where the algorithms are presented as possible solutions to games or puzzles. Finally, we conclude with a number of important observations with regard to the introduction of computer science into schools.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2325296.2325308
Programming Goes Back to School	Commun. ACM	Repenning, Alexander	Broadening participation by integrating game design into middle school curricula.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2160718.2160729
Introducing Computer Science to K-12 through a Summer Computing Workshop for Teachers	Proceedings of the 42nd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Liu, Jiangjiang; Lin, Cheng-Hsien; Hasson, Ethan Philip; Barnett, Zebulun David	In this paper, we describe a one-week summer computing workshop for teachers to improve computer science education in K-12. Our workshop focuses on using Scratch and Alice, two programs used to make simple games and animations, to introduce computing concepts to teachers in computer, technology, math, and science at all K-12 levels to expose students to computing at an early age and to reach more students. During the workshop the teachers developed curriculum materials for the subjects they will teach in the following semesters with the help of our workshop tutors. We present our workshop strategies, lessons learned, and assessment results in this paper.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1953163.1953277
Climate Change: A Grand Software Challenge	Proceedings of the FSE/SDP Workshop on Future of Software Engineering Research	Easterbrook, Steve M.	Software is a critical enabling technology in nearly all aspects of climate change, from the computational models used by climate scientists to improve our understanding of the impact of human activities on earth systems, through to the information and control systems needed to build an effective carbon-neutral society. Accordingly, we, as software researchers and software practitioners, have a major role to play in responding to the climate crisis. In this paper we map out the space in which our contributions are likely to be needed, and suggest a possible research agenda.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1882362.1882383
Problem Solving in Community: A Necessary Shift in Cs Pedagogy	Proceedings of the 39th SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Pulimood, Sarah Monisha; Wolz, Ursula	Supporting a workforce that can create, not simply consume, computing technology requires a shift in pedagogy toward problem solving in a gender neutral, culturally and ethnically diverse community. It requires an authentic learning environment in which students solve real problems as a collaborative community with their peers from other disciplines. We report on three pedagogical approaches, namely student selected projects in a CS course, a multidisciplinary project-based course, and courses that partner across disciplines that provide on-demand content.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1352135.1352209
Problem Solving in Community: A Necessary Shift in Cs Pedagogy	SIGCSE Bull.	Pulimood, Sarah Monisha; Wolz, Ursula	Supporting a workforce that can create, not simply consume, computing technology requires a shift in pedagogy toward problem solving in a gender neutral, culturally and ethnically diverse community. It requires an authentic learning environment in which students solve real problems as a collaborative community with their peers from other disciplines. We report on three pedagogical approaches, namely student selected projects in a CS course, a multidisciplinary project-based course, and courses that partner across disciplines that provide on-demand content.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1352322.1352209
Teaching CS 1 with POGIL Activities and Roles	Proceedings of the 45th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Hu, Helen H.; Shepherd, Tricia D.	The computer science community has started to experiment with process oriented guided inquiry learning, or POGIL, a learning approach that focuses on concept and process skills development by having students work together in organized teams. By emphasizing the learning process and group discussions, instructors who implement POGIL activities and roles in their classrooms may better address the different needs of their CS 1 students.After explaining how POGIL activities differ from other group activities, this paper elaborates on the importance of incorporating the learning cycle when developing a POGIL activity, so as to encourage rich group discussions and teamwork. It then describes the role of the instructor in a POGIL activity, and how POGIL roles need to be adapted for programming activities. It presents the results of using six POGIL activities in three CS 1 sections at a comprehensive liberal arts college, where the pass rate for female students increased compared to historical female pass rates for that class. Students who were introduced to recursion through a POGIL activity appear to have learned the material as well and retained the material better than students who learned recursion through a more traditional group activity.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2538862.2538954
Bots & (Main)Frames: Exploring the Impact of Tangible Blocks and Collaborative Play in an Educational Programming Game	Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems	Melcer, Edward F.; Isbister, Katherine	While recent work has begun to evaluate the efficacy of educational programming games, many common design decisions in these games (e.g., single player gameplay using touchpad or mouse) have not been explored for learning outcomes. For instance, alternative design approaches such as collaborative play and embodied interaction with tangibles may also provide important benefits to learners. To better understand how these design decisions impact learning and related factors, we created an educational programming game that allows for systematically varying input method and mode of play. In this paper, we describe design rationale for mouse and tangible versions of our game, and report a 2x2 factorial experiment comparing efficacy of mouse and tangible input methods with individual and collaborative modes of play. Results indicate tangibles have a greater positive impact on learning, situational interest, enjoyment, and programming self-beliefs. We also found collaborative play helps further reduce programming anxiety over individual play.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3173574.3173840
Why is Programming so Difficult to Learn? Patterns of Difficulties Related to Programming Learning Mid-Stage	SIGSOFT Softw. Eng. Notes	Bosse, Yorah; Gerosa, Marco Aurélio	New software engineers and casual developers are needed in many different areas. However, students face many difficulties while learning the logic of computer programming, frequently failing in university courses. This Ph.D. research aims to identify difficulty patterns related to learning how to program, a crucial part of software engineers training. The research methodology comprises studies that put together results from a systematic literature review and empirical data collected from qualitative and quantitative studies. The difficulties identified will be compiled into a model, which may assist students in sharpening their focus, and teachers in preparing their lessons and teaching material, as well as researchers in employing methods and tools to support learning	https://doi.org/10.1145/3011286.3011301
A Practical Guide to Developing and Validating Computer Science Knowledge Assessments with Application to Middle School	Proceedings of the 46th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Buffum, Philip Sheridan; Lobene, Eleni V.; Frankosky, Megan Hardy; Boyer, Kristy Elizabeth; Wiebe, Eric; Lester, James C.	Knowledge assessment instruments, or tests, are commonly created by faculty in classroom settings to measure student knowledge and skill. Another crucial role for assessment instruments is in gauging student learning in response to a computer science education research project, or intervention. In an increasingly interdisciplinary landscape, it is crucial to validate knowledge assessment instruments, yet developing and validating these tests for computer science poses substantial challenges. This paper presents a seven-step approach to designing, iteratively refining, and validating knowledge assessment instruments designed not to assign grades but to measure the efficacy or promise of novel interventions. We also detail how this seven-step process is being instantiated within a three-year project to implement a game-based learning environment for middle school computer science. This paper serves as a practical guide for adapting widely accepted psychometric practices to the development and validation of computer science knowledge assessments to support research.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2676723.2677295
Dancing Alice: Exploring Embodied Pedagogical Strategies for Learning Computational Thinking	Proceedings of the 45th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Daily, Shaundra B.; Leonard, Alison E.; Jörg, Sophie; Babu, Sabarish; Gundersen, Kara	n this paper, we introduce an embodied pedagogical approach for learning computational concepts, utilizing computational practices, and developing computational perspectives. During a five-week pilot, a group of students spent after-school time learning the basic elements of dance and then using them to program three-dimensional characters that could perform. Throughout the pilot, we found students consistently standing up in front of their computers and using their bodies to think through the actuation of their characters. Preliminary results suggest that designing a virtual-physical dance performance is a motivating and engaging social context in which to introduce students, especially girls, to alternative applications in computing.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2538862.2538917
To Scratch or Not to Scratch? A Controlled Experiment Comparing Plugged First and Unplugged First Programming Lessons	Proceedings of the 12th Workshop on Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Hermans, Felienne; Aivaloglou, Efthimia	Programming education is in fashion: there are many methods, tools, books and apps to teach children programming. This gives rise to the question of how to teach programming. Do we teach the concepts with or without the use of a computer, also called plugged and unplugged respectively? This paper aims to measure what method is more effective to start with: plugged or unplugged first. Specifically, we are interested in examining which method is better in terms of (1) facilitating understanding of programming concepts, (2) motivating and supporting the students' sense of self-efficacy in programming tasks and (3) motivating the students to explore and use programming constructs in their assignments. To this end we conduct a controlled study with 35 elementary school children, in which half of the children receive four plugged lessons and the other half receives four unplugged lessons After this, both groups receive four weeks of Scratch lessons. The results show that after eight weeks there was no difference between the two groups in their mastering of programming concepts. However, the group that started with unplugged lessons was more confident of their ability to understand the concepts, i.e. demonstrated better self-efficacy beliefs. Furthermore, the children in the unplugged first group used a wider selection of Scratch blocks.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3137065.3137072
Integrating Sustainability into Undergraduate Computing Education	Proceedings of the 41st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Cai, Yu	In the past few years sustainability and green computing have received tremendous interest across the world. Computing plays a critical role in our society, thus it has a special responsibility for sustainability and green movement. In this paper, we advocate sustainability integration into undergraduate computing education. We present three sustainability integration strategies, our efforts to develop a green computing course and learning modules, and course evaluation. We believe that sustainability integration will help prepare our graduates with computing competencies, multi-disciplinary knowledge, and computational thinking to create a sustainable future.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1734263.1734439
Application of the Cognitive Apprenticeship Framework to a Middle School Robotics Camp	Proceeding of the 44th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Larkins, D. Brian; Moore, J. Christopher; Rubbo, Louis J.; Covington, Laura R.	This paper details the development and implementation of a summer robotics camp for middle school children. The Cognitive Apprenticeship (CA) model is used as the framework for developing the camp. Specifically, methods such as modeling, coaching, scaffolding, articulation, reflection, and exploration are integrated throughout the camp structure. Activities include the use of an engineering notebook, debugging logs, and various cognitive challenges, all supervised by a team of expert mentors. During the two-week summer camp, participants realized a positive shift in attitudes towards science, developed common engineering design skills, and showed increased proficiency in the reasoning pattern of isolation of variables. The CA framework, in conjunction with robotics are an excellent way to build interest in STEM and develop skills in engineering, science, and computational thinking.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2445196.2445226
A Future for Computing Education Research	Commun. ACM	Cooper, Steve; Grover, Shuchi; Guzdial, Mark; Simon, Beth	Seeking to address the most important issues facing the computer education research community.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2668899
MATH COUNTS\textlessbr\textgreater\textlessbr\textgreaterComputing, Math and the Law	ACM Inroads	Dougherty, John P.		https://doi.org/10.1145/3177860
Understanding Conversational Programmers: A Perspective from the Software Industry	Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems	Chilana, Parmit K.; Singh, Rishabh; Guo, Philip J.	Recent research suggests that some students learn to program with the goal of becoming conversational programmers: they want to develop programming literacy skills not to write code in the future but mainly to develop conversational skills and communicate better with developers and to improve their marketability. To investigate the existence of such a population of conversational programmers in practice, we surveyed professionals at a large multinational technology company who were not in software development roles. Based on 3151 survey responses from professionals who never or rarely wrote code, we found that a significant number of them (42.6%) had invested in learning programming on the job. While many of these respondents wanted to perform traditional end-user programming tasks (e.g., data analysis), we discovered that two top motivations for learning programming were to improve the efficacy of technical conversations and to acquire marketable skillsets. The main contribution of this work is in empirically establishing the existence and characteristics of conversational programmers in a large software development context.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2858036.2858323
Adoption of New Computer Science High School Standards by New Zealand Teachers	Proceedings of the 8th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Thompson, David; Bell, Tim	Computer science was progressively introduced as a subject in New Zealand high schools between 2011 and 2013, and teachers have played a key role in the success of the introduction of the new curriculum. This paper looks at how the process has worked from their point of view, primarily by comparing teacher responses to two surveys, one early in the process and one after all three years of material had been introduced. We look at the support teachers have had to prepare to teach the new topics, and we identify the aspects of the transition that worked well and the aspects have been problematic. The two surveys reveal an increase in teacher confidence after they had professional development and gained experience teaching the new standards.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2532748.2532759
Converting 3D Furniture Models to Fabricatable Parts and Connectors	ACM SIGGRAPH 2011 Papers	Lau, Manfred; Ohgawara, Akira; Mitani, Jun; Igarashi, Takeo	Although there is an abundance of 3D models available, most of them exist only in virtual simulation and are not immediately usable as physical objects in the real world. We solve the problem of taking as input a 3D model of a man-made object, and automatically generating the parts and connectors needed to build the corresponding physical object. We focus on furniture models, and we define formal grammars for IKEA cabinets and tables. We perform lexical analysis to identify the primitive parts of the 3D model. Structural analysis then gives structural information to these parts, and generates the connectors (i.e. nails, screws) needed to attach the parts together. We demonstrate our approach with arbitrary 3D models of cabinets and tables available online.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1964921.1964980
Canonicity for 2-Dimensional Type Theory	SIGPLAN Not.	Licata, Daniel R.; Harper, Robert	Higher-dimensional dependent type theory enriches conventional one-dimensional dependent type theory with additional structure expressing equivalence of elements of a type. This structure may be employed in a variety of ways to capture rather coarse identifications of elements, such as a universe of sets considered modulo isomorphism. Equivalence must be respected by all families of types and terms, as witnessed computationally by a type-generic program. Higher-dimensional type theory has applications to code reuse for dependently typed programming, and to the formalization of mathematics. In this paper, we develop a novel judgemental formulation of a two-dimensional type theory, which enjoys a canonicity property: a closed term of boolean type is definitionally equal to true or false. Canonicity is a necessary condition for a computational interpretation of type theory as a programming language, and does not hold for existing axiomatic presentations of higher-dimensional type theory. The method of proof is a generalization of the NuPRL semantics, interpreting types as syntactic groupoids rather than equivalence relations.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2103621.2103697
EarSketch: A STEAM-Based Approach for Underrepresented Populations in High School Computer Science Education	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Magerko, Brian; Freeman, Jason; Mcklin, Tom; Reilly, Mike; Livingston, Elise; Mccoid, Scott; Crews-Brown, Andrea	This article presents EarSketch, a learning environment that combines computer programming with sample-based music production to create a computational remixing environment for learning introductory computing concepts. EarSketch has been employed in both formal and informal settings, yielding significant positive results in student content knowledge and attitudes toward computing as a discipline, especially in ethnic and gender populations that are currently underrepresented in computing fields. This article describes the rationale and components of EarSketch, the evaluation design, and lessons learned to apply to future environment design and development.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2886418
Computational Thinking for the Sciences: A Three Day Workshop for High School Science Teachers	Proceedings of the 41st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Ahamed, Sheikh Iqbal; Brylow, Dennis; Ge, Rong; Madiraju, Praveen; Merrill, Stephen J.; Struble, Craig A.; Early, James P.	This paper describes "Computational Thinking for the Sciences", a 3-day summer workshop for high school science and mathematics teachers. Our workshop emphasizes the deep connections between the natural sciences, mathematics and computer science through activities and simulation development appropriate for scientific explorations. Teachers were exposed to simulation development in VPython, a visual extension to the popular Python programming language. By broadening exposure of computational thinking to the natural sciences and developing activities specifically for science domains, we hope to attract new students into computer science and better prepare natural science students to employ the computational tools they will utilize in the future.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1734263.1734277
Initial Experience with a Computational Thinking Course for Computer Science Students	Proceedings of the 42nd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Kafura, Dennis; Tatar, Deborah	Experience with the first offering of a computational thinking course for computer science (CT4CS) students is reported. The course is grounded in student interaction with fundamental, recurring concepts suggested by comparison with two sets of computer science principles. By using specialized, freely available tools and physical simulations it is possible to provide concrete, tangible learning experiences that neither require knowledge of nor the overhead of programming. Student end-of-term reflections indicate that the course deepened and broadened their understanding of computer science even when they had previously encountered a topic, and improved their computer science vocabulary.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1953163.1953242
Translating Roberto to Omar: Computational Literacy, Stickerbooks, and Cultural Forms	Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Horn, Michael S.; AlSulaiman, Sarah; Koh, Jaime	We present the design and evaluation of an interactive storybook to support emerging computational literacy skills for preschool and early elementary school children. We structured our designs to take advantage of existing language literacy practices between parents and children around the cultural form of a children's storybook. We evaluated our design with 14 families from two distinct cultural backgrounds: families from the United States Midwest and families from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Our findings describe ways in which parents support and structure children's programming activities, and how parental involvement varied across the two groups.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2485760.2485773
Introducing Computer Programming to Children through Robotic and Wearable Devices	Proceedings of the Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Merkouris, Alexandros; Chorianopoulos, Konstantinos	Learning to program in computer code has been considered one of the pillars of contemporary education with benefits that reach well beyond the skills required by the computing industry, into creativity and self-expression. Nevertheless, the execution of computer programs usually takes place on a traditional desktop computer, which has a limited repertoire of input and output interfaces to engage with the user. On the other hand, pedagogy has emphasized that physical representations and tangible interactive objects benefit learning especially for young students. In this work, we explore the benefits of learning to code for ubiquitous computers, such as robots and wearable computers, in comparison to programming for the desktop computer. For this purpose, thirty-six students participated in a within groups study that involved three types of tangibility at the target computer platform: 1) desktop with Scratch, 2) wearable with Arduino LilyPad, and 3) robotic with Lego Mindstorms. Regardless of the target platform, we employed the same desktop visual programming environment (MIT Scratch, Modkit and Enchanting) and we measured emotional engagement and assessed students' programming skills. We found that students expressed more positive emotions while programming with the robotic rather than the desktop computer. Furthermore, tangible computing platforms didn't affect dramatically students' performance in computational thinking.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2818314.2818342
Teaching Programming with Gamified Semantics	Proceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems	Arawjo, Ian; Wang, Cheng-Yao; Myers, Andrew C.; Andersen, Erik; Guimbretière, François	Dominant approaches to programming education emphasize program construction over language comprehension. We present Reduct, an educational game embodying a new, comprehension-first approach to teaching novices core programming concepts which include functions, Booleans, equality, conditionals, and mapping functions over sets. In this novel teaching strategy, the player executes code using reduction-based operational semantics. During gameplay, code representations fade from concrete, block-based graphics to the actual syntax of JavaScript ES2015. We describe our design rationale and report on the results of a study evaluating the efficacy of our approach on young adults (18+) without prior coding experience. In a short timeframe, novices demonstrated promising learning of core concepts expressed in actual JavaScript. We also present results from an online deployment. Finally, we discuss ramifications for the design of future computational thinking games.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3025453.3025711
Should Everybody Learn to Code?	Commun. ACM	Shein, Esther	Not everyone needs coding skills, but learning how to think like a programmer can be useful in many disciplines.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2557447
How to Implement Rigorous Computer Science Education in K-12 Schools? Some Answers and Many Questions	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Hubwieser, Peter; Armoni, Michal; Giannakos, Michail N.	Aiming to collect various concepts, approaches, and strategies for improving computer science education in K-12 schools, we edited this second special issue of the ACM TOCE journal. Our intention was to collect a set of case studies from different countries that would describe all relevant aspects of specific implementations of Computer Science Education in K-12 schools. By this, we want to deliver well-founded arguments and rich material to the critical discussion about the state and the goals of K-12 computer science education, and also provide visions for the future of this research area. In this editorial, we explain our intention and report some details about the genesis of these special issues. Following, we give a short summary of the Darmstadt Model, which was suggested to serve as a structuring principle of the case studies. The next part of the editorial presents a short description of the five extended case studies from India, Korea, NRW/Germany, Finland, and USA that are selected to be included in this second issue. In order to give some perspectives for the future, we propose a set of open research questions of the field, partly derived from the Darmstadt Model, partly stimulated by a look on large-scale investigations like PISA.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2729983
Language Migration in Non-CS Introductory Programming through Mutual Language Translation Environment	Proceedings of the 46th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Matsuzawa, Yoshiaki; Ohata, Takashi; Sugiura, Manabu; Sakai, Sanshiro	In the past decade, improvements have been made to the environments used for introductory programming education, including by the introduction of visual programming languages such as Squeak and Scratch. However, migration from these languages to text-based programming languages such as C and Java is still a problem. Hence, using the OpenBlocks framework proposed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, we developed a system named BlockEditor, which can translate bidirectionally between Block (the block language used here) and Java. We conducted an empirical study of this system in an introductory programming course taken by approximately 100 university students not majoring in computer science. When students were given opportunities to select the language to solve their programming assignments, we traced their selection by tracking working time with BlockEditor or Java for each individual student. The results illustrate the nature of the seamless migration from Block to Java, and show that there is great diversity in the timing and speed of migration to Java by each individual. Additionally, we found that students with low self-evaluation of their skill chose to use Block at a significantly higher rate than did students with high self-evaluation. This suggests that BlockEditor can act as scaffolding for students by promoting mixed programming between Block and Java in their migration phase.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2676723.2677230
Skill Progression in Scratch Revisited	Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems	Matias, J. Nathan; Dasgupta, Sayamindu; Hill, Benjamin Mako	This paper contributes to a growing body of work that attempts to measure informal learning online by revisiting two of the most surprising findings from a 2012 study on skill progression in Scratch by Scaffidi and Chambers: users tend to share decreasingly code-heavy projects over time; and users' projects trend toward using a less diverse range of code concepts. We revisit Scaffidi and Chambers's work in three ways: with a replication of their study using the full population of projects from which they sampled, a simulation study that replicates both their analytic and sampling methodology, and an alternative analysis that addresses several important threats. Our results suggest that the population estimates are opposite in sign to those presented in the original work.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2858036.2858349
Data-Driven Visual Similarity for Cross-Domain Image Matching	Proceedings of the 2011 SIGGRAPH Asia Conference	Shrivastava, Abhinav; Malisiewicz, Tomasz; Gupta, Abhinav; Efros, Alexei A.	The goal of this work is to find visually similar images even if they appear quite different at the raw pixel level. This task is particularly important for matching images across visual domains, such as photos taken over different seasons or lighting conditions, paintings, hand-drawn sketches, etc. We propose a surprisingly simple method that estimates the relative importance of different features in a query image based on the notion of "data-driven uniqueness". We employ standard tools from discriminative object detection in a novel way, yielding a generic approach that does not depend on a particular image representation or a specific visual domain. Our approach shows good performance on a number of difficult cross-domain visual tasks e.g., matching paintings or sketches to real photographs. The method also allows us to demonstrate novel applications such as Internet re-photography, and painting2gps. While at present the technique is too computationally intensive to be practical for interactive image retrieval, we hope that some of the ideas will eventually become applicable to that domain as well.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2024156.2024188
No Agent Left behind: Dynamic Fair Division of Multiple Resources	J. Artif. Int. Res.	Kash, Ian; Procaccia, Ariel D.; Shah, Nisarg	Recently fair division theory has emerged as a promising approach for allocation of multiple computational resources among agents. While in reality agents are not all present in the system simultaneously, previous work has studied static settings where all relevant information is known upfront. Our goal is to better understand the dynamic setting. On the conceptual level, we develop a dynamic model of fair division, and propose desirable axiomatic properties for dynamic resource allocation mechanisms. On the technical level, we construct two novel mechanisms that provably satisfy some of these properties, and analyze their performance using real data. We believe that our work informs the design of superior multiagent systems, and at the same time expands the scope of fair division theory by initiating the study of dynamic and fair resource allocation mechanisms.
Early Validation of Computational Thinking Pattern Analysis	Proceedings of the 2014 Conference on Innovation & Technology in Computer Science Education	Koh, Kyu Han; Nickerson, Hilarie; Basawapatna, Ashok; Repenning, Alexander	End-user game design affords teachers a unique opportunity to integrate computational thinking concepts into their classrooms. However, it is not always apparent in game and simulation projects what computational thinking-related skills students have acquired. Computational Thinking Pattern Analysis (CTPA) enables teachers to visualize which of nine specific skills students have mastered in game design that can then be used to create simulations. CTPA has the potential to automatically recognize and calculate student computational thinking skills, as well as to map students' computational thinking skill progression, as they proceed through the curriculum. The current research furthers knowledge of CTPA by exploring its validity based on how its performance correlates to human grading of student games. Initial data from this validation study indicates that CTPA correlates well with human grading and that it can even be used to predict students' future achievement levels given their current skill progression, making CTPA a potentially invaluable computational thinking evaluation tool for teachers.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2591708.2591724
Computational Thinking via Interactive Journalism in Middle School	Proceedings of the 41st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Wolz, Ursula; Stone, Meredith; Pulimood, Sarah M.; Pearson, Kim	To address the critical shortage of students entering computing fields, as well as broaden participation in computing, we present a summer and afterschool program in Interactive Journalism through which middle school students and their teachers develop an appreciation for and competence in computational thinking. We report on the outcomes of our first year in which three middle school language arts teachers, a technology teacher and a guidance counselor collaborate with college faculty to publish a school magazine of the future. Students and their teachers research and conduct interviews to develop news stories that are then presented as story packages with text, video, and procedural animations in Scratch. Results of formal data collection show changes in students' perceptions of what it means to program, as well as their emerging confidence in their ability to design computational solutions and to program.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1734263.1734345
Students Want to Create Apps: Leveraging Computational Thinking to Teach Mobile Software Development	Proceedings of the 16th Annual Conference on Information Technology Education	Fronza, Ilenia; El Ioini, Nabil; Corral, Luis	Computational Thinking (CT) is recognised as one of the fundamental skills of all graduates. Nevertheless, some issues can emerge when trying to introduce CT into schools; for example, teachers might not be willing to add topics to their intensive syllabi. Therefore, out-of-school venues such as summer schools can be considered a great opportunity for exposure to CT. Moreover, summer schools allow students to meet first hand researchers and help them pursue their interest far from the regular school climate. High school students in general are very curious for the creation of mobile apps; however, most of them get discouraged because they perceive this activity as a very difficult task. Here we describe the MobileDev summer school, a one-week training and hands-on experience in current topics of software development for mobile devices. The curiosity of the students for developing mobile apps is used to introduce and train CT via programming mobile applications through exercises (also with "pen and paper'") of increasing difficulty. The school was repeated twice at our university and was targeted to a reduced class of students concluding the third and the fourth year of high school. Participants were in total 19 and coming from different types of schools. This paper describes the structure of MobileDev and discusses the results to provide directions for further research.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2808006.2808033
Using Student Performance to Assess CS Unplugged Activities in a Classroom Environment	Proceedings of the 2016 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Rodriguez, Brandon; Rader, Cyndi; Camp, Tracy	Computer Science Unplugged activities have been shown to be successful in increasing student interest in computer science when used in outreach and after school events. There is less research available on adapting these extra-curricular activities for use in a classroom setting, where there are more students and the activities must support educational goals, not just changes in attitude. We describe our work in updating several existing CS Unplugged activities as well as introducing some new activities for use in an American middle school classroom. One challenge when using CS Unplugged activities is to determine what, if anything, students are learning. In this paper we detail one approach that links the updated activities to computational thinking skills, then incorporates worksheets where students illustrate their understanding.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2899415.2899465
From Alice to Python. Introducing Text-Based Programming in Middle Schools	Proceedings of the 2016 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Tabet, Nour; Gedawy, Huda; Alshikhabobakr, Hanan; Razak, Saquib	In this paper, we present our experience in designing computing curriculum for Middle School students. Computing education is becoming an important part of STEM education and several national curriculums are incorporating computing education in their core curriculums. We design a curriculum that uses Alice – an interactive drag-and-drop interface that provides a simple interface to learn programming concepts. Once the students are comfortable in these concepts, they take Python in higher classes to learn computing concepts in the context of a text-based programming language. This study attempts to provide "mediated transfer" for applying concepts learned in Alice, to programming in Python. We present the results of our study in applying this curriculum in a local school.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2899415.2899462
Renaissance Computing: An Initiative for Promoting Student Participation in Computing	Proceedings of the 40th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Soh, Leen-Kiat; Samal, Ashok; Scott, Stephen; Ramsay, Stephen; Moriyama, Etsuko; Meyer, George; Moore, Brian; Thomas, William G.; Shell, Duane F.	We report on a recently funded project called Renaissance Computing, an initiative for promoting student participation in computing. We propose a radical re-thinking not only of our core curriculum in CS, but of the role of CS at the university level. In our conception, ”computational thinking” is neither easily separated from other endeavors nor easily balkanized into a single department. We thus imagine a CS curriculum that is inextricably linked to other domains. Our proposed initiative covers introductory, depth, and capstone courses, targeting both CS majors and minors. It is also aimed to develop interdisciplinary CS courses in sciences, engineering, arts, and humanities. Furthermore, the framework embraces collaborative learning to help improve learning.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1508865.1508885
Renaissance Computing: An Initiative for Promoting Student Participation in Computing	SIGCSE Bull.	Soh, Leen-Kiat; Samal, Ashok; Scott, Stephen; Ramsay, Stephen; Moriyama, Etsuko; Meyer, George; Moore, Brian; Thomas, William G.; Shell, Duane F.	We report on a recently funded project called Renaissance Computing, an initiative for promoting student participation in computing. We propose a radical re-thinking not only of our core curriculum in CS, but of the role of CS at the university level. In our conception, ”computational thinking” is neither easily separated from other endeavors nor easily balkanized into a single department. We thus imagine a CS curriculum that is inextricably linked to other domains. Our proposed initiative covers introductory, depth, and capstone courses, targeting both CS majors and minors. It is also aimed to develop interdisciplinary CS courses in sciences, engineering, arts, and humanities. Furthermore, the framework embraces collaborative learning to help improve learning.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1539024.1508885
Initialization in Scratch: Seeking Knowledge Transfer	Proceedings of the 47th ACM Technical Symposium on Computing Science Education	Franklin, Diana; Hill, Charlotte; Dwyer, Hilary A.; Hansen, Alexandria K.; Iveland, Ashley; Harlow, Danielle B.	With the growing movement to use visual block-based languages (VBBLs) in elementary and middle school classrooms, questions arise about the learning outcomes of such activities. While some schools are content to use VBBLs to spark interest and motivation for the future pursuit of computing, others are asking, "Does this early exposure produce knowledge that transfers to traditional text-based languages (TBLs)?" If transfer is a goal, then a corollary is, "How do we design the transition to maximize the transfer?" This paper focuses on initialization of state and variables, exploring the differences between Scratch and two TBLs: C and Java. Based on observations of 9-12 year old students in a VBBL curriculum, we identify four "pieces of knowledge" that are critical for C and Java but are not nearly as obvious in Scratch, including whether, when, and how to perform initialization. We conclude with suggestions for instruction and development environment that may improve transfer.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2839509.2844569
Bridging the Physical Divide: A Design Framework for Embodied Learning Games and Simulations	Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems	Melcer, Edward F.; Isbister, Katherine	Existing embodied learning games and simulations utilize a large breadth of design approaches that often result in the creation of seemingly unrelated systems. This becomes problematic when trying to critically evaluate the usage and effectiveness of embodiment within embodied learning designs. In this paper, we present our work on combining differing conceptual and design approaches for embodied learning systems into a unified design framework. We describe the creation process for the framework, explain its dimensions, and provide two examples of its use. Our embodied learning games and simulations framework will benefit HCI researchers by providing a unifying foundation for the description, categorization, and evaluation of embodied learning systems and designs.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2851581.2892455
Programming by Voice: A Hands-Free Approach for Motorically Challenged Children	CHI '12 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems	Wagner, Amber; Rudraraju, Ramaraju; Datla, Srinivasa; Banerjee, Avishek; Sudame, Mandar; Gray, Jeff	This paper introduces a voice-driven tool applied to an Initial Programming Environment (IPE), which gives motorically challenged individuals the opportunity to learn programming skills; in particular, our project allows programming by voice within Scratch. Although the native Scratch environment allows users to create a program by arranging graphical blocks logically, such visual languages are completely dependent on the use of a mouse and keyboard. This modality of interaction limits users based on physical abilities. Our solution is a tool, called Myna, which is a voice-driven Java application executed parallel to Scratch. Myna processes voice commands from the user, interprets those commands according to a pre-defined grammar, and simulates synonymous actions of a mouse and keyboard within Scratch. The resulting environment assists those with a motor disability (particularly young children) in learning the joy of programming. This extended abstract describes the motivation behind the project, a technical description of Myna, and defines the current work in progress.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2212776.2223757
Connecting K-16 Curriculum & Policy: Making Computer Science Engaging, Accessible, and Hospitable for Underrepresented Students	Proceedings of the 41st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Goode, Joanna	In this paper, a K-16 computer science reform effort is described as an effort that depends on curriculum development, professional development, and collaborative policy strategies.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1734263.1734272
From Blocks to Text and Back: Programming Patterns in a Dual-Modality Environment	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Weintrop, David; Holbert, Nathan	Blocks-based, graphical programming environments are increasingly becoming the way that novices are being introduced to the practice of programming and the field of computer science more broadly. An open question surrounding the use of such tools is how well they prepare learners for using more conventional text-based programming languages. In an effort to address this transition, new programming environments are providing support for both blocks-based and text-based programming. In this paper, we present findings from a study investigating how learners use a dual-modality environment where they can choose to work in either a blocks-based or text-based interface, moving between them as they choose. Our analysis investigates what modality learners choose to work in, and if and why they move from one representation to the other within a single project. We conclude with a discussion of design implications and future directions for this work. This work contributes to our understanding of the affordances of blocks-based programming environments and advances our knowledge on how best to utilize them.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3017680.3017707
A Multi-Institutional Study of Peer Instruction in Introductory Computing	ACM Inroads	Porter, Leo; Bouvier, Dennis; Cutts, Quintin; Grissom, Scott; Lee, Cynthia; McCartney, Robert; Zingaro, Daniel; Simon, Beth	Peer Instruction (PI) is a student-centric pedagogy in which students move from the role of passive listeners to active participants in the classroom. Over the past five years, there have been a number of research articles regarding the value of PI in computer science. The present work adds to this body of knowledge by examining outcomes from seven introductory programming instructors: three novices to PI and four with a range of PI experience. Through common measurements of student perceptions, we provide evidence that introductory computing instructors can successfully implement PI in their classrooms. We find encouraging minimum (74%) and average (92%) levels of success as measured through student valuation of PI for their learning. This work also documents and hypothesizes reasons for comparatively poor survey results in one course, highlighting the importance of the choice of grading policy (participation vs. correctness) for new PI adopters.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2938142
An Instructor Dashboard for Real-Time Analytics in Interactive Programming Assignments	Proceedings of the Seventh International Learning Analytics & Knowledge Conference	Diana, Nicholas; Eagle, Michael; Stamper, John; Grover, Shuchi; Bienkowski, Marie; Basu, Satabdi	Many introductory programming environments generate a large amount of log data, but making insights from these data accessible to instructors remains a challenge. This research demonstrates that student outcomes can be accurately predicted from student program states at various time points throughout the course, and integrates the resulting predictive models into an instructor dashboard. The effectiveness of the dashboard is evaluated by measuring how well the dashboard analytics correctly suggest that the instructor help students classified as most in need. Finally, we describe a method of matching low-performing students with high-performing peer tutors, and show that the inclusion of peer tutors not only increases the amount of help given, but the consistency of help availability as well.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3027385.3027441
Calculating the Fundamental Group of the Circle in Homotopy Type Theory	Proceedings of the 2013 28th Annual ACM/IEEE Symposium on Logic in Computer Science	Licata, Daniel R.; Shulman, Michael	Recent work on homotopy type theory exploits an exciting new correspondence between Martin-Lof's dependent type theory and the mathematical disciplines of category theory and homotopy theory. The mathematics suggests new principles to add to type theory, while the type theory can be used in novel ways to do computer-checked proofs in a proof assistant. In this paper, we formalize a basic result in algebraic topology, that the fundamental group of the circle is the integers. Our proof illustrates the new features of homotopy type theory, such as higher inductive types and Voevodsky's univalence axiom. It also introduces a new method for calculating the path space of a type, which has proved useful in many other examples.	https://doi.org/10.1109/LICS.2013.28
Example-Based Learning in Computer-Aided STEM Education	Commun. ACM	Gulwani, Sumit	Example-based reasoning techniques developed for programming languages also help automate repetitive tasks in education.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2634273
Optimal Social Choice Functions: A Utilitarian View	Proceedings of the 13th ACM Conference on Electronic Commerce	Boutilier, Craig; Caragiannis, Ioannis; Haber, Simi; Lu, Tyler; Procaccia, Ariel D.; Sheffet, Or	We adopt a utilitarian perspective on social choice, assuming that agents have (possibly latent) utility functions over some space of alternatives. For many reasons one might consider mechanisms, or social choice functions, that only have access to the ordinal rankings of alternatives by the individual agents rather than their utility functions. In this context, one possible objective for a social choice function is the maximization of (expected) social welfare relative to the information contained in these rankings. We study such optimal social choice functions under three different models, and underscore the important role played by scoring functions. In our worst-case model, no assumptions are made about the underlying distribution and we analyze the worst-case distortion—or degree to which the selected alternative does not maximize social welfare—of optimal social choice functions. In our average-case model, we derive optimal functions under neutral (or impartial culture) distributional models. Finally, a very general learning-theoretic model allows for the computation of optimal social choice functions (i.e., that maximize expected social welfare) under arbitrary, sampleable distributions. In the latter case, we provide both algorithms and sample complexity results for the class of scoring functions, and further validate the approach empirically.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2229012.2229030
Lifestreams: A Modular Sense-Making Toolset for Identifying Important Patterns from Everyday Life	Proceedings of the 11th ACM Conference on Embedded Networked Sensor Systems	Hsieh, Cheng-Kang; Tangmunarunkit, Hongsuda; Alquaddoomi, Faisal; Jenkins, John; Kang, Jinha; Ketcham, Cameron; Longstaff, Brent; Selsky, Joshua; Dawson, Betta; Swendeman, Dallas; Estrin, Deborah; Ramanathan, Nithya	Smartphones can capture diverse spatio-temporal data about an individual; including both intermittent self-report, and continuous passive data collection from onboard sensors and applications. The resulting personal data streams can support powerful inference about the user's state, behavior, well-being and environment. However making sense and acting on these multi-dimensional, heterogeneous data streams requires iterative and intensive exploration of the datasets, and development of customized analysis techniques that are appropriate for a particular health domain.Lifestreams is a modular and extensible open-source data analysis stack designed to facilitate the exploration and evaluation of personal data stream sense-making. Lifestreams analysis modules include: feature extraction from raw data; feature selection; pattern and trend inference; and interactive visualization. The system was iteratively designed during a 6-month pilot in which 44 young mothers used an open-source participatory mHealth platform to record both self-report and passive data about their diet, stress and exercise. Feedback as participants and the study coordinator attempted to use the Lifestreams dashboard to make sense of their data collected during this intensive study were critical inputs into the design process. In order to explore the generality and extensibility of Lifestreams pipeline, it was then applied to two additional studies with different datasets, including a continuous stream of audio data, self-report data, and mobile system analytics. In all three studies, Lifestreams' integrated analysis pipeline was able to identify key behaviors and trends in the data that were not otherwise identified by participants.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2517351.2517368
Modelling Competencies for Computing Education beyond 2020: A Research Based Approach to Defining Competencies in the Computing Disciplines	Proceedings Companion of the 23rd Annual ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Frezza, Stephen; Daniels, Mats; Pears, Arnold; Cajander, Åsa; Kann, Viggo; Kapoor, Amanpreet; McDermott, Roger; Peters, Anne-Kathrin; Sabin, Mihaela; Wallace, Charles	How might the content and outcomes of tertiary education programmes be described and analysed in order to understand how they are structured and function? To address this question we develop a framework for modelling graduate competencies linked to tertiary degree programmes in the computing disciplines. While the focus of our work is computing the framework is applicable to education more broadly. The work presented here draws upon the pioneering curricular document for information technology (IT2017), curricular competency frameworks, other related documents such as the software engineering competency model (SWECOM), the Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA), current research in competency models, and elicitation workshop results from recent computing conferences. The aim is to inform the ongoing Computing Curricula (CC2020) project, an endeavour supported by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and the IEEE Computer Society. We develop the Competency Learning Framework (CoLeaF), providing an internationally relevant tool for describing competencies. We argue that this competency based approach is well suited for constructing learning environments and assists degree programme architects in dealing with the challenge of developing, describing and including competencies relevant to computer and IT professionals. In this paper we demonstrate how the CoLeaF competency framework can be applied in practice, and though a series of case studies demonstrate its effectiveness and analytical power as a tool for describing and comparing degree programmes in the international higher education landscape.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3293881.3295782
Computational Thinking in Italian Schools: Quantitative Data and Teachers' Sentiment Analysis after Two Years of "Programma Il Futuro"	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Corradini, Isabella; Lodi, Michael; Nardelli, Enrico	In this paper the first two years of activities of "Programma il Futuro" project are described. Its goal is to disseminate among teachers in Italian primary and secondary schools a better awareness of informatics as the scientific basis of digital technologies. The project has adapted Code.org learning material and has introduced it to Italian schools with the support of a dedicated web site. Response has been enthusiastic in terms of participation: in two years more than one million students have been engaged and have completed a total of 10 million hours of informatics in schools. Almost all students found the material useful and were interested, teachers have reported. They have also declared to have experienced high satisfaction and a low level of difficulty. A detailed analysis of quantitative and qualitative data about the project is presented and areas for improvement are identified. One of the most interesting observations appears to corroborate the hypothesis that an exposure to informatics since the early age is important to attract students independently from their gender.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3059009.3059040
First Year Student Performance in a Test for Computational Thinking	Proceedings of the South African Institute for Computer Scientists and Information Technologists Conference	Gouws, Lindsey; Bradshaw, Karen; Wentworth, Peter	Computational thinking, a form of thinking and problem solving within computer science, has become a popular focus of research on computer science education. In this paper, we attempt to investigate the role that computational thinking plays in the experience of introductory computer science students at a South African university. To this end, we have designed and administered a test for computational thinking ability, and contrasted the results of this test with the class marks for the students involved. The results of this test give us an initial view of the abilities that students possess when entering the computer science course. The results indicate that students who performed well in the assessment have a favourable pass rate for their class tests, and specific areas of weakness have been identified. Finally, we describe the plan for a follow-up test to take place at the end of the course to determine how students' abilities have changed over a semester of studies.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2513456.2513484
Developing a Community Definition and Teaching Modules for Computational Thinking: Accomplishments and Challenges	Proceedings of the 2010 ACM Conference on Information Technology Education	Ater-Kranov, Ashley; Bryant, Robert; Orr, Genevieve; Wallace, Scott; Zhang, Mo	The NSF-funded Northwest Distributed Computer Science Department (NW-DCSD) project brings together 24 multi-disciplinary faculty from 19 diverse colleges and universities in an effort to change the face of computing in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. We offer an innovative and inclusive vision of computing in the 21st century and foster opportunities for multi-disciplinary and inter-institutional computing and computer science education collaborations. Over the project's first two years, this community has created 9 engaging, easy-to-use learning modules that teach various levels of computational thinking to two different audiences: non-computer science and computer science undergraduate students. This paper presents the development of a community definition of computational thinking, the learning modules, initial findings, unanticipated challenges, and next steps.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1867651.1867689
CS4Impact: Measuring Computational Thinking Concepts Present in CS4HS Participant Lesson Plans	Proceeding of the 44th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Bort, Heather; Brylow, Dennis	In this paper, we aim to directly measure a CS4HS workshop's participating teachers' ability to synthesize CSTA computational thinking core concepts into actionable lesson plans for courses in their current teaching repertoire. Participants were expected to present a lesson plan on the final day of the workshop, highlighting the integration of their classroom curriculum with computing and computational thinking skills. We present our evaluation rubric, used to rate the teachers effective use of the computational thinking core concepts in their lesson plans, and describe how our method of evaluation may more accurately gauge the overall impact that CS4HS workshops have on their participants.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2445196.2445323
What We Can Learn About Student Learning From Open-Ended Programming Projects in Middle School Computer Science	Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Grover, Shuchi; Basu, Satabdi; Schank, Patricia	Block-based programming environments such as Scratch, App Inventor, and Alice are a key part of introductory K-12 computer science (CS) experiences. Free-choice, open-ended projects are encouraged to promote learner agency and leverage the affordances of these novice-programming environments that also support creative engagement in CS. This mixed methods research examines what we can learn about student learning from such programming artifacts. Using an extensive rubric created to evaluate these projects along several dimensions, we coded a sample of 80 Scratch and App Inventor projects randomly selected from 20 middle school classrooms in a diverse urban school district in the US. We present key elements of our rubric, and report on noteworthy trends including the types of artifacts created and which key programming constructs are or are not commonly used. We also report on how factors such as students' gender, grade, and teachers' teaching experience influenced students' projects. We discuss differences between programming environments in terms of artifacts created, use of computing constructs, complexity of projects, and use of features of the environment for creativity, interactivity, and engagement. Our findings will help educators of introductory computing be more cognizant of how best to leverage the programming environments they are using, and what aspects they need to focus on as they attempt to address the learning needs of all in "CS For All."	https://doi.org/10.1145/3159450.3159522
Closing The Cyberlearning Loop: Enabling Teachers To Formatively Assess Student Programming Projects	Proceedings of the 46th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Basawapatna, Ashok Ram; Repenning, Alexander; Koh, Kyu Han	Teachers are increasingly integrating game design and simulation creation projects as part of their classroom curricula. These projects have many benefits including motivating students in STEM activities and exposing students to computational thinking - a key part of upcoming science standards. However, barriers still exist to project-based computer science in a lab environment. One major issue is that, as students are creating their projects, it is extremely difficult for teachers to know how every student is progressing through a given activity and how to keep every student engaged. This paper introduces a Cyberlearning system entitled REACT (Real-Time Evaluation and Assessment of Computational Thinking) that is an initial step towards giving teachers quickly discernible real-time data corresponding to each student project. REACT provides teachers with a sortable dashboard, consisting of data from each student, that shows the characters students created and used to populate their game or simulation world as well as the semantic meaning behind what students have programmed. A feasibility test with four middle school classrooms shows that REACT helps teachers formatively assess students and provide targeted instruction to struggling individuals. Furthermore, teachers showed excitement at the summative and student self-assessment capabilities of REACT, and every teacher independently stated they would use the REACT system in subsequent end-user programming units.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2676723.2677269
(Re)Defining Computing Curricula by (Re)Defining Computing	SIGCSE Bull.	Isbell, Charles L.; Stein, Lynn Andrea; Cutler, Robb; Forbes, Jeffrey; Fraser, Linda; Impagliazzo, John; Proulx, Viera; Russ, Steve; Thomas, Richard; Xu, Yan	What is the core of Computing? This paper defines the discipline of computing as centered around the notion of modeling, especially those models that are automatable and automatically manipulable. We argue that this central idea crucially connects models with languages and machines rather than focusing on and around computational artifacts, and that it admits a very broad set of fields while still distinguishing the discipline from mathematics, engineering and science. The resulting computational curriculum focuses on modeling, scales and limits, simulation, abstraction, and automation as key components of a computationalist mindset.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1709424.1709462
Serious Fun in Computer Science	Proceedings of the 12th Annual SIGCSE Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Curzon, Paul	Computer Science has been in crisis for several years. Interest in studying it has dropped dramatically. We can wring our hands, or we can do something about it. Computer Science needs to engage with pure outreach: selling the subject (for free). Our approach has been to do this by just going out and having innovative fun. This is more effective than selling specific courses or institutions. CS is after all a naturally exciting, innovative and thought-provoking subject (Oh, and by the way there are good jobs at the end too).We see it as a Renaissance subject (so who cares what it's called or which variation the future depends on). It sits in a unique position, centrally connected to all of the sciences, arts and humanities. We are passionate about science generally, so we go out and spread that enthusiasm about it all.What have we been doing? There is cs4fn (www.cs4fn.org) a website and magazine that we've been writing for the sheer enjoyment of it; Sodarace (www.sodarace.net) where over 130 000 registered humans and computers compete in an online Olympics; Brain Academy (www.brainacademy.qmul.ac.uk), the Compute-Ability competition with career enhancing prizes; research talks for kids on Artificial Intelligence, women in technology, disability and mutant super-hero powers (actually its about search algorithms) and so on; a Computer Science Magic show (you have to promise not to tell anyone the secrets); and exhibits at the Royal Society Summer Exhibition on mathematical illusions and their link to computer science (www.cs4fn.org/illusions). We build brains that play Snap from rope and toilet roll, and introduce a piece of paper more intelligent than anyone in the room. Kids act out Turing Tests (can you tell the human from the robot?), and we challenge them to solve puzzles with CS twists. We do real research too of course: a spin-out of our EPSRC funded research project on Human Error and Interactive Systems includes an online SpaceInvaders game-experiment (www.cs4fn.org/humanerror) the data from which helps us understand the causes of human error: can you consistently avoid making the mistake that will blow up your ship and lose all your points?.What age group should we be targeting? Sixth formers? A major issue is that school ICT, vital as it is, gives a poor impression of how being a computer scientist is about being an innovative, creative, computational thinker. By the sixth form it is too late. It is the younger kids we have to get the message to. An early experiment has been teaching a version of a graduate level course on usability evaluation to primary school kids (www.cs4fn.org/manorside). They proved to be very innovative and "amazing", "will stay in my mind forever", "I want to teach others in the school what we did" were some of their comments.Our approach works: teachers, industry and the International Review of ICT have commended us & and we have seen an increase in undergraduate applications of over 130% in 2 years. Not bad when we are just having fun: serious fun.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1268784.1268785
Serious Fun in Computer Science	SIGCSE Bull.	Curzon, Paul	Computer Science has been in crisis for several years. Interest in studying it has dropped dramatically. We can wring our hands, or we can do something about it. Computer Science needs to engage with pure outreach: selling the subject (for free). Our approach has been to do this by just going out and having innovative fun. This is more effective than selling specific courses or institutions. CS is after all a naturally exciting, innovative and thought-provoking subject (Oh, and by the way there are good jobs at the end too).We see it as a Renaissance subject (so who cares what it's called or which variation the future depends on). It sits in a unique position, centrally connected to all of the sciences, arts and humanities. We are passionate about science generally, so we go out and spread that enthusiasm about it all.What have we been doing? There is cs4fn (www.cs4fn.org) a website and magazine that we've been writing for the sheer enjoyment of it; Sodarace (www.sodarace.net) where over 130 000 registered humans and computers compete in an online Olympics; Brain Academy (www.brainacademy.qmul.ac.uk), the Compute-Ability competition with career enhancing prizes; research talks for kids on Artificial Intelligence, women in technology, disability and mutant super-hero powers (actually its about search algorithms) and so on; a Computer Science Magic show (you have to promise not to tell anyone the secrets); and exhibits at the Royal Society Summer Exhibition on mathematical illusions and their link to computer science (www.cs4fn.org/illusions). We build brains that play Snap from rope and toilet roll, and introduce a piece of paper more intelligent than anyone in the room. Kids act out Turing Tests (can you tell the human from the robot?), and we challenge them to solve puzzles with CS twists. We do real research too of course: a spin-out of our EPSRC funded research project on Human Error and Interactive Systems includes an online SpaceInvaders game-experiment (www.cs4fn.org/humanerror) the data from which helps us understand the causes of human error: can you consistently avoid making the mistake that will blow up your ship and lose all your points?.What age group should we be targeting? Sixth formers? A major issue is that school ICT, vital as it is, gives a poor impression of how being a computer scientist is about being an innovative, creative, computational thinker. By the sixth form it is too late. It is the younger kids we have to get the message to. An early experiment has been teaching a version of a graduate level course on usability evaluation to primary school kids (www.cs4fn.org/manorside). They proved to be very innovative and "amazing", "will stay in my mind forever", "I want to teach others in the school what we did" were some of their comments.Our approach works: teachers, industry and the International Review of ICT have commended us & and we have seen an increase in undergraduate applications of over 130% in 2 years. Not bad when we are just having fun: serious fun.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1269900.1268785
Using Eye-Tracking to Unveil Differences Between Kids and Teens in Coding Activities	Proceedings of the 2017 Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Papavlasopoulou, Sofia; Sharma, Kshitij; Giannakos, Michail; Jaccheri, Letizia	Computational thinking and coding is gradually becoming an important part of K-12 education. Most parents, policy makers, teachers, and industrial stakeholders want their children to attain computational thinking and coding competences, since learning how to code is emerging as an important skill for the 21st century. Currently, educators are leveraging a variety of technological tools and programming environments, which can provide challenging and dynamic coding experiences. Despite the growing research on the design of coding experiences for children, it is still difficult to say how children of different ages learn to code, and to cite differences in their task-based behaviour. This study uses eye-tracking data from 44 children (here divided into "kids" [age 8-12] and "teens" [age 13-17]) to understand the learning process of coding in a deeper way, and the role of gaze in the learning gain and the different age groups. The results show that kids are more interested in the appearance of the characters, while teens exhibit more hypothesis-testing behaviour in relation to the code. In terms of collaboration, teens spent more time overall performing the task than did kids (higher similarity gaze). Our results suggest that eye-tracking data can successfully reveal how children of different ages learn to code.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3078072.3079740
CS0 for Computer Science Majors at Ohio University	Proceedings of the 47th ACM Technical Symposium on Computing Science Education	Marling, Cindy; Juedes, David	This paper describes the design and initial implementation of a new CS0 course for CS majors at Ohio University and an associated computer science placement exam. It was our expectation that this course would help improve overall retention and academic performance of CS majors. The new CS0 course was intended for new students with little or no programming experience. Hence, we designed CS0 by selecting some of the best components of other CS0 efforts from the literature, namely, introductory programming in Python, computational thinking, and motivational material aimed at instilling ownership of the major. In order to direct students into CS0 or CS1 appropriately, a placement exam was given to students during orientation. The placement process resulted in a mixed cohort consisting of students with no programming experience as well as other students with programming experience who did not pass the placement exam. Longitudinal analysis of student grades in CS0 and CS1 showed that these were two distinct populations with very different needs. A statistically significant difference was found in the CS1 grades for CS0 students from these populations. Surprisingly, CS0 students without prior programming experience got significantly higher grades in CS1 than CS0 students who had programmed before. We share lessons learned from our experience, including a revised placement process to address these separate populations.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2839509.2844624
JavaTutor: An Intelligent Tutoring System That Adapts to Cognitive and Affective States during Computer Programming	Proceedings of the 46th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Wiggins, Joseph B.; Boyer, Kristy Elizabeth; Baikadi, Alok; Ezen-Can, Aysu; Grafsgaard, Joseph F.; Ha, Eun Young; Lester, James C.; Mitchell, Christopher M.; Wiebe, Eric N.	Introductory computer science courses cultivate the next generation of computer scientists. The impressions students take away from these courses are crucial, setting the tone for the rest of the students' computer science education. It is known that students struggle with many concepts central to computer science, struggles that could be alleviated in part through hands-on practice and individualized instruction. However, even the best existing instructional practices do not facilitate individualized hands-on support for students at large. We have built JavaTutor, an intelligent tutoring system for introductory computer science, which works alongside students to support them through both cognitive (skills and knowledge) and affective (emotion-based) feedback. JavaTutor aims to make advances in interactive, scalable student support. JavaTutor's behaviors were developed within a novel framework that leverages machine learning to acquire tutorial strategies from data collected within tutorial sessions between novice students and experienced human tutors. This demo presents an overview of the data-driven development of JavaTutor and shows how JavaTutor assesses and responds to students' contextualized needs. It is hoped that JavaTutor will help to usher in a new generation of tutorial systems for computer science education that adapt to individual students based not only on incoming student knowledge, but on a broad range of other student characteristics.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2676723.2691877
The Education Arcade: Crafting, Remixing, and Playing with Controllers for Scratch Games	Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Davis, Richard; Kafai, Yasmin; Vasudevan, Veena; Lee, Eunkyoung	The recent development of low cost tangible construction kits has lowered the barriers to entry for amateur and youth hardware designers. In this paper, we discuss the outcomes of a pilot study in which middle school youths set up a game arcade by remixing Scratch games and crafting physical game controllers using the MaKey MaKey and Play-Doh. The analyses focused on the youths' designs and reflections on Scratch remixes, their game controllers, and the culminating arcade. Designing game controllers and setting up the arcade was a productive learning experience for the youths in which they were able to glean insights about how to improve their designs by watching younger students play their games. In the discussion we highlight the parts of the workshop that were most successful, address what we learned about the youths' experiences, develop suggestions for the design of future workshops, and discuss the significance of authentic audience designs.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2485760.2485846
Programming as a Performance: Live-Streaming and Its Implications for Computer Science Education	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Haaranen, Lassi	This article discusses an emerging phenomenon of streaming programming to a live audience who in turn can interact with the streamer. In essence, this means broadcasting the programming environment and typically a web camera feed of the streamer to viewers. Streaming programming bears many similarities with live-streaming playing of video games, which has become extremely popular among gamers over the recent years. In fact, streaming programming often use the same web services as streaming gaming, and the audiences overlap.In this article, we describe this novel approach to programming and situate it in the broader context of computer science education. To gain a deeper insight into this phenomena, we analyzed viewer discussions during a particular programming stream broadcasted during a game programming competition. Finally, we discuss the benefits this approach could offer to computer science education.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3059009.3059035
TEEM 2017 Doctoral Consortium Track	Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality	García-Peñalvo, Francisco J.; Ramírez-Montoya, María Soledad; García-Holgado, Alicia	Doctoral Consortium is presented in TEEM Conference since its first edition and has the aim to help doctoral students to play an important role in an International Conference, interacting with other researchers, both novels and experienced, to improve their PhD works. In this TEEM edition 11 contributions have been accepted and presented.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3144826.3145440
"What Is A Computer": What Do Secondary School Students Think?	Proceedings of the 47th ACM Technical Symposium on Computing Science Education	Grover, Shuchi; Rutstein, Daisy; Snow, Eric	Nationwide, efforts are focusing on taking computer science (CS) to scale in high school classrooms through the Exploring Computer Science (ECS) and AP CS Principles (CSP) courses. Recent inroads are also being made to take structured introductory curricula to middle school classrooms. Often, a starting point for teaching CS in middle and high school is a discussion around the seemingly simple question "What is a computer?" The question is aimed to help learners understand through debate and discussion what makes a computer a computer. This paper reports our analysis of (a) middle school students' discussions around this question, and (b) high school students' responses to an assessment question measuring this understanding. Our analyses of students' comments and responses reveal that a discussion around "what is a computer?" may be problematic for students, as it tends to focus on the tool, the "computer." We suggest that the discussion needs re-framing to focus instead on computing and computation.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2839509.2844579
When CS 1 is Biology 1: Crossdisciplinary Collaboration as CS Context	Proceedings of the Fifteenth Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Dodds, Zachary; Libeskind-Hadas, Ran; Bush, Eliot	We present the curriculum, deployment, and initial evaluation of a course, BioCS1, designed to serve as CS1 and Biology1 for majors of either (or both) disciplines. Cotaught by professors in both fields, BioCS1 interweaves fundamental biology and computational topics in a manner similar to contextual approaches to CS1. In contrast to other contextual approaches, however, BioCS1 emphasizes both CS and its context equally. The results suggest that cross-disciplinary collaborations can succeed at the introductory level, as they have at later stages of the curriculum.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1822090.1822152
Feedback from Nature: An Optimal Distributed Algorithm for Maximal Independent Set Selection	Proceedings of the 2013 ACM Symposium on Principles of Distributed Computing	Scott, Alex; Jeavons, Peter; Xu, Lei	Maximal Independent Set selection is a fundamental problem in distributed computing. A novel probabilistic algorithm for this problem has recently been proposed by Afek et al, inspired by the study of the way that developing cells in the fly become specialised. The algorithm they propose is simple and robust, but not as efficient as previous approaches: the expected time complexity is O(log2 n). Here we first show that the approach of Afek et al cannot achieve better efficiency than this across all networks, no matter how the global probability values are chosen.However, we then propose a new algorithm that incorporates another important feature of the biological system: the probability value at each node is adapted using local feedback from neighbouring nodes. Our new algorithm retains all the advantages of simplicity and robustness, but also achieves the optimal efficiency of O(log n) expected time. The new algorithm also has only a constant message complexity per node.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2484239.2484247
Extensive-Form Game Abstraction with Bounds	Proceedings of the Fifteenth ACM Conference on Economics and Computation	Kroer, Christian; Sandholm, Tuomas	Abstraction has emerged as a key component in solving extensive-form games of incomplete information. However, lossless abstractions are typically too large to solve, so lossy abstraction is needed. All prior lossy abstraction algorithms for extensive-form games either 1) had no bounds on solution quality or 2) depended on specific equilibrium computation approaches, limited forms of abstraction, and only decreased the number of information sets rather than nodes in the game tree. We introduce a theoretical framework that can be used to give bounds on solution quality for any perfect-recall extensive-form game. The framework uses a new notion for mapping abstract strategies to the original game, and it leverages a new equilibrium refinement for analysis. Using this framework, we develop the first general lossy extensive-form game abstraction method with bounds. Experiments show that it finds a lossless abstraction when one is available and lossy abstractions when smaller abstractions are desired. While our framework can be used for lossy abstraction, it is also a powerful tool for lossless abstraction if we set the bound to zero. Prior abstraction algorithms typically operate level by level in the game tree. We introduce the extensive-form game tree isomorphism and action subset selection problems, both important problems for computing abstractions on a level-by-level basis. We show that the former is graph isomorphism complete, and the latter NP-complete. We also prove that level-by-level abstraction can be too myopic and thus fail to find even obvious lossless abstractions.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2600057.2602905
Computational Thinking in High School Courses	Proceedings of the 41st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Allan, Vicki; Barr, Valerie; Brylow, Dennis; Hambrusch, Susanne	The number of undergraduates entering computer science has declined in recent years. This is paralleled by a drop in the number of high school students taking the CS AP exam and the number of high schools offering computer science courses. The declines come at a time when career opportunities in CS continue to grow and computer science graduates are seen as crucial in building a globally competitive workforce for the 21st century. Efforts aimed at reversing the declining interest in computer science include curriculum revisions at the undergraduate level at many institutions, a re-design of computer science AP courses [1], and the inclusion of computational thinking into disciplines outside computer science [3].This panel discusses four projects of computer science researchers collaborating with high school teachers on integrating computing and computational thinking into their courses. The majority of the high school teachers involved is teaching science and math courses. They are teaching a diverse group of talented and college-bound students. The goal of all projects is to integrate computing into disciplines represented in the high school curriculum and to raise the awareness of computer science as an exciting and intellectually rewarding field.This panel will outline recent and on-going activities and interaction with high school teachers. Each panelist will describe how he/she got involved and the nature of the interaction. The panelists will talk about their individual projects, outline their visions for future interactions, and how their effort can be replicated by others. The session will briefly describe NSF's RET program which provided teacher support for three of the four projects. The session will then be opened for discussion; the audience will be encouraged to ask questions and contribute additional ideas for the inclusion of computational thinking in high school courses.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1734263.1734395
Teaching Computational Thinking Using Agile Software Engineering Methods: A Framework for Middle Schools	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Fronza, Ilenia; Ioini, Nabil El; Corral, Luis	Computational Thinking (CT) has been recognized as one of the fundamental skills that all graduates should acquire. For this reason, motivational concerns need to be addressed at an early age of a child, and reaching students who do not consider themselves candidates for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines is important as well if the broadest audience possible is to be engaged. This article describes a framework for teaching and assessing CT in the context of K-12 education. The framework is based on Agile software engineering methods, which rely on a set of principles and practices that can be mapped to the activities of CT. The article presents as well the results of an experiment applying this framework in two sixth-grade classes, with 42 participants in total. The results show that Agile software engineering methods are effective at teaching CT in middle schools, after the addition of some tasks to allow students to explore, project, and experience the potential product before using the software tools at hand. Moreover, according to the teachers’ feedback, the students reached all the educational objectives of the topics involved in the multidisciplinary activities. This result can be taken as an indicator that it is possible to use computing as a medium for teaching other subjects, besides computer science.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3055258
Use, Modify, Create: Comparing Computational Thinking Lesson Progressions for STEM Classes	Proceedings of the 2019 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Lytle, Nicholas; Cateté, Veronica; Boulden, Danielle; Dong, Yihuan; Houchins, Jennifer; Milliken, Alexandra; Isvik, Amy; Bounajim, Dolly; Wiebe, Eric; Barnes, Tiffany	Computational Thinking (CT) is being infused into curricula in a variety of core K-12 STEM courses. As these topics are being introduced to students without prior programming experience and are potentially taught by instructors unfamiliar with programming and CT, appropriate lesson design might help support both students and teachers. "Use-Modify-Create" (UMC), a CT lesson progression, has students ease into CT topics by first "Using" a given artifact, "Modifying" an existing one, and then eventually "Creating" new ones. While studies have presented lessons adopting and adapting this progression and advocating for its use, few have focused on evaluating UMC's pedagogical effectiveness and claims. We present a comparison study between two CT lesson progressions for middle school science classes. Students participated in a 4-day activity focused on developing an agent-based simulation in a block-based programming environment. While some classrooms had students develop code on days 2-4, others used a scaffolded lesson plan modeled after the UMC framework. Through analyzing student's exit tickets, classroom observations, and teacher interviews, we illustrate differences in perception of assignment difficulty from both the students and teachers, as well as student perception of artifact "ownership" between conditions.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3304221.3319786
Code and Tell: Assessing Young Children's Learning of Computational Thinking Using Peer Video Interviews with ScratchJr	Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Portelance, Dylan J.; Bers, Marina Umaschi	In this paper, we present a novel technique for assessing the learning of computational thinking in the early childhood classroom. Students in three second grade classrooms learned foundational computational thinking concepts using ScratchJr and applied what they learned to creating animated collages, stories, and games. They then conducted artifact-based video interviews with each other in pairs using their iPad cameras. As discussed in the results, this technique can show a broad range of what young children learn about computational thinking in classroom interventions using ScratchJr than more traditional assessment techniques. It simultaneously provides a developmentally appropriate educational activity (i.e. peer interviews) for early childhood classrooms.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2771839.2771894
Design Thinking	Commun. ACM	Denning, Peter J.	Design thinking is the newest fashion for finding better solutions to problems. Combining it with computational thinking offers some real possibilities for improving software design.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2535915
Identifying Elementary Students' Pre-Instructional Ability to Develop Algorithms and Step-by-Step Instructions	Proceedings of the 45th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Dwyer, Hilary; Hill, Charlotte; Carpenter, Stacey; Harlow, Danielle; Franklin, Diana	The desire to expose more students to computer science has led to the development of a plethora of educational activities and outreach programs to broaden participation in computer science. Despite extensive resources (time and money), they have made little impact on the diversity of students pursuing computer science. To realize large gains, computational thinking must be integrated into K-12 systems, starting with elementary school. In order to do so, existing resources need to be adapted for a school setting. To make a curriculum with lessons that build on each other over several years, and accountability for student learning, we need standards, an understanding of how students learn, and identification of what students know before exposure to the curriculum. In this paper, we present our detailed findings of what fourth graders know before encountering a computational thinking curriculum. Groups of students participated in activities modified from CS Unplugged in order to discover their knowledge (rather than provide instruction). We identify aspects of the activities students were able to complete successfully, and where they will need further instruction. We then explain how we used these results to modify our pilot curriculum.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2538862.2538905
Exploring Changes in Computer Science Students' Implicit Theories of Intelligence Across the Semester	Proceedings of the Eleventh Annual International Conference on International Computing Education Research	Flanigan, Abraham E.; Peteranetz, Markeya S.; Shell, Duane F.; Soh, Leen-Kiat	Our study was based on exploring CS1 students' implicit theories of intelligence. Referencing Dweck and Leggett's [5] framework for implicit theories of intelligence, we investigated (1) how students' implicit theories changed over the course of a semester, (2) how these changes differed as a function of course enrollment and students' self-regulation profiles, and (3) whether or not implicit theories predicted standardized course grades and performance on a computational thinking knowledge test. For all students, there were significant increases in entity theory (fixed mindset) and significant decreases in incremental theory (growth mindset) across the semester. However, results showed that students had higher scores for incremental than entity theory of intelligence at both the beginning and end of the semester. Furthermore, both incremental and entity theory, but not semester change in intelligence theory, differed based on students' self-regulation profiles. Also, semester change in entity theory differed across courses. Finally, students' achievement outcomes were weakly predicted by their implicit theories of intelligence. Implications for student motivation and retention in CS and other STEM courses are also discussed.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2787622.2787722
Misconception-Driven Feedback: Results from an Experimental Study	Proceedings of the 2018 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research	Gusukuma, Luke; Bart, Austin Cory; Kafura, Dennis; Ernst, Jeremy	The feedback given to novice programmers can be substantially improved by delivering advice focused on learners' cognitive misconceptions contextualized to the instruction. Building on this idea, we present Misconception-Driven Feedback (MDF); MDF uses a cognitive student model and program analysis to detect mistakes and uncover underlying misconceptions. To evaluate the impact of MDF on student learning, we performed a quasi-experimental study of novice programmers that compares conventional run-time and output check feedback against MDF over three semesters. Inferential statistics indicates MDF supports significantly accelerated acquisition of conceptual knowledge and practical programming skills. Additionally, we present descriptive analysis from the study indicating the MDF student model allows for complex analysis of student mistakes and misconceptions that can suggest improvements to the feedback, the instruction, and to specific students.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3230977.3231002
Learning Kinematics in Elementary Grades Using Agent-Based Computational Modeling: A Visual Programming-Based Approach	Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Sengupta, Pratim; Farris, Amy Voss	Integrating computational modeling and programming with learning and teaching physics is a non-trivial challenge for educational designers. In this paper, we attempt to address this challenge by presenting ViMAP, a new visual-programming language and modeling platform for learning kinematics, and its underlying design principles. We then report a study conducted with 3rd and 4th grade students which shows that using ViMAP, they were able to develop a) deep conceptual understandings of kinematics and b) relevant programming and computational modeling practices. We also identify how the design principles supported the development of these understandings and practices as students engaged in learning activities that integrated modeling, programming and physics.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2307096.2307106
The First Five Computer Science Principles Pilots: Summary and Comparisons	ACM Inroads	Snyder, Lawrence; Barnes, Tiffany; Garcia, Dan; Paul, Jody; Simon, Beth		https://doi.org/10.1145/2189835.2189852
CS Principles Goes to Middle School: Learning How to Teach "Big Data"	Proceedings of the 45th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Buffum, Philip Sheridan; Martinez-Arocho, Allison G.; Frankosky, Megan Hardy; Rodriguez, Fernando J.; Wiebe, Eric N.; Boyer, Kristy Elizabeth	Spurred by evidence that students' future studies are highly influenced during middle school, recent efforts have seen a growing emphasis on introducing computer science to middle school learners. This paper reports on the in-progress development of a new middle school curricular module for Big Data, situated as part of a new CS Principles-based middle school curriculum. Big Data is of widespread societal importance and holds increasing implications for the computer science workforce. It also has appeal as a focus for middle school computer science because of its rich interplay with other important computer science principles. This paper examines three key aspects of a Big Data unit for middle school: its alignment with emerging curricular standards; the perspectives of middle school classroom teachers in mathematics, science, and language arts; and student feedback as explored during a middle school pilot study with a small subset of the planned curriculum. The results indicate that a Big Data unit holds great promise as part of a middle school computer science curriculum.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2538862.2538949
MetaMorphe: Designing Expressive 3D Models for Digital Fabrication	Proceedings of the 2015 ACM SIGCHI Conference on Creativity and Cognition	Torres, Cesar; Paulos, Eric	The creative promise of 3D digital fabrication tools is tremendous. However due to the wide range of tools and interfaces, a common static file format called STL is used for sharing designs. While customization tools add creative handles to these digital models, they are often constrained to pre-configured parameters limiting the creative potential of shared digital models. We introduce MetaMorphe, a novel digital fabrication framework that uses a common web-programming metaphor to enable users to easily transform static 3D models into re-formed, re-made, and re-imagined customized personal artifacts. We demonstrate the compatibility of MetaMorphe with three well-established design interfaces, direction manipulation, scripted-CAD, and generative design. Through a user study with design experts, MetaMorphe reveals that decisions that physically produce bespoke artifacts or encode unique metadata actively affect perceptions of authorship, agency, and authenticity. We discuss how expressive model-building tools such as MetaMorphe enable a cultural shift in 3D design in terms of participation, personalization, and creativity.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2757226.2757235
TUI, GUI, HUI: Is a Bimodal Interface Truly Worth the Sum of Its Parts?	Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Strawhacker, Amanda; Sullivan, Amanda; Bers, Marina Umaschi	This study aims to explore the relative differences in efficacy of three different computer programming interfaces for controlling robots designed for early childhood education. A sample of N=36 kindergarten students from 3 different classrooms participated in this research. Each classroom was randomly assigned to one of the following three conditions: a tangible user interface, a graphical user interface, and a hybrid user interface. Comparisons between the three conditions focus on which interface yields better understanding of the programming concepts taught. Implications for designing developmentally appropriate computer programming interfaces for early childhood education are discussed.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2485760.2485825
A Data Programming CS1 Course	Proceedings of the 46th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Anderson, Ruth E.; Ernst, Michael D.; Ordóñez, Robert; Pham, Paul; Tribelhorn, Ben	This paper reports on our experience teaching introductory programming by means of real-world data analysis. We have found that students can be motivated to learn programming and computer science concepts in order to analyze DNA, predict the outcome of elections, detect fraudulent data, suggest friends in a social network, determine the authorship of documents, and more. The approach is more than just a collection of "nifty assignments"; rather, it affects the choice of topics and pedagogy.This paper describes how our approach has been used at four diverse colleges and universities to teach CS majors and non-majors alike. It outlines the types of assignments, which are based on problems from science, engineering, business, and the humanities. Finally, it offers advice for anyone trying to integrate the approach into their own institution.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2676723.2677309
Characterizing and Understanding Game Reviews	Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Foundations of Digital Games	Zagal, José P.; Ladd, Amanda; Johnson, Terris	Game reviews are one of the primary forms of videogame journalism and are also one of the prevalent forms of discourse about games. How can we characterize them and better understand the role they might play in helping create and shape our understanding of games? This article reports on the results of a study that analyzed and deconstructed a selection of game reviews from popular online websites. Our findings show that game reviews are rich and varied in terms of themes and topics covered and that considering them purely as "shopping guides" ignores the broader role they play in the discourse of games. We found that game reviews often include game design suggestions, hypothesize about the intentions and goals of game creators, and offer advice to readers on how to approach and best enjoy particular games. More generally, game reviews can also help preserve videogame history by contextualizing the links and historical connections that exist between games.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1536513.1536553
Undergraduate Students’ Perceptions of the Impact of Pre-College Computing Activities on Choices of Major	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	McGill, Monica M.; Decker, Adrienne; Settle, Amber	A lack of diversity in the computing field has existed for several decades, and although female participation in computing remains low, outreach programs attempting to address the situation are now quite numerous. To begin to understand whether or not these past activities have had long-term impact, we conducted a systematic literature review. Upon discovering that longitudinal studies were lacking, we investigated whether undergraduate students believed that their participation in computing activities prior to college contributed to their decision to major in a computing field. From the 770 participants in the study, we discovered that approximately 20% of males and 24% of females who were required to participate in computing activities chose a computing or related major, but that males perceived that the activity had a greater affect on their decision (20%) than females (6.9%). Females who participated in an outreach activity were more likely to major in computing. Compared with females who chose to major in computing, females who did not were less likely to indicate that the majority of students participating in activities were boys and that they were a welcome part of the groups. Results also showed that female participants who do not ultimately major in computing have a much stronger negative perception of the outreach activities than male participants who also chose a non-computing major. Although many computing outreach activities are designed to diversify computing, it may be the case that, overall, boys receive these activities more favorably than girls, although requiring participation yields approximately the same net positive impact.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2920214
Teaching with Physical Computing Devices: The BBC Micro:Bit Initiative	Proceedings of the 12th Workshop on Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Sentance, Sue; Waite, Jane; Yeomans, Lucy; MacLeod, Emily	There is a growing interest in small programmable devices that can be used in schools and in extra-curricular contexts to teach computer science. The BBC micro:bit is one such device; through a collaborative venture, micro:bits were recently distributed to every 11-12 year old in the UK. Although the technology itself is often of primary interest, a focus on how teachers can use the technology in the classroom to help students learn is increasingly being drawn out in the literature: this paper adds to that body of work Having interviewed 15 teachers and 54 students about their use and experience of the micro:bit, we present an analysis of the varied ways in which teachers are using the BBC micro:bit, and note a range of instructional styles. We classify different approaches to teaching with physical computing, identifying teachers who we describe as either inspirers, providers or consumers. Finally we make recommendations for more teacher professional learning opportunities around physical computing. The results of this qualitative study will be useful to teachers and teacher educators wishing to work more effectively with physical computing in the classroom.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3137065.3137083
MakerShoe: Towards a Wearable e-Textile Construction Kit to Support Creativity, Playful Making, and Self-Expression	Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Kazemitabaar, Majeed; Norooz, Leyla; Guha, Mona Leigh; Froehlich, Jon E.	Electronic textile (e-textile) toolkits have been successful in broadening participation in STEAM-related activities, in expanding perceptions of computing, and in engaging users in creative, expressive, and meaningful digital-physical design. While a range of well-designed e-textile toolkits exist (e.g., LilyPad), they cater primarily to adults and older children and have a high barrier of entry for some users. We are investigating new approaches to support younger children (K-4) in the creative design, play, and customization of e-textiles and wearables without requiring the creation of code. This demo paper presents one such example of ongoing work: MakerShoe, an e-textile platform for designing shoe-based interactive wearable experiences. We discuss our two participatory design sessions as well as our initial prototype, which uses single-function magnetically attachable electronic modules to support circuit creation and the design of responsive, interactive behaviors.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2771839.2771883
Learning Web Development: Challenges at an Earlier Stage of Computing Education	Proceedings of the Seventh International Workshop on Computing Education Research	Park, Thomas H.; Wiedenbeck, Susan	Web development can provide a rich context for exploring computer science concepts and practicing computational creativity. However, little is known about the experiences that people have when first learning web development. In this paper, we investigate the help-seeking activity of forty-nine students in an introductory web development course. By applying content analysis to the help forums of the course, we characterize the challenges they encountered and sought help for, relating them to development, instruction, technology, content, and design issues. We apply a second level of content analysis to the development issues, identifying aspects of learning HTML, CSS, and JavaScript that challenged students most often. Finally, we identify several computational concepts that relate to these challenges, including notation, hierarchies and paths, nesting, parameters and arguments, and decomposition and abstraction. We conclude with a discussion on the implications of our findings for computing education.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2016911.2016937
Sex as an Algorithm: The Theory of Evolution under the Lens of Computation	Commun. ACM	Livnat, Adi; Papadimitriou, Christos	Looking at the mysteries of evolution from a computer science point of view yields some unexpected insights.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2934662
Assessing Student Behavior in Computer Science Education with an FsQCA Approach: The Role of Gains and Barriers	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Pappas, Ilias O.; Giannakos, Michail N.; Jaccheri, Letizia; Sampson, Demetrios G.	This study uses complexity theory to understand the causal patterns of factors that stimulate students’ intention to continue studies in computer science (CS). To this end, it identifies gains and barriers as essential factors in CS education, including motivation and learning performance, and proposes a conceptual model along with research propositions. To test its propositions, the study employs fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis on a data sample from 344 students. Findings indicate eight configurations of cognitive and noncognitive gains, barriers, motivation for studies, and learning performance that explain high intention to continue studies in CS. This research study contributes to the literature by (1) offering new insights into the relationships among the predictors of CS students’ intention to continue their studies and (2) advancing the theoretical foundation of how students’ gains, barriers, motivation, and learning performance combine to better explain high intentions to continue CS studies.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3036399
The Introductory Computer Programming Course is First and Foremost a Language Course	ACM Inroads	Portnoff, Scott R.	An fMRI (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) study published in 2014 established that comprehension of computer programs occurs in the same regions of the brain that process natural languages—not logic, not math. The unexpectedness of this result was primed in part by the widespread belief that the language aspects of learning how to program are trivial when compared to learning to use programming languages for engineering tasks. In fact, though, the fMRI data is compelling cognitive evidence for the argument that the reason students have been failing introductory programming courses in large numbers—for decades—is because CS educators have underestimated the importance of teaching programming languages as languages per se. Despite the availability of this non-invasive technology for well over two decades, educators have neither researched the cognitive complexities of how programming languages might be acquired, nor tried to seriously understand this process in any degree of depth. Consequently, they have failed to consider what this evidence now implies: (a) that programming languages, despite being artificial languages, are alive in the brains of programmers in much the same way as any natural language that those programmers speak; and (b) that this new information about the cognitive aspects of programming languages has profound pedagogic implications.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3152433
Cs4fn and Computational Thinking Unplugged	Proceedings of the 8th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Curzon, Paul	'Computer Science for Fun' (cs4fn) is a public engagement project aiming to both enthuse school students about inter-disciplinary computer science and support computing teachers. It started in 2005, with cs4fn resources now widely used in UK schools as well as internationally. We overview the approach cs4fn has used to inspire students and teachers. In particular we look at how not only subject knowledge but also computational thinking ideas can be taught in an integrated way using cs4fn 'unplugged' activities embedded in stories. We give two illustrative examples, one based on the problem of helping people with locked-in syndrome communicate, the second based around magic tricks.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2532748.2611263
Conceptions and Misconceptions about Computational Thinking among Italian Primary School Teachers	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research	Corradini, Isabella; Lodi, Michael; Nardelli, Enrico	Many advanced countries are recognizing more and more the importance of teaching computing, in some cases even as early as in primary school. "Computational thinking" is the term often used to denote the conceptual core of computer science or "the way a computer scientist thinks", as Wing put it. Such term - given also the lack of a widely accepted definition - has become a "buzzword" meaning different things to different people. We investigated the Italian primary school teachers' conceptions about computational thinking by analyzing the results of a survey (N=972) conducted in the context of "Programma il Futuro" project. Teachers have been asked to provide a definition of computational thinking and to answer three additional related closed-ended questions. The analysis shows that, while almost half of teachers (43.4%) have included in their definitions some fundamental elements of computational thinking, very few (10.8%) have been able to provide an acceptably complete definition. On a more positive note, the majority is aware that computational thinking is not characterized by coding or by the use of information technology.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3105726.3106194
Do We Really Need Computational Thinking?	Commun. ACM	Nardelli, Enrico	Considering the expression "computational thinking" as an entry point to understand why the fundamental contribution of computing to science is the shift from solving problems to having problems solved.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3231587
The Assessment of Mobile Computational Thinking	J. Comput. Sci. Coll.	Sherman, Mark; Martin, Fred	This paper introduces a rubric for analyzing "mobile computational thinking" (MCT) as represented in App Inventor work products. To demonstrate its efficacy, this rubric was used to evaluate and compare student work from the CS and non-CS student cohorts in a mixed-major app design undergraduate course. Our analysis showed some significant differences between the cohorts, which were expected, as well as more subtle differences. The rubric demonstrated that it was sensitive to significant and subtle variations of MCT. The instrument is available for download and use.
Code Bits: An Inexpensive Tangible Computational Thinking Toolkit For K-12 Curriculum	Proceedings of the TEI '16: Tenth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction	Goyal, Sidhant; Vijay, Rohan S.; Monga, Charu; Kalita, Pratul	The extensive research in the domain of computational thinking has identified itself as one of the critical skills that needs to be a part of regular K-12 curriculum. However, most of the tangible computational thinking toolkits that are being developed are bulky and expensive to be deployed in classroom environments. In this paper we present Code Bits, a paper based tangible computational thinking toolkit that is inexpensive, portable and scalable. The students create programs using the tangible paper bits on any flat surface and use the Code Bits mobile application to process the code, which runs on any android device with a camera and uses augmented reality based games to improve the computational thinking skills of the students. The toolkit has been designed in way so as to promote collaboration amongst students.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2839462.2856541
Will It Stick? Exploring the Sustainability of Computational Thinking Education through Game Design	Proceeding of the 44th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Koh, Kyu Han; Repenning, Alexander; Nickerson, Hilarie; Endo, Yasko; Motter, Pate	A strategy exposing middle school students to computer science through game design appears to be a promising means to mitigate the computer science pipeline challenge. Particularly when short game design activities are integrated into already existing middle school courses, research suggests that game design is effective in broadening participation and motivating large numbers of students, along with large percentages of women and minorities. A study with over 10,000 students is exploring the sustainability of this approach and finding positive responses to inquiries such as these: Do teachers continue to use game design? Can they advance beyond extrinsic rewards such as research stipends? After building one game, do students advance, building more games or even STEM simulations?	https://doi.org/10.1145/2445196.2445372
A K-8 Debugging Learning Trajectory Derived from Research Literature	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Rich, Kathryn M.; Strickland, Carla; Binkowski, T. Andrew; Franklin, Diana	Curriculum development is dependent on the following question: What are the learning goals for a specific topic, and what are reasonable ways to organize and order those goals? Learning trajectories (LTs) for computational thinking (CT) topics will help to guide emerging curriculum development efforts for computer science in elementary school. This study describes the development of an LT for Debugging. We conducted a rigorous analysis of scholarly research on K-8 computer science education to extract what concepts in debugging students should and are capable of learning. The concepts were organized into the LT presented within. In this paper, we describe the three dimensions of debugging that emerged during the creation of the trajectory: (1) strategies for finding and fixing errors, (2) types of errors, and (3) the role of errors in problem solving. In doing so, we go beyond identification of specific debugging strategies to further articulate knowledge that would help students understand when to use those techniques and why they are successful. Finally, we illustrate how the Debugging LT has guided our efforts to develop an integrated mathematics and CT curriculum for grades 3-5.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287396
Towards a Taxonomy of Errors in HTML and CSS	Proceedings of the Ninth Annual International ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research	Park, Thomas H.; Saxena, Ankur; Jagannath, Swathi; Wiedenbeck, Susan; Forte, Andrea	As part of a larger research agenda to explore web development as a context for learning computational literacy skills, we investigate errors people make while writing code in HTML and CSS. We report on a lab-based study in which 20 participants were video recorded as they completed coding tasks. We have applied the skills-rules-knowledge framework to segment this data by the cognitive causes of errors they made, and present a taxonomy of these errors. Our findings demonstrate how the skills-rules-framework can be used to analyze coding errors, provide insight about the origins of these errors, and suggest ways that the design of web development tools can be improved to support learning and practice with HTML and CSS.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2493394.2493405
Programming Misconceptions for School Students	Proceedings of the 2018 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research	Swidan, Alaaeddin; Hermans, Felienne; Smit, Marileen	Programming misconceptions have been a topic of interest in introductory programming education, with a focus on university level students. Nowadays, programming is increasingly taught to younger children in schools, sometimes as part of the curriculum. In this study we aim at exploring what misconceptions are held by younger, school-age children. To this end we design a multiple-choice questionnaire with Scratch programming exercises. The questions represent a selected set of 11 known misconceptions and relate to basic programming concepts. 145 participants aged 7 to 17 years, with an experience in programming, took part in the study. Our results show the top three common misconceptions are the difficulty of understanding the sequentiality of statements, that a variable holds one value at a time, and the interactivity of a program when user input is required. Holding a misconception is influenced by the mathematical effect of numbers, semantic meaning of identifiers and high expectations of what a computer can do.Other insights from the results show that older children answer more questions correctly, especially for the variable and control concepts. Children who program in Scratch only seem to have difficulties in answering the questions correctly compared to children who program in Scratch and another language. Our findings suggest that work should focus on identifying Scratch-induced misconceptions, and develop intervention methods to counter those misconceptions as early as possible. Finally, for children who start learning programming with Scratch, materials should be more concept-rich and include diverse exercises for each concept.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3230977.3230995
The Australian Digital Technologies Curriculum: Challenge and Opportunity	Proceedings of the Sixteenth Australasian Computing Education Conference - Volume 148	Falkner, Katrina; Vivian, Rebecca; Falkner, Nickolas	There is a call for change in the treatment of ICT curriculum in our schools driven by the relatively recent acknowledgement of the growing importance of ICT in industry and society, and the need to empower youth as producers, as well as consumers, of technology. ICT curriculum in previous incarnations tended to focus on ICT as a tool, with the development of digital literacy as the key requirement. Areas such as computer science (CS) or computational thinking were typically isolated into senior secondary programs, with a focus on programming and algorithm development, when they were considered at all. New curricula introduced in England, and currently under debate within Australia, have identified the need to educate for both digital literacy and CS, and the need to promote both learning areas from the commencement of schooling, Foundation (F) to year 12.In this paper, we discuss the main trends and learning objectives of these new curricula, identifying key areas requiring further research and development by the CS Education community. We undertake a review of current research in CS Education within the F-12 context, to identify research that can guide effective implementation and provide opportunities for further research.
Ubiquity Symposium 'What is Computation?': Opening Statement	Ubiquity	Denning, Peter J.	Most people understand a computation as a process evoked when a computational agent acts on its inputs under the control of an algorithm. The classical Turing machine model has long served as the fundamental reference model because an appropriate Turing machine can simulate every other computational model known. The Turing model is a good abstraction for most digital computers because the number of steps to execute a Turing machine algorithm is predictive of the running time of the computation on a digital computer. However, the Turing model is not as well matched for the natural, interactive, and continuous information processes frequently encountered today. Other models whose structures more closely match the information processes involved give better predictions of running time and space. Models based on transforming representations may be useful.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1880066.1880067
CS-1 for Scientists	Proceedings of the 39th SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Wilson, Greg; Alvarado, Christine; Campbell, Jennifer; Landau, Rubin; Sedgewick, Robert		https://doi.org/10.1145/1352135.1352151
CS-1 for Scientists	SIGCSE Bull.	Wilson, Greg; Alvarado, Christine; Campbell, Jennifer; Landau, Rubin; Sedgewick, Robert		https://doi.org/10.1145/1352322.1352151
A Mid-Project Report on a Statewide Professional Development Model for CS Principles	Proceedings of the 46th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Gray, Jeff; Haynie, Kathy; Packman, Sheryl; Boehm, Mary; Crawford, Carol; Muralidhar, Deepa	This paper summarizes our mid-project results in developing and evaluating a CS Principles (CSP) professional development (PD) model for training several cohorts of teachers across an entire state geography. CS4Alabama is an NSF-funded project that has adopted the successful practices of a national AP training program developed by the National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI) in pursuit of scalable deployment and sustainable persistence of new CSP courses across Alabama. We have created a CSP curriculum and PD program based on year-long in-person training and distance learning collaboration, which also was offered as a national MOOC as part of Google CS4HS. A statewide Teacher Leader (TL) model is used, where those who have previously taught rigorous CS courses serve as mentors in training new peer cohorts as they establish CSP courses in their schools. Teachers in these cohorts collaborate together on content and pedagogical learning experiences, fostered by the TLs. This paper reports on assessment results that are uncovering the facets of our model that are most suitable for building a sustainable network of CSP teachers. The paper summarizes our PD model, offers various lessons learned, and details the findings of the project's external evaluation team.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2676723.2677306
Science Has Only Two Legs	Commun. ACM	Vardi, Moshe Y.		https://doi.org/10.1145/1810891.1810892
They Can't Find Us: The Search for Informal CS Education	Proceedings of the 45th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	DiSalvo, Betsy; Reid, Cecili; Roshan, Parisa Khanipour	In this study we found that search terms that would likely be used by parents to find out-of-school computer science (CS) learning opportunities for their children yielded remarkably unproductive results. This is important to the field of CS education because, to date, there is no empirical evidence that demonstrates how a lack of CS vocabulary is a barrier to accessing informal CS learning opportunities. This study focuses on the experience of parents who do not have the privilege of education and technical experience when searching for learning opportunities for their children. The findings presented will demonstrate that issues of access to CS education go beyond technical means, and include ability to conduct suitable searches and identify appropriate computational learning tools. Out-of-school learning is an important factor in who is motivated and prepared to study computer science in college. It is likely that without early access to informal CS learning, fewer students are motivated to explore CS in formal classrooms.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2538862.2538933
Understanding the Benefits of Game Jams: Exploring the Potential for Engaging Young Learners in STEM	Proceedings of the 2016 ITiCSE Working Group Reports	Fowler, Allan; Pirker, Johanna; Pollock, Ian; de Paula, Bruno Campagnola; Echeveste, Maria Emilia; Gómez, Marcos J.	There is a wide range of implementations of game jams throughout the world. Game jams have been organized in a number of different formats, themes, and timeframes [43]. What they all have in common is the opportunity for participants to make a game within a specified constraint such as time, location, technology, or theme. Additionally, game jams as social experience support active and collaborative learning formats. In this paper, we discuss the potential of game jams for young learners, describe successful jam events in this context, and provide a list of tools useful for organizing game jams for this target group.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3024906.3024913
Differentiating for Diversity: Using Universal Design for Learning in Elementary Computer Science Education	Proceedings of the 47th ACM Technical Symposium on Computing Science Education	Hansen, Alexandria K.; Hansen, Eric R.; Dwyer, Hilary A.; Harlow, Danielle B.; Franklin, Diana	As computer science moves from an outreach activity to a normal classroom activity in the multi-subject, mainstream elementary school classroom, curricula need to be examined to ensure they are meeting the needs of diverse students. In this paper, we present how Universal Design for Learning (UDL) was used to develop and refine a programming environment and curriculum for upper-elementary school classrooms (students aged 9-12). We then present our accommodations and modifications to emphasize the ways our development environment and/or curriculum enabled such uses. Ensuring introductory computer science experiences are equitable and accessible for a wide range of student learners may broaden the diversity of individuals who perceive themselves as capable of pursuing computer science in the future.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2839509.2844570
Generating Default Privacy Policies for Online Social Networks	CHI '10 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems	Toch, Eran; Sadeh, Norman M.; Hong, Jason	Default privacy policies have a significant impact on the overall dynamics and success of online social networks, as users tend to keep their initial privacy policies. In this work-in-progress, we present a new method for suggesting privacy policies for new users by exploring knowledge of existing policies. The defaults generation process performs a collaborative analysis of the policies, finding personalized and representative suggestions. We show how the process can be extended to a wide range of domains, and present results based on 543 privacy policies obtained from a live location-based social network. Finally, we present a user interaction model that lets the user retain control over the default policies, allowing the user to make knowledgeable decisions regarding which default policy to take.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1753846.1754133
Computer Science at School/CS Teacher Education: Koli Working-Group Report on CS at School	Proceedings of the 12th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research	Schulte, Carsten; Hornung, Malte; Sentance, Sue; Dagiene, Valentina; Jevsikova, Tatjana; Thota, Neena; Eckerdal, Anna; Peters, Anne-Kathrin	In an international study, experts reflected on their national state of computer science education in school, and the associated situation and education of computer science teachers. While these situations are shaped by local circumstances, they are also shaped by changes in the discipline. The results of the study showed a number of recurrent themes and patterns such as curriculum difficulties, training and support for teachers, as well as the understanding (e.g. computer science vs. information technology) and relevance of computer science. The study also draws attention to initiatives that are being undertaken at the local and international levels to solve these problems. Finally, the study points out trends which are – according to the experts asked – likely to occur within the next few years.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2401796.2401800
Optimal Column-Based Low-Rank Matrix Reconstruction	Proceedings of the Twenty-Third Annual ACM-SIAM Symposium on Discrete Algorithms	Guruswami, Venkatesan; Sinop, Ali Kemal	We prove that for any real-valued matrix X ε Rmxn, and positive integers r ≥ k, there is a subset of r columns of X such that projecting X onto their span gives a [EQUATION]-approximation to best rank-k approximation of X in Frobenius norm. We show that the trade-off we achieve between the number of columns and the approximation ratio is optimal up to lower order terms. Furthermore, there is a deterministic algorithm to find such a subset of columns that runs in O(rnmω log m) arithmetic operations where ω is the exponent of matrix multiplication. We also give a faster randomized algorithm that runs in O(rnm2) arithmetic operations.
Sparsest Cut on Bounded Treewidth Graphs: Algorithms and Hardness Results	Proceedings of the Forty-Fifth Annual ACM Symposium on Theory of Computing	Gupta, Anupam; Talwar, Kunal; Witmer, David	We give a 2-approximation algorithm for the non-uniform Sparsest Cut problem that runs in time nO(k), where k is the treewidth of the graph. This improves on the previous 22k-approximation in time poly(n) 2O(k) due to Chlamtac et al. [18].To complement this algorithm, we show the following hardness results: If the non-uniform Sparsest Cut has a ρ-approximation for series-parallel graphs (where ρ ≥ 1), then the MaxCut problem has an algorithm with approximation factor arbitrarily close to 1/ρ. Hence, even for such restricted graphs (which have treewidth 2), the Sparsest Cut problem is NP-hard to approximate better than 17/16 - ε for ε > 0; assuming the Unique Games Conjecture the hardness becomes 1/αGW - ε. For graphs with large (but constant) treewidth, we show a hardness result of 2 - ε assuming the Unique Games Conjecture.Our algorithm rounds a linear program based on (a subset of) the Sherali-Adams lift of the standard Sparsest Cut LP. We show that even for treewidth-2 graphs, the LP has an integrality gap close to 2 even after polynomially many rounds of Sherali-Adams. Hence our approach cannot be improved even on such restricted graphs without using a stronger relaxation.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2488608.2488644
Teaching How to Teach Computational Thinking	Proceedings of the 23rd Annual ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Lamprou, Anna; Repenning, Alexander	Computational Thinking is argued to be an essential skill for the workforce of the 21st century. As a skill, Computational Thinking should be taught in all schools, employing computational ideas integrated into other disciplines. Up until now, questions about how Computational Thinking can be effectively taught have been underexplored preventing efforts to cross the large gap between early adopters and the early majority, conceptualized as the Computer Science Education chasm. A promising strategy to cross the chasm is underway in Switzerland. Switzerland recently introduced a national curriculum, called Lehrplan 21, mandating Computer Science Education. This mandate requires the Computer Science education of elementary and middle school students. In 2017, the School of Education of Northwestern Switzerland (PH FHNW), introduced a mandatory pre-service teacher Computer Science Education course, to satisfy this mandate. All the PH FHNW students who study to become elementary school teachers must pass this two-semester course. The first part of this course was taught for the first time in fall of 2017. This paper presents the philosophy of this course and an initial analysis of both qualitative data capturing the students’ perceptions of Computational Thinking and quantitative data describing shifts in students’ skills and attitudes as effect sizes. The data suggest that it is possible to teach a basic understanding of programming to non-self-selected pre-service elementary school teachers.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3197091.3197120
Why Computational Thinking Should Be Integrated into the Curriculum	J. Comput. Sci. Coll.	Qualls, Jake A.; Sherrell, Linda B.	Computational Thinking (CT) is an approach to problem solving that consolidates logic skills with core computer science concepts. This survey paper reviews recent efforts to integrate CT into primary, secondary and post-secondary curricula. The paper should prove beneficial to instructors interested in investigating this important topic.
New Horizons in the Assessment of Computer Science at School and Beyond: Leveraging on the ViVA Platform	Proceedings of the 2015 ITiCSE on Working Group Reports	Giordano, Daniela; Maiorana, Francesco; Csizmadia, Andrew Paul; Marsden, Simon; Riedesel, Charles; Mishra, Shitanshu; Vinikienundefined, Lina	A revolution is taking place across Europe and worldwide in how we teach our children about computing, in primary and secondary school. Out goes ICT and how to use Microsoft Office; in comes coding and computer science. Assessment has a crucial role to play in this revolution. If teachers use low-quality assessment instruments we will end-up teaching the wrong subject; and viceversa. This paper reviews the state of the field, and makes concrete, achievable proposals for developing shared, high quality assessments for computer science. Central to this proposal is the collaborative platform VIVA (the Vilnius collaboratively coded and Validated computer science questions/tasks for Assess- ment). Two requirements are key to VIVA: 1) support for multiple competency frameworks, so that the contributors can meta-tag resources with respect to the framework they are most familiar with; and 2) support for crowdsourcing the validation of each question/task and its mapping to competencies. The use of a taxonomy of questions/tasks type that has been mapped to computational thinking concepts and to a competency framework is proposed. Some seed questions are already available in the online platform prototype, and various supporters have granted permission to use large questions banks. The design requirements of a full implementation of the VIVA platform for a modern and effective approach to assessment including support for digital badges, are outlined; and some preliminary results from a survey administered to the initial contributors to VIVA are presented.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2858796.2858801
Inclusive Computing in Special Needs Classrooms: Designing for All	Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems	Lechelt, Zuzanna; Rogers, Yvonne; Yuill, Nicola; Nagl, Lena; Ragone, Grazia; Marquardt, Nicolai	With a growing call for an increased emphasis on computing in school curricula, there is a need to make computing accessible to a diversity of learners. One potential approach is to extend the use of physical toolkits, which have been found to encourage collaboration, sustained engagement and effective learning in classrooms in general. However, little is known as to whether and how these benefits can be leveraged in special needs schools, where learners have a spectrum of distinct cognitive and social needs. Here, we investigate how introducing a physical toolkit can support learning about computing concepts for special education needs (SEN) students in their classroom. By tracing how the students' interactions-both with the physical toolkit and with each other-unfolded over time, we demonstrate how the design of both the form factor and the learning tasks embedded in a physical toolkit contribute to collaboration, comprehension and engagement when learning in mixed SEN classrooms.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3173574.3174091
Scratch: A Way to Logo and Python	Proceedings of the 46th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Dorling, Mark; White, Dave	There is concern amongst teachers about how to support all pupils in making the transition from popular graphical languages like Scratch to text-based languages like Python. In a new subject, not taught widely before at both primary and secondary education in England, there is inevitably a lack of tuned-in pedagogical expertise. In this paper, the authors address the transition process by exploring established pedagogy in Computer Science, and other subjects including Mathematics, Science and Languages, and by sharing and testing their findings with pupils and teachers in the classroom. Teaching the fundamentals of programming is well served by applying sequential solutions in both graphical and text-based languages. This practitioner action research paper focuses on scaffolding support for pupils when making the transition from graphical to text-based languages. In an approach which uses graphical languages in conjunction with, not in place of, text-based programming languages, the authors discuss ways to tackle the difficulties presented to pupils by text-based languages, and propose a tested strategy for teachers to enable pupils to undertake the transition successfully.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2676723.2677256
Experimental Evaluation of BeadLoom Game: How Adding Game Elements to an Educational Tool Improves Motivation and Learning	Proceedings of the 16th Annual Joint Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Boyce, Acey Kreisler; Campbell, Antoine; Pickford, Shaun; Culler, Dustin; Barnes, Tiffany	The Virtual Bead Loom (VBL) is a Culturally Situated Design Tool that successfully teaches students middle school math concepts while they learn about and create their own Native American bead artifacts. We developed BeadLoom Game to augment VBL with game elements that encourage players to apply the computational thinking skills of iteration and layering while optimizing the number of steps they take to solve a puzzle. In our prior work, we showed that BeadLoom Game is effective at teaching Cartesian coordinates, iteration, and layering. In this study, we use a switching replications experimental design to compare performance of BeadLoom Game with the VBL. Our results from two summer camps, one for middle school and one for college-bound high school students, show that through the addition of game based objectives, BeadLoom Game teaches Cartesian coordinates as well as the VBL but also teaches the computational thinking practices of iteration and layering.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1999747.1999816
Frog Pond: A Codefirst Learning Environment on Evolution and Natural Selection	Proceedings of the 2014 Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Horn, Michael S.; Brady, Corey; Hjorth, Arthur; Wagh, Aditi; Wilensky, Uri	Understanding processes of evolution and natural selection is both important and challenging for learners. We describe a "codefirst" learning environment called Frog Pond designed to introduce natural selection to elementary and middle school aged learners. Learners use NetTango, a blocksbased programming interface to NetLogo, to control frogs inhabiting a lily pond. Simple programs result in changes to the frog population over successive generations. Our approach foregrounds computational thinking as a bridge to understanding evolution as an emergent phenomenon.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2593968.2610491
Learning through Computational Creativity	Commun. ACM	Soh, Leen-Kiat; Shell, Duane F.; Ingraham, Elizabeth; Ramsay, Stephen; Moore, Brian	Improving learning and achievement in introductory computer science by incorporating creative thinking into the curriculum.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2699391
Shapeshifters in the Voluntary Sector: Exploring the Human-Centered-Computing Challenges of Nonprofit Organizations	Interactions	Voida, Amy		https://doi.org/10.1145/2029976.2029985
ConnectUs: A New Toolkit for Teaching about the Internet of Things	Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems	Lechelt, Zuzanna; Rogers, Yvonne; Marquardt, Nicolai; Shum, Venus	The emerging Internet of Things (IoT), through which vast amounts of everyday objects are becoming embedded with computing and networking capabilities, is rapidly changing the way society uses and experiences technology. Despite this, children do not systematically learn about IoT in schools. This demonstration will showcase ConnectUs, a new IoT toolkit, which can be used to introduce children to a variety of IoT concepts, and provide users with the opportunity to design their own IoT system.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2851581.2890241
Setting the Stage for Computing Curricula 2013: Computer Science – Report from the ACM/IEEE-CS Joint Task Force	Proceedings of the 42nd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Sahami, Mehran; Guzdial, Mark; McGettrick, Andrew; Roach, Steve	Following a roughly 10 year cycle, the Computing Curricula volumes have helped to set international curricular guidelines for undergraduate programs in computing. In the summer of 2010, planning for the next volume in the series, Computer Science 2013, began. This panel seeks to update and engage the SIGCSE community on the Computer Science 2013 effort. The development of curricular guidelines in Computer Science is particularly challenging given the rapid evolution and expansion of the field. Moreover, the growing diversity of topics in Computer Science and the integration of computing with other disciplines create additional challenges and opportunities in defining computing curricula. As a result, it is particularly important to engage the broader computer science education community in a dialog to better understand new opportunities, local needs, and novel successful models of computing curriculum. The last complete Computer Science curricular volume was released in 2001 [3] and followed by a review effort that concluded in 2008 [2]. While the review helped to update some of the knowledge units in the 2001 volume, it was not aimed at producing an entirely new curricular volume and deferred some of the more significant questions that arose at the time. The Computer Science 2013 effort seeks to provide a new volume reflecting the current state of the field and highlighting promising future directions through revisiting and redefining the knowledge units in CS, rethinking the essentials necessary for a CS curriculum, and identifying working exemplars of courses and curricula along these lines.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1953163.1953213
Misconceptions about Computer Science	Commun. ACM	Denning, Peter J.; Tedre, Matti; Yongpradit, Pat	Common misconceptions about computer science hinder professional growth and harm the identity of computing.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3041047
Broadening Student Enthusiasm for Computer Science with a Great Insights Course	Proceedings of the 41st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	desJardins, Marie; Littman, Michael	We describe the "Great Insights in Computer Science" courses that are taught at Rutgers and UMBC. These courses were designed independently, but have in common a broad, engaging introduction to computing for non-majors. Both courses include a programming component to help the students gain an intuition for computational concepts, but neither is primarily programming focused. We present data to show that these courses attract a diverse group of students; are rated positively; and increase students' understanding of, and attitudes towards, computing and computational issues.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1734263.1734317
Track 16: TEEM 2019 Doctoral Consortium	Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality	García-Peñalvo, Francisco José; García-Holgado, Alicia; Ramírez-Montoya, María Soledad	Once again, the doctoral consortium track plays a central role in TEEM Conference. This track exists since the first edition on the conference in 2013 and still looks for Ph.D. candidates present the advances of their theses and do networking with other peers and more experienced researchers. This track was born linked to the Ph.D. Programme on Education in the Knowledge Society of the University of Salamanca (Spain), but we are happy to receive exciting proposals from another Ph.D. Programmes around the world, enriching the debates and the networking.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3362789.3362958
Contextualized Approaches to Introductory Computer Science: The Key to Making Computer Science Relevant or Simply Bait and Switch?	Proceedings of the 42nd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Kay, Jennifer S.	America's youth perceive Computer Science to be difficult, tedious, boring, irrelevant and asocial. Unfortunately, many traditional introductory Computer Science classes and textbooks do little to improve that image. In contrast, contextualized approaches to teaching introductory Computer Science are very attractive. Instead of writing a leap year program, students can learn about conditional statements by programming a robot to follow a light, or by creating an animation to tell a story, or even by modifying a picture of the college president so that she is wearing a neon orange jacket instead of a navy blue one. The arguments in favor of contextualized approaches to attract non-Computer-Science-majors to our classes are very persuasive. But what about students who then choose to major or minor in Computer Science? Of course we want to offer them interesting and engaging first courses in Computer Science, and indeed this may help with our efforts to attract more students to our programs. But what happens in subsequent semesters? The purpose of this paper is to initiate a general discussion on the use of any sort of "cool" new approach into both undergraduate and K-12 Computer Science education. These approaches successfully attract students to study subjects that we ourselves are deeply engaged in. But we need to discuss as a community what happens to students who do choose to major or minor in Computer Science when our individual classes conclude and the rest of their studies commence.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1953163.1953219
A Landscape Study of Computer Science Education in NYC: Early Findings and Implications for Policy and Practice	Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Fancsali, Cheri; Tigani, Linda; Toro Isaza, Paulina; Cole, Rachel	NYC's Computer Science for All (CS4All) is a 10-year, districtwide initiative aimed at providing high-quality computer science (CS) education to all NYC public school students. It aspires to greatly increase the number of students, teachers, and schools exposed to CS in NYC, and to offer meaningful learning experiences that build on prior exposure and skills at every grade level. These plans include providing high-quality professional development (PD) to some 5,000 teachers, designed to help them learn new programs and pedagogies in CS education, as well as strategies for integrating CS into existing courses. This paper presents findings from an assessment of CS in NYC, conducted in the second year of the CS4All initiative. Using a telephone survey of a representative sample of schools, we describe the current state of CS programming and training in the City. Overall, we found high participation in CS teacher training opportunities (both through and independent of the initiative) and widespread offering of CS courses Specifically, we estimate just over half of schools districtwide (56%) participated in some type of CS training in the 2015-16 school year, and about two thirds of schools (64%) offered students some kind of CS coursework in the 2016-17 school year (through either stand-alone CS courses or the integration of CS into other subjects). The type of programming and training varied by school level (elementary, middle and high). We also explored the extent to which programming and training are reaching schools and students who are historically underrepresented in CS–including women and girls, students of color, low-income students and students with disabilities. We found that schools offering CS courses and activities served fewer Black and Latino students and more White and Asian Students, compared with schools not offering CS. This work is unique, as it is the only districtwide assessment of CS education conducted anywhere in the country to date, thus adding to an under-researched but important and growing field of study	https://doi.org/10.1145/3159450.3159467
Measuring the Usability and Capability of App Inventor to Create Mobile Applications	Proceedings of the 3rd International Workshop on Programming for Mobile and Touch	Xie, Benjamin; Shabir, Isra; Abelson, Hal	MIT App Inventor is a web service that enables users with little to no previous programming experience to create mobile applications using a visual blocks language. We analyze a sample of 5,228 random projects from the corpus of 9.7 million and group projects by functionality. We then use the number of unique blocks in projects as a metric to better understand the usability and realized capability of using App Inventor to implement specific functionalities. We introduce the notion of a usability score and our results indicate that introductory tutorials heavily influence the usability of App Inventor to implement particular functionalities. Our findings suggest that the sequential nature of App Inventor's learning resources results in users realizing only a portion of App Inventor's capabilities and propose improvements to these learning resources that are transferable to other programming environments and tools.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2824823.2824824
Constructionist Gaming Beyond the Screen: Middle School Students' Crafting and Computing of Touchpads, Board Games, and Controllers	Proceedings of the Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Kafai, Yasmin; Vasudevan, Veena	Approaches to constructionist gaming—students making their own games for learning through programming—have mostly focused on screen designs. Hybrid crafting approaches that integrate crafts with digital components can extend game making beyond the screen and provide new opportunities for learning about computational concepts, skills, and perspectives. In this paper, we report on a series of workshops with middle school students (ages 11-14 years) who used Makey Makey, Play Doh, textiles and other materials to craft touchpads, augmented board games, and wearable controllers for their Scratch games. We examined students' approaches to computing and crafting in their onscreen and off screen designs. We discuss in which ways constructionist gaming can benefit from extending their designs into the physical world and what moving constructionist gaming beyond the screen has to offer for K-12 programming instruction.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2818314.2818334
From Difference to Diversity: Including Women in the Changing Face of Computing	Proceeding of the 44th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Frieze, Carol; Quesenberry, Jeria L.	In this paper we argue that gender difference thinking, with regards to attitudes towards computing, can work against diversity in the field of computing. Indeed, gender difference approaches to the participation of women in computing have not provided adequate explanations for women's declining interest in computer science (CS) and related technical fields. As yet "The Changing Face of Computing" has not led to significant changes in the levels of women's participation. Indeed, the number of computer science degrees awarded to women has steadily declined since 1984. Our objective in this paper is to present a critique on why gender difference approaches may be problematic and propose that a cultural approach offers a more effective framework for investigating and increasing women's participation in CS. We support our findings and recommendations from the most recent research in a series of studies carried out at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) over the past 10 years. In brief, we found the Women-CS fit at CMU continues to present a positive and encouraging story. Our findings demonstrate that under certain conditions women, alongside their male peers, can fit successfully into a CS environment and help shape that environment and computing culture, for the benefit of everyone, without accommodating presumed gender differences or any compromises to academic integrity.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2445196.2445327
In Honor of Alan Turing	Commun. ACM	Hyman, Paul	Thirty-two of the 39 living A.M. Turing Award laureates gathered in San Francisco to pay tribute to "the father of CS" and discuss the past, present, and future of computing.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2330667.2330675
Microsoft Touch Develop and the BBC Micro:Bit	Proceedings of the 38th International Conference on Software Engineering Companion	Ball, Thomas; Protzenko, Jonathan; Bishop, Judith; Moskal, Micha\textbackslashl; de Halleux, Jonathan; Braun, Michael; Hodges, Steve; Riley, Clare	The chance to influence the lives of a million children does not come often. Through a partnership between the BBC and several technology companies, a small instructional computing device called the BBC micro:bit will be given to a million children in the UK in 2016. Moreover, using the micro:bit will be part of the CS curriculum. We describe how Microsoft's Touch Develop programming platform works with the BBC micro:bit. We describe the design and architecture of the micro:bit and the software engineering hurdles that had to be overcome to ensure it was as accessible as possible to children and teachers. The combined hardware/software platform is evaluated and early anecdotal evidence is presented. A video about the micro:bit is available at http://aka.ms/bbcmicrobit.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2889160.2889179
Language Choice in Introductory Programming Courses at Australasian and UK Universities	Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Simon; Mason, Raina; Crick, Tom; Davenport, James H.; Murphy, Ellen	Parallel surveys of introductory programming courses were conducted in Australasia and the UK, with a view to examining the programming languages being used, the preferred integrated development environments (if any), and the reasons for these choices, alongside a number of other key aspects of these courses. This paper summarises some of the similarities and differences between the findings of the two surveys. In the UK, Java is clearly the dominant programming language in introductory programming courses, with Eclipse as the dominant environment. Java was also the dominant language in Australasia six years ago, but now shares the lead with Python; we speculate on the reasons for this. Other differences between the two surveys are equally interesting. Overall, however, there appears to be a reasonable similarity in the way these undergraduate courses are conducted in the UK and in Australasia. While the degree structures differ markedly between and within these regions – a possible explanation for some of the differences – some of the similarities are noteworthy and have the potential to provide insight into approaches in other regions and countries.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3159450.3159547
Algorithmic Realism: Expanding the Boundaries of Algorithmic Thought	Proceedings of the 2020 Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency	Green, Ben; Viljoen, Salomé	Although computer scientists are eager to help address social problems, the field faces a growing awareness that many well-intentioned applications of algorithms in social contexts have led to significant harm. We argue that addressing this gap between the field's desire to do good and the harmful impacts of many of its interventions requires looking to the epistemic and methodological underpinnings of algorithms. We diagnose the dominant mode of algorithmic reasoning as "algorithmic formalism" and describe how formalist orientations lead to harmful algorithmic interventions. Addressing these harms requires pursuing a new mode of algorithmic thinking that is attentive to the internal limits of algorithms and to the social concerns that fall beyond the bounds of algorithmic formalism. To understand what a methodological evolution beyond formalism looks like and what it may achieve, we turn to the twentieth century evolution in American legal thought from legal formalism to legal realism. Drawing on the lessons of legal realism, we propose a new mode of algorithmic thinking—"algorithmic realism"—that provides tools for computer scientists to account for the realities of social life and of algorithmic impacts. These realist approaches, although not foolproof, will better equip computer scientists to reduce algorithmic harms and to reason well about doing good.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3351095.3372840
Going Mobile with App Inventor for Android: A One-Week Computing Workshop for K-12 Teachers	Proceeding of the 44th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Liu, Jiangjiang; Lin, Cheng-Hsien; Potter, Phillip; Hasson, Ethan Philip; Barnett, Zebulun David; Singleton, Michael	More and more students are interested in developing their own mobile applications. Incorporating mobile technology into classrooms can greatly capture student attention, better student engagement, and improve student achievement. In this paper, we present our experience, findings, and lessons learned from conducting a one-week App Inventor for Android summer computing workshop for K-12 teachers. Our workshop focuses on using App Inventor, a drag-and-drop Android development environment, introduce computing concepts to K-12 teachers in all subjects. During the workshop the teachers developed curriculum applications for the subjects they will teach in the following semesters with the help of our workshop tutors. Workshop assessment results show a 29.5% increase in confidence level in teaching computer science and a 109% computing knowledge level increase.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2445196.2445324
Combining Big Data and Thick Data Analyses for Understanding Youth Learning Trajectories in a Summer Coding Camp	Proceedings of the 47th ACM Technical Symposium on Computing Science Education	Fields, Deborah A.; Quirke, Lisa; Amely, Janell; Maughan, Jason	In this paper we explore how to assess novice youths' learning of programming in an open-ended, project-based learning environment. Our goal is to combine analysis of frequent, automated snapshots of programming (e.g., "big" data) within the "thick" social context of kids? learning for deeper insights into their programming trajectories. This paper focuses on the first stage of this endeavor: the development of exploratory quantitative measures of youths? learning of computer science concepts. Analyses focus on kids? learning in a series of three Scratch Camps where 64 campers aged 10-13 used Scratch 2.0 to make a series of creative projects over 30 hours in five days. In the discussion we consider the highlights of the insights-and blind spots-of each data source with regard to youths' learning.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2839509.2844631
School Subject Informatics (Computer Science) in Russia: Educational Relevant Areas	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Khenner, Evgeniy; Semakin, Igor	This article deals with some aspects of studying Informatics in Russian schools. Those aspects are part of the ‘third dimension’ of the Darmstadt model (they are also projected on the other two dimensions of this model) and include evolution of the subject, regulatory norms conforming to the Federal Educational Standards, the learning objectives, the required learning outcomes, and the Unified National Examination in Informatics, which is required for admission to a number of university programs. It is interesting to note that correspondence between requirements for the outcomes of learning Informatics in Russian school and the requirements of K-12 Computer Science Standards (USA) is quite satisfactory. It is noteworthy that the relatively high level of school education in Informatics in Russia is determined by the well-established methodological system with a 30-year history, the subject’s being on the list of core disciplines at school, as well as the existence of a state-sponsored system of education teachers of Informatics.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2602489
..NET Gadgeteer: A New Platform for K-12 Computer Science Education	Proceeding of the 44th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Hodges, Steve; Scott, James; Sentance, Sue; Miller, Colin; Villar, Nicolas; Schwiderski-Grosche, Scarlet; Hammil, Kerry; Johnston, Steven	In this paper we present the features of a new physical device prototyping platform called Microsoft .NET Gadgeteer along with our initial experiences using it to teach computer science in high schools. Gadgeteer makes it easy for newcomers to electronics and computing to plug together modules with varied functionality and to program the resulting system's behavior. We believe the platform is particularly suited to teaching modern programming concepts such as object-oriented, event-based programming and it could be a timely addition to established teaching tools given the current interest in improving high school computer science education in some regions. We have run a number of pilot studies in the US and in the UK with students of varying age and ability. Our results indicate that the tangible and expressive nature of Gadgeteer helps to engage and motivate a diverse set of students. We were also pleasantly surprised by the level of polish and sophistication of the devices which were built. We hope to further explore the potential of Gadgeteer for teaching in future work and we encourage others to build on our experiences.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2445196.2445315
Computational Sustainability: Computing for a Better World and a Sustainable Future	Commun. ACM	Gomes, Carla; Dietterich, Thomas; Barrett, Christopher; Conrad, Jon; Dilkina, Bistra; Ermon, Stefano; Fang, Fei; Farnsworth, Andrew; Fern, Alan; Fern, Xiaoli; Fink, Daniel; Fisher, Douglas; Flecker, Alexander; Freund, Daniel; Fuller, Angela; Gregoire, John; Hopcroft, John; Kelling, Steve; Kolter, Zico; Powell, Warren; Sintov, Nicole; Selker, John; Selman, Bart; Sheldon, Daniel; Shmoys, David; Tambe, Milind; Wong, Weng-Keen; Wood, Christopher; Wu, Xiaojian; Xue, Yexiang; Yadav, Amulya; Yakubu, Abdul-Aziz; Zeeman, Mary Lou	Computer and information scientists join forces with other fields to help solve societal and environmental challenges facing humanity, in pursuit of a sustainable future.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3339399
Investigating the Relationship Between Spatial Skills and Computer Science	Proceedings of the 2018 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research	Parkinson, Jack; Cutts, Quintin	The relationship between spatial skills training and computer science learning is unclear. Reported experiments provide tantalising, though not convincing, evidence that training a programming student's spatial skills may accelerate the development of their programming skills. Given the well-documented challenge of learning to program, such acceleration would be welcomed. Despite the experimental results, no attempt has been made to develop a model of how a linkage between spatial skills and computer science ability might operate, hampering the development of a sound research programme to investigate the issue further. This paper surveys the literature on spatial skills and investigates the various underlying cognitive skills involved. It poses a theoretical model for the relationship between computer science ability and spatial skills, exploring ways in which the cognitive processes involved in each overlap, and hence may influence one another. An experiment shows that spatial skills typically increase as the level of academic achievement in computer science increases. Overall, this work provides a substantial foundation for, and encouragement to develop, a major research programme investigating precisely how spatial skills training influences computer science learning, and hence whether computer science education could be significantly improved.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3230977.3230990
Scenario-Based Programming: Reducing the Cognitive Load, Fostering Abstract Thinking	Companion Proceedings of the 36th International Conference on Software Engineering	Alexandron, Giora; Armoni, Michal; Gordon, Michal; Harel, David	We examine how students work in scenario-based and object- oriented programming (OOP) languages, and qualitatively analyze the use of abstraction through the prism of the dif- ferences between the paradigms. The findings indicate that when working in a scenario-based language, programmers think on a higher level of abstraction than when working with OOP languages. This is explained by other findings, which suggest how the declarative, incremental nature of scenario-based programming facilitates separation of con- cerns, and how it supports a kind of programming that al- lows programmers to work with a less detailed mental model of the system they develop. The findings shed light on how declarative approaches can reduce the cognitive load involved in programming, and how scenario-based program- ming might solve some of the difficulties involved in the use of declarative languages. This is applicable to the design of learning materials, and to the design of programming lan- guages and tools.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2591062.2591167
Fostering Program Comprehension in Novice Programmers - Learning Activities and Learning Trajectories	Proceedings of the Working Group Reports on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Izu, Cruz; Schulte, Carsten; Aggarwal, Ashish; Cutts, Quintin; Duran, Rodrigo; Gutica, Mirela; Heinemann, Birte; Kraemer, Eileen; Lonati, Violetta; Mirolo, Claudio; Weeda, Renske	This working group asserts that Program Comprehension (ProgComp) plays a critical part in the process of writing programs. For example, this paper is written from a basic draft that was edited and revised until it clearly presented our idea. Similarly, a program is written incrementally, with each step tested, debugged and extended until the program achieves its goal. Novice programmers should develop program comprehension skills as they learn to code so that they are able both to read and reason about code created by others, and to reflect on their code when writing, debugging or extending it. To foster such competencies our group identified two main goals: (g1) to collect and define learning activities that explicitly address key components of program comprehension and (g2) to define tentative theoretical learning trajectories that will guide teachers as they select and sequence those learning activities in their CS0/CS1/CS2 or K-12 courses.The WG has completed the first goal and laid down a strong foundation towards the second goal as presented in this report. After a thorough literature review, a detailed description of the Block Model is provided, as this model has been used with a dual purpose, to classify and present an extensive list of ProgComp tasks, and to describe a possible learning trajectory for a complex task, covering different cells of the Block Model matrix. The latter is intended to help instructors to decompose complex tasks and identify which aspects of ProgComp are being fostered.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3344429.3372501
Computational Thinking in Pre-University Education	Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality	García-Peñalvo, Francisco J.; Cruz-Benito, Juan	Several countries have usually adopted several priorities for developing ICT competences from kindergarten to secondary education. Most of them are focused on the development of key competences and/or coding skills. Although coding may be very attractive for young students and a very good practice or experience, it could be more interesting to develop students' logical thinking skills and problem-solving skills throughout programming approaches or computational thinking. This is a very exciting challenge with lots of possibilities regarding coding, robots, mobiles devices, Arduino-based application, game-based learning and so on. Thus it is very important discuss the experiences that are being developed worldwide in specialized for a with researchers that are working on this field, such as for example European Union TACCLE 3 - Coding project. This track is devoted to identify, share and valorize best practices and experiences (including technological and methodological issues) that focused on the development of computational thinking and related skills in any level of pre-university education.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3012430.3012490
RoboSTEAM - A Challenge Based Learning Approach for Integrating STEAM and Develop Computational Thinking	Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality	Conde, Miguel Á.; Fernández, Camino; Alves, Jonny; Ramos, María-João; Celis-Tena, Susana; Gonçalves, José; Lima, José; Reimann, Daniela; Jormanainen, Ilkka; Peñalvo, Francisco J. García	We live in a digital society that needs new better prepared professionals for the new challenges and opportunities provided by the ICT. Students must learn how to deal with all the issues that emerge in this new context. They should acquire computational thinking skills by integrating STEAM, however this needs for changes in current learning curricula and also new learning approaches. RoboSTEAM project deals with this issue by the application of a Challenge Based Learning approach that uses Robotics and Physical Devices. One of the problems found during the project is the complexity of the application of a Challenge Based Learning approach due to the special needs of each educational institution. Given this situation the present work presents provides a flexible definition of challenge and describes also samples regarding how to use them.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3362789.3362893
Effectiveness of a Computational Thinking (CS0) Course on Student Analytical Skills	Proceedings of the 45th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Van Dyne, Michele; Braun, Jeffrey	: In this paper, we describe the content and evaluation of a Computational Thinking (CS0) course developed to improve the analytical problem solving of students participating in the course. The course is targeted to students who are mathematically under-prepared to enter our introductory programming sequence; however, it has recently been included in the University's general education curriculum so that students majoring in any discipline may take the course. Using the Whimbey Analytical Skills Inventory (WASI) students in the CS0 class, along with students in an analogous level engineering class (FESP), were tested at the beginning of the course and again at the end, using different versions of the test. The improvement in scores was statistically significant when measured by both the student t-test and the Cohen d (effect size) for CS0 students but not for the FESP students, providing support that the course does, in fact, increase student analytical problem solving skills. Courses in Computational Thinking have demonstrated success in many schools; however, this research demonstrates its effectiveness in improving analytical skills in majors as well as non-majors.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2538862.2538956
Development of a Lean Computational Thinking Abilities Assessment for Middle Grades Students	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Wiebe, Eric; London, Jennifer; Aksit, Osman; Mott, Bradford W.; Boyer, Kristy Elizabeth; Lester, James C.	The recognition of middle grades as a critical juncture in CS education has led to the widespread development of CS curricula and integration efforts. The goal of many of these interventions is to develop a set of underlying abilities that has been termed computational thinking (CT). This goal presents a key challenge for assessing student learning: we must identify assessment items associated with an emergent understanding of key cognitive abilities underlying CT that avoid specialized knowledge of specific programming languages. In this work we explore the psychometric properties of assessment items appropriate for use with middle grades (US grades 6-8; ages 11-13) students. We also investigate whether these items measure a single ability dimension. Finally, we strive to recommend a "lean" set of items that can be completed in a single 50-minute class period and have high face validity. The paper makes the following contributions: 1) adds to the literature related to the emerging construct of CT, and its relationship to the existing CTt and Bebras instruments, and 2) offers a research-based CT assessment instrument for use by both researchers and educators in the field.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287390
Beyond Computer Science: Computational Thinking across Disciplines	Proceedings of the 18th ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Settle, Amber; Goldberg, Debra S.; Barr, Valerie		https://doi.org/10.1145/2462476.2462511
The Simulation Creation Toolkit: An Initial Exploration into Making Programming Accessible While Preserving Computational Thinking	Proceeding of the 44th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Basawapatna, Ashok Ram; Repenning, Alexander; Lewis, Clayton H.	Computational thinking aims to outline fundamental skills from computer science that everyone should learn. These skills include problem formulation, logically organizing data, automating solutions through algorithmic thinking, and representing data through abstraction. One aim of the NSF is to integrate these and other computational thinking concepts into the classroom. This paper introduces a tool called the Simulation Creation Toolkit wherein users apply high-level agent interactions called Computational Thinking Patterns (CTPs) to create simulations. Programming at the Computational Thinking Pattern level allows users to directly create agent interactions in a simulation by employing generic icons acting out a scientific phenomenon they are trying to represent. The Simulation Creation Toolkit aims to preserve the computational thinking benefits of simulation creation while enabling higher-level implementation of agent behaviors. Initial study data collected from sixth grade students with no prior programming experience indicates that students can work the mechanics necessary to create simulations in the classroom environment using the Simulation Creation Toolkit.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2445196.2445346
An Analysis of HTML and CSS Syntax Errors in a Web Development Course	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Park, Thomas H.; Dorn, Brian; Forte, Andrea	Many people are first exposed to code through web development, yet little is known about the barriers beginners face in these formative experiences. In this article, we describe a study of undergraduate students enrolled in an introductory web development course taken by both computing majors and general education students. Using data collected during the initial weeks of the course, we investigate the nature of the syntax errors they make when learning HTML and CSS, and how they resolve them. This is accomplished through the deployment of openHTML, a lightweight web-based code editor that logs user activity. Our analysis reveals that nearly all students made syntax errors that remained unresolved in their assessments, and that these errors continued weeks into the course. Approximately 20% of these errors related to the relatively complex system of rules that dictates when it is valid for HTML elements to be nested in one another. On the other hand, 35% of errors related to the relatively simple tag syntax determining how HTML elements are nested. We also find that validation played a key role in resolving errors: While the majority of unresolved errors were present in untested code, nearly all of the errors that were detected through validation were eventually corrected. We conclude with a discussion of our findings and their implications for computing education.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2700514
An HCI Approach to Computing in the Real World	J. Educ. Resour. Comput.	Yardi, Sarita; Krolikowski, Pamela; Marshall, Taneshia; Bruckman, Amy	We describe the implementation of a six-week course to teach Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) to high school students. Our goal was to explore the potential of HCI in motivating students to pursue future studies in related computing fields. Participants in our course learned to make connections between the types of technology they use in their daily lives and the design processes that went into creating these technologies. We suggest that by portraying computing through the lens of HCI, as an innovative, creative, and challenging field with authentic, real-world applications, we may be able to motivate students to become more interested in computing.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1404935.1404938
Hackers, Computers, and Cooperation: A Critical History of Logo and Constructionist Learning	Proc. ACM Hum.-Comput. Interact.	Ames, Morgan G.	This paper examines the history of the learning theory "constructionism" and its most well-known implementation, Logo, to examine beliefs involving both "C's" in CSCW: computers and cooperation. Tracing the tumultuous history of one of the first examples of computer-supported cooperative learning (CSCL) allows us to question some present-day assumptions regarding the universal appeal of learning to program computers that undergirds popular CSCL initiatives today, including the Scratch programming environment and the "FabLab" makerspace movement. Furthermore, teasing out the individualistic and anti-authority threads in this project and its links to present day narratives of technology development exposes the deeply atomized and even oppositional notions of collaboration in these projects and others under the auspices of CSCW today that draw on early notions of 'hacker culture.' These notions tend to favor a limited view of work, learning, and practice-an invisible constraint that continues to inform how we build and evaluate CSCW technologies.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3274287
Youth Computational Participation in the Wild: Understanding Experience and Equity in Participating and Programming in the Online Scratch Community	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Fields, Deborah A.; Kafai, Yasmin; Giang, Michael T.	Most research in primary and secondary computing education has focused on understanding learners within formal classroom communities, leaving aside the growing number of promising informal online programming communities where young users contribute, comment, and collaborate on programs to facilitate learning. In this article, we examined trends in computational participation in Scratch, an online community with over 1 million registered youth designers. Drawing on a random sample of 5,004 youth programmers and their activities over 3 months in early 2012, we examined programming concepts used in projects in relation to level of participation, gender, and length of membership of Scratch programmers. Latent class analysis results identified the same four groups of programmers in each month based on the usage of different programming concepts and showed how membership in these groups shifted in different ways across time. Strikingly, the largest group of project creators (named Loops) used the simplest and fewest programming concepts. Further, this group was the most stable in membership and was disproportionately female. In contrast, the more complex programming groups (named Variables, Low Booleans, and High Booleans) showed much movement across time. Further, the Low Booleans and High Booleans groups, the only groups to use “and,” “or,” and “not” statements in their programs, were disproportionately male. In the discussion, we address the challenges of analyzing young learners’ programming in informal online communities and opportunities for designing more equitable computational participation.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3123815
The Influence of Problem Solving Abilities on Students' Performance on Different Assessment Tasks in CS1	Proceedings of the 47th ACM Technical Symposium on Computing Science Education	Lishinski, Alex; Yadav, Aman; Enbody, Richard; Good, Jon	Previous research has suggested that cognitive tests, including instruments seeking to measure problem solving, are significant predictors of students' programming performance. This paper seeks to expand upon this previous research by using a more theoretically grounded approach to measuring problem solving as a means of predicting performance in an introductory undergraduate programming course. Programming course performance has typically been measured by overall course grades; however, in this paper we used a more fine-grained approach to measuring student programming performance. Specifically, we utilized different types of course assignments (projects and tests) to measure programming outcomes. Results from this study indicate that problem solving ability significantly correlates with performance on programming assignments, but does not correlate with performance on multiple-choice exams.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2839509.2844596
Reflections on Outreach Programs in CS Classes: Learning Objectives for "Unplugged" Activities	Proceedings of the 43rd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Thies, Renate; Vahrenhold, Jan	To provide a unified view of any scientific field, outreach programs need to realistically portray the subject in question. Consequently, topics and methods actually taught in Computer Science courses should to be touched upon in Computer Science outreach programs or, conversely, elements from successful Computer Science outreach programs can be used to enrich established courses in Computer Science. We follow up on the latter aspect and investigate how outreach material might be used as a teaching resource in lower secondary Computer Science. In particular, we extract and classify learning objectives from the activities of the well-received Computer Science Unplugged program. Based upon this classification, we comment on where and to which extent these activities can be used to enrich teaching Computer Science in secondary education.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2157136.2157281
Kinetic Art and Embedded Systems: A Natural Collaboration	Proceedings of the 42nd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Brunvand, Erik; Stout, Paul	We describe a cross-disciplinary collaborative course that pairs computer science and engineering (CSE) students with art students to engage in joint engineering design and creative studio projects. These projects combine embedded system design with sculpture to create kinetic art. We believe that this is a natural pairing of two disparate disciplines, and one that provides distinct educational benefits to both groups of students. In this paper we describe the course content, the collaborative process, the materials used in the class, and experience with a pilot version of the course taught in Fall 2009 the University of Utah.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1953163.1953263
Growing up Programming: Democratizing the Creation of Dynamic, Interactive Media	CHI '09 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems	Resnick, Mitchel; Flanagan, Mary; Kelleher, Caitlin; MacLaurin, Matthew; Ohshima, Yoshiki; Perlin, Ken; Torres, Robert	Young people interact with games, animations, and simulations all of the time. But few of them are able to create interactive media. The obstacle: traditional programming languages are too difficult to learn and understand. This panel brings together a group of researchers, developers, and educators who are aiming to democratize the activity of programming. They are developing a new generation of programming environments that enable children and teens to create their own interactive games, stories, animations, and simulations. Panelists will discuss and critique their programming environments, then set up interactive demonstration stations for focused exploration and small-group discussion. Audience members will also have the opportunity to download the environments onto their own laptops, so that they can experiment in greater depth.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1520340.1520472
Deconstruction Kits for Learning: Students' Collaborative Debugging of Electronic Textile Designs	Proceedings of the 6th Annual Conference on Creativity and Fabrication in Education	Fields, Deborah A.; Searle, Kristin A.; Kafai, Yasmin	Learning to use a construction kit to design, make, and program electronic textiles (e-textiles) has been found to be a rich context for students' learning of crafting, engineering and programming. We propose the development of what we call a 'deconstruction' kit—the design of faulty e-textile artifacts that students need to de- and reconstruct—as an alternative to gain insights into students' learning. We designed e-textile projects with strategically poor crafting, non-functional circuitry, and insufficient coding to investigate high school students' understanding of coding, circuit design and creation (through sewing) with the LilyPad Arduino. We videotaped and analyzed ten students collaborating in pairs as they engaged in debugging, or fixing, various problems in provided e-textile artifacts. Our findings indicate that these deconstruction kit projects are not only promising tools for evaluating students' understanding of e-textiles but can also become valuable learning tools on their own, especially when peer collaboration is taken into account.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3003397.3003410
Computer Science for the Elementary Classroom	ACM Inroads	Prottsman, Kiki		https://doi.org/10.1145/2684721.2684735
Playtesting with a Purpose	Proceedings of the 2016 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play	Choi, Judeth Oden; Forlizzi, Jodi; Christel, Michael; Moeller, Rachel; Bates, MacKenzie; Hammer, Jessica	Playtesting, or using play to guide game design, gives designers feedback about whether their game is meeting their goals and the player's expectations. We report a case study of designing, deploying, and iterating on a series of playtesting workshops for novice game designers. We identify common missteps made by novice designers and address these missteps through the concept of purposefulness, understanding why you are playtesting as well as how to playtest. We ground our workshops in the development of rich player experience goals, which inform playtest design, data collection and iteration. We show that by applying methods taught in our workshops, novice game designers leveraged playtest methods and tools, employed playtesting and data collection methods appropriate for their goals, and effectively applied playtest data in iterative design. We conclude with lessons learned and next steps in our research on playtesting.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2967934.2968103
Using Distributed Cognition Theory to Analyze Collaborative Computer Science Learning	Proceedings of the Eleventh Annual International Conference on International Computing Education Research	Deitrick, Elise; Shapiro, R. Benjamin; Ahrens, Matthew P.; Fiebrink, Rebecca; Lehrman, Paul D.; Farooq, Saad	Research on students' learning in computing typically investigates how to enable individuals to develop concepts and skills, yet many forms of computing education, from peer instruction to robotics competitions, involve group work in which understanding may not be entirely locatable within individuals' minds. We need theories and methods that allow us to understand learning in cognitive systems: culturally and historically situated groups of students, teachers, and tools. Accordingly, we draw on Hutchins' Distributed Cognition [16] theory to present a qualitative case study analysis of interaction and learning within a small group of middle school students programming computer music. Our analysis shows how a system of students, teachers, and tools, working in a music classroom, is able to accomplish conceptually demanding computer music programming. We show how the system does this by 1) collectively drawing on individuals' knowledge, 2) using the physical and virtual affordances of different tools to organize work, externalize knowledge, and create new demands for problem solving, and 3) reconfiguring relationships between individuals and tools over time as the focus of problem solving changes. We discuss the implications of this perspective for research on teaching, learning and assessment in computing.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2787622.2787715
Pattern Programming Approach for Teaching Parallel and Distributed Computing	Proceeding of the 44th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Wilkinson, Barry; Villalobos, Jeremy; Ferner, Clayton	In this paper, we describe an approach for teaching parallel and distributed computing at the undergraduate level using computational patterns. The goal is to promote higher-level structured design for parallel programming and make parallel programming easier and more scalable. A pattern programming framework has been developed to create a distributed application that avoids the need to write code in low level message–passing APIs such as MPI. Several patterns have been implemented including workpool, pipeline, synchronous and iterative all-to-all, and stencil. We have redesigned a regular senior undergraduate parallel programming course to begin with a pattern strategy using our framework and provide a detailed syllabus around patterns.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2445196.2445319
Drafting a Data Science Curriculum for Secondary Schools	Proceedings of the 18th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research	Heinemann, Birte; Opel, Simone; Budde, Lea; Schulte, Carsten; Frischemeier, Daniel; Biehler, Rolf; Podworny, Susanne; Wassong, Thomas	Data science as the art of generating information and knowledge from data is increasingly becoming an important part of most operational processes. But up to now, data science is hardly an issue in German computer science education at secondary schools. For this reason, we are developing a data science curriculum for German secondary schools, which first guidelines and ideas we present in this paper. The curriculum is designed as interdisciplinary approach between maths and computer science education, with also a strong focus on societal aspects. After a brief discussion of important concepts and challenges in data science, a first draft of the curriculum and an outline of a data science course for upper secondary schools accompanying the development are presented.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3279720.3279737
A Comprehensive Effort to Expand Access and Diversity in Computer Science	ACM Inroads	Partovi, Hadi		https://doi.org/10.1145/2807704
Making Games a "Snap" with Stencyl: A Summer Computing Workshop for K-12 Teachers	Proceedings of the 45th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Liu, Jiangjiang; Lin, Cheng-Hsien; Wilson, Joshua; Hemmenway, David; Hasson, Ethan; Barnett, Zebulun; Xu, Yingbo	Game design is becoming increasingly popular among K-12 teachers and students. In this paper, we present our experience, findings, and lessons learned from conducting a one-week Stencyl Game Design Summer Computing Workshop for K-12 teachers. Our workshop focused on introducing fundamental computing concepts to K-12 teachers using Stencyl, a drag-and-drop game development environment. During the workshop, the teachers developed curriculum games for the subjects they will teach in the following semesters with the help of our workshop tutors. Our assessment results show that the average score of Stencyl knowledge in the pre-workshop survey was 1.26 out of 5, which was increased to 3.76 in the post-workshop survey and the average score of computing knowledge was improved by 61%.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2538862.2538978
Digital Competence, Teacher Self-Efficacy and Training Needs	Proceedings of the 2018 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research	Mannila, Linda; Nordén, Lars-Åke; Pears, Arnold	Computing related content is introduced in school curricula all over the world, placing new requirements on school teachers and their knowledge. Little attention has been paid to fostering the skills and attitudes required to teach the new content. This involves not only traditional computing topics, such as algorithms or programming, but also the role of technology in society as well as questions related to ethics, safety and integrity. As technology develops at a fast rate, so does the content to be taught. Learning computing content through isolated in-service training initiatives is by no means enough, but rather, teachers need to develop confidence to independently and continuously explore what is new, what is relevant and how to include digital competence in their teaching. Teachers' self-efficacy is hence of crucial importance. In a previous article citenorden2017 we described the development of a self-efficacy scale for teachers, focusing on digital competence as described in EU's framework DigComp 2.0. In this paper, we extend that work by analysing 530 teachers' responses collected in Autumn 2017 during a series of workshops and other professional development events. Our goal was to collect baseline data, painting a picture of teachers' current self-efficacy levels in order to facilitate follow-up studies. In addition, our results also point out challenging areas, consequently providing important insight into what topics and themes should be emphasized in professional development initiatives.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3230977.3230993
Building Equitable Computer Science Classrooms: Elements of a Teaching Approach	Proceeding of the 44th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Shah, Niral; Lewis, Colleen M.; Caires, Roxane; Khan, Nasar; Qureshi, Amirah; Ehsanipour, Danielle; Gupta, Noopur	This paper offers a framework for equitable instruction that emerged while designing a computer science course for students entering the sixth grade. Leveraging research from a range of fields, including sociology, mathematics education, and the learning sciences, we argue that in addition to material resources, such as rich course content and quality instruction, equity also depends on students' access to non-material resources, such as productive domain identities and peer relationships. We illustrate each dimension of the framework by describing in detail a core set of pedagogical practices implemented during a summer course.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2445196.2445276
A Tangible Embedded Programming System to Convey Event-Handling Concept	Proceedings of the TEI '16: Tenth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction	Wang, Danli; Zhang, Lan; Xu, Chao; Hu, Haichen; Qi, Yunfeng	Learning programming has positive effect on children's development, and Tangible User Interfaces (TUIs) is a convenient way for teaching young children programming. TanProRobot 2.0 is a tangible system as well as a small-scale distributed embedded system designed for children at grades 1-2 to learn programming concepts. The system consists of three parts: tangible programming blocks, a robot car and several manipulatives. The input and output of the system are both tangible. Children can program the robot car to act certain actions by arranging the programming blocks. Also, children can interact with the car with manipulatives. TanProRobot 2.0 aims to introduce event handling concept and sensors to children. Through a user study with 11 children, we found that TanProRobot 2.0 is an interesting programming system for children, and it is easy to learn and to use. Furthermore, it could help children get a preliminary understanding of event handling concepts.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2839462.2839491
Evolution and Controllability of Cancer Networks: A Boolean Perspective	IEEE/ACM Trans. Comput. Biol. Bioinformatics	Srihari, Sriganesh; Raman, Venkatesh; Leong, Hon Wai; Ragan, Mark A.	Cancer forms a robust system capable of maintaining stable functioning (cell sustenance and proliferation) despite perturbations. Cancer progresses as stages over time typically with increasing aggressiveness and worsening prognosis. Characterizing these stages and identifying the genes driving transitions between them is critical to understand cancer progression and to develop effective anti-cancer therapies. In this work, we propose a novel model for the 'cancer system' as a Boolean state space in which a Boolean network, built from protein-interaction and gene-expression data from different stages of cancer, transits between Boolean satisfiability states by "editing" interactions and "flipping" genes. Edits reflect rewiring of the PPI network while flipping of genes reflect activation or silencing of genes between stages. We formulate a minimization problem MIN FLIP to identify these genes driving the transitions. The application of our model (called BoolSpace) on three case studies–pancreatic and breast tumours in human and post spinal-cord injury (SCI) in rats–reveals valuable insights into the phenomenon of cancer progression: (i) interactions involved in core cell-cycle and DNA-damage repair pathways are significantly rewired in tumours, indicating significant impact to key genome-stabilizing mechanisms; (ii) several of the genes flipped are serine/threonine kinases which act as biological switches, reflecting cellular switching mechanisms between stages; and (iii) different sets of genes are flipped during the initial and final stages indicating a pattern to tumour progression. Based on these results, we hypothesize that robustness of cancer partly stems from "passing of the baton" between genes at different stages–genes from different biological processes and/or cellular components are involved in different stages of tumour progression thereby allowing tumour cells to evade targeted therapy, and therefore an effective therapy should target a "cover set" of these genes. A C/C++ implementation of BoolSpace is freely available at: http://www.bioinformatics.org.au/tools-data.	https://doi.org/10.1109/TCBB.2013.128
Information Technology Competency Model of Core Learning Outcomes and Assessment for Associate-Degree Curriculum		Hawthorne, Elizabeth K.; Campbell, Robert D.; Tang, Cara; Tucker, Cindy S.; Nichols, Jim
The Power of Deferral: Maintaining a Constant-Competitive Steiner Tree Online	Proceedings of the Forty-Fifth Annual ACM Symposium on Theory of Computing	Gu, Albert; Gupta, Anupam; Kumar, Amit	In the online Steiner tree problem, a sequence of points is revealed one-by-one: when a point arrives, we only have time to add a single edge connecting this point to the previous ones, and we want to minimize the total length of edges added. Here, a tight bound has been known for two decades: the greedy algorithm maintains a tree whose cost is O(log n) times the Steiner tree cost, and this is best possible. But suppose, in addition to the new edge we add, we have time to change a single edge from the previous set of edges: can we do much better? Can we, e.g., maintain a tree that is constant-competitive?We answer this question in the affirmative. We give a primal-dual algorithm that makes only a single swap per step (in addition to adding the edge connecting the new point to the previous ones), and such that the tree's cost is only a constant times the optimal cost. Our dual-based analysis is quite different from previous primal-only analyses. In particular, we give a correspondence between radii of dual balls and lengths of tree edges; since dual balls are associated with points and hence do not move around (in contrast to edges), we can closely monitor the edge lengths based on the dual radii. Showing that these dual radii cannot change too rapidly is the technical heart of the paper, and allows us to give a hard bound on the number of swaps per arrival, while maintaining a constant-competitive tree at all times. Previous results for this problem gave an algorithm that performed an amortized constant number of swaps: for each n, the number of swaps in the first $n$ steps was O(n). We also give a simpler tight analysis for this amortized case.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2488608.2488674
An Experimental Method for the Active Learning of Greedy Algorithms	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Velázquez-Iturbide, J. Ángel	Greedy algorithms constitute an apparently simple algorithm design technique, but its learning goals are not simple to achieve. We present a didactic method aimed at promoting active learning of greedy algorithms. The method is focused on the concept of selection function, and is based on explicit learning goals. It mainly consists of an experimental method and the interactive system, GreedEx, that supports it. We also present our experience of five years using the didactic method and the evaluations we conducted to refine it, which are of two kinds: usability evaluations of GreedEx and analysis of students’ reports. Usability evaluations revealed a number of opportunities of improvement for GreedEx, and the analysis of students’ reports showed a number of misconceptions. We made use of these findings in several ways, mainly: improving GreedEx, elaborating lecture notes that address students’ misconceptions, and adapting the class and lab sessions and materials. As a consequence of these actions, our didactic method currently satisfies its initial goals. The article has two main contributions. First, the didactic method itself can be valuable for computer science educators in their teaching of algorithms. Secondly, the refinement process we have carried out, which was a multifaceted, medium-term action research, can be of interest to researchers of technology-supported computing education, since it illustrates how the didactic method was integrated into our educational practice.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2534972
Promoting Computational Thinking with Programming	Proceedings of the 7th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Selby, Cynthia C.	The term computational thinking has received some discussion in the field of computer science education research. The term is defined as the concept of thinking about problems in a way that can be implemented in a computing device. Of course, after having thought about a problem using computational thinking skills, the next step should be to use programming skills to implement the solution. This work in progress is exploring ways in which programming can be employed as a tool to teach computational thinking and problem solving. Data is collected from teachers, academics, and professionals from various industries. They are purposively selected because of their knowledge of or interest in the topics of problem solving, computational thinking, and the teaching of programming. This data is analyzed within the paradigm of the grounded theory approach. The results of an initial analysis imply an ordering of complexity associated with computational thinking skills, imply connections between computational thinking skills and programming activities, and imply a relationship between computational thinking skills and other taxonomies of learning.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2481449.2481466
Computational Thinking Skills in Dutch Secondary Education: Exploring Pedagogical Content Knowledge	Proceedings of the 14th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research	Grgurina, Nataša; Barendsen, Erik; Zwaneveld, Bert; van Veen, Klaas; Stoker, Idzard	This study was aimed at exploring the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of computer science (CS) teachers in secondary education in the Netherlands concerning three aspects of Computational Thinking: data collection, algorithms & procedures and simulation. Semi-structured interviews with a specially developed interview protocol containing Content Representation (CoRe) instrument were used. From the preliminary analysis of the acquired data we conclude that all interviewed teachers demonstrate PCK on data collection and algorithms & procedures but with varying knowledge of learning objectives and completeness of their PCK. Teachers' PCK on simulation exhibit great variation from meager, through fragmentary to abundant.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2674683.2674704
Progress in Computational Thinking, and Expanding the HPC Community	Commun. ACM	Wing, Jeannette M.; Stanzione, Dan	The Communications Web site, http://cacm.acm.org, features more than a dozen bloggers in the BLOG@CACM community. In each issue of Communications, we'll publish selected posts or excerpts.twitterFollow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/blogCACMhttp://cacm.acm.org/blogs/blog-cacmJeannette Wing considers the proliferation of computational thinking, while Dan Stanzione hopes to bring more HPC practitioners to SC16.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2933410
Decomposition: A K-8 Computational Thinking Learning Trajectory	Proceedings of the 2018 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research	Rich, Kathryn M.; Binkowski, T. Andrew; Strickland, Carla; Franklin, Diana	As new initiatives in computational thinking and computer science (CS/CT) are being developed and deployed, it is important to identify and understand the key concepts that are essential for student learning. In this study, we present the phases of construction of a learning trajectory (LT) for Decomposition in the context of CS/CT in K-8 education. From an extensive literature review, 63 learning goals representative of decomposition understanding and practices were identified and synthesized into 13 consensus goals. The focus of this paper is how relationships between these consensus goals were identified and used to place the goals into a learning trajectory. We discuss the theories and frameworks that guided the trajectory's construction as well as the methodology and justifications used to draw pathways through the trajectory in each phase. Finally, we discuss potential uses for the trajectory and suggest further explorations for decomposition in CS/CT.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3230977.3230979
Is My Game OK Dr. Scratch? Exploring Programming and Computational Thinking Development via Metrics in Student-Designed Serious Games for STEM	Proceedings of the 18th ACM International Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Troiano, Giovanni Maria; Snodgrass, Sam; Argımak, Erinç; Robles, Gregorio; Smith, Gillian; Cassidy, Michael; Tucker-Raymond, Eli; Puttick, Gillian; Harteveld, Casper	Computational thinking (CT) is key to digital literacy and helps develop problem-solving skills, which are fundamental in modern school. As game design shows potential for teaching CT, metrics like Dr. Scratch emerge that help scholars systematically assess the CT of student-designed games, particularly with Scratch. Compared to other CT metrics, Dr. Scratch scores the CT of Scratch projects automatically and can be used to describe CT development. However, previous research using Dr. Scratch summatively assessed CT, but did not look at CT development. We use Dr. Scratch to assess the CT development of Scratch games designed by 8th-grade students in STEM curricula. We show how CT proficiency in student-designed games develops differently in each CT dimension, where parallelism, synchronization, and logic develop proficiently, while developing abstraction seems hard. We discuss insights into game-based CT development for STEM, and suggest improvements for metric-based CT assessment.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3311927.3323152
Frogs to Think with: Improving Students' Computational Thinking and Understanding of Evolution in A Code-First Learning Environment	Proceedings of the The 15th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Guo, Yu; Wagh, Aditi; Brady, Corey; Levy, Sharona T.; Horn, Michael S.; Wilensky, Uri	This paper presents Frog Pond, an interactive code-first learning environment about biological evolution. We deployed Frog Pond as part of a six-day curricular unit on natural selection implemented in six 7th grade science classes. Here we describe a case study of two students, Charlie and Aaron who participated in the unit. Comparing pre- and post- interviews in which they were asked to design a program for a hypothetical simulation of evolution, we found that both students shifted from an event-based programming approach to a rule-based approach. Both students also drew upon their experience with Frog Pond to explain an evolutionary phenomenon. However, the level of sophistication of the two students' explanations varied along with the aspects of Frog Pond they drew upon. These findings have implications for design improvement to better support students' understanding of evolution.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2930674.2930724
Wearable Learning: Multiplayer Embodied Games for Math	Proceedings of the Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play	Arroyo, Ivon; Micciollo, Matthew; Casano, Jonathan; Ottmar, Erin; Hulse, Taylyn; Rodrigo, Ma. Mercedes	We present a new technology-based paradigm to support embodied mathematics educational games, using wearable devices in the form of SmartPhones and SmartWatches for math learning, for full classes of students in formal in-school education settings. The Wearable Learning Games Engine is web based infrastructure that enables students to carry one mobile device per child, as they embark on math team-based activities that require physical engagement with the environment. These Wearable Tutors serve as guides and assistants while students manipulate, measure, estimate, discern, discard and find mathematical objects that satisfy specified constraints. Multi-player math games that use this infrastructure have yielded both cognitive and affective benefits. Beyond math game play, the Wearable Games Engine Authoring Tool enables students to create games themselves for other students to play; in this process, students engage in computational thinking and learn about finite-state machines. We present the infrastructure, games, and results for a series of experiments on both game play and game creation.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3116595.3116637
Designing Productive Gradations of Tasks in Primary Programming Education	Proceedings of the 8th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Gujberova, Monika; Kalas, Ivan	In several countries, we can recently notice increasing demand to establish modern Computer Science (CS) or Informatics or Computing education in the primary and secondary schools, which would liberate from the common ICT in education conception. In Slovakia we have proceeded in the opposite way – establishing mandatory CS subject named Informatics nearly 30 years ago in all secondary schools and in 2000 (as a pilot) and 2008 (as a regular subject) in all primary schools. Moreover, educational programming has always been one of the key components of this subject. In this paper, we report on one of our on-going research activities in the area of building and integrating our conception of educational programming into regular primary Informatics. Namely, we present the process and findings of a qualitative study, in which we develop and verify a new approach to designing programming tasks for primary students. We want to understand what cognitive demands these tasks pose to primary students, what the students consider difficult and what they consider easy – we are in search of better pedagogy for the primary programming education. To meet these goals, we need to identify elementary cognitive operations in primary programming and on the basis of that learn how to be more competent in considering the level of difficulty of the programming tasks and how to design proper gradational sequences (gradations) of tasks, which will support smooth learning process of the primary students' programming skills and early computational thinking – carefully respecting developmental appropriateness of these activities.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2532748.2532750
The Role of Translanguaging in Computational Literacies: Documenting Middle School Bilinguals' Practices in Computer Science Integrated Units	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Vogel, Sara; Hoadley, Christopher; Ascenzi-Moreno, Laura; Menken, Kate	Bilingual education has described a process called translanguaging by which students use linguistic resources across and beyond multiple named languages to learn. Here, we examine how bilingual learners translanguage while learning computer science. These middle schoolers participated in a curricular intervention which infused computational thinking into their Spanish-English bilingual language arts class. Through a descriptive qualitative methodology, we document classroom moments supporting four claims: 1) students' translanguaging blurs linguistic, disciplinary, and modal boundaries, 2) computational literacies are intertwined with students' other literacies, 3) students' attitudes about language and the contexts around them play a role in their translanguaging, and 4) students translanguage to engage in specific CT practices.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287368
Opening the Black Box of Play: Strategy Analysis of an Educational Game	Proceedings of the 2016 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play	Horn, Britton; Hoover, Amy K.; Barnes, Jackie; Folajimi, Yetunde; Smith, Gillian; Harteveld, Casper	A significant issue in research on educational games lies in evaluating their educational impact. Although game analytics is often leveraged in the game industry, it can also provide insight into player actions, strategy development, and the learning process in educational games separate from external evaluation measures. This paper explores the potential of game analytics for learning by analyzing player strategies of an educational game that is designed to support algorithmic thinking. We analyze player strategies from nine cases in our data, combining quantitative and qualitative game analysis techniques: hierarchical player clustering, game progression visualizations, playtraces, and think-aloud data. Results suggest that this combination of data analysis techniques provides insights into level progression and learning strategies that may have been otherwise overlooked.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2967934.2968109
The Expansion of CS4HS: An Outreach Program for High School Teachers	Proceedings of the 39th SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Blum, Lenore; Cortina, Thomas J.; Lazowska, Ed; Wise, Joe		https://doi.org/10.1145/1352135.1352263
The Expansion of CS4HS: An Outreach Program for High School Teachers	SIGCSE Bull.	Blum, Lenore; Cortina, Thomas J.; Lazowska, Ed; Wise, Joe		https://doi.org/10.1145/1352322.1352263
What to Expect and What to Focus on in SQL Query Teaching	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Taipalus, Toni; Perälä, Piia	In the process of learning a new computer language, writing erroneous statements is part of the learning experience. However, some errors persist throughout the query writing process and are never corrected. Structured Query Language (SQL) consists of a number of different concepts such as expressions, joins, grouping and ordering, all of which by nature invite different possible errors in the query writing process. Furthermore, some of these errors are relatively easy for a student to fix when compared to others. Using a data set from three student cohorts with the total of 744 students, we set out to explore which types of errors are persistent, i.e., more likely to be left uncorrected by the students. Additionally, based on the results, we contemplate which types of errors different query concepts seem to invite. The results show that syntax and semantic errors are less likely to persist than logical errors and complications. We expect that the results will help us understand which kind of errors students struggle with, and e.g., help teachers generate or choose more appropriate data for students to use when learning SQL.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287359
AR-Maze: A Tangible Programming Tool for Children Based on AR Technology	Proceedings of the 17th ACM Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Jin, Qiao; Wang, Danli; Deng, Xiaozhou; Zheng, Nan; Chiu, Steve	Programming is an effective way to foster children's computational thinking. We present AR-Maze, which is a novel tangible programming tool using Augmented Reality (AR) technology for young children. AR-Maze superposes constant feedback on the physical world and maintains a positive, low-cost learning environment. Using this system, children could create their own programs by arranging programming blocks and debug or execute the code with a mobile device. In addition, they will be able to learn fundamental programming concepts, such as parameters, loop logic, debug, etc. We design and implement this system, as well as conduct a preliminary user study and analyze the results, which can guide a better design of AR-Maze. With this work, we intend to help children programming in an interesting and intuitive way.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3202185.3210784
Computer Organization and Design Course with FPGA Cloud	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Zhang, Ke; Chang, Yisong; Chen, Mingyu; Bao, Yungang; Xu, Zhiwei	Computer Organization and Design (COD) is a fundamentally required early-stage undergraduate course in most computer science and engineering curricula. During the two sessions (lecture and project part) of one COD course, educational platforms play an important role in cultivating students' computational thinking, especially the ability of viewing the hardware and software in a computer system as a whole (computer system thinking ability for short in this paper). In order to improve teaching quality, in this paper, we discuss the deployment of an inexpensive in-house Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) cloud platform, which can provide students with hardware-software co-design methodology and practice. The platform includes 32 FPGA nodes and the scale can be dynamically changed. Each cloud node is heterogeneously composed of an ARM processor and a tightly-coupled reconfigurable fabric to provide students with hands-on hardware and software programming experiences. We illustrate our efforts to make the FPGA cloud as an easy-to-use resource pool to elastically support a class with 92 undergrads via Internet access and to monitor students' experimental behaviors. We also present key insights in our teaching activities that indicate such appliance is feasible to provide practice of both basic principles and emerging co-design techniques for students. We believe that our cost-effective FPGA cloud is of significant interests to educators looking forward to improving computer system-related courses.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287475
Creating AP® CS Principles: Let Many Flowers Bloom	ACM Inroads	desJardins, Marie		https://doi.org/10.1145/2835852
Reaching a Broader Population of Students through "Unplugged" Activities	Commun. ACM	Cortina, Thomas J.	Introducing children to fundamental computing concepts through Computer Science Unplugged.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2723671
Describing Elementary Students' Interactions in K-5 Puzzle-Based Computer Science Environments Using the Collaborative Computing Observation Instrument (C-COI)	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research	Israel, Maya; Wherfel, Quentin M.; Shehab, Saadeddine; Melvin, Oliver; Lash, Todd	Despite efforts to integrate computer science (CS) into K-12 education, there are numerous unanswered questions about how students learn CS, how to provide positive computing experiences, and how students interact with each other during CS instruction. To begin to deconstruct these complexities for a diverse range of students, it is important to not only study the outcomes and products of students' computational experiences, but also the processes they take in creating those products. In recognizing the necessity for targeted, narrow research questions, this paper focused on how elementary students interacted with each other during puzzle-based CS instruction. Future work will focus on comparing these findings to students' collaborative interactions in more open-ended computing situations. Data analysis made use of the Collaborative Computing Observation Instrument (C-COI) [M. Israel et al. 2015] to analyze video screen captures of nine students as they engaged in CS activities within Code.org's Code Studio. Findings confirmed three predominant types of collaborative interactions: Collaborative problem solving, excitement and accomplishment related to CS activities, and general socialization.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3105726.3106167
Design of IoT Tangibles for Primary Schools: A Case Study	Proceedings of the 12th Biannual Conference on Italian SIGCHI Chapter	Gennari, Rosella; Melonio, Alessandra; Rizvi, Mehdi; Bonani, Andrea	Internet of things devices are already part of primary school children's living but their design or fabrication is often not part of their school education. Italian primary schools, in particular, bring their own restraints to the integration of their design. This paper explores how to bring the design of IoT tangibles to primary-school children and their educators. It narrates a workshop experience with a primary school class. This was on purpose conducted in an environment similar to their school, without typical fablab facilities. It was linked to the curriculum of the class: it asked children to create IoT tangibles related to socio-emotional learning. The workshop organised the fabrication in stages. Initially, it used paper-based generative toolkigs, which would make everybody feel on equal footing (children and teachers alike): Tiles-like cards and a conceptualisation framework. Then it progressively moved children into programming their own IoT tangibles for socio-emotional goals. The workshop gathered mixed data, mainly qualitative. The paper ends by reflecting on them and the entire experience.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3125571.3125591
Computer Science Education in French Secondary Schools: Historical and Didactical Perspectives	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Baron, Georges-Louis; Drot-Delange, Beatrice; Grandbastien, Monique; Tort, Françoise	Computer science as a school subject in France is characterized by a succession of promising starts that have not yet been transformed into perennial solutions. The main goal of this article is to analyze this complex situation from a historical perspective, and describe the current rebirth of an optional Computer Science course in the last year of secondary education, together with other initiatives that might contribute to introducing Computer Science as a school subject. We also aim at discussing some perspectives for the future to support a better informatics education for all students. The sources we have used are mainly historical and administrative, however we have also drawn on empirical research and surveys conducted since the seventies. This article therefore takes both retrospective and perspective viewpoints.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2602486
Observations of Pair Programming: Variations in Collaboration Across Demographic Groups	Proceedings of the 47th ACM Technical Symposium on Computing Science Education	Ruvalcaba, Omar; Werner, Linda; Denner, Jill	Sixty-nine pairs of Latino and white middle school students were video recorded as they pair programmed for approximately 20 minutes. We quantitatively analyzed the partners' interactions specifically looking at characteristics of their collaboration. A qualitative analysis of interactions of three girl pairs was conducted to gain insight into how students' experience in diverse cultural communities may relate to their collaboration during pair programming.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2839509.2844558
A Socio-Cognitive Analysis of Summer Camp Outcomes and Experiences	Proceedings of the 46th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Aritajati, Chulakorn; Rosson, Mary Beth; Pena, Joslenne; Cinque, Dana; Segura, Ana	In this paper, we describe the first phase of a longitudinal study focusing on young people's attitudes towards computing careers and their computational self-efficacy. Using summer camps as a springboard to pique their interests, we are interested in enhancing their knowledge in computing topics and assessing their views through surveys. Working from the findings of this first phase in the project, we discuss our future plans for an online community learning system that is grounded in a socio-cognitive learning process, and intended to engage young people in continuous engagement with and exposure to computing concepts and skills.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2676723.2677292
Machine Learning for High School Students	Proceedings of the 19th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research	Mariescu-Istodor, Radu; Jormanainen, Ilkka	In this study, we developed a machine learning method for object recognition that can be implemented using knowledge that high school students attain during their normal math and IT classes. We then tailored a two-hour interactive lesson in which the students were divided into groups to implement solutions to six distinct problems required by the method. The solutions were later put together by the teacher into a working web application (HTML + JavaScript). The lesson was taught on three occasions in Romanian schools to students between 13 and 19 years old. The students were excited about the lesson, and the collected data measuring students' intrinsic motivation suggests that the given tasks and the type of instruction were motivating them. The students also found the lesson achievable regardless the level of their previous programming background. The students were even able to suggest viable improvements to the method. The lesson is presented in short in this (17 minute) YouTube video1. Furthermore, we utilized the developed machine learning tool in a workshop with primary school children. Observations from this workshop suggest wider applicability of the tool, as well as further research questions on machine learning in K-12 settings.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3364510.3364520
Reflections on the Role of Programming in Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Proceedings of the 8th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Schulte, Carsten	In this paper, we aim to discuss the role of programming as substantial part of the What and the How of teaching computing at school. In contrast to other approaches, we aim to do so from an outside perspective, which is based on a discussion of general goals of education at school.In doing so, we present a model of six different possible educational goals of programming in primary and secondary computing education, along with some conclusions on how to teach programming in order to foster the proposed six dimensions of "programming education".The model can also be seen as attempt to capture aspects of the PCK of programming.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2532748.2532754
“I Have a Tutorial for This”: The Language of Online Peer Support in the Scratch Programming Community	Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Fields, Deborah A.; Pantic, Katarina; Kafai, Yasmin	Millions of kids are visiting and communicating in online sites and communities. While some concerns have been raised unsupervised and potentially harmful communication, a number of studies have identified great potential in kids' online talk, especially when related to feedback on user-generated content. Yet little research has been done at scale to show whether or not positive communication practices are broadly engaged in or supported online. This paper focuses on the informal peer support present in the online Scratch community, a youth programming site. Drawing on a random sample of 8,000 comments from over 5,000 random participants on the Scratch website gathered from January to March 2012, our analysis focuses on the quality of comments about projects and identifies their constructive, emotional and functional foci In the discussion, we address what these findings tell us about productive participation, potential for future research, and opportunities for scaffolding broader and richer participation.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2771839.2771863
Radical Clashes: What Tangible Interaction is Made Of	Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Tangible, Embedded and Embodied Interaction	van Dijk, Jelle; Moussette, Camille; Kuenen, Stoffel; Hummels, Caroline	Driven by a critique of Ishii et al's recent vision of Radical Atoms we call for a debate on the different conceptual paradigms underlying the TEI community and its activities. TEI was initiated to share and connect different perspectives, but we feel conceptual debate is lacking. To fuel this debate, we start with comparing two paradigms by examining the Radical Atoms proposal and balance it from our design-led perspective. Our aim with this paper is to revive the richness of TEI's multidisciplinary approach.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2460625.2460680
Embedding Computer Science Concepts in K-12 Science Curricula	SIGCSE Bull.	Lin, Chi-Cheng; Zhang, Mingrui; Beck, Barbara; Olsen, Gayle	To engage a broader audience in computer science, we have developed a set of curriculum units embedded with computer science concepts for K-12 science education. We chose bioinformatics as a vehicle to deliver these units. Our curriculum development cycle began with the identification of a set of computer science concepts which are potentially relevant to life sciences. Problems in life sciences as well as bioinformatics tools to be used for solving these problems were carefully examined for the delivery of identified computer concepts. They were later presented to groups of regional K-12 science teachers in our summer workshop on bioinformatics. With their help, we adapted and polished these curriculum units to meet Minnesota state standards for K-12 science education. This paper describes our approach in developing the curriculum units.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1539024.1509050
Empirical Comparison of Visual to Hybrid Formula Manipulation in Educational Programming Languages for Teenagers	Proceedings of the 5th Workshop on Evaluation and Usability of Programming Languages and Tools	Koitz, Roxane; Slany, Wolfgang	Visual programming environments hold great potential for end-user programming, as they, e.g., aim at diminishing the syntactical burden and enabling a focus on the semantic aspects of coding. Hence, graphical approaches have gained attention in the context of K-12 computer science education. Scratch, as being the prime example, is a visual educational language, where even formulas are composed utilizing Lego-style blocks. However, graphical creation and manipulation of complex and nested formulas can become overly cumbersome. Thus, we propose a hybrid approach employing visual creation and textual representation of formulas. In order to evaluate the method, a usability study has been conducted, comparing Scratch to our mobile programming environment, Pocket Code. The findings, while preliminary, indicate an increased efficiency and effectiveness of the hybrid approach employed in Pocket Code in contrast to a purely visual one in Scratch for teenager users.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2688204.2688209
A Cascading Mentoring Pedagogy in a CS Service Learning Course to Broaden Participation and Perceptions	Proceeding of the 44th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Kafai, Yasmin; Griffin, Jean; Burke, Quinn; Slattery, Michelle; Fields, Deborah; Powell, Rita; Grab, Michele; Davidson, Susan; Sun, Joseph	This study reports on the design, implementation, and evaluation of a service-learning course based on a "cascading mentoring" model linking together the faculty, administration, and undergraduates of an urban university's computer science department with local high school students. We present findings from surveys and post-interviews that illustrate undergraduates' and high school students' experiences in the program and how their perceptions of computing and mentoring changed based upon the outreach. In our discussion, we focus on the institutional and conceptual challenges of implementing the community service course within the university's computer science department, while also highlighting the learning opportunities for streamlining such a model for future iterations.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2445196.2445228
Using Turing's Craft Codelab to Support CS1 Students as They Learn to Program	ACM Inroads	Barr, Valerie; Trytten, Deborah	This experiential paper focuses on CodeLab, a tool for improving student learning in CS1. We introduce the basic features of CodeLab, both from the student and instructor side, discuss the use of CodeLab at two different types of institutions, and compare CodeLab to other interactive programming tutor products (CodingBat, Problets, zyBooks, and Python Tutor) that we have used in the last academic year.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2903724
Imperfect-Recall Abstractions with Bounds in Games	Proceedings of the 2016 ACM Conference on Economics and Computation	Kroer, Christian; Sandholm, Tuomas	Imperfect-recall abstraction has emerged as the leading paradigm for practical large-scale equilibrium computation in imperfect-information games. However, imperfect-recall abstractions are poorly understood, and only weak algorithm-specific guarantees on solution quality are known. We develop the first general, algorithm-agnostic, solution quality guarantees for Nash equilibria and approximate self-trembling equilibria computed in imperfect-recall abstractions, when implemented in the original (perfect-recall) game. Our results are for a class of games that generalizes the only previously known class of imperfect-recall abstractions for which any such results have been obtained. Further, our analysis is tighter in two ways, each of which can lead to an exponential reduction in the solution quality error bound.We then show that for extensive-form games that satisfy certain properties, the problem of computing a bound-minimizing abstraction for a single level of the game reduces to a clustering problem, where the increase in our bound is the distance function. This reduction leads to the first imperfect-recall abstraction algorithm with solution quality bounds. We proceed to show a divide in the class of abstraction problems. If payoffs are at the same scale at all information sets considered for abstraction, the input forms a metric space, and this immediately yields a $2$-approximation algorithm for abstraction. Conversely, if this condition is not satisfied, we show that the input does not form a metric space. Finally, we provide computational experiments to evaluate the practical usefulness of the abstraction techniques. They show that running counterfactual regret minimization on such abstractions leads to good strategies in the original games.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2940716.2940736
Computational Thinking (CT): On Weaving It In	SIGCSE Bull.	Curzon, Paul; Peckham, Joan; Taylor, Harriet; Settle, Amber; Roberts, Eric		https://doi.org/10.1145/1595496.1562941
Infusing Computational Thinking into Middle Grade Science Classrooms: Lessons Learned	Proceedings of the 13th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Cateté, Veronica; Lytle, Nicholas; Dong, Yihuan; Boulden, Danielle; Akram, Bita; Houchins, Jennifer; Barnes, Tiffany; Wiebe, Eric; Lester, James; Mott, Bradford; Boyer, Kristy	There is a growing need to present all students with an opportunity to learn computer science and computational thinking (CT) skills during their primary and secondary education. Traditionally, these opportunities are available outside of the core curriculum as stand-alone courses often taken by those with preparatory privilege. Researchers have identified the need to integrate CT into core classes to provide equitable access to these critical skills. We have worked in a research-practice partnership with two magnet middle schools focused on digital sciences to develop and implement computational thinking into life sciences classes. In this report, we present initial lessons learned while conducting our design-based implementation research on integrating computational thinking into middle school science classes. These case studies suggest that several factors including teacher engagement, teacher attitudes, student prior experience with CS/CT, and curriculum design can all impact student engagement in integrated science-CT lessons.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3265757.3265778
Computational Thinking in a Game Design Course	Proceedings of the 2011 Conference on Information Technology Education	Settle, Amber	As a part of an NSF-funded project to enhance computational thinking in undergraduate general education courses, activities and assessments were developed for a game design course taught at DePaul University. The focus of the course is on game analysis and design, but the course textbook uses an approach that is heavily grounded in computational thinking principles. We describe the course activities and assignments and discuss an initial assessment of those materials. Our results show that there is a gap in difficulty between several of the activities and indicate that the materials developed help students to better learn the computational thinking concepts in the course.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2047594.2047612
Computing Creativity: Divergence in Computational Thinking	Proceeding of the 44th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Bennett, Vicki E.; Koh, KyuHan; Repenning, Alexander	Conventionally creativity is often conceived as an aptitude to be discovered in an individual that cannot be mathematically measured. But the concept of creative thinking as a divergence from a standard "norm" is used in creativity research for the purpose of assessing creativity and is also linked to non-traditional or creative processes that lead to unique and divergent artifacts [1,2]. Using Computational Thinking Pattern Analysis (CTPA)[3], the divergence between implemented computational thinking patterns in a student-created game, and that game's tutorial "norm" is calculated as an indicator of creativity. Through a case study of one teacher using three unique learning conditions, CTPA's computed divergence is explored as a valid measurement of creativity in these student games.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2445196.2445302
PRADA: A Practical Model for Integrating Computational Thinking in K-12 Education	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Dong, Yihuan; Catete, Veronica; Jocius, Robin; Lytle, Nicholas; Barnes, Tiffany; Albert, Jennifer; Joshi, Deepti; Robinson, Richard; Andrews, Ashley	One way to increase access to education on computing is to integrate computational thinking (CT) into K12 disciplinary courses. However, this challenges teachers to both learn CT and decide how to best integrate CT into their classes. In this position paper, we present PRADA, an acronym for Pattern Recognition, Abstraction, Decomposition, and Algorithms, as a practical and understandable way of introducing the core ideas of CT to non-computing teachers. We piloted the PRADA model in two, separate, week-long professional development workshops designed for in-service middle and high school teachers and found that the PRADA model supported teachers in making connections between CT and their current course material. Initial findings, which emerged from the analysis of teacher-created learning materials, survey responses, and focus group interviews, indicate that the PRADA model supported core content teachers in successfully infusing CT into their existing curricula and increased their self-efficacy in CT integration.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287431
What Do the Teachers Think? Introducing Computational Thinking in the Primary School Curriculum	Proceedings of the Nineteenth Australasian Computing Education Conference	Duncan, Caitlin; Bell, Tim; Atlas, James	This paper reports on the preliminary results of an ongoing study examining the teaching of new primary school topics based on Computational Thinking in New Zealand. We analyse detailed feedback from 13 teachers participating in the study, who had little or no previous experience teaching Computer Science or related topics. From this we extract key themes identified by the teachers that are likely to be encountered when deploying a new curriculum, including unexpected opportunities for cross-curricula learning, development of students' social skills, and engaging a wide range of students. From here we articulate key concepts and issues that arise in the primary school context, based on feedback during professional development for the study, and direct feedback from teachers on the experience of delivering the new material in the classroom.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3013499.3013506
Improving Students' Learning and Achievement in CS Classrooms through Computational Creativity Exercises That Integrate Computational and Creative Thinking	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Shell, Duane F.; Soh, Leen-Kiat; Flanigan, Abraham E.; Peteranetz, Markeya S.; Ingraham, Elizabeth	Our research is based on an innovative approach that integrates computational thinking and creative thinking in computer science courses to improve student learning and performance. Referencing Epstein's Generativity Theory, we designed and deployed Computational Creativity Exercises (CCEs) with linkages to concepts in computer science and computational thinking. Prior studies with earlier versions of the CCEs in CS1 courses found that completing more CCEs led to higher grades and increased learning of computational thinking principles. In this study, we extended the examination of CCEs to by deploying revised CCEs across two lower division (freshmen, sophomore) and three upper division (junior, senior) CS courses. We found a linear "dosage effect" of increasingly higher grades and computational thinking/CS knowledge test scores with completion of each additional CCE. This dosage effect was consistent across lower and upper division courses. Findings supported our contention that the merger of computational and creative thinking can be realized in computational creativity exercises that can be implemented and lead to increased student learning across courses from freshmen to senior level. The effect of the CCEs on learning was independent of student general academic achievement and individual student motivation. If students do the CCEs, they appear to benefit, whether or not they are self-aware of the benefit or personally motivated to do them. Issues in implementation are discussed.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3017680.3017718
Introducing Data Science to School Kids	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Srikant, Shashank; Aggarwal, Varun	Data-driven decision making is fast becoming a necessary skill in jobs across the board. The industry today uses analytics and machine learning to get useful insights from a wealth of digital information in order to make decisions. With data science becoming an important skill needed in varying degrees of complexity by the workforce of the near future, we felt the need to expose school-goers to its power through a hands-on exercise. We organized a half-day long data science tutorial for kids in grades 5 through 9 (10-15 years old). Our aim was to expose them to the full cycle of a typical supervised learning approach - data collection, data entry, data visualization, feature engineering, model building, model testing and data permissions. We discuss herein the design choices made while developing the dataset, the method and the pedagogy for the tutorial. These choices aimed to maximize student engagement while ensuring minimal pre-requisite knowledge. This was a challenging task given that we limited the pre-requisites for the kids to the knowledge of counting, addition, percentages, comparisons and a basic exposure to operating computers. By designing an exercise with the stated principles, we were able to provide to kids an exciting, hands-on introduction to data science, as confirmed by their experiences. To the best of the authors' knowledge, the tutorial was the first of its kind. Considering the positive reception of such a tutorial, we hope that educators across the world are encouraged to introduce data science in their respective curricula for high-schoolers and are able to use the principles laid out in this work to build full-fledged courses.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3017680.3017717
A Literature Review through the Lens of Computer Science Learning Goals Theorized and Explored in Research	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Rich, Kathryn; Strickland, Carla; Franklin, Diana	Research on appropriate topics and goals for computer science (CS) education in elementary and middle school has been ongoing for decades, but the recent movement toward CS for all requires the research community to gain a better understanding of what is most important to teach, to whom, and in what order. We conducted a literature review with specific attention to cataloging computer science learning goals that experts theorize are important to teach as well as learning goals that have been explored and researched with students in K-8. By mapping the former onto the latter, we discovered six categories of goals that are theorized as important but, according to our review, are yet to be researched with K-8 students. We discuss the potential implications of these gaps for future research.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3017680.3017772
Teaching Practices for Making E-Textiles in High School Computing Classrooms	Proceedings of the 7th Annual Conference on Creativity and Fabrication in Education	Fields, Deborah A.; Kafai, Yasmin; Nakajima, Tomoko; Goode, Joanna	1Recent discussions have focused on rich STEM learning opportunities and various equity challenges in setting up and researching out-of-school makerspaces and activities. In turning to school classrooms, we want to understand the critical practices that teachers employ in broadening and deepening access to making. In this paper, we investigate two high school teachers' approaches in implementing the Exploring Computer Science curriculum using a novel 8-week, electronic textiles unit where students designed wearable textile projects with a microcontroller, sensors and LED lights. Drawing on observations and interviews with teachers and students, we share emergent practices that teachers used in transforming their classrooms into a makerspace, including modeling in-progress artifacts, valuing expertise from students, and promoting connections in personalized work. We discuss in which ways these teaching practices succeeded in broadening access to making while deepening participation in computing and establishing home-school connections.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3141798.3141804
Interdisciplinary Computing Education for the Challenges of the Future	Proceedings of the 41st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Amoussou, Guy-Alain; Boylan, Myles; Peckham, Joan	This session will be conducted by panelists who have carried out funded interdisciplinary research and education, and who have funded and managed interdisciplinary programs. They will provide an opportunity for computing educators to engage in a conversation to assess what is needed to better educate the next generation of students to participate and contribute actively in resolving emerging and future interdisciplinary challenges. Many of the computing education discussions have recently been around "computational thinking" and how this might prepare students in all disciplines, including computing, to formulate and solve problems with other disciplinary partners. The difficult question is how to prepare students to engage in these activities without eroding the depth that is also needed to tackle the deepest and most difficult problems.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1734263.1734449
Piloting Computer Science Education Week in Mexico	Proceedings of the 47th ACM Technical Symposium on Computing Science Education	Escherle, Nora A.; Ramirez-Ramirez, Silvia I.; Basawapatna, Ashok R.; Assaf, Dorit; Repenning, Alexander; Maiello, Carmine; Endo, Yasko Ch.; Nolazco-Flores, Juan A.	Computer Science Education Week activities, featuring online? programming tools embedded with tutorials, report large participation numbers. However, to truly broaden participation, activities need to be made accessible in international contexts. In 2014, Tecnológico de Monterrey and Instituto de Innovación y Transferencia de Tecnología de Nuevo León, modified the Scalable Game Design CS Ed Week activity to include a Mexican feasibility pilot study. The goal of the pilot was to broaden participation in Computer Science in Mexico by creating interest and demand in further activities, including launching of 2015 Mexico CS Ed Week. This paper reviews the initial results of this 2014 pilot, including the discussion of the unique challenges faced in this context, and examines efforts to make this activity more accessible and successful. In addition to pilot data highlighting future activity improvements, initial retention results show that despite challenges, Mexican students were able to effectively use the modified activity to create games on par with U.S. students.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2839509.2844598
Designing a Relational Social Robot Toolkit for Preschool Children to Explore Computational Concepts	Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Gordon, Michal; Rivera, Eileen; Ackermann, Edith; Breazeal, Cynthia	Designing toolkits for teaching programming concepts to children using robots has received growing attention in recent years. However, teaching preschool children computational concepts, such as non-determinism and event-based programming, presents particular challenges. We have developed a programming toolkit that is embedded in an interpersonal interaction context with a social robot. The toolkit enables young children to program social robots by "teaching" them to interact. In order to "teach", the children show the robot rules designed with reusable vinyl stickers. In doing so, children can experiment with computational concepts while having a playful interaction with the social robot. We present the purpose, context, and design of the social robot toolkit (SoRo Toolkit), and an evaluation performed with 22 preschool children. We show that children have an engaging experience designing and "teaching" social interaction rules to the robot, orchestrating give-and-take exchanges, and delighting in how the robot engages with them as they explore computational ideas.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2771839.2771915
Retention of Flow: Evaluating a Computer Science Education Week Activity	Proceedings of the 47th ACM Technical Symposium on Computing Science Education	Repenning, Alexander; Basawapatna, Ashok; Assaf, Dorit; Maiello, Carmine; Escherle, Nora	High profile computer science education events such as the Hour of Code can reach millions of students but without proper evaluation it is not clear what motivational and educational consequences the participation has. If, for instance, participants' levels of motivation towards the end of an hour long activity are significantly fading, then their perception of programming to be "hard and boring" may actually get reinforced. By simply measuring how far participants progressed with their projects we have been able to collect retention data from thousands of participants in a way that allows us to interpret these data in terms of not only cognitive but also technical and practical activity challenges. Inflection points overlaying a negative exponential retention distribution serve as indicators of these challenges with potential impact on Flow. Retention of Flow is an evaluation approach to analyze computer science education activities, including interactive tutorials and online programming environments, with respect to cognitive as well as affective challenges.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2839509.2844597
AccessCSforall: Making Computer Science Accessible to K-12 Students in the United States	SIGACCESS Access. Comput.	Ladner, Richard E.; Stefik, Andreas	For the past ten years there has been a concerted effort to bring computer science to K-12 students in the United States (US) and in other countries. There is a growing realization that computer science is a fundamental subject like mathematics and sciences. In order to make this effort include the approximately 7.4 million K-12 students with disabilities in the US we created AccessCSforAll, a National Science Foundation project that began in 2014. In this article we review the activities of AccessCSforAll in the professional development of teachers and in tool and curriculum development.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3124144.3124145
Interdisciplinary Computing is the Answer: Now, What Was the Question?	ACM Inroads	Cassel, Lillian N.	CURRENT WAVES - INTERDISCIPLINARITY is all the rage. The terms have become clich's: break down the silos and remove barriers to cooperation. Motivations vary. Thus, of course, there are various problems that the new collaborations are expected to address. Some people do not expect success from interdisciplinarity at all, as they see the whole approach as counterproductive and a threat to the integrity of the individual disciplines.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1929887.1929888
18 Years of Ethics in Child-Computer Interaction Research: A Systematic Literature Review	Proceedings of the Interaction Design and Children Conference	Van Mechelen, Maarten; Baykal, Gökçe Elif; Dindler, Christian; Eriksson, Eva; Iversen, Ole Sejer	Recent years have seen growing interest in 'ethics' within the Child-Computer Interaction (CCI) community. In this paper, we take stock of 18 years of CCI research by conducting a systematic literature study exploring how and to what extent ethics has been dealt with in the community's leading venues: the Interaction Design and Children (IDC) conference and the International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction (CCI). Searching all papers in the IDC conference proceedings and IJCCI, 157 papers were found that use the word stem 'ethic*'. Based on our analysis of these papers, our study demonstrates that while ethics is frequently mentioned, the literature remains underdeveloped in a number of areas including definition and theoretical basis, the reporting of formal ethical approval procedures, and the extent to which design and participation ethics is dealt with. Based on our study we provide five avenues of future research in the interests of developing a more explicit discourse on ethics in CCI.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3392063.3394407
CS Principles Professional Development: Only 9,500 to Go!	Proceedings of the 45th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Cuny, Jan; Baxter, Diane A.; Garcia, Daniel D.; Gray, Jeff; Morelli, Ralph	Our grand challenge is to scale high-quality computer science curriculum and instruction to reach all high school students. CS10K – an NSF and ACM-sponsored project – is working to do just that by supporting curriculum development, computer education research and professional development through the Computing Education for the 21st Century (CE21) program at NSF. Professional Development (PD) is a key piece of the project, as we need to train 10,000 teachers to teach rigorous computing courses in 10,000 high schools by 2016 – the school year that a new Advanced Placement Course will be rolled out. This panel will provide an overview of the PD landscape and then each panelist will discuss the unique aspects of their PD project for high school teachers.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2538862.2538876
A Survey of Australian Teachers' Self-Efficacy and Assessment Approaches for the K-12 Digital Technologies Curriculum	Proceedings of the 13th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Vivian, Rebecca; Falkner, Katrina	As K-12 computer science (CS) education has been introduced to a number of countries around the world, the CS education community has been busy working to understand the learning and teaching of computing at these year levels, as well as how to build teacher capacity in teaching the subject. So far, much of the work on teacher professional development in K-12 CS education has focused on building content knowledge and skills.In Australia, schools have began implementation phases of the new curriculum, however, as schools are now approaching formal curriculum reporting requirements, we seek to find out how prepared teachers feel they are to assess student learning in Digital Technologies, and what support they require. We present results from an online survey of Australian K-12 teachers in which they were asked to report their self-efficacy of assessing Digital Technologies against the Australian Teacher Professional Standards and various assessment practices. Teachers were also invited to share what they perceived to be the challenges of undertaking assessment and their self-identified needs for supporting assessment and reporting processes. The findings indicate that primary and secondary teachers report reasonable levels of self-efficacy, however, they still require time and support to develop assessment strategies for the subject area. This paper may support other contexts currently shifting from initial capacity building and curriculum familiarisation toward formal assessment and reporting of CS curriculum.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3265757.3265762
Engaging Novices in Programming, Experimenting, and Learning with Data	ACM Inroads	Dasgupta, Sayamindu; Resnick, Mitchel		https://doi.org/10.1145/2684721.2684737
Deploying Exploring Computer Science Statewide	Proceedings of the 47th ACM Technical Symposium on Computing Science Education	Hu, Helen H.; Heiner, Cecily; McCarthy, Jay	Exploring Computer Science (ECS) is a high school introductory computer science class designed to increase student interest in CS. Utah is the first state to offer ECS statewide and use it to meet a high school graduation requirement. Over the past four years, 150 teachers have been trained as Utah ECS teachers and over 10,000 Utah students have taken the class. The Utah initiative is unique because it is the first to deploy ECS in a non-urban environment and with a modified half-year curriculum that includes no additional equipment costs. This paper discusses how the Utah deployment was organized, reports its results and unique difficulties, and offers lessons for deployments with similar characteristics: statewide, rural, and limited resources.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2839509.2844622
O-Mopsi: Mobile Orienteering Game for Sightseeing, Exercising, and Education	ACM Trans. Multimedia Comput. Commun. Appl.	Fränti, Pasi; Mariescu-Istodor, Radu; Sengupta, Lahari	Location-based games have been around already since 2000 but only recently when PokemonGo came to markets it became clear that they can reach wide popularity. In this article, we perform a literature-based analytical study of what kind of issues location-based game design faces, and how they can be solved. We study how to use and verify the location, the role of the games as exergames, use in education, and study technical and safety issues. As a case study, we present O-Mopsi game that combines physical activity with problem solving. It includes three challenges: (1) navigating to the next target, (2) deciding the order of targets, (3) physical movement. All of them are unavoidable and relevant. For guiding the players, we use three types of multimedia: images (targets and maps), sound (user guidance), and GPS (for positioning). We discuss motivational aspects, analysis of the playing, and content creation. The quality of experiences is reported based on playing in SciFest Science festivals during 2011–2016.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3115935
Code or (Not Code): Separating Formal and Natural Language in CS Education	Proceedings of the 9th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Cutts, Quintin; Connor, Richard; Michaelson, Greg; Donaldson, Peter	This paper argues that the "institutionalised understanding" of pseudo-code as a blend of formal and natural languages makes it an unsuitable choice for national assessment where the intention is to test program comprehension skills. It permits question-setters to inadvertently introduce a level of ambiguity and consequent confusion. This is not in keeping with either good assessment practice or an argument developed in the paper that CS education should be clearly fostering the skills needed for understanding formal, as distinct from natural, languages. The argument is backed up by an analysis of 49 questions drawn from the national school CS examinations of a single country, spanning a period of six years and two phases – the first in which no formal pseudo-code was defined, the second in which a formal reference language, referred to as a "formally-defined pseudo-code", was provided for teachers and exam setters. The analysis demonstrates that in both phases, incorrect, confusing or ambiguous code was presented in questions. The paper concludes by recommending that the term reference language should be used in place of pseudo-code, and an appropriate formally-defined language specified, in national exam settings where a common language of assessment is required. This change of terms emphasises the characteristics required of a language to be used for assessment of program comprehension. The reference language used in the study is outlined. It was designed by the authors for human readability and also to make absolutely explicit the demarcation between formal and informal language, in such a way that automated checking can be carried out on programs written in the language. Formal specifications and a checker for the language are available.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2670757.2670780
Starting from Scratch: Outcomes of Early Computer Science Learning Experiences and Implications for What Comes Next	Proceedings of the 2018 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research	Weintrop, David; Hansen, Alexandria K.; Harlow, Danielle B.; Franklin, Diana	Visual block-based programming environments (VBBPEs) such as Scratch and Alice are increasingly being used in introductory computer science lessons across elementary school grades. These environments, and the curricula that accompany them, are designed to be developmentally-appropriate and engaging for younger learners but may introduce challenges for future computer science educators. Using the final projects of 4th, 5th, and 6th grade students who completed an introductory curriculum using a VBBPE, this paper focuses on patterns that show success within the context of VBBPEs but could pose potential challenges for teachers of follow-up computer science instruction. This paper focuses on three specific strategies observed in learners' projects: (1) wait blocks being used to manage program execution, (2) the use of event-based programming strategies to produce parallel outcomes, and (3) the coupling of taught concepts to curricular presentation. For each of these outcomes, we present data on how the course materials supported them, what learners achieved while enacting them, and the implications the strategy poses for future educators. We then discuss possible design and pedagogical responses. The contribution of this work is that it identifies early computer science learning strategies, contextualizes them within developmentally-appropriate environments, and discusses their implications with respect to future pedagogy. This paper advances our understanding of the role of VBBPEs in introductory computing and their place within the larger K-12 computer science trajectory.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3230977.3230988
Promoting Active Learning & Leveraging Dashboards for Curriculum Assessment in an OpenEdX Introductory CS Course for Middle School	Proceedings of the First ACM Conference on Learning @ Scale Conference	Grover, Shuchi; Pea, Roy; Cooper, Stephen	Lack of teachers to teach computer science (CS) and pedagogically sound introductory CS curricula remain a significant challenge facing secondary schools attempting to teach CS. This paper describes our efforts to design and pilot an online 6-week middle/high school course using Stanford's OpenEdX platform. The pedagogy, curriculum and assessment are guided by learning theory. The course leverages OpenEdX features for contextual discussions and multiple-choice assessments that promote student learning and provide feedback. The paper reports on experiences in using instructor dashboards to identify targets of student difficulty and to aid curriculum redesign.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2556325.2567883
Towards a Competency-Based Education with Gamification Design Elements	Proceedings of the 2015 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play	Bartel, Alexander; Figas, Paula; Hagel, Georg	In this contribution we describe a theoretical way of linking dynamics as gamification design elements with competency-based education. Furthermore the value of the adoption of dynamics is addressed in order to support the design of gamified and competency-based learning on an abstract level of goal definition.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2793107.2810325
How to Make Progress in Computing Education	Commun. ACM	Wilson, Cameron; Guzdial, Mark	Improving the research base for computing education requires securing competitive funding commitments.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1735223.1735235
UNDER DEVELOPMENT\textlessbr\textgreater\textlessbr\textgreaterBeyond the Benjamins: Toward an African Interaction Design	Interactions	Bidwell, N. J.; Winschiers-Theophilus, H.		https://doi.org/10.1145/1649475.1649483
Game Development for Computer Science Education	Proceedings of the 2016 ITiCSE Working Group Reports	Johnson, Chris; McGill, Monica; Bouchard, Durell; Bradshaw, Michael K.; Bucheli, Víctor A.; Merkle, Laurence D.; Scott, Michael James; Sweedyk, Z.; Velázquez-Iturbide, J. Ángel; Xiao, Zhiping; Zhang, Ming	Games can be a valuable tool for enriching computer science education, since they can facilitate a number of conditions that promote learning: student motivation, active learning, adaptivity, collaboration, and simulation. Additionally, they provide the instructor the ability to collect learning metrics with relative ease. As part of 21st Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education (ITiCSE 2016), the Game Development for Computer Science Education working group convened to examine the current role games play in computer science (CS) education, including where and how they fit into CS education. Based on reviews of literature, academic research, professional practice, and a comprehensive list of games for computing education, we present this working group report. This report provides a summary of existing digital games designed to enrich computing education, an index of where these games may fit into a teaching paradigm using the ACM/IEEE Computer Science Curricula 2013 [13], and a guide to developing digital games designed to teach knowledge, skills, and attitudes related to computer science.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3024906.3024908
'Maker' within Constraints: Exploratory Study of Young Learners Using Arduino at a High School in India	Proceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems	Somanath, Sowmya; Oehlberg, Lora; Hughes, Janette; Sharlin, Ehud; Sousa, Mario Costa	Do-it-yourself (DIY) inspired activities have gained popularity as a means of creative expression and self-directed learning. However, DIY culture is difficult to implement in places with limited technology infrastructure and traditional learning cultures. Our goal is to understand how learners in such a setting react to DIY activities. We present observations from a physical computing workshop with 12 students (13-15 years old) conducted at a high school in India. We observed unique challenges for these students when tackling DIY activities: a high monetary and psychological cost to exploration, limited independent learning resources, difficulties with finding intellectual courage and assumed technical language proficiency. Our participants, however, overcome some of these challenges by adopting their own local strategies: resilience, nonverbal and verbal learning techniques, and creating documentation and fallback circuit versions. Based on our findings, we discuss a set of lessons learned about makerspaces in a context with socio-technical challenges.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3025453.3025849
Five Years of Game Programming Outreach: Understanding Student Differences	Proceedings of the 45th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Lakanen, Antti-Jussi; Isomöttönen, Ville; Lappalainen, Vesa	This paper presents lessons learned from five years of teaching a five-day game design and programming outreach course. The course was offered in summer time and targeted at middle and high school students. In total, 462 youngsters have taken part in 21 course instances. We describe our course concept, and discuss our successes and challenges. In particular, we focus on understanding our student populations by presenting descriptives and statistics of the events, and performing a statistical cluster analysis based on pre- and post-surveys. The cluster analysis was complemented with an analysis of the qualitative data, also originating from the surveys. Taken together, students could be classified into five groups with substantial differences: Enthusiasts, Newbies, Uncertains, Experimenters, and Unsatisfieds. Awareness of the clusters helps instructors of similar courses in developing course content, designing differentiated instruction, and planning follow-up or advanced courses.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2538862.2538914
Empowered to Make a Change: Guidelines for Empowering the Young Generation in and through Digital Technology Design	Proceedings of the FabLearn Europe 2019 Conference	Kinnula, Marianne; Iivari, Netta	This paper scrutinizes how children can be empowered to make a change through acquiring skills in digital technology design. We propose a framework that integrates theoretical understanding from literature on nexus analysis, values, and value as well as empowerment and genuine participation of children, and a related tool for educators and researchers advocating empowerment and inclusion. They should benefit from this tool when planning, analyzing, and evaluating their projects. We argue that the tool is useful beyond studies with children and can be used as a practical tool when planning and implementing digital technology design projects with any group of people and as a theoretical tool when studying such endeavors, especially when working with vulnerable or underserved participants.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3335055.3335071
Computer Science (CS) Education in Indian Schools: Situation Analysis Using Darmstadt Model	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Raman, Raghu; Venkatasubramanian, Smrithi; Achuthan, Krishnashree; Nedungadi, Prema	Computer science (CS) and its enabling technologies are at the heart of this information age, yet its adoption as a core subject by senior secondary students in Indian schools is low and has not reached critical mass. Though there have been efforts to create core curriculum standards for subjects like Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Math, CS seems to have been kept outside the purview of such efforts leading to its marginalization. As a first step, using the Darmstadt model from the ITiCSE working group that provides a systematic categorization approach to CS education in schools, we coded and analyzed the CS situation for the Indian schools. Next, we focused on the motivation category of the Darmstadt model and investigated behavioral intentions of secondary school students and teachers from 332 schools in India. Considering the CS subject as an educational innovation, using Rogers’ Theory of Diffusion of Innovations, we propose a pedagogical framework for innovation attributes that can significantly predict-adoption of the CS subject among potential-adopter students and teachers. Data was analyzed to answer research questions about student and teacher intentions, influence of gender, school management, and school location in adopting CS. Interestingly, girls, urban students, teachers, and private schools were seen favoring the adoption of CS. An important issue that needed to be addressed, however, was the interchangeable use of terms like CS, Informatics, ICT, and digital literacy. Through our article, we offer a promising picture of the educational policy directives and the academic environment in India that is rapidly growing and embracing CS as a core subject of study in schools. We also analyze the factors that influence the adoption of CS by school students and teachers and conclude that there is a very positive response for CS among educators and students in India.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2716325
Make or Shake: An Empirical Study of the Value of Making in Learning about Computing Technology	Proceedings of the The 15th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Johnson, Rose; Shum, Venus; Rogers, Yvonne; Marquardt, Nicolai	Learning about computing technology has become an increasingly important part of the school curriculum but it remains unclear how best to teach it to children. Here, we report on an empirical study that investigated how the process of making affects how children of different ages learn about computing technology. In one condition, they had to first make an electronic cube before conducting other activities and in the other they were given a ready made one to use. The results of the study show that for younger children, the making significantly improved their performance in a post-lesson test, whereas the older children performed equally well in both conditions. We discuss possible reasons for this, in terms of differences in creative appropriation. We also saw much spontaneous collaboration between the children that suggests making can encourage a collaborative relationship between children of different ages.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2930674.2930691
An Informatics Perspective on Computational Thinking	Proceedings of the 18th ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Walden, James; Doyle, Maureen; Garns, Rudy; Hart, Zachary	In this paper, we examine computational thinking and its connections to critical thinking from the perspective of in- formatics. We developed an introductory course for students in our College of Informatics, which includes majors rang- ing from journalism to computer science. The course cov- ered a set of principles of informatics, using both lectures and active learning sessions designed to develop informat- ics and computational thinking skills. The set of principles was drawn from a wide set of sources, and included broad principles like those of Denning and Loidl, as well as more limited principles related to topics like universal computa- tion and undecidability. We evaluated the change in both computational and critical thinking skills over the course of the semester, using a well-known validated critical thinking test and a computational thinking test of our own devising.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2462476.2483797
Assessing Computational Thinking in Students' Game Designs	Proceedings of the 2016 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play Companion Extended Abstracts	Hoover, Amy K.; Barnes, Jackie; Fatehi, Borna; Moreno-León, Jesús; Puttick, Gillian; Tucker-Raymond, Eli; Harteveld, Casper	Designing games requires a complex sequence of planning and executing actions. This paper suggests that game design requires computational thinking, and discusses two methods for analyzing computational thinking in games designed by students in the visual programming language Scratch. We present how these two analyses produce different narratives of computational thinking for our case studies, and reflect on how we plan to move forward with our larger analysis.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2968120.2987750
Design and Preliminary Results From a Computational Thinking Course	Proceedings of the 2015 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Kafura, Dennis; Bart, Austin Cory; Chowdhury, Bushra	This paper describes the design and initial assessment of a general education course in computational thinking for non-computer science majors. The key elements of the course include multidisciplinary cohorts to achieve learning across contexts, multiple languages/tools, including block-based and textual programming languages, repeated exposure to the underlying computational ideas in different forms, and student-defined projects using real world ("big") data to heighten motivation through self-directed contextualized learning. The preliminary multi-methods assessment shows that the course engendered high levels of motivation, achieved key objectives for learning in and across contexts, largely affirmed the choice of languages/tools, and supported, though less strongly than anticipated, the motivational effects of real-world data	https://doi.org/10.1145/2729094.2742593
A Qualitative Study of Students' Computational Thinking Skills in a Data-Driven Computing Class	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Yuen, Timothy T.; Robbins, Kay A.	Critical thinking, problem solving, the use of tools, and the ability to consume and analyze information are important skills for the 21st century workforce. This article presents a qualitative case study that follows five undergraduate biology majors in a computer science course (CS0). This CS0 course teaches programming within a data-driven context and is part of a university-wide initiative to improve students' quantitative scholarship. In this course, students learn computing concepts and computational thinking by writing programs in MATLAB that compute with data, by performing meaningful analyses, and by writing about the results. The goal of the study reported here is to better understand the thought processes students use in such a data-driven approach. Findings show that students engage in an ongoing organizational process to understand the structure of the data. The computational and visualization tasks appear to be closely linked, and the visualization component appears to provide valuable feedback for students in accomplishing the programming tasks.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2676660
A Plan for Immediate Immersion of Computational Thinking into the High School Math Classroom through a Partnership with the Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative	Proceedings of the 50th Annual Southeast Regional Conference	Jenkins, Janet T.; Jerkins, James A.; Stenger, Cynthia L.	This paper describes a design for an immediate immersion of computational thinking into current high school math classrooms in Alabama. Most schools in our region have eliminated computer science classes from the curriculum. Alabama has an existing state initiative to improve mathematics, science and technology education in K-12. The Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative (AMSTI) emphasizes learning by doing, with hands-on, activity based instruction. We have developed an instructional treatment that uses strategically designed computer exercises to push students to form the mental foundation necessary for abstraction and generalization. We selected popular problems from the AMSTI mathematics curriculum and applied our instructional design.The first step we took in implementing our plan for reintroducing computational thinking into the secondary schools was to conduct a workshop for math education leaders. This training was sponsored and supported by AMSTI. Results from the workshop included demonstrating to a select group of math education leaders that computer programming could be easily integrated with the AMSTI math curriculum and could be used to meet the educational goals of the initiative and the educators.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2184512.2184547
Robobuilder: A Computational Thinking Game (Abstract Only)	Proceeding of the 44th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Weintrop, David; Wilensky, Uri	RoboBuilder is a blocks-based, program-to-play game designed to introduce students to core aspects of computational thinking in a fun and engaging environment. The game employs a constructionist design to challenge players to invent and implement strategies to control an on-screen robot using a specially designed visual programming language. During the game, players' robots compete against a series of progressively more challenging opponents in one-on-one battles. Through playing the game, players construct working programs, providing learners with the experience of reifying their own ideas using a computational medium, a practice central to our notion of computational thinking. This poster presents the design rationale for RoboBuilder and discusses key aspects of the game that contribute to giving learners a positive, hands-on introduction to core computational thinking skills including computationally expressing ideas, algorithmic thinking, and debugging.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2445196.2445430
Principled Assessment of Student Learning in High School Computer Science	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research	Snow, Eric; Rutstein, Daisy; Bienkowski, Marie; Xu, Yuning	As K-12 computer science (CS) initiatives scale throughout the U.S., educators face increasing pressure from their school systems to provide evidence about student learning on hard-to-measure CS outcomes. At the same time, researchers studying curriculum implementation and student learning want reliable measures of how students apply their CS knowledge. This paper describes a two-year validation study focused on end-of-unit and cumulative assessments for Exploring Computer Science, an introductory high school CS curriculum. To develop the assessments, we applied a principled methodology called Evidence-Centered Design (ECD) to (1) work with various stakeholders to identify the important computer science skills to measure, (2) map those skills to a model of evidence that can support inferences about those skills, and (3) develop assessment tasks that elicit that evidence. Using ECD, we created assessments that measure the practices of computational thinking, in contrast to assessments that only measure CS conceptual knowledge. We iteratively developed and piloted the assessments with 941 students over two years and collected three types of validity evidence based on contemporary psychometric standards: test content, internal structure, and student response processes. Results show that reliability was moderate to high for each of the unit assessments; the assessment tasks within each assessment are well aligned with each other and with the targeted learning goals; and average scores were in the 60 to 70 percent range. These results indicate that the assessments validly measure students' computational thinking practices covered in the introductory CS curriculum. We discuss the broader issues we faced of balancing the need to use the assessment results for evaluation and research, and demands from teachers for use in the classroom.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3105726.3106186
Abstraction and Common Classroom Activities	Proceedings of the 11th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Waite, Jane; Curzon, Paul; Marsh, William; Sentance, Sue	In popularizing computational thinking, Wing notes that 'abstraction is described as underlying computational thinking and computational thinking is described as fundamental to computing.' Emerging curricular now require educators to incorporate computational thinking and abstraction into their teaching. Many refer to Piaget's work as evidence of an age-related ceiling preventing younger pupils from being able to abstract. However, more recent evidence suggests that pupils use elements of abstraction in their general process of learning, and that the skill of abstraction can be explicitly taught. We draw on personal classroom experience to illustrate the points made in the literature. Common classroom activities such as using labelled diagrams, concept maps and storyboards are aligned to features of abstraction. We argue that abstraction can and should be taught to young pupils.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2978249.2978272
Unravelling the Cognition of Coding in 3-to-6-Year Olds: The Development of an Assessment Tool and the Relation between Coding Ability and Cognitive Compiling of Syntax in Natural Language	Proceedings of the 2018 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research	Marinus, Eva; Powell, Zoe; Thornton, Rosalind; McArthur, Genevieve; Crain, Stephen	There is growing interest in teaching children computer programming ("coding") to prepare them for the demands of our increasingly digital society. However, we do not yet understand what cognitive skills children need in order to learn to code. The aim of our research program is to identify the requisite skills, with the goal of building a cognitive model of coding. The present research used a wooden robot ("Cubetto", www.primotoys.com) to investigate coding ability in young children. Exp. 1 describes the development and evaluation of the assessment instrument, which was tested with 18 3-to-5-year-old children. The instrument ("Coding Development (CODE) Test 3-6") was used in Exp. 2 to investigate the relationship between coding skill and "cognitive compiling" - the ability to formulate mental action plans in natural language. Thirty 5-to-6-year-olds participated in Exp. 2. Using Bayesian statistics, we found evidence that cognitive compiling predicts coding performance above and beyond age and nonverbal intelligence. We evaluate the outcomes and reflect on whether cognitive compiling depends solely on maturation or might be a skill that can be trained, and if so, how this could be done.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3230977.3230984
Scratch Nodes: Coding Outdoor Play Experiences to Enhance Social-Physical Interaction	Proceedings of the 2017 Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Hitron, Tom; Apelblat, Itamar; Wald, Iddo; Moriano, Eitan; Grishko, Andrey; David, Idan; Bar, Avihay; Zuckerman, Oren	We present the initial design process of Scratch Nodes, a sensor-based prototype designed to augment children's social-physical outdoor play. Scratch Nodes has two main components: a hardware device and a tablet-based coding environment. The prototype was designed for 8-12 year old children with the goal of encouraging physical play, social interaction, and "changing the rules" through coding. We extend prior work in the Heads-up Games (HUG) domain by adding a real-time coding environment that directly controls the hardware device, empowering children to change the game's rules in real-time. We argue that the combination of physical play, social interaction, and coding strikes the right balance between the societal need to increase outdoor play & enhance computational thinking skills on one hand and children's need to play, measure, and define their own rules on the other. We present our initial design and implementation process as well as our insights from a preliminary evaluation with six children who tested the prototype.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3078072.3084331
Programming Misconceptions in an Introductory Level Programming Course Exam	Proceedings of the 2016 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Kurvinen, Einari; Hellgren, Niko; Kaila, Erkki; Laakso, Mikko-Jussi; Salakoski, Tapio	Learning to program is known to be a difficult task, as the students typically lack the intrinsic motivation and find the new skills required difficult to master. It is hence typical for the educators to try to constantly improve their teaching methods to enhance the quality and outcome of the courses. We have developed an educational tool called ViLLE, which allows us to create interactive and automatically assessed programming exercises easily. In these exercises, the students have a near-to-authentic programming environment with compiler output and error messages provided. The same tool was used in our university's introductory programming course's final exam. In this paper, we analyze students' answers to three different coding exercises in this final exam. Since ViLLE automatically stores the program code when compiled, we have an access to previously unseen amounts of iterations of the exercise instead of just the final submission. The data is analyzed to identify typical misconceptions in programming exercises, and to show how the students gradually improve their answers based on the results and error messages. Finally, we discuss how the results of the analysis can be utilized to tackle these misconceptions during the course.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2899415.2899447
Graph Grammar-Based Controllable Generation of Puzzles for a Learning Game about Parallel Programming	Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games	Valls-Vargas, Josep; Zhu, Jichen; Ontañón, Santiago	In the context of a learning game to teach parallel programming, we describe a procedural content generation (PCG) approach that can be controlled to generate programming puzzles involving a desired set of concepts, and of desired size and "difficulty". Our approach is based on grammars to control the generation of the puzzle structure, and orthographic graph embedding techniques to render it into a two-dimensional grid for our game. The proposed PCG system is designed to work with a player model in order to provide personalized learning experiences. We present an evaluation of the variability of the generated puzzles using several metrics including challenge and solvability as evaluated by a custom-build model checker. Our evaluation shows that this PCG system can generate a large number of varied puzzles but it is still not able to generate puzzles with certain aesthetic and functional qualities found in puzzles generated by human authors.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3102071.3102079
A Unified Approach to Introductory Computer Science: Can One Size Fit All?	SIGCSE Bull.	Huang, Timothy; Briggs, Amy	We discuss our recent experience offering a single introductory computer science course for all students with no prior computer science coursework. The new course interleaves material from traditional CS0 and CS1 courses, providing all students with both a broad overview and an appreciation for the algorithmic foundations of the discipline of computer science. We describe our motivation for this approach, the content of the new course, and some conclusions based on our experiences and feedback from student course evaluations.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1595496.1562956
Between a Block and a Typeface: Designing and Evaluating Hybrid Programming Environments	Proceedings of the 2017 Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Weintrop, David; Wilensky, Uri	The last ten years have seen a proliferation of introductory programming environments designed for learners across the K-12 spectrum. These environments include visual block-based tools, text-based languages designed for novices, and, increasingly, hybrid environments that blend features of block-based and text-based programming. This paper presents results from a quasi-experimental study investigating the affordances of a hybrid block/text programming environment relative to comparable block-based and textual versions in an introductory high school computer science class. The analysis reveals the hybrid environment demonstrates characteristics of both ancestors while outperforming the block-based and text-based versions in certain dimensions. This paper contributes to our understanding of the design of introductory programming environments and the design challenge of creating and evaluating novel representations for learning.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3078072.3079715
StoryBlocks: A Tangible Programming Game To Create Accessible Audio Stories	Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems	Koushik, Varsha; Guinness, Darren; Kane, Shaun K.	Block-based programming languages can support novice programmers through features such as simplified code syntax and user-friendly libraries. However, most block-based programming languages are highly visual, which makes them inaccessible to blind and visually impaired students. To address the inaccessibility of block-based languages, we introduce StoryBlocks, a tangible block-based game that enables blind programmers to learn basic programming concepts by creating audio stories. In this paper, we document the design of StoryBlocks and report on a series of design activities with groups of teachers, Braille experts, and students. Participants in our design sessions worked together to create accessible stories, and their feedback offers insights for the future development of accessible, tangible programming tools.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3290605.3300722
Mixed-Initiative Creative Interfaces	Proceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems	Deterding, Sebastian; Hook, Jonathan; Fiebrink, Rebecca; Gillies, Marco; Gow, Jeremy; Akten, Memo; Smith, Gillian; Liapis, Antonios; Compton, Kate	Enabled by artificial intelligence techniques, we are witnessing the rise of a new paradigm of computational creativity support: mixed-initiative creative interfaces put human and computer in a tight interactive loop where each suggests, produces, evaluates, modifies, and selects creative outputs in response to the other. This paradigm could broaden and amplify creative capacity for all, but has so far remained mostly confined to artificial intelligence for game content generation, and faces many unsolved interaction design challenges. This workshop therefore convenes CHI and game researchers to advance mixed-initiative approaches to creativity support.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3027063.3027072
An International Study Piloting the MEasuring TeacheR Enacted Computing Curriculum (METRECC) Instrument	Proceedings of the Working Group Reports on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Falkner, Katrina; Sentance, Sue; Vivian, Rebecca; Barksdale, Sarah; Busuttil, Leonard; Cole, Elizabeth; Liebe, Christine; Maiorana, Francesco; McGill, Monica M.; Quille, Keith	As the discipline of K-12 computer science (CS) education evolves, international comparisons of curriculum and teaching provide valuable information for policymakers and educators. Previous academic analyses of K-12 CS intended and enacted curriculum has been conducted via curriculum analyses, country reports, experience reports, and case studies, with K-12 CS comparisons distinctly lacking teacher input.This report presents the process of an international Working Group to develop, pilot, review and test validity and reliability of the MEasuring TeacheR Enacted Computing Curriculum (METRECC) instrument to survey teachers in K-12 schools about their implementation of CS curriculum to understand pedagogy, practice, resources and experiences in classrooms around the world. The Working Group reviewed and analysed pilot data from 244 teachers across seven countries (Australia, England, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Scotland and the United States). We analysed the pilot results (n=244) and applied four validity tests: face validity, concurrent validity, population validity, sampling validity and construct validity, in addition to a focus group to further revised the instrument.This report presents the pilot results and outcomes of validity testing, as well as revisions made to the instrument. The resulting METRECC tool combines a country report template and a teacher survey that will provide K-12 teachers with a means to communicate their experience enacting CS curriculum. National and regional policymakers can use METRECC data to inform iterative curriculum revision and implementation. We provide open access to the METRECC instrument and data set.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3344429.3372505
Computational Bead Design: A Pilot Summer Camp in Computer Aided Design and 3D Printing for Middle School Girls	Proceedings of the 46th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Starrett, Courtney; Doman, Marguerite; Garrison, Chlotia; Sleigh, Merry	Computing, together with jewelry design and 3D printing offers an innovative introduction to the possibilities of technology and programming. This combination was presented to participants of a weeklong summer technology day camp focusing on computer-aided design (CAD) using jewelry design and modeling. The participants then saw their design creations built through 3D printing. In this paper we present the design of a weeklong day camp called "Computing and Jewelry Design". Initial findings are positive and suggest opportunities for improvement.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2676723.2677303
How Do Different Cognitive Styles Affect Learning Programming? Insights from a Game-Based Approach in Greek Schools	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Theodoropoulos, Anastasios; Antoniou, Angeliki; Lepouras, George	Is there any relationship between students’ cognitive style and the ability to learn programming through serious games? The aim of this work is to assess the learning effectiveness and motivational appeal of digital games for learning basic programming concepts, involving secondary education students. For this purpose, the Code.org®’s activity named K-8 Intro to Computer Science was used. The study investigated students’ attitudes from gaming activities to reveal the quality of their learning experience. Next, students’ attitudes from games were correlated with their cognitive profile to reveal potential differences. Finally, students’ performance from the digital games was assessed to reveal game-based learning (GBL) effectiveness compared to their cognitive styles. In the study, 77 students of two Greek high schools participated in the context of the European Code Week. The results suggest that these specific games, or similar educational computer games, can be exploited as effective and motivational learning environments within schools, as they provide a high-quality learning experience. Cognitive style was found to be a significant learning characteristic that should be taken into consideration when using digital games to learn programming.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2940330
Rediscovering the Passion, Beauty, Joy, and Awe: Making Computing Fun Again, Continued	Proceedings of the 40th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Garcia, Daniel D.; Cutler, Robb; Dodds, Zachary; Roberts, Eric; Young, Alison	At the SIGCSE Symposium in 2007, the ACM Education Board organized a well-attended special session exploring the crisis in computing education and its underlying causes. The idea behind the session was to provide a forum at which a larger and more broadly representative subset of the education community could engage in direct dialogue with the members of the ACM Education Board and Education Council, who are charged with developing educational policy for the ACM as a whole. Last year, we extended that dialogue and explored concrete strategies for emphasizing the "passion, beauty, joy, and awe" (PBJA) of computing about which Grady Booch spoke so eloquently in his 2007 keynote address. The extremely positive feedback we received served as motivation to continue the discussion this year, to allow us to hear from new voices and receive updates on the current state of the crisis. It is increasingly clear that students today find less joy in the process of creating software than their predecessors did a generation ago. At the same time, these skills have become increasingly important, forcing companies to cast an ever widening net in their search for people with the necessary skills and training. Continued progress in the computing disciplines–and indeed the economic health of a society that relies increasingly on computing technology–can continue only if we can encourage an even larger number of students to pursue the many opportunities that careers in computing provide.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1508865.1508889
Rediscovering the Passion, Beauty, Joy, and Awe: Making Computing Fun Again, Continued	SIGCSE Bull.	Garcia, Daniel D.; Cutler, Robb; Dodds, Zachary; Roberts, Eric; Young, Alison	At the SIGCSE Symposium in 2007, the ACM Education Board organized a well-attended special session exploring the crisis in computing education and its underlying causes. The idea behind the session was to provide a forum at which a larger and more broadly representative subset of the education community could engage in direct dialogue with the members of the ACM Education Board and Education Council, who are charged with developing educational policy for the ACM as a whole. Last year, we extended that dialogue and explored concrete strategies for emphasizing the "passion, beauty, joy, and awe" (PBJA) of computing about which Grady Booch spoke so eloquently in his 2007 keynote address. The extremely positive feedback we received served as motivation to continue the discussion this year, to allow us to hear from new voices and receive updates on the current state of the crisis. It is increasingly clear that students today find less joy in the process of creating software than their predecessors did a generation ago. At the same time, these skills have become increasingly important, forcing companies to cast an ever widening net in their search for people with the necessary skills and training. Continued progress in the computing disciplines–and indeed the economic health of a society that relies increasingly on computing technology–can continue only if we can encourage an even larger number of students to pursue the many opportunities that careers in computing provide.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1539024.1508889
Diversifying High School Students' Views about Computing with Electronic Textiles	Proceedings of the Tenth Annual Conference on International Computing Education Research	Searle, Kristin A.; Fields, Deborah A.; Lui, Debora A.; Kafai, Yasmin	More than twenty years ago, Turkle and Papert wrote about the lack of epistemological pluralism in computing and the resulting exclusivity in the field. Although research on what constitutes a personal epistemology has expanded since then, students continue to hold narrow views of computing that are disconnected from the field at large. To align with current research, we use the term "views" to encompass students' expectations of, attitudes towards, and beliefs about computing. We took a crafts-oriented approach to expanding students' views of computing and broadening participation in computer science by engaging high school students in a 10-week electronic textiles unit. Students were introduced to computational concepts and practices as they designed and programmed electronic artifacts. We found their views shifted from pre- to post-interviews in ways that allowed them to see computing as accessible, transparent, personal, and creative. We discuss how e-textiles materials and the design of classroom activities brought back a diversity of ways thinking about who can do computing, how to do it, and what computing can be.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2632320.2632352
Machines for Thinking	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Fincher, Sally; Utting, Ian	In this article we set a context for three Initial Learning Environments Alice, Greenfoot, and Scratch. We consider historical antecedents, technical comparators and design approaches.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1868358.1868360
Caché: Caching Location-Enhanced Content to Improve User Privacy	SIGMOBILE Mob. Comput. Commun. Rev.	Amini, Shahriyar; Lindqvist, Janne; Hong, Jason I.; Mou, Maladau; Raheja, Rahul; Lin, Jialiu; Sadeh, Norman; Tochb, Eran	Location-enhanced content while useful for mobile users can also be harmful for their privacy. We present feasibility analysis and preliminary evaluation of Caché, an approach for preserving mobile users' privacy by caching location-enhanced content in advance.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1923641.1923649
Transforming K-12 Computing Education: An Update and a Call to Action	ACM Inroads	Cuny, Jan		https://doi.org/10.1145/2809795
TanPro-Kit: A Tangible Programming Tool for Children	Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Wang, Danli; Qi, Yunfeng; Zhang, Yang; Wang, Tingting	This paper describes a new tangible programming tool— TanPro-Kit which was designed for children aged 5 to 9. It consists of programming blocks and a LED pad. The LED pad presents visual animations and audible feedback according to the arrangement of blocks with which children make program to play a maze game. Aiming at lowering the cost of TanPro-Kit, we adopted LED, RFID, wireless and infrared technology to develop the whole system. The system acquires the programming blocks' physical information which is then translated into programming semantic. TanPro-Kit is low-cost, which is more acceptable in developing countries. We ran a user study with 16 children involved, which showed TanPro-Kit to be attractive to children and easy to learn and use.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2485760.2485841
Developing a Theoretically Founded Data Literacy Competency Model	Proceedings of the 13th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Grillenberger, Andreas; Romeike, Ralf	Today, data is everywhere: Our digitalized world depends on enormous amounts of data that are captured by and about everyone and considered a valuable resource. Not only in everyday life, but also in science, the relevance of data has clearly increased in recent years: Nowadays, data-driven research is often considered a new research paradigm. Thus, there is general agreement that basic competencies regarding gathering, storing, processing and visualizing data, often summarized under the term data literacy, are necessary for every scientist today. Moreover, data literacy is generally important for everyone, as it is essential for understanding how the modern world works. Yet, at the moment data literacy is hardly considered in CS teaching at schools. To allow deeper insight into this field and to structure related competencies, in this work we develop a competency model of data literacy by theoretically deriving central content and process areas of data literacy from existing empirical work, keeping a school education perspective in mind. The resulting competency model is contrasted to other approaches describing data literacy competencies from different perspectives. The practical value of this work is emphasized by giving insight into an exemplary lesson sequence fostering data literacy competencies.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3265757.3265766
A Reflective Approach to Assessing Student Performance in Cybersecurity Exercises	Proceedings of the 47th ACM Technical Symposium on Computing Science Education	Weiss, Richard; Locasto, Michael E.; Mache, Jens	Assessing student performance in cybersecurity labs and exercises is a difficult and time-consuming task. Simply recording the number of correct answers is inferior to in-depth assessment. Faculty are often best placed to offer expert feedback, advice, and guidance based on assessing student achievement and quality of performance for time-constrained exercises. Since this often takes place in the context of large classes and complex exercises, it can present obstacles to offering qualitative feedback. Yet, in some cases there is more information available that could simplify this task. This paper explores the use of command line history and visualization to add additional information and simplify the problem.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2839509.2844646
Facilitating Programming Success in Data Science Courses through Gamified Scaffolding and Learn2Mine	Proceedings of the 2015 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Anderson, Paul E.; Nash, Thomas; McCauley, Renée	This paper discusses the learning strategies adopted in a publically available, cloud-based learning environment, Learn2Mine, which facilitates student-progress as they solve data science programming problems. The learning system has been evaluated over three consecutive terms. Learn2Mine was initially introduced in an introductory course and pilot-tested for usability and effectiveness in Fall 2013. Students reported positive opinions on usability and effectiveness of the system in their completion of programming assignments. In Spring 2014, Learn2Mine was evaluated in an upper-level data mining course by comparing student submission rates and amount of programming accomplished for a group with access to the tool versus one without access. The group with access to Learn2Mine had an average assignment submission rate of 84%, while the group without had an average submission rate of only 48% (difference significant at p < 0.01). In Fall 2014, a controlled experiment was conducted in an introductory data science course: one group of students worked on a multi-part programming task with support of scaffolding and gamification as implemented in Learn2Mine, while the other section did not. The group with access performed significantly better in overall task completion (p < 0.01).	https://doi.org/10.1145/2729094.2742597
Turing's Titanic Machine?	Commun. ACM	Cooper, S. Barry	Embodied and disembodied computing at the Turing Centenary.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2093548.2093569
Micro-Coordination: Because We Did Not Already Learn Everything We Need to Know about Working with Others in Kindergarten	Proceedings of the ACM 2012 Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work	Lee, Joon Suk; Tatar, Deborah; Harrison, Steve	How is it that groups of people can complete joint tasks without the expected observable markers of "successful" coordination? The relationship between micro-level, situated actions and broader outcomes such as opportunities for learning is under-explored. We investigated co-located groups as they played a collaborative, problem-solving game using distributed technology on laptops. There was considerable variety in how groups accomplished the work. Some satisfied groups talked a lot but other satisfied groups did not. Talk was diagnostic of satisfaction but lack of talk was not diagnostic of dissatisfaction. In fact, groups that had little or no discourse differed considerably from one another. One kind of group completes the joint tasks very well without observable markers frequently associated with success. Others are less successful in the task goal but man-age difficult interpersonal situations.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2145204.2145372
Power Napping with Loud Neighbors: Optimal Energy-Constrained Jamming and Anti-Jamming	Proceedings of the 2014 ACM Conference on Security and Privacy in Wireless & Mobile Networks	DeBruhl, Bruce; Kroer, Christian; Datta, Anupam; Sandholm, Tuomas; Tague, Patrick	The openness of wireless communication and the recent development of software-defined radio technology, respectively, provide a low barrier and a wide range of capabilities for misbehavior, attacks, and defenses against attacks. In this work we present finite-energy jamming games, a game model that allows a jammer and sender to choose (1) whether to transmit or sleep, (2) a power level to transmit with, and (3) what channel to transmit on. We also allow the jammer to choose on how many channels it simultaneously attacks. A major addition in finite-energy jamming games is that the jammer and sender both have a limited amount of energy which is drained according to the actions a player takes.We develop a model of our system as a zero-sum finite-horizon stochastic game with deterministic transitions. We leverage the zero-sum and finite-horizon properties of our model to design a simple polynomial-time algorithm to compute optimal randomized strategies for both players. The utility function of our game model can be decoupled into a recursive equation. Our algorithm exploits this fact to use dynamic programming to construct solutions in a bottom-up fashion. For each state of energy levels, a linear program is solved to find Nash equilibrium strategies for the subgame. With these techniques, our algorithm has only a linear dependence on the number of states, and quadratic dependence on the number of actions, allowing us to solve very large instances.By computing Nash equilibria for our game models, we explore what kind of performance guarantees can be achieved both for the sender and jammer, when playing against an optimal opponent. We also use the optimal strategies to simulate finite-energy jamming games and provide insights into robust communication among reconfigurable, yet energy-limited, radio systems. To test the performance of the optimal strategies we compare their performance with a random and adaptive strategy. Matching our intuition, the aggressiveness of an attacker is related to how much of a discount is placed on data delay. This results in the defender often choosing to sleep despite the latency implication, because the threat of jamming is high. We also present several other findings from simulations where we vary the strategies for one or both of the players.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2627393.2627406
Equitable Learning Environments in K-12 Computing: Teachers’ Views on Barriers to Diversity	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Gretter, Sarah; Yadav, Aman; Sands, Phil; Hambrusch, Susanne	The current efforts to expand computer science (CS) education in K-12 schools, such as the “CS for All” initiative, highlight the need for all students to get an opportunity to study computing. However, as recent research has shown, diversity in computing at the K-12 level remains problematic, and additional research is needed to look at how computer science learning environments can impact minority student interest and retention in CS. In this article, we report results from an in-depth qualitative study of high school computer science teachers’ perspective on barriers to increasing diversity in their classes. Based on teachers’ experiences, we provide practical recommendations on how to encourage equitable learning environments in K-12 computer science courses.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3282939
Design and Evaluation of a Collaborative Virtual Environment (CoMove) for Autism Spectrum Disorder Intervention	ACM Trans. Access. Comput.	Zhang, Lian; Fu, Qiang; Swanson, Amy; Weitlauf, Amy; Warren, Zachary; Sarkar, Nilanjan	Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized in part by core deficits in social interaction and communication. A collaborative virtual environment (CVE), which is a computer-based, distributed, virtual space for multiple users to interact with one another and/or with virtual items, has the potential to support flexible, safe, and peer-based social interactions. In this article, we presented the design of a CVE system, called CoMove, with the ultimate goals of measuring and potentially enhancing collaborative interactions and verbal communication of children with ASD when they play collaborative puzzle games with their typically developing (TD) peers in remote locations. CoMove has two distinguishing characteristics: (i) the ability to promote important collaborative behaviors (including information sharing, sequential interactions, and simultaneous interactions) and to provide real-time feedback based on users’ game performance; as well as (ii) an objective way to measure and index important aspects of collaboration and verbal-communication skills during system interaction. A feasibility study with 14 pairs—7 ASD/TD pairs and 7 TD/TD pairs—was conducted to initially test the feasibility of CoMove. The results of the study validated the system feasibility and suggested its potential to index important aspects of collaboration and verbal communication.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3209687
Pedagogy That Supports Computer Science for All	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Ryoo, Jean J.	The Computer Science (CS) for All movement has taken hold of the United States and CS education is rapidly expanding across nations throughout the world. Yet, as curricula and professional development opportunities are developed, key questions remain about what “works” for engaging youth in CS education, especially those who are historically underrepresented in the field (including young women, students of color, low-income students). In response, this study answers the questions: What teaching practices do students—who are historically underrepresented in CS—believe are most effective for engaging their interest in CS learning? What pedagogical actions do CS teachers identify as most effective for engaging students? And what do these engaging teaching practices look like in the classroom? Through a qualitative study following three different urban high school Exploring Computer Science classrooms over an entire school year (n = 70 students, 3 teachers; >105h of observation data; >50 interviews with students and teachers), key pedagogical practices that had greatest impact on youth's interest and engagement with CS included: (1) demystifying CS by showing its connections to everyday life; (2) addressing social issues impacting both CS and students’ communities; and (3) valuing students’ voices and perspectives. This article shares testimonies from students and teachers, as well as examples of these teaching practices in the classroom.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3322210
Computational Thinking and Practice: A Generic Approach to Computing in Danish High Schools	Proceedings of the Fifteenth Australasian Computing Education Conference - Volume 136	Caspersen, Michael E.; Nowack, Palle	Internationally, there is a growing awareness on the necessity of providing relevant computing education in schools, particularly high schools. We present a new and generic approach to Computing in Danish High Schools based on a conceptual framework derived from ideas related to computational thinking. We present two main theses on which the subject is based, and we present the included knowledge areas and didactical design principles. Finally we summarize the status and future plans for the subject and related development projects.
Using Scaffolded Examples to Teach Computational Thinking Concepts	Proceeding of the 44th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Webb, Heidi; Rosson, Mary Beth	In this paper we describe a set of computing activities that were used in an outreach enrichment program for middle school girls. The computing activities used a combination of scaffolded exam-ples and minimalist workbooks to introduce and support interaction with computational thinking (CT) concepts, including problem solving, abstraction and basic computational vocabulary. We describe the activities briefly, followed by a discussion of the girls' experiences, drawing primarily from interviews conducted at the end of each activity.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2445196.2445227
MPCT: Media Propelled Computational Thinking	Proceedings of the 41st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Freudenthal, Eric Andrew; Roy, Mary K.; Ogrey, Alexandria Nicole; Magoc, Tanja; Siegel, Alan	Media-Propelled Computational Thinking (MPCT - pronounced impact) is a course designed to introduce programming in the context of engaging problems in media computation, math, and physics. Programming concepts are introduced as incremental steps needed to solve pragmatic problems students already understand. The problems, graphical API, and hands-on program features are intended to expose fundamental concepts in mathematics and quantitative science.MPCT is offered in an entering students program for freshmen who plan to specialize in a variety of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) and non-STEM subjects. The curriculum is intended to strengthen student intuition and interest in mathematical modeling and programming by engaging students in the direct manipulation of simple mathematical systems that model and display familiar physical phenomena. MPCT uses programs as concrete and manipulatable examples of fundamental concepts to engage a diverse range of students including women and underrepresented minorities.Variants of MPCT are being developed for high schools, and as a means to introduce computational science to upper division undergraduates studying non-computational STEM disciplines. This paper provides an overview of MPCT and representative problem studies including models of ballistics and resonant systems. The evaluation plan is described and very preliminary results are presented.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1734263.1734276
Informatics Concepts for Primary Education: Preparing Children for Computational Thinking	Proceedings of the 9th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Sabitzer, Barbara; Antonitsch, Peter K.; Pasterk, Stefan	In Austria Informatics is not taught in primary schools, but the curriculum includes some issues in several subjects that are related to computational thinking. Teachers are not aware that they already teach and use informatics concepts in their daily lessons. Informatics didactics experts and teacher trainers have to inform them and reveal connections between their primary school contents and different informatics concepts. Furthermore, one general educational aim of the curriculum is the acquisition of elementary cultural techniques including a child-friendly approach to modern information and communication technologies (ICT). The aim of this paper is to show how this is possible in practice and lists informatics concepts already "hidden" in the primary school curriculum. It reports on different initiatives that aim at introducing informatics in primary schools as well as a sample project on computational thinking funded by the regional teacher support program Teaching Informatics creatively. The qualitative results of this and other primary school projects show that it is possible and worth integrating informatics already at this early stage.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2670757.2670778
IT Problem Solving: An Implementation of Computational Thinking in Information Technology	Proceedings of the 13th Annual Conference on Information Technology Education	L'Heureux, Jaime; Boisvert, Deborah; Cohen, Robert; Sanghera, Kamaljeet	This paper describes the implementation of information technology problem-solving constructs and scenarios designed to cultivate computational thinking in information technology education at the college level via a course entitled "IT Problem Solving." A project of Broadening Advanced Technological Connections (BATEC), these scenarios were developed by a team of researchers under the auspices of an NSF CPATH grant focusing on adapting Computational Thinking as defined by Jeanette Wing into a more applied framework in partnership with and validated by a broad set of Information Technology (IT) professionals. The methodologies used within this highly successful course at Bunker Hill Community College may be of interest to other departments with existing IT programs that would like to take advantage of the strengths of the problem solving approach.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2380552.2380606
Smart Textile Objects and Conductible Ink as a Context for Arts Based Teaching and Learning of Computational Thinking at Primary School	Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality	Reimann, Daniela; Maday, Christiane	The shaping of Smart Textile artefacts brings together a variety of learning activities, such as imagining, designing, drawing, constructing, wiring, programming, controlling, testing, debugging and presenting self-made, invented media objects, realized in project- and team based arrangements. A variety of human senses are addressed when pupils develop and sketch their project ideas to be realized. In the paper, we discuss the topic of self-made Smart Textile objects as a learning content for primary school level, towards the development of curriculum modules for project learning in the classroom as well as teacher training. It was developed in the 'Teachers Aids on Creating Contents for Learning Environments' TACCLE3 coding project.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3012430.3012493
The Solothurn Project: Bringing Computer Science Education to Primary Schools in Switzerland	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Lamprou, Anna; Repenning, Alexander; Escherle, Nora A.	Currently Switzerland is going through a major reform in its education system. One of its most ambitious and important goals is the inclusion of Computer Science Education already on the primary school level, an important measure in achieving the establishment of an information society. Such a reform raises questions about the appropriate types of approaches to be developed and employed for an effective implementation of Computer Science Education concepts in Swiss primary schools. To this end, the project "Scalable Game Design Solothurn" was developed and evaluated. This project both trained teachers and exposed students to Computational Thinking concepts through the two Computational Thinking Tools AgentSheets and AgentCubes online. Results show that teaching Computational Thinking through Scalable Game Design is not only feasible on the primary school level but also enjoyable, with AgentSheets and AgentCubes online proving to be sustainable and effective tools for the implementation of Computer Science Education on this school level. Further analysis of the data enables us to make recommendations regarding optimal ways of implementation for the Swiss reality and point towards new research directions.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3059009.3059017
Engaging Computer Science in Traditional Education: The ECSITE Project	Proceedings of the 17th ACM Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Goldberg, Debra S.; Grunwald, Dirk; Lewis, Clayton; Feld, Jessica A.; Hug, Sarah	Engaging Computer Science in Traditional Education (ECSITE, pronounced "excite") is a 5-year program that began in 2009 to bring computer science into traditional K-12 classrooms. Rather than seeking to draw students into computing courses, we bring computing into the courses that students are already taking. To date, these have included art, biology, health education, mathematics, and social studies courses as well as a Native American focus program. Middle school and high school students are introduced to computational thinking and computer science concepts including algorithms, graph theory, and simulations in interdisciplinary contexts, mirroring the ways in which computing technologies are utilized in research and industry. Teachers report that students increase their understanding and perception of computer science, and that participating K-12 teachers increase their knowledge about computing and will continue to include the computational curriculum after their involvement with ECSITE.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2325296.2325377
Assessing Software Development Skills among K-6 Learners in a Project-Based Workshop with Scratch	Proceedings of the 40th International Conference on Software Engineering: Software Engineering Education and Training	Gutierrez, Francisco J.; Simmonds, Jocelyn; Hitschfeld, Nancy; Casanova, Cecilia; Sotomayor, Cecilia; Peña-Araya, Vanessa	Recent literature reports a fair amount of initiatives on how to engage younger populations in achieving computational literacy. However, there is considerable less research on how to effectively deliver software development skills in a way that can be accepted and ultimately adopted by this user group. As a way to bridge this gap, we ran an extracurricular project-based workshop, targeting 10-12 years old learners with no prior coding experience, delivered over five days in the computer labs at the University of Chile. In this workshop, participants follow hands-on activities where they acquire the basics of computer programming and develop a small-scale software application using Scratch. These activities showcase that good software engineering practices can be taught to K-6 students, where these students are guided by experienced computer science undergraduate and graduate students. This paper presents a descriptive case study that focuses on assessing how K-6 learners assimilate and use these practices when developing their first computing application in a non-traditional learning experience. In order to do this, we designed and calibrated a rubric to evaluate the software products generated by the workshop participants. Our findings provide further evidence that it is indeed possible to teach initial notions of software engineering to this user group, structuring these constructs in a non-technical language that can be assimilated by novice developers. Furthermore, we did not observe significant differences in this matter according to gender and socio-economic status.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3183377.3183396
Conversational Programming: Exploring Interactive Program Analysis	Proceedings of the 2013 ACM International Symposium on New Ideas, New Paradigms, and Reflections on Programming & Software	Repenning, Alexander	Our powerful computers help very little in debugging the program we have so we can change it into the program we want. We introduce Conversational Programming as a way to harness our computing power to inspect program meaning through a combination of partial program execution and semantic program annotation. A programmer in our approach interactively selects highly autonomous "agents" in a program world as conversation topics and then changes the world to explore the potential behaviors of a selected agent in different scenarios. In this way, the programmer proactively knows how their code affects program execution as they explore various contexts. This paper describes conversational programming through design principles and use cases.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2509578.2509591
Making University Education More like Middle School Computer Club: Facilitating the Flow of Inspiration	Proceedings of the 14th Western Canadian Conference on Computing Education	Repenning, Alexander; Basawapatna, Ashok; Koh, Kyu Han	The way programming is currently taught at the University level provides little incentive and tends to discourage student peer-to-peer interaction. These practices effectively stifle any notion of a 'learning community' developing among students enrolled in university level programming classes. This approach to programming education stands in stark contrast to the 'middle school computer club' approach; As part of 10 years of research projects aiming to teach programming to middle school children, it is observed that middle school students in computer clubs freely share programming ideas, code, and often query one another and provide solutions to the various programming problems encountered. To enable these interactions at the university level, a novel online infrastructure has been developed over the past 6 years through use in the Educational Game Design Class at the University of Colorado Boulder. The culmination of the submission system, entitled the Scalable Game Design Arcade (SGDA), seems to foster the flow of ideas among students yielding an effective open classroom approach to programming education.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1536274.1536281
Tangible Media Approaches to Introductory Computer Science	Proceedings of the 2015 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Barba, Evan; Chancellor, Stevie	Computing is an increasingly important component of many jobs and demand for computing skills is far outpacing the number of computationally literate workers available. Non-majors, adult learners, and other non-traditional students can potentially fill some of these positions. However, traditional CS education pathways do not currently address the unique needs of these students. New approaches to CS education that fit with the goals and lifestyles of non-traditional CS students are needed. In line with Computational Media approaches known to be successful with non-majors, we designed and implemented two graduate- level courses, one using a Pixelsense and the other using Arduino, to teach computational thinking, programming, and design skills. We compare findings from these two courses with specific focus on non-major graduate students, but including topics relevant for traditional CS educators, such as, the importance of choice of platform, structure of assignments, maintaining student motivation, and the impact of self-guided final projects.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2729094.2742612
Providing Meaningful Feedback for Autograding of Programming Assignments	Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Haldeman, Georgiana; Tjang, Andrew; Babeş-Vroman, Monica; Bartos, Stephen; Shah, Jay; Yucht, Danielle; Nguyen, Thu D.	Autograding systems are increasingly being deployed to meet the challenge of teaching programming at scale. We propose a methodology for extending autograders to provide meaningful feedback for incorrect programs. Our methodology starts with the instructor identifying the concepts and skills important to each programming assignment, designing the assignment, and designing a comprehensive test suite. Tests are then applied to code submissions to learn classes of common errors and produce classifiers to automatically categorize errors in future submissions. The instructor maps the errors to concepts and skills and writes hints to help students find their misconceptions and mistakes. We have applied the methodology to two assignments from our Introduction to Computer Science course. We used submissions from one semester of the class to build classifiers and write hints for observed common errors. We manually validated the automatic error categorization and potential usefulness of the hints using submissions from a second semester. We found that the hints given for erroneous submissions should be helpful for 96% or more of the cases. Based on these promising results, we have deployed our hints and are currently collecting submissions and feedback from students and instructors.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3159450.3159502
How Different Input and Output Modalities Support Coding as a Problem-Solving Process for Children	Proceedings of the The 15th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Zhu, Kening; Ma, Xiaojuan; Wong, Gary Ka Wai; Huen, John Man Ho	Using coding education to promote computational thinking and nurture problem-solving skills in children has become an emerging global trend. However, how different input and output modalities in coding tools affect coding as a problem-solving process remains unclear. Of interest are the advantages and disadvantages of graphical and tangible interfaces for teaching coding to children. We conducted four kids coding workshops to study how different input and output methods in coding affected the problem-solving process and class dynamics. Results revealed that graphical input could keep children focused on problem solving better than tangible input, but it was less provocative for class discussion. Tangible output supported better schema construction and casual reasoning and promoted more active class engagement than graphical output but offered less affordance for analogical comparison among problems. We also derived insights for designing new tools and teaching methods for kids coding.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2930674.2930697
Low-Cost Programmable Air Quality Sensor Kits in Science Education	Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Fjukstad, Bjørn; Angelvik, Nina; Hauglann, Maria Wulff; Knutsen, Joachim Sveia; Grønnesby, Morten; Gunhildrud, Hedinn; Bongo, Lars Ailo	We describe our citizen science approach and technologies designed to introduce students in upper secondary schools to computational thinking and engineering. Using an Arduino microcontroller and low-cost sensors we have developed the air:bit, a programmable sensor kit that students build and program to collect air quality data. In our course, students develop their own research questions regarding air quality before using their own air quality sensor kit to answer their respective questions. This project combines electronics and coding with natural sciences providing a truly interdisciplinary course. We have open-sourced the teaching materials including the building and coding instructions. In addition, students can contribute to our web-based platform for storing, visualizing, and exploring the collected air quality data. It also provides an open API for anyone to download air quality data collected by the students. Through the website, available at airbit.uit.no, students are motivated to contribute air quality data open to the public. We describe lessons learned from our pilot project in a Norwegian upper secondary school and how we are deploying it in 10 schools across Northern Norway. In the pilot, students successfully built and coded the air:bits, and after two months of data collection they could correctly describe local patterns in the air quality. We believe that by combining electronics and coding with the natural sciences we motivate students to engage in all scientific disciplines.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3159450.3159569
Musicomputation: Teaching Computer Science to Teenage Musicians	Proceedings of the Seventh ACM Conference on Creativity and Cognition	Meyers, Adam L.; Cole, Marilyn C.; Korth, Evan; Pluta, Sam	While algorithms have existed in math, music and other fields for over one thousand years, the use of algorithms to solve problems has become easier than ever before due to the advent of the modern computer. This fact, in combination with advances in signal processing, makes an understanding of computer science an absolute necessity for future composers of music. This paper describes a highly successful intensive three week class called Musicomputation, in which computer science and computer music were taught to eleven 11-17 year old students with previous expertise in music and mathematics. We discuss details of the class and the possible implications for education.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1640233.1640241
Generally Educated In The 21st Century: The Importance Of Computer Literacy In An Undergraduate Curriculum	Proceedings of the Western Canadian Conference on Computing Education	Hoar, Ricardo	All undergraduate students, regardless of discipline, should be technologically literate. Graduates should be able to use computers effectively, and possess a rudimentary understanding of the theory and practice that makes our interconnected world possible. Unfortunately, a wide array of arguments have arisen that marginalize computer education, leaving students to educate themselves in the tools and theory of computing on their own, if at all. This paper draws from many studies related to computer literacy in university curriculum to articulate what type of integration are possible. It also breaks down arguments against computer literacy including the "digital native" myth and the conflation of "computer literacy" with "computer skills".	https://doi.org/10.1145/2597959.2597964
Teaching Computer Science to Young Children through Creativity: Lessons Learned from the Case of Norway	Proceedings of the 3rd Computer Science Education Research Conference on Computer Science Education Research	Giannakos, Michail N.; Jaccheri, Letizia; Proto, Roberta	Computer science education often faces problems related to passive teaching and curricular constraints. These problems distort the students' perception of computer science and thus lead to lack of interest in the curriculum and in related professions. The main goals of the project reported in this paper are (1) to excite and motivate students in computer science through creative activities, and (2) to introduce the idea of becoming creators of digital media through programming instead of remaining passive learners. Based on the above goals, we conducted field studies, collected data through student interviews, qualitatively analyzed the data and summarized the lessons learned through the project. Specifically, a group of researchers and artists designed and implemented two 2-day workshops involving a total of 29 students, exploring their experiences with the program. The workshops were based on the open source software Scratch, as well as the creative use of recycled materials. The qualitative approach of the research is based on data collected through interviews, photos, and observations. The results showed that: (a) the participants regarded the workshop as an overall positive experience, (b) creativity is an excellent means to promote and teach programming, and (c) a workshop approach raises interest in computer science among female students in particular.
An International Comparison of K-12 Computer Science Education Intended and Enacted Curricula	Proceedings of the 19th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research	Falkner, Katrina; Sentance, Sue; Vivian, Rebecca; Barksdale, Sarah; Busuttil, Leonard; Cole, Elizabeth; Liebe, Christine; Maiorana, Francesco; McGill, Monica M.; Quille, Keith	This paper presents an international study of K-12 Computer Science implementation across Australia, England, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Scotland and the United States. We present findings from a pilot study, comparing CS curriculum requirements (intended curriculum) captured through country reports, with what surveyed teachers (n=244) identify as enacting in their classroom (the enacted curriculum). We address the extent that teachers are implementing the intended curriculum as enacted curriculum, exploring specifically country differences in terms of programming languages and CS topics implemented. Our findings highlight the similarities and differences of intended and enacted CS curriculum within and across countries and the value of such comparisons.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3364510.3364517
Connecting across Campus	Proceedings of the 41st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	LeBlanc, Mark D.; Armstrong, Tom; Gousie, Michael B.	Computer science holds a unique position to craft multidisciplinary curricula for the new generation of faculty and students across the academy who increasingly rely on computing for their scholarship. We propose that computer science programs cease curricula models that begin with a two-course sequence that emulates the natural sciences and mathematics. We report on an aggressive strategy to work with faculty from across the disciplines of arts, humanities, and the social and life sciences to help design and deliver sets of multidisciplinary, applied, and "connected" pairs of introductory courses. Preliminary results at our small liberal arts college include an increase in the percentage of women enrolling in our connected courses, more students taking an additional course in computing, a faculty energized with sharing their research early on, and new interdisciplinary research opportunities for computer science faculty and students.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1734263.1734280
Computing Education in Korea—Current Issues and Endeavors	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Choi, Jeongwon; An, Sangjin; Lee, Youngjun	Computer education has been provided for a long period of time in Korea. Starting as a vocational program, the content of computer education for students evolved to include content on computer literacy, Information Communication Technology (ICT) literacy, and brand-new computer science. While a new curriculum related to computer science was established in 2007, the range of computer education being provided in Korean schools has been repeatedly reduced. To identify the cause of this recent phenomenon, we review the computer education environment using the Darmstadt model, including educational systems, curricula, and teaching environments. Then we examine what factors affected the decline of computer education. The major causes of failure are found to be the absence of policy and a comprehensive evaluation method. These causes have led to a reduction in the selection ratio of computer-related subjects and in the number of students taking computer classes. Based on this understanding, we bring some fundamental message for establishing robust computer science education.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2716311
Mashup Services to Daily Activities: End-User Perspective in Designing a Consumer Mashups	Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Information Integration and Web-Based Applications and Services	Zhao, Zhenzhen; Bhattarai, Sirsha; Liu, Ji; Crespi, Noel	Mashups have been gaining wide popularity over the past few years. Several tools and platforms exist to support user-created mashups, however working with them is still complex, and their inability to directly impact existing activities and daily lives of endusers provide little motivation for their adoption and sustained use. This paper aims to design and implement a user-centered mashup system which provides greater motivation for mashups usage, by relating every-day calendar events to useful gadgets. The system offers high level of abstraction to end users, which eliminates the need for programming and the burden of knowing about data flows from one service to the other. The platform exhibits context-orientation, personalization and socialization features which are believed to improve user experience in the system. Strong focus on functionality integration rather than data integration is believed to create greater usefulness and motivation in using the system. The system is evaluated by 131 end-users to test for usability. Also, the system is used as a representative example in proposing a user-acceptance model for consumer mashups.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2095536.2095574
Un-Crafting: De-Constructive Engagements with Interactive Artifacts	Proceedings of the Eleventh International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction	Murer, Martin; Fuchsberger, Verena; Tscheligi, Manfred	Crafting interactive artifacts is typically associated with synthesizing, making, constructing, putting things together. In this paper, we discuss how these activities can be contrasted with de-synthesizing activities that revolve around decomposition, dissection, and taking things apart. Based on framings that emphasize how related practices are valuable in engineering processes, we aim to unlock the potential of de-constructive engagements with interactive technologies as a material driven (design) practice. We propose un-crafting as a framework of four modes of taking interactive artifacts apart (i.e., un-crafting for material exposition, material inspiration, material inquiry, and material exploration) aiming to pinpoint de-constructive episodes inherent to design processes, as well as to encourage the refinement of respective techniques and methods.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3024969.3024993
User-Centered Design in Block-Based Programming: Developmental & Pedagogical Considerations for Children	Proceedings of the The 15th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Hansen, Alexandria K.; Iveland, Ashley; Carlin, Cameron; Harlow, Danielle B.; Franklin, Diana	In this paper, we present an analysis of 123 students' (aged 9-12) digital stories created in a visual block-based programming language across three grade levels (grades 4-6). These students were all involved in the same introductory computer science curriculum. Participating students attended the same school and received computer science instruction from the same teacher within the context of the academic day. We analyzed each project for the extent of user-centered design that the student programmed. Specifically, we identified two components of user-centered design: 1) the programmed control choices students used, and 2) if/how they communicated those mechanisms of control to the user. Our work indicates that students in fifth and sixth grade (aged 10-12) used higher diversity of event blocks and coordinated action across multiple sprites at a higher rate compared to fourth grade students (aged 9-10). In contrast, fourth grade students tended to create more simplistic programs, rarely coordinating actions across multiple sprites. This work suggests that the construct of user-centered design within visual block-based programming languages is more complex than previously indicated. Additionally, explicit instruction about user-centered design is necessary, but may be more effective when a student reaches the age of 10 or 11 years old.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2930674.2930699
How Can a Social Debugging Game Effectively Teach Computer Programming Concepts?	Proceedings of the Ninth Annual International ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research	Lee, Michael J.	The dramatically changing availability and sharing of information online has created new opportunities for informal, discretionary learning. This, along with the rise in online gaming across all ages and genders, gives rise to questions about how these resources can be used effectively for teaching. In my work, I examine the efficacy of an online debugging game designed to teach computer programming. More specifically, in addition to developing the game and its learning objectives, I investigate how the inclusion of new features and the manipulation of specific elements within the game affects people's motivation and learning of computer programming and debugging concepts.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2493394.2493424
Beyond the Algorithmization of the Sciences	Commun. ACM	Easton, Thomas A.	Algorithmic thinking is transforming both the descriptive sciences and the humanities, bringing them all closer to the mathematical core of computer science.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1125944.1125967
On Domain Knowledge and Novelty to Improve Program Synthesis Performance with Grammatical Evolution	Proceedings of the Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference	Hemberg, Erik; Kelly, Jonathan; O'Reilly, Una-May	Programmers solve coding problems with the support of both programming and problem specific knowledge. They integrate this domain knowledge to reason by computational abstraction. Correct and readable code arises from sound abstractions and problem solving. We attempt to transfer insights from such human expertise to genetic programming (GP) for solving automatic program synthesis. We draw upon manual and non-GP Artificial Intelligence methods to extract knowledge from synthesis problem definitions to guide the construction of the grammar that Grammatical Evolution uses and to supplement its fitness function. We examine the impact of using such knowledge on 21 problems from the GP program synthesis benchmark suite. Additionally, we investigate the compounding impact of this knowledge and novelty search. The resulting approaches exhibit improvements in accuracy on a majority of problems in the field's benchmark suite of program synthesis problems.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3321707.3321865
The Computing Alliance of Hispanic-Serving Institutions: Supporting Hispanics at Critical Transition Points	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Gates, Ann Quiroz; Hug, Sarah; Thiry, Heather; Aló, Richard; Beheshti, Mohsen; Fernandez, John; Rodriguez, Nestor; Adjouadi, Malek	Hispanics have the highest growth rates among all groups in the U.S., yet they remain considerably underrepresented in computing careers and in the numbers who obtain advanced degrees. Hispanics constituted about 7% of undergraduate computer science and computer engineering graduates and 1% of doctoral graduates in 2007–2008. The small number of Hispanic faculty, combined with the lack of Hispanic role models and mentors, perpetuates a troublesome cycle of underrepresentation in STEM fields. In 2004, seven Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) formed the Computing Alliance of Hispanic-Serving Institutions (CAHSI) to consolidate their strengths, resources, and concerns with the aim of increasing the number of Hispanics who pursue and complete baccalaureate and advanced degrees in computing areas. To address barriers that hinder students from advancing, CAHSI defined a number of initiatives, based on programs that produced promising results at one or more institutions. These included the following: a CS-0 course that focuses on adoption of a three-unit pre-CS course that uses graphics and animation to engage and prepare students who have no prior experience in computing; a peer mentoring strategy that provides an active, collaborative learning experience for students while creating leadership roles for undergraduates; an undergraduate and graduate student research model that emphasizes the deliberate and intentional development of technical, team, and professional skills and knowledge required for research and cooperative work; and a mentoring framework for engaging undergraduates in experiences and activities that prepare them for graduate studies and onto the professoriate. CAHSI plays a critical role in evaluating, documenting, and disseminating effective practices that achieve its mission. This paper provides an overview of CAHSI initiatives and describes how each addresses causes of underrepresentation of Hispanics in computing. In addition, it describes the evaluation and assessment of the initiatives and presents the results that support CAHSI’s claim of their effectiveness.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2037276.2037280
Better Together: Disaggregating Mobile Services for Emergent Users	Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services	Robinson, Simon; Pearson, Jennifer; Jones, Matt; Joshi, Anirudha; Ahire, Shashank	Mainstream mobile interactions are focused around individual devices, with any collaboration happening via `the cloud'. We carried out design workshops with emergent users, revealing opportunities for novel collocated collaborative interactions. In this paper we present Better Together - a framework for disaggregating services, splitting interaction elements over separate mobiles. This distribution supports both sharing of resources (such as screen real-estate, or mobile data); and, scaffolding of inclusive interaction in mixed groups (e.g., in terms of literacy or prior technology exposure). We developed two prototypes to explore the concept, trialling the first—collocated group-based shopping list making—with emergent users in South Africa and India. We deployed the second probe, which splits YouTube into its constituent parts across separate mobiles, in a longitudinal study with users in Kenya, South Africa and India. We describe the concept and design process, and report on the design's suitability for emergent users based on our results.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3098279.3098534
Improving Research and Experience Reports of Pre-College Computing Activities: A Gap Analysis	Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	McGill, Monica M.; Decker, Adrienne; Abbott, Zachary	This paper provides a detailed examination of pre-college computing activities as reported in three Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) venues (2012-2016). Ninety-two articles describing informal learning activities were reviewed for 24 program elements (i.e., activity components, and student/instructor demographics). These 24 program elements were defined and shaped by a virtual focus group study and the articles themselves. Results indicate that the majority of authors adequately report age/grade levels of participants, number of participants, the type of activity, when the activity was offered, the tools/languages used in the activity, and whether the activity was required or elective. However, there is a deficiency in reporting many other important and foundational program elements, including contact hours of activity participants, clear learning objectives, the prior experience of participants (students and instructors), and many more. In conjunction with previous work, this paper provides recommendations to reduce these deficiencies. The Recommendations for Reporting Pre-College Computing Activities (Version 1.0) are presented to help researchers improve the quality of papers, set a standard of necessary data needed to replicate studies, and provide a basis for comparing activities and activity outcomes across multiple studies and experiences.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3159450.3159481
The Digital Dream Lab: Tabletop Puzzle Blocks for Exploring Programmatic Concepts	Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Tangible, Embedded and Embodied Interaction	Oh, Hyunjoo; Deshmane, Anisha; Li, Feiran; Han, Ji Yeon; Stewart, Matt; Tsai, Michael; Xu, Xing; Oakley, Ian	Tangible interaction links digital data with physical forms to support embodied use. Puzzle pieces, which their inherent physical syntax of connectable elements, provide a powerful and expressive metaphor on which to construct such tangible systems. Prior work has explored this potential in the domain of edutainment systems for children aimed at tasks such as learning logic, programming or organizational skills. Although this work is promising, it has largely focused on relatively advanced concepts and children of ages 7-12 years. The work presented in this paper adopts the same perspective but focuses on young children (5 and under) and a simpler range of concepts relating to the clustering and manipulation of data. To achieve this it presents the design (including results from a series of six formative field studies) and implementation of the Digital Dream Lab tabletop puzzle block system. This system, intended for installation in a museum, engages young children (aged 4-5) to explore simple programmatic concepts and the link between the physical and virtual world. The paper closes with design recommendations of future work targeting this goal, setting and age group.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2460625.2460633
Using A Visual Programming Environment and Custom Robots to Learn C Programming and K-12 STEM Concepts	Proceedings of the 6th Annual Conference on Creativity and Fabrication in Education	Krishnamoorthy, Sai Prasanth; Kapila, Vikram	This paper presents a robot-Visual Programming Environment (VPE) interface that can support K-12 students to learn science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) concepts. Specifically, we employ Google's Blockly VPE to construct a blocks-based visual programming tool to facilitate easy programming of and interaction with physical robots. Through a careful and intentional integration of the Blockly VPE and physical robots, we illustrate that many K-12 level STEM concepts, which are traditionally treated through lectures and problem-solving, can be explored in a hands-on manner. The use of Blockly VPE obviates the need for prior experience with computer programming or familiarity with advanced programming concepts. Moreover, it permits students to learn various programming constructs, sequentially, starting from the fundamentals and gradually progressing to advanced concepts. The web-based Blockly VPE provides an interface that allows the user to browse through a block library and construct a block code for which a corresponding C program is automatically generated. The default web-based Blockly interface has been modified to permit the user to edit the resulting C program or to create an entirely new C program. Moreover, the Blockly VPE allows the user to wirelessly upload the C program to a Linux server running on a Raspberry Pi computer hosted on the robot. The Raspberry Pi compiles the received C program and serially transfers corresponding instructions to the robot's embedded hardware. The efficacy of the proposed robot-VPE interface is examined through students' experiences in conducting several illustrative robot-based STEM learning activities. The results of content quizzes and surveys show gains in students' understanding of STEM concepts after participation in robotics activities with the VPE interface.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3003397.3003403
Teaching High Performance Computing to Undergraduate Faculty and Undergraduate Students	Proceedings of the 2010 TeraGrid Conference	Fitz Gibbon, Andrew; Joiner, David A.; Neeman, Henry; Peck, Charles; Thompson, Skylar	A growing proportion of Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM) research is increasingly dependent on Cyberinfrastructure (CI). CI has experienced rapid progress in enabling technologies – hardware, storage, networking, middleware, tools, libraries – but much slower improvements in workforce development. Currently, CI consumers tend to lag substantially behind CI capabilities. This paper describes a series of linked efforts to address the gap between the workforce and the technology.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1838574.1838581
ISIS: A Networked-Epidemiology Based Pervasive Web App for Infectious Disease Pandemic Planning and Response	Proceedings of the 20th ACM SIGKDD International Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining	Beckman, Richard; Bisset, Keith R.; Chen, Jiangzhuo; Lewis, Bryan; Marathe, Madhav; Stretz, Paula	We describe ISIS, a high-performance-computing-based application to support computational epidemiology of infectious diseases. ISIS has been developed over the last seven years in close coordination with public health and policy experts. It has been used in a number of important federal planning and response exercises. ISIS grew out of years of experience in developing and using HPC-oriented models of complex socially coupled systems. This identified the guiding principle that complex models will be used by domain experts only if they can do realistic analysis without becoming computing experts.Using ISIS, one can carry out detailed computational experiments as they pertain to planning and response in the event of a pandemic. ISIS is designed to support networked epidemiology – study of epidemic processes over social contact networks. The current system can handle airborne infectious diseases such as influenza, pertussis, and smallpox. ISIS is comprised of the following basic components: (i) a web app that serves as the user-interface, (ii) a middleware that coordinates user interaction via the web app with backend models and databases, (iii) a backend computational modeling framework that is comprised of highly resolved epidemic simulations combined with highly realistic control strategies that include pharmaceutical as well as non-pharmaceutical interventions and (iv) a backend data management framework that manages complex unstructured and semi-structured data.ISIS has been used in over a dozen case studies defined by the DoD, DHHS, NIH, BARDA and NSC. We describe three recent studies illustrating the use of ISIS in real-world settings:(i) uses of ISIS during the H1N1 pandemic, Cii) supporting a US military planning exercise, and (iii) distribution of limited stockpile of pharmaceuticals using public and private outlets.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2623330.2623375
Interdisciplinary Projects in the Academic Studio	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Gestwicki, Paul; McNely, Brian	We define and describe the academic studio model for interdisciplinary, undergraduate, project-oriented education. This model brings faculty, students, and community partners together to investigate an open-ended academic question, and their collaboration yields an original product that represents their inquiry. The academic studio integrates agile software development practice, project-oriented pedagogy, and sociocultural cognition theories. Scrum provides the framework in which self-organizing, cross-functional teams define their methodology, and Scrum practices facilitate assessment of student learning outcomes.This model emerged from design-based research across six studio instances, each of which investigated the relationship of fun, games, and learning through the development of educational video games. Formal and informal analysis of these instances gives rise to several themes, including the importance of a formalized process to encourage learning and productivity, the critical role of an expert faculty mentor, the need to combine academic and industrial practice to manage the inherent challenges of collaborative software development, and the unique characteristics of learning outcomes arising from this model. We conclude that the academic studio model is beneficial to student learning and faculty development, and we encourage the adoption, adaptation, and evaluation of the model.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2732157
Mixed Approaches to CS0: Exploring Topic and Pedagogy Variance after Six Years of CS0	Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Wood, Zoë J.; Clements, John; Peterson, Zachary; Janzen, David; Smith, Hugh; Haungs, Michael; Workman, Julie; Bellardo, John; DeBruhl, Bruce	Since 2010, the Cal Poly Computer Science Department has required computing majors to select from a variety of CS0 courses to start their academic year. The broad objective of the course is to attract and retain undergraduates that have no prior experience in CS by using authentic problems that demonstrate the relevance and highlight the role of computers in solving "real world" problems. The course is offered in a variety of thematic "flavors" that leverage a student's pre-existing interests (e.g. in music or art), but all share the common goals of introducing students to the basics of programming, teamwork, and college-level study. While there is overlap in overall goals, the courses vary drastically in topic matter (e.g. robotics, gaming, music, computational art, mobile apps, security) and in pedagogical approach (e.g. principles of design, project-based student driven learning, and traditional topic-based programming modules). The introduction of this CS0 course has increased students' commitment to their major and success in follow-on classes. We present these successes and show that student GPAs in a follow-on object oriented programming course do not vary significantly for the differing subtopics and teaching pedagogies employed in the various flavors. Our report includes examining two student subgroups (those experienced with programming and those new to programming). Our evaluations suggest that the existence and goal of the course matter more than the specific content, with all subtopics and pedagogical approaches performing well.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3159450.3159592
Bridging (Gender-Related) Barriers: A Comparative Study of Intercultural Computer Clubs	Proceedings of the Third Conference on GenderIT	Aal, Konstantin; von Rekowski, Thomas; Yerousis, George; Wulf, Volker; Weibert, Anne	The study explores the positive impact for girls and young women from engaging in computer clubs, with regard to their vocational preparation as well as to their social empowerment. Our comparative study focuses on gender related barriers in a Palestinian refugee camp as well as an intercultural neighborhood in Germany and discusses how the computer club can contribute to overcoming these. Findings indicate a positive impact of open and collaborative working and learning structures; in Palestine and Germany alike.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2807565.2807708
Teachers' Experiences of Using PRIMM to Teach Programming in School	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Sentance, Sue; Waite, Jane; Kallia, Maria	PRIMM is an approach to teaching programming at K-12 that facilitates the structure of lessons in a purposeful way. PRIMM stands for Predict-Run-Investigate-Modify-Make, and draws on recent research in programming education. In particular the PRIMM approach recognises that starting with existing code and being able to explain what it does gives novice programmers the confidence to write their own programs. Using the PRIMM approach, teachers can devise scaffolded and targeted tasks for students which helps engender understanding, particularly for those who may have previously struggled to understand programming concepts. In this techniques paper, we consider what PRIMM is, and the experiences that teachers have had of using the structure in the classroom. PRIMM materials have been trialled in schools in a study involving around 500 students aged 11-14. From interviews with nine participating teachers we have found that teachers particularly value the collaborative approach taken in PRIMM, the structure given to lessons, and the way that resources can be differentiated. We propose that PRIMM is an approach that could be adopted in all phases of programming education as well as in teacher training.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287477
Needle as Input: Exploring Practice and Materiality When Crafting Becomes Computing	Proceedings of the Eleventh International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction	Schoemann, Sarah; Nitsche, Michael	A growing body of research combines craft and interaction design. The "Stitch Sampler" project, a sew-able musical instrument and craft platform, stands in this context. In particular, the project serves to underline the importance of two conceptual themes that have emerged in HCI over the last decade, specifically the "material turn" of research on computing and the "practice" or "action-centric" turn in HCI. We present that our prototype and its evolution process as an example of a third trend in HCI research that has developed closely along-side these shifts, with relation to research specifically on craft practice. We discuss the Stitch Sampler and related work that couple electronics and smart materials with craft practices. In that way the act of crafting has in some cases become a form of computation.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3024969.3024999
Maintaining Assignments Online: Matching, Scheduling, and Flows	Proceedings of the Twenty-Fifth Annual ACM-SIAM Symposium on Discrete Algorithms	Gupta, Anupam; Kumar, Amit; Stein, Cliff	Consider the following edge-orientation problem: edges of a graph appear online one-by-one and they to be directed—given an "orientation". We want to ensure that the in-degree of each vertex remains low. (This is a simple case of scheduling unit-sized jobs on machines, where each job can only go on one of two machines.) If the edge-orientations we assign are irrevocable, we suffer a significant loss in quality due to online decision-making (as compared to the offline performance). For instance the best online competitive ratio achievable is Θ(log m) for even this toy problem.But what if the decisions are not irrevocable — what if we allow a limited number of reassignments? Can we do much better? We show that indeed we can. For instance, for edge-orientation, we can achieve a constant-competitive load while doing only a constant number of re-orientations per edge (in an amortized sense). For more substantial problems, our results are as follows:• For online matching, where the left vertices arrive online and must be matched to the right vertices, we give an algorithm that reassigns the left vertices an (amortized) constant number of times, and maintains a constant factor to the optimal load on the right vertices. We extend this to restricted machine scheduling with arbitrary sized jobs and give an algorithm that maintains load which is O(log log mn) times the optimum, and reassigns each job only an (amortized) constant number of times.• Consider a digraph with a single source, where sinks arrive online and want to send unit flow to the source. The goal is to minimize the congestion on the edges. Suppose there is an offline flow such that the total length of the flow paths is F*. We give an algorithm that reroutes flow along O(F*) edges and achieves a O(1)-approximation to the congestion.
Combinable Memory-Block Transactions	Proceedings of the Twentieth Annual Symposium on Parallelism in Algorithms and Architectures	Blelloch, Guy E.; Gibbons, Phillip B.; Vardhan, S. Harsha	This paper formalizes and studies combinable memory-block transactions (MBTs). The idea is to encode short programs that operate on a single cache/memory block and then to specify such a program with a memory request. The code is then executed at the cache or memory controller, atomically with respect to other accesses to that block by this or other processors. The combinable form allows combining within the memory system or network. In addition to allowing for the standard set of read-modify-write operations (e.g., test-and-set, compare-and-swap, fetch-and-add), MBTs can be used to define other useful operations–such as a fetch-and-add that does not decrement below zero.We show how MBTs can be used to design simple and efficient implementations of a variety of protocols and algorithms, including a priority write, a semaphore with a non-blocking P operation, a bounded queue, and a timestamp-based transactional memory system. In all cases the protocols gain some advantage by using MBTs that are different from the standard set of operations. To gain an understanding of the efficiency that can be gained by using combining, we define a notion of bounded contention and show that all our protocols have bounded contention under arbitrary loads.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1378533.1378537
Online Steiner Tree with Deletions	Proceedings of the Twenty-Fifth Annual ACM-SIAM Symposium on Discrete Algorithms	Gupta, Anupam; Kumar, Amit	In the online Steiner tree problem, the input is a set of vertices that appear one-by-one, and we have to maintain a Steiner tree on the current set of vertices. The cost of the tree is the total length of edges in the tree, and we want this cost to be close to the cost of the optimal Steiner tree at all points in time. If we are allowed to only add edges, a tight bound of Θ(log n) on the competitiveness has been known for two decades. Recently it was shown that if we can add one new edge and make one edge swap upon every vertex arrival, we can still maintain a constant-competitive tree online.But what if the set of vertices sees both additions and deletions? Again, we would like to obtain a low-cost Steiner tree with as few edge changes as possible. The original paper of Imase and Waxman (SIAM J. Disc. Math, 4(3): 369–384, 1991) had also considered this model, and it gave an algorithm that made at most O(n3/2) edge changes for the first n requests, and maintained a constant-competitive tree online. In this paper we improve on these results:• We give an online algorithm that maintains a Steiner tree under only deletions: we start off with a set of vertices, and at each time one of the vertices is removed from this set—our Steiner tree no longer has to span this vertex. We give an algorithm that changes only a constant number of edges upon each request, and maintains a constant-competitive tree at all times. Our algorithm uses the primal-dual framework and a global charging argument to carefully make these constant number of changes.• We also give an algorithm that maintains a Steiner tree in the fully-dynamic model (where each request either adds or deletes a vertex). Our algorithm for this setting makes a constant number of changes per request in an amortized sense.
Game Modding for Computational Thinking: An Integrated Design Approach	Proceedings of the 17th ACM Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Grizioti, Marianthi; Kynigos, Chronis	In this paper, we explore the possible contribution of game modification (or modding) process to the development of Computational Thinking skills by discussing the design of ChoiCo (Choices with Consequences), an online digital environment for game creation and modding. ChoiCo integrates three different affordances for designing its games: a map-based (GIS) game scene, a simplified database and block-based programming editors. We also present a pilot study in which Junior High School students used ChoiCo for creating mods of a given digital game, based on a three-step modding scenario.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3202185.3210800
Developing Computational Thinking via the Visual Programming Tool: Lego Education WeDo	Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality	Pinto-Llorente, Ana M; Martín, Sonia Casillas; González, Marcos Cabezas; García-Peñalvo, Francisco José	This study seeks to extend the existing research on the use of visual programming tools to work and develop computational thinking. We show the primary education students' perceptions of the use of the software Lego Education WeDo in the subject of natural sciences to promote the computational thinking. We tried to test the following hypotheses: Students will learn to build and program 3D models with Lego Education WeDo (H1), students will think creatively to solve the problems (H2), Lego Education WeDo will help pupils to know the relationship between cause and effect (H3), and the tasks developed will allow pupils to reflect about the possibilities they have and to find the correct answer (H4). Based on the result analysis there were evidences of the effectiveness of the project to increase the participants' awareness of the computational thinking. The research also concluded that according to learners' perception, the way in which activities were designed provided them possibilities to learn to build models in 3D and program them. Moreover, the findings of the study also demonstrated that the success of the project also depended on the teacher's role as a guide in the teaching-learning process.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3012430.3012495
Computational Thinking Skills in Dutch Secondary Education	Proceedings of the 8th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Grgurina, Nataša; Barendsen, Erik; Zwaneveld, Bert; van de Grift, Wim; Stoker, Idzard	Computational Thinking is regarded as a necessary analytical skill for young people in the present day information society. We report on an ongoing design research project on Computational Thinking (CT) skills in Dutch secondary computer science (CS) education. The first phase of the project investigates the occurrence and nature of typical CT aspects in existing CS teaching materials, teacher's pedagogical content knowledge and policy documents. In the poster we focus on the overall research design and on the method and preliminary results of the first phase.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2532748.2532768
Analysis of Collaborative Learning in a Computational Thinking Class	Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Chowdhury, Bushra; Bart, Austin Cory; Kafura, Dennis	Collaborative learning can help reduce the anxiety level of learners, improve understanding and thus create a positive atmosphere for learning. This study analyzes students' collaborative learning experiences within small interdisciplinary "cohorts" while learning computational thinking in a university-level class. The cohort allows students from different disciplines to contribute diverse perspectives, socially interact with each other and in turn create situations where two or more students learn together. This study uses both qualitative and quantitative means to explore students' collaborative learning experiences. Ethnographically-informed qualitative data using Stahl's collaborative framework is analyzed. The analysis revealed that most students found the cohort model to be valuable in learning computational thinking by allowing them to ask about and explain problems, especially with students from different disciplines who perceive and explain a problem differently. Quantitative data from a multi-term survey complements and confirms the findings from the qualitative data. Our study helps to inform those teaching foundational computing concepts to a diverse audience of learners.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3159450.3159470
A Study on the Impact of Multidisciplinary Collaboration on Computational Thinking	Proceedings of the 47th ACM Technical Symposium on Computing Science Education	Pulimood, Sarah Monisha; Pearson, Kim; Bates, Diane C.	This paper reports on a multi-semester study of the impact on student perceptions of their computational thinking abilities as a result of collaboration between students in computer science (CS) and journalism courses to solve a problem for a community partner, Habitat for Humanity. Interdisciplinary computing collaborations have become a popular mode of instruction in upper-level CS courses. In many cases, these collaborations have been with other STEM disciplines. However, there are non-STEM fields that have been transformed by computer science and can also serve as fruitful test beds for curricular innovation; journalism is one such field. In this study, undergraduate students in CS and journalism courses focused on creating a computational solution to address a real community need. The study investigates whether immersion in multidisciplinary collaborative experiences increases the computational thinking abilities of both CS and non-CS students. 41 CS students participated in the study alongside 96 students in a range of other STEM and non-STEM majors. Quantitative data were collected to gauge students' attainment of concepts and skills constitutive to computational thinking. Pre-test data indicate that CS students were no different from other STEM students in their own assessment of computational thinking and skills. Post-test data indicate that while all students made significant gains in self-assessment of skills and knowledge, CS majors fared significantly better than their peers. It is particularly noteworthy that CS majors' gains outpaced those of computer engineering majors. Further research is planned to gain additional insight into the possible reasons behind these results.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2839509.2844636
A First Proposal of Pedagogic Conversational Agents to Develop Computational Thinking in Children	Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality	Urrutia, Elizabeth K. Morales; Ocaña, José Miguel; Pérez-Marín, Diana; Tamayo, Silvia	Pedagogic Conversational Agents are interactive systems that teach by talking to the students. They have been used in several domains to develop competences such as storytelling or negotiation from University to Pre-Primary Education. However, in the literature, no cases of using agents for teaching programming to develop computational thinking in children have been found. In the last decades, there is a growing interest in developing computational thinking in children. According to some authors, if children develop computational thinking, they will be able to solve not only computer problems but their daily life problems in a better way. It is under research which educational technologies and methodologies can be more adequate depending on the context to achieve this goal. In this paper, it is proposed, for the first time, the use of Pedagogic Conversational Agents to develop computational thinking in children. Given the complexity of designing this new type of agent, and as it has been done in previous occasions when trying to design a new agent, the MEDIE methodology will be followed to eventually integrate the agent into the classrooms.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3144826.3145350
Relationship between Computational Thinking and a Measure of Intelligence as a General Problem-Solving Ability	Proceedings of the 23rd Annual ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Boom, Kay-Dennis; Bower, Matt; Arguel, Amaël; Siemon, Jens; Scholkmann, Antonia	Computational thinking – the ability to solve problems using concepts from computer science – has been widely discussed in the computer science education field. However, the relationship of computational thinking to intelligence – seen as the general ability to understand and solve complex problems – is contestable and has not been extensively explored. The present study addressed the question of how computational thinking is related to intelligence. To find an answer to this question, 71 pre-service teacher students completed a survey with 20 Bebras tasks as a measure of computational thinking and a non-verbal intelligence test (TONI-3) to assess their general problem-solving ability. The large and significant correlation of r(70) = .53, p < .001, indicates that both concepts are highly related. Implications of the findings are discussed, including the meaning of the relationship between computational thinking and intelligence during teaching and assessment, and the possibility of more holistic measures of computational thinking that incorporate procedural aspects.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3197091.3197104
Exploring Students' Computational Thinking Skills in Modeling and Simulation Projects: A Pilot Study	Proceedings of the Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Grgurina, Nataša; Barendsen, Erik; van Veen, Klaas; Suhre, Cor; Zwaneveld, Bert	Computational Thinking (CT) is gaining a lot of attention in education. We explored how to discern the occurrences of CT in the projects of 12th grade high school students in the computer science (CS) course. Within the projects, they constructed models and ran simulations of phenomena from other (STEM) disciplines. We examined which CT aspects occurred in students' activities and how to assess students' CT accomplishments. For this purpose we employed a framework based on CT characterizations by Wing [14, 15], CSTA [4] and Comer et al. [3]. We analyzed students' project documentation, survey results and interviews with individual students. The findings indicate that this framework is suitable for detection of occurrences of CT aspects in students' data. Moreover, our preliminary results suggest that the framework is useful in assessment of the quality of the students' CT performance.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2818314.2818325
Relationship of Knowledge to Learn in Programming Methodology and Evaluation of Computational Thinking	Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality	López, Arturo Rojas; García-Peñalvo, Francisco J.	Computational thinking (CT) is a way that allows us to create solutions to problems through the use of skills such as abstraction, decomposition, generalization, evaluation and algorithmic design. There are Institutions that offer global CT assessment to particularly promote the study of professions in the area of Computer Science and in some cases there is also training for teachers of primary and secondary education. In this paper we present the proposal to evaluate the CT skills of new students in the Division of Technologies Information and Communication of the Universidad Tecnológica de Puebla to relate the knowledge indicated in the Programming Methodology course and provide an initial environment that accredits learning, review or learn as determined by the test in order to motivate the student who already has a knowledge and attends the required education. The main conclusion of the work is to create learning scenarios through assessing the skills mentioned initially using reagents internationally recognized.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3012430.3012499
Introducing Computational Thinking to K-5 in a French Context	Proceedings of the 2016 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Chiprianov, Vanea; Gallon, Laurent	Computational Thinking (CT) is beginning to be accepted as one of the fundamental 21st century skills for everyone. Curricula and environments are being developed for different group ages, from kindergarten to university, in several countries. As part of this global tendency, France has recently taken political decisions to integrate CT Education (CTE) in the mandatory national curriculum. However, many challenges remain until a full implementation is achieved. In this paper we report on a partnership between a university, local elementary schools and the county Ministry of Education (MoE), and on an exploratory project of introducing CT to K-5 students. This project has provided us with valuable feedback on the specifics of integrating CT in a national curriculum and the creation of a partnership and a community. These lessons will be used in the following stage of scaling up to more elementary schools in the entire county, but also addressing other school levels such as kindergarten, middle school and high school.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2899415.2899439
Code, Connect, Create: The 3C Professional Development Model to Support Computational Thinking Infusion	Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Jocius, Robin; Joshi, Deepti; Dong, Yihuan; Robinson, Richard; Cateté, Veronica; Barnes, Tiffany; Albert, Jennifer; Andrews, Ashley; Lytle, Nicholas	Despite the increasing attention to infusing CT into middle and high school content area classrooms, there is a lack of information about the most effective practices and models to support teachers in their efforts to integrate disciplinary content and CT principles. To address this need, this paper proposes the Code, Connect and Create (3C) professional development (PD) model, which was designed to support middle and high school content area teachers in infusing computational thinking into their classrooms. To evaluate the model, we analyzed quantitative and qualitative data collected from Infusing Computing PD workshops designed for in-service science, math, English language arts, and social studies teachers located in two Southeastern states. Drawing on findings from our analysis of teacher-created learning segments, surveys, and interviews, we argue that the 3C professional development model supported shifts in teacher understandings of the role of computational thinking in content area classrooms, as well as their self-efficacy and beliefs regarding CT integration into disciplinary content. We conclude by offering implications for the use of this model to increase teacher and student access to computational thinking practices in middle and high school classrooms.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3328778.3366797
RaBit EscAPE: A Board Game for Computational Thinking	Proceedings of the 2014 Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Apostolellis, Panagiotis; Stewart, Michael; Frisina, Chris; Kafura, Dennis	Computational thinking (CT) is increasingly seen as a core literacy skill for the modern world on par with the longestablished skills of reading, writing, and arithmetic. To promote the learning of CT at a young age we capitalized on children's interest in play. We designed RabBit EscApe, a board game that challenges children, ages 610, to orient tangible, magnetized manipulatives to complete or create paths. We also ran an informal study to investigate the effectiveness of the game in fostering children's problemsolving capacity during collaborative game play. We used the results to inform our instructional interaction design that we think will better support the learning activities and help children hone the involved CT skills. Overall, we believe in the power of such games to challenge children to grow their understanding of CT in a focused and engaging activity.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2593968.2610489
Algo.Rhythm: Computational Thinking through Tangible Music Device	Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded and Embodied Interaction	Peng, Huaishu	I present the design of Algo.Rhythm, a tangible computational drum kit with programmable behaviors. By arranging and physically connecting a number of drum-bots, each of them records beat patterns from outside world or its precursor, replays the patterns in selectable ways, and passes the rhythm to its neighbors along the drum-bot's surface in 3D space. The construction of drum-bots and the delivery of the beat patterns provide users a unique opportunity to learn a set of computational concepts like sequential execution, iteration, or forking through composing music.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2148131.2148234
A Framework for Hypothesis-Driven Approaches to Support Data-Driven Learning Analytics in Measuring Computational Thinking in Block-Based Programming	Proceedings of the Seventh International Learning Analytics & Knowledge Conference	Grover, Shuchi; Bienkowski, Marie; Basu, Satabdi; Eagle, Michael; Diana, Nicholas; Stamper, John	K-12 classrooms use block-based programming environments (BBPEs) for teaching computer science and computational thinking (CT). To support assessment of student learning in BBPEs, we propose a learning analytics framework that combines hypothesis- and data-driven approaches to discern students' programming strategies from BBPE log data. We use a principled approach to design assessment tasks to elicit evidence of specific CT skills. Piloting these tasks in high school classrooms enabled us to analyze student programs and video recordings of students as they built their programs. We discuss a priori patterns derived from this analysis to support data-driven analysis of log data in order to better assess understanding and use of CT in BBPEs.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3027385.3029440
The Consume - Create Spectrum: Balancing Convenience and Computational Thinking in Stem Learning	Proceedings of the 45th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Basawapatna, Ashok Ram; Repenning, Alexander; Koh, Kyu Han; Savignano, Mark	Future school science standards, such as the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), emphasize the integration of simulation and modeling activities in the classroom environment. The extremes of these activities have two vastly different implementations. On one hand, a teacher can have students experiment on a pre-made simulation associated with the material. On the other hand, students can use, for example, an end-user programming tool to create the simulation from scratch. This allows students to not only experiment on, but also, to model the real world phenomenon being studied- a key component of computational thinking. However, the greater amount of time necessary for student authoring of simulations can make such an approach infeasible in the classroom environment. This paper presents a spectrum of strategies for integrating simulations into class- rooms emphasizing our research at the Scalable Game Design Lab, University of Colorado Boulder as well as research from other entities. Starting at consuming simulations and adding more user interaction and authoring elements begins to provide a gentle slope from consumption towards simulation creation. Results indicate that many of these strategies are quite effective.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2538862.2538950
Escape Machine: Teaching Computational Thinking with a Tangible State Machine Game	Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Weller, Michael Philetus; Do, Ellen Yi-Luen; Gross, Mark D	We present a methodology for building objects-to-think-computationally-with and illustrate its application in developing our Escape Machine game. The input mechanism for this game is a tangible state machine built with Posey, our computationally enhanced construction kit. Through manipulating this state machine children create an algorithmic specification for the behavior of both the avatar and its enemies in an attempt to navigate a maze without being eaten. We outline several strategies for success at Escape Machine and discuss how it embeds an important computational thinking concept in interaction with a tangible device.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1463689.1463767
Learning Relational Algebra by Snapping Blocks	Proceedings of the 45th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Gorman, Jason; Gsell, Sebastian; Mayfield, Chris	Relational algebra provides a theoretical foundation for how modern database management systems optimize and execute queries. Its main concepts are based on set theory and first order logic, which can be challenging for students to learn due to their abstract nature. This paper presents Bags, a new type of visual programming environment (inspired by Snap!) for the teaching of relational operations and data analysis. Students formulate algebraic queries by snapping together graphical blocks that represent data sets and relational operators, resulting in an interactive visualization of the underlying concepts. The outcomes of this work will not only enhance university-level database courses, but also provide an engaging computational thinking resource for K-12 teachers in content areas outside of science and engineering.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2538862.2538961
Children's Assessment of Co-Design Skills: Creativity, Empathy and Collaboration	Proceedings of the 18th ACM International Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Van Mechelen, Maarten; Schut, Alice; Gielen, Mathieu; Södergren, Antonia Clasina	This paper presents a co-design project in a school with 16 children ages 10 to 11 in which three learning goals were defined upfront: creativity, empathy, and collaboration. The first part of the paper demonstrates how these co-design skills were implemented through an iterative process of explanation, practice, reflection, and application. Based on the results of post-interviews and short questionnaires, the second part discusses children's assessments of these skills. Whereas children reported fluctuations in applying these skills, the findings show an overall positive trend towards the end of the project. In future work, these findings will be triangulated with observational data.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3311927.3325334
Introducing Students to Computer Science with Programmes That Don't Emphasise Programming	Proceedings of the 16th Annual Joint Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Bell, Tim; Curzon, Paul; Cutts, Quintin; Dagiene, Valentina; Haberman, Bruria	We examine five outreach programmes that introduce school students to Computer Science. All downplay programming as a pre-requisite skill for engaging with Computer Science, yet they use a wide variety of formats for reaching students, including contests, shows, magazine articles, and resources for teachers. We classify these different approaches, identifying the different ways they have been adapted to their target audience, and drawing out the common elements to provide guidance for similar initiatives.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1999747.1999904
Equal Outcomes 4 All: A Study of Student Learning in ECS	Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	McGee, Steven; McGee-Tekula, Randi; Duck, Jennifer; McGee, Catherine; Dettori, Lucia; Greenberg, Ronald I.; Snow, Eric; Rutstein, Daisy; Reed, Dale; Wilkerson, Brenda; Yanek, Don; Rasmussen, Andrew M.; Brylow, Dennis	This study investigated patterns in the development of computational thinking practices in the context of the Exploring Computer Science (ECS) program, a high school introductory CS course and professional development program designed to foster deep engagement through equitable inquiry around CS concepts. Past research indicates that the personal relevance of the ECS experience influences students' expectancy-value towards computer science. Expectancy-value is a construct that is predictive of career choices. We extended our research to examine whether expectancy-value influences the development of computational thinking practices. This study took place in the context of two ECS implementation projects across two states. Twenty teachers, who implemented ECS in 2016-17, participated in the research. There were 906 students who completed beginning and end of year surveys and assessments. The surveys included demographic questions, a validated expectancy-value scale, and questions about students' course experiences. The assessments were developed and validated by SRI International as a companion to the ECS course. Overall, student performance statistically increased from pretest to posttest with effect size of 0.74. There were no statistically significant differences in performance by gender or race/ethnicity. These results are consistent with earlier findings that a personally relevant course experience positively influences students' expectancy for success. These results expanded on prior research by indicating that students' expectancy-value for computer science positively influenced student learning.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3159450.3159529
Computing Curriculum in Middle Schools: An Experience Report	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Sabbagh, Samah Al; Gedawy, Huda; Alshikhabobakr, Hanan; Razak, Saquib	This paper explores the results of a piloting and field-testing of Alice in the Middle East (Alice ME), a computing curriculum for students in Middle Schools in Qatar. Alice ME is a project aimed at designing and delivering a Qatari context appropriate computing curriculum using Alice software. Curricular materials and professional development were created to help participating teachers deliver the course. An evaluation of the effectiveness of the implementation was carried out during all stages of the project. Results show that students who studied computing through Alice ME showed an improvement in their critical thinking and problem solving skills. Moreover, students and teachers became more motivated to learn programing as a result. This paper suggests best practices in teacher training and CS teaching in K-12 schools in Qatar in addition to sharing lessons learned from the process.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3059009.3059012
Pair Programming for Middle School Students: Does Friendship Influence Academic Outcomes?	Proceeding of the 44th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Werner, Linda; Denner, Jill; Campe, Shannon; Ortiz, Eloy; DeLay, Dawn; Hartl, Amy C.; Laursen, Brett	Research shows the benefits of pair programming for retention and performance in computing, but little is known about how relationship dynamics influence outcomes. We describe results from our study of middle school students programming games using Alice and pair programming. From our analysis using statistical procedures that take into account the interdependence of pair data, we found evidence for partner influence moderated by the role of confidence over improvements in Alice programming knowledge in friend partnerships but not non-friend partnerships. We discuss implications for researchers and educators.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2445196.2445322
Entanglion: A Board Game for Teaching the Principles of Quantum Computing	Proceedings of the 2018 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play	Weisz, Justin D.; Ashoori, Maryam; Ashktorab, Zahra	Educational games are a creative, enjoyable way for students to learn about technical concepts. We present Entanglion, a board game that aims to introduce the fundamental concepts of quantum computing – a highly technical domain – to students and enthusiasts of all ages. We describe our iterative design process and feedback from evaluations we conducted with students and professionals. Our playtesters gave positive feedback on our game, indicating it was engaging while simultaneously educational. We discuss a number of lessons we learned from our experience designing and evaluating a pedagogical game for a highly technical subject.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3242671.3242696
Questions on Spoken Language and Terminology for Teaching Computer Science	Proceedings of the 2015 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Diethelm, Ira; Goschler, Juliana	Spoken and written language are key factors for communication, especially for teaching and learning in general and for all subjects. In K-12 schools, 'being fluent with information technology', 'CS fluency and competency', 'computer literacy' and 'computational literacy' are terms for learning objectives of ICT, computer science courses that refer to skills in CS as well as to reading and speaking. But in most cases, the term 'language' in the context of CS refers to programming languages or formal languages. This paper is neither on programming languages nor on students' knowledge or (their wrong) usage of certain terms. We would like to raise awareness for the problem area of spoken language and proper terminology for teaching and learning CS. As a first step, we provide definitions of terms and aspects of theory related to this problem domain to start a meta-discourse on spoken language for teaching CS. We present some observations from different perspectives as examples for the need of further research. We then derive a list of research questions to open the research area of 'CS classroom language', structuring it from different perspectives.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2729094.2742600
Stitching the Loop with Electronic Textiles: Promoting Equity in High School Students' Competencies and Perceptions of Computer Science	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Kafai, Yasmin; Fields, Deborah A.; Lui, Debora A.; Walker, Justice T.; Shaw, Mia S.; Jayathirtha, Gayithri; Nakajima, Tomoko M.; Goode, Joanna; Giang, Michael T.	Many efforts of curricula design have concentrated on expanding participation in K-12 CS education by introducing innovative approaches but few have focused on addressing longstanding equity issues through their choices of culturally relevant materials and activities. In this paper, we describe our efforts in using electronic textiles which include Arduino-based microcontrollers that are sewn with conductive thread on fabrics to connect actuators and sensors and create interactive wearables. We report on the implementation of an electronic textiles curricular unit in the Exploring Computer Science introductory computing course in 13 high schools involving 272 high school students largely from underrepresented groups in a major metropolitan school district. We examined two issues relevant to broadening equitable participation in CS: (1) students' changed perceptions of computing, and (2) students' depth of learning of computing, circuitry and crafting in the final project. Pre/post surveys on students' perceptions of computing showed positive, significant gains in students' self-confidence in solving CS problems, fascination with computing and ability to be creative with computing. Teacher evaluations of students' final projects revealed robust learning in the areas of basic programming and computational circuitry as well as strong learning across more challenging computational concepts, with room for growth. We discuss factors that impacted student outcomes and outline steps for further analysis.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287426
Playing with Computing at a Children's University	Proceedings of the 9th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Sys\textbackslashlo, Maciej M.; Kwiatkowska, Anna Beata	A children's university in Poland is a popular, organized form of inviting young children to activities which are offered and run by academic teachers. We have been involved in such initiatives whose goal is to introduce children to some concepts in computer science. According to Piaget (see [1]), children before the age of seven, can think abstractly only about physical, concrete or observable objects and phenomena. Therefore in our approach we work with children in a number of environments which consist of two stages: first they are engaged in cooperative games and puzzles that use concrete objects (like in unplugged CS), and then they move to computational thinking about the objects and about the concepts they are learning. In this way we introduce our young students to such CS concepts as: calculations using mechanical tools, complexity issues (the Tower of Hanoi, Fibonacci numbers, and binary search), and graph models (of real world situations).	https://doi.org/10.1145/2670757.2670790
Public Policy and Skills for Smart Cities: The UK Outlook	Proceedings of the 11th PErvasive Technologies Related to Assistive Environments Conference	Tryfonas, Theo; Crick, Tom	The impact of information coupled with the effects of innovation is profound on all aspects of city life, from transport planning and energy use reduction to care provision and assisted living. But it also includes new ways of organising communities, as well as access to political process. The idea that information is key for the design and management of future cities matures in the relevant communities of architects, planners, engineers, computer scientists and urban innovators, so the time is right to also consider what citizenship skills are required. Familiarity, if not proficiency, in 'digital' skills emerge as essential aspect of future citizenship. We don't only mean however efficient digital consumption skills, but also digital creation skills such as computational thinking and coding, entrepreneurship and systems thinking, information architecting as well as a risk-informed perception of data privacy and security. The challenges of delivering such a skillset are many, from designing a 21st century curriculum, to ensuring fair access to technology for people of all abilities, race, gender, age and class.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3197768.3203170
Tangibles vs. Mouse in Educational Programming Games: Influences on Enjoyment and Self-Beliefs	Proceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems	Melcer, Edward F.; Hollis, Victoria; Isbister, Katherine	Computer Science (CS) and related skills such as programming and Computational Thinking (CT) have recently become topics of global interest, with a large number of programming games created to engage and educate players. However, there has been relatively limited work to assess 1) the efficacy of such games with respect to critical educational factors such as enjoyment and programming self-beliefs; and 2) whether there are advantages to alternative, physically embodied design approaches (e.g., tangibles as input). To better explore the benefits of a tangible approach, we built and tested two versions of an educational programming game that were identical in design except for the form of interaction (tangible programming blocks vs. mouse input). After testing 34 participants, results showed that while both game versions were successful at improving programming self-beliefs, the tangible version corresponded to higher self-reports of player enjoyment. Overall, this paper presents a comparison between the efficacy of tangible and mouse design approaches for improving key learning factors in educational programming games.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3027063.3053115
Using Music to Engage Students in an Introductory Undergraduate Programming Course for Non-Majors	Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Siva, Sebastien; Im, Tacksoo; McKlin, Tom; Freeman, Jason; Magerko, Brian	EarSketch is a curriculum and learning environment designed to engage diverse student populations in introductory computing courses through an approach that connects coding and computational thinking with the composition, production, and remixing of popular music. Prior studies at the high school level have shown significant impacts on student engagement and intention to persist in computing, especially for female students. This paper describes an adaptation of EarSketch for use in an introductory undergraduate-level programming course for non-majors at an open-access four-year college. The paper describes a quasi-experimental study comparing student engagement, content knowledge, and intention to persist between course sections using EarSketch and non-EarSketch flavors of the curriculum, along with a path analysis exploring factors related to student engagement and intention to persist. The findings suggest that STEAM learning interventions such as EarSketch can significantly impact gains in student content knowledge, engagement, and intention to persist across diverse undergraduate student populations.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3159450.3159468
Use and Development of Entertainment Technologies in after School STEM Program	Proceedings of the 45th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Cateté, Veronica; Wassell, Kathleen; Barnes, Tiffany	This design research paper examines the implementation and curriculum changes of an after school computer science program that promotes computational thinking to middle school students. The program, Students in Programming, Robotics, and Computer Science (SPARCS), can adapt to different presentation environments, such as independent after school sessions or a semester-long apprenticeship program. We trace one implementation of the program through the initial deployment, the development of infrastructure, and a reorganization of content to address student interests. We found that student attrition dropped and the average session enjoyment increased when our sessions integrated consumer technologies such as mobile applications, video games, and the Minecraft computer game. In this paper, we provide readers a framework for running computing outreach activities around similar consumer technologies.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2538862.2538952
What We Say vs. What They Do: A Comparison of Middle-School Coding Camps in the CS Education Literature and Mainstream Coding Camps (Abstract Only)	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	DeWitt, Anita; Fay, Julia; Goldman, Madeleine; Nicolson, Eleanor; Oyolu, Linda; Resch, Lukas; Saldaña, Jovan Martinez; Sounalath, Soulideth; Williams, Tyler; Yetter, Kathryn; Zak, Elizabeth; Brown, Narren; Rebelsky, Samuel A.	In attempts to broaden participation in computing, the computer science education community has developed a wide variety of outreach activities to encourage students of different ages to learn computational thinking techniques and to develop an interest in computer science. In their recent surveys of the CSed literature, Decker, McGill, and Settle identify over eighty papers on K-12 outreach activities, of which approximately forty address middle-school coding camps. However, summer coding camps are offered by a much wider variety of organizations than computer science educators committed to diversifying the field. Some are offered by organizations committed to diversity, such as Black Girls Code and Girls Who Code. Others are offered by universities for recruitment, and necessarily to support diversification. Still others are offered by for-profit entities. What are the relationships between the two models of camp? Do the ideas that appear in the research literature filter out to the more mainstream camps, or do the more mainstream camps provide a very different model of computer science? In this project, we reviewed both the computer science education literature (52 sources representing 45 camps) and summer code camps identified on the World-Wide Web (480 different camps). In this poster, we report on common approaches and themes that others may choose to adapt or adopt. We also explore significant differences between the research-centered camps and the mainstream camps in approach, language, and apparent outreach goals.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3017680.3022434
Sneaking in through the Back Door: Introducing k-12 Teachers to Robot Programming	Proceedings of the 45th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Kay, Jennifer S.; Moss, Janet G.; Engelman, Shelly; McKlin, Tom	Few question the need to offer excellent programs in computer science at the Bachelors and Graduate Levels. But computer science is not just for computer scientists! An understanding of key computer science concepts is essential to comprehending the underpinnings of what drives much of the culture and environment that students will encounter upon graduation. Unfortunately, in the United States most state, regional, and national K-12 standards do not include computer science among the core competencies required of all students. However, careful study reveals many opportunities to satisfy mandatory non-computer-science standards while simultaneously teaching important concepts in computer science. This paper begins with an overview of these standards and suggests that educational robotics could be incorporated into K-12 curricula to satisfy these standards.But even if robots truly are a magic panacea, most K-12 teachers have never used them. The remainder of this paper discusses a pair of 3 day workshops we offered in the summers of 2011 and 2012 which were designed to introduce K-12 teachers with no prior programming experience to LEGO robot programming. We discuss the content of the workshops, how teachers' skills and attitudes changed as a result of these workshops, and how teachers used the material they learned in their schools.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2538862.2538972
Block-Based Comprehension: Exploring and Explaining Student Outcomes from a Read-Only Block-Based Exam	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Weintrop, David; Killen, Heather; Munzar, Talal; Franke, Baker	The success of block-based programming environments like Scratch and Alice has resulted in a growing presence of the block-based modality in classrooms. For example, in the United States, a new, nationally-administered computer science exam is evaluating students' understanding of programming concepts using both block-based and text-based presentations of short programs written in a custom pseudocode. The presence of the block-based modality on a written exam in an unimplemented pseudocode is a far cry from the informal, creative, and live coding contexts where block-based programming initially gained popularity. Further, the design of the block-based pseudocode used on the exam includes few of the features cited in the research as contributing to positive learner experiences. In this paper, we seek to understand the implications of the inclusion of an unimplemented block-based pseudocode on a written exam. To do so, we analyze responses from over 5,000 students to a 20 item assessment that included both block-based and text-based questions written in the same pseudocode as the national exam. Our analysis shows students performing better on questions presented in the block-based form compared to text-based questions. Further analysis shows that this difference is consistent across conceptual categories. This paper contributes to our understanding of the affordances of block-based programming and if and how the modality can help learners succeed in early computer science learning experiences.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287348
Designing Co-Creative AI for Public Spaces	Proceedings of the 2019 on Creativity and Cognition	Long, Duri; Jacob, Mikhail; Magerko, Brian	Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming increasingly pervasive in our everyday lives. There are consequently many common misconceptions about what AI is, what it is capable of, and how it works. Compounding the issue, opportunities to learn about AI are often limited to audiences who already have access to and knowledge about technology. Increasing access to AI in public spaces has the potential to broaden public AI literacy, and experiences involving co-creative (i.e. collaboratively creative) AI are particularly well-suited for engaging a broad range of participants. This paper explores how to design co-creative AI for public interaction spaces, drawing both on existing literature and our own experiences designing co-creative AI for public venues. It presents a set of design principles that can aid others in the development of co-creative AI for public spaces as well as guide future research agendas.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3325480.3325504
Successful Implementation of an Active Learning Laboratory in Computer Science	Proceedings of the 39th Annual ACM SIGUCCS Conference on User Services	Hakimzadeh, Hossein; Adaikkalavan, Raman; Batzinger, Robert	There is ample evidence of positive impact of active learning on student learning, attitudes, critical thinking, and retention. The traditional lecture-style classrooms are not suitable for group interaction or activities. Having an appropriate classroom with proper technology to support active learning is essential. In order to foster easier group interaction and collaborative learning, the authors have designed and constructed a new active-learning classroom inspired by the SCALE-UP classroom design. The classroom is specifically designed for group activities. Students sit around a collaborative station (each station can have up to five members). Each station is equipped with a large display monitor attached to a computer. The classroom walls are used as whiteboards for group activities. The authors have developed various timed group activities specifically for this course to enhance student learning. In this presentation, we will discuss how the use of proper technology, an active learning classroom, along with proper pedagogical approach can enhance learning, foster group activities, promote peer learning, and improve retention in gateway science courses.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2070364.2070386
A Review of Introductory Programming Research 2003–2017	Proceedings of the 23rd Annual ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Luxton-Reilly, Andrew; Simon; Albluwi, Ibrahim; Becker, Brett A.; Giannakos, Michail; Kumar, Amruth N.; Ott, Linda; Paterson, James; Scott, Michael James; Sheard, Judy; Szabo, Claudia	A broad review of research on the teaching and learning of programming was conducted by Robins et al. in 2003. Since this work there have been several reviews of research concerned with the teaching and learning of programming, in particular introductory programming. However, these reviews have focused on highly specific aspects, such as student misconceptions, teaching approaches, program comprehension, potentially seminal papers, research methods applied, automated feedback for exercises, competency-enhancing games, and program visualisation. While these aspects encompass a wide range of issues, they do not cover the full scope of research into novice programming. Some notable areas that have not been reviewed are assessment, academic integrity, and novice student attitudes to programming. There does not appear to have been a comprehensive review of research into introductory programming since that of Robins et al. It is therefore timely to conduct and present such a review in order to gain an understanding of the research focuses, to highlight advances in knowledge since 2003, and to indicate possible future directions for research. The working group will conduct a systematic literature review based on the guidelines proposed by Kitchenham et al. This research project is well suited to an ITiCSE working group as the synthesis and discussion of the literature will benefit from input from a variety of researchers drawn from different backgrounds and countries.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3197091.3205841
Exploring Instructional Support Design in an Educational Game for K-12 Computing Education	Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Zhi, Rui; Lytle, Nicholas; Price, Thomas W.	Instructional supports (Supports) help students learn more effectively in intelligent tutoring systems and gamified educational environments. However, the implementation and success of Supports vary by environment. We explored Support design in an educational programming game, BOTS, implementing three different strategies: instructional text (Text), worked examples (Examples) and buggy code (Bugs). These strategies are adapted from promising Supports in other domains and motivated by established educational theory. We evaluated our Supports through a pilot study with middle school students. Our results suggest Bugs may be a promising strategy, as demonstrated by the lower completion time and solution code length in assessment puzzles. We end reflecting on our design decisions providing recommendations for future iterations. Our motivations, design process, and study's results provide insight into the design of Supports for programming games.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3159450.3159519
Informatics for All The Strategy		Caspersen, Michael E.; Gal-Ezer, Judith; McGettrick, Andrew; Nardelli, Enrico	Informatics for All is an initiative devised jointly by ACM Europe and Informatics Europe. Its purpose is to give due recognition to Informatics as an essential foundational discipline for education in the twenty-first century. Informatics is the science underpinning the development of the digital world, and it is having a profound effect on all aspects of modern society. The discipline has fundamental conceptual and practical facets. The considerable economic impact of its technological developments, as well as its role in empowering research and development across all sectors, has created an imperative to address educational issues.The initiative is based on the long-term recommendations of the report “Informatics Education in Europe: Are We All In The Same Boat?” which presented the state of relevant education, and related teacher training, across Europe. Its conclusions highlighted the serious need for an initiative to ensure that Informatics is properly recognised within the educational systems so that Europe is well placed to compete globally in reaping the benefits that flow from Informatics.This paper highlights the need for a two-tier strategy for Informatics education at all levels. First and foremost, the first tier takes the form of Informatics as a specialisation, i.e. a fundamental and independent school subject. The second tier would be the integration of Informatics with other school subjects. To achieve this goal, in both tiers research is needed to address what and how to teach (curriculum, methods and tools), and how to educate teachers.To address this grand challenge important recommendations on Informatics are provided in Section 3.2, on Teacher issues in Section 4.2. and on Research in Section 5.3.
Designing Tangibles for Children: One Day Hands-on Workshop	Proceedings of the The 15th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Antle, Alissa N.; Warren, Jillian L.; Cramer, Emily S.; Fan, Min; Matkin, Brendan B.	This hands-on workshop introduces a foundation for designing tangibles for children. Participants engage in a low-fidelity design challenge using the iPad Osmo system. We focus on how designing tangibles for children is unique from other design problems and processes. We walk participants through an outcome driven design process using the award winning Developmentally Situated Design (DSD) card set – focusing on cognitive, emotional, physical, and social skills specific to children at different ages. Small groups create solutions for the same design challenge, but focus on the skills and abilities of a specific age group. We facilitate a compare and contrast exercise of their solutions to help synthesize the complexities of, and showcase skills for, designing child-centric tangibles. Participants are encouraged to review the DSD II cards in advance, available at www.antle.iat.sfu.ca/DSD, as well the papers [1, 2, 3], to get the most out of their workshop experience. These artifacts and papers will be used to within the workshop for hands-on learning and conceptual discussions.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2930674.2932223
Helping Students Build a Mental Model of Computation	Proceedings of the Fifteenth Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Kollmansberger, Steven	Introductory computer science classes are known for having a high attrition rate. Some authors believe this is due to students' difficulties in establishing a mental model of computation. We present a tool designed to assist students in actively building a mental model of computation, and evaluate its use in an introductory programming class. We show use of the tool leads to 40% increase in course completion and that the students believe the tool helps them understand programming.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1822090.1822127
Using Visual Logic©: Three Different Approaches in Different Courses - General Education, CS0, and CS1	J. Comput. Sci. Coll.	Gudmundsen, Dee; Olivieri, Lisa; Sarawagi, Namita	One of the main challenges students in introductory programming courses face is learning the syntax of a particular programming language, such as C++ or Java, while they simultaneously try to understand the fundamental logic of programming constructs. Visual Logic© (www.visuallogic.org) is an interactive, graphical, flowchart tool that can be used to address this challenge. In this paper, we present three different courses, developed independently at three different colleges, using Visual Logic with completely different approaches. The first course is a General Education CS course introducing algorithmic thinking. The second is a CS0 course which uses Visual Logic for six weeks and then transitions to Python. The third course is a CS1 course which uses Visual Logic as a tool to teach programming concepts and to brainstorm solutions. Visual Logic is not taught separately, but integrated with the various Java control structures. Once students gain an understanding of basic programming logic concepts, the transition to a programming language such as Python or Java, in the same course or the next course, is often much easier for them. Though these are different approaches in three different courses, using Visual Logic has shown an increase in the interest level of the students and enhanced their learning.
New Enactments of Mentoring and Activism: U.S. Women of Color in Computing Education and Careers	Proceedings of the Tenth Annual Conference on International Computing Education Research	Hodari, Apriel K.; Ong, Maria; Ko, Lily T.; Kachchaf, Rachel R.	In this paper we present themes from our National Science Foundation-funded projects, Beyond the Double Bind: Women of Color in STEM and Computing Beyond the Double Bind: Women of Color in Computing Education and Careers. The findings come from 14 interviews and 85 extant texts about 40 women of color. Our study contributes an analysis of how the intersection of gender and race affects career and education experiences in computing. We ask, What strategies work to enable U.S. women of color to achieve higher levels of advancement in computing education and careers? The findings bring to light new, emergent enactments of support, mentoring, and activism. This research will increase knowledge about success strategies to retain U.S. women of color, a population widely considered an untapped source of talent to fill the country's and the world's scientific workforce needs. The research may also provide other countries with new strategies to explore to retain and promote their underrepresented groups in computing.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2632320.2632357
African Americans in the U.S. Computing Sciences Workforce	Commun. ACM	Gilbert, Juan E.; Jackson, Jerlando F. L.; Dillon, Edward C.; Charleston, LaVar J.	An exploration of the education-to-work pipeline.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2770929
Making Physical and Digital Games with E-Textiles: A Workshop for Youth Making Responsive Wearable Games and Controllers	Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Richard, Gabriela T.; Kafai, Yasmin	Most research on game making has focused on designing digital games, as opposed to incorporating the potential for the designs of peripherals and controllers. In this paper, we illustrate how youth created wearable and physically interactive controllers by combining digital and tangible construction kits: Scratch, ModKit, the MaKey MaKey, and the Lilypad Arduino. In an eight-session workshop, 14-15-year old youth coded and created their own Scratch games and created wearable or electronic textile-based bidirectionally responsive game controllers using sensors to activate a response on the screen, through the physical artifact, or both interfaces. We analyzed students' design of game controllers, as well as post-workshop interviews, to understand how they articulated an understanding of bidirectionally responsive design and its affordances, focusing on a case study. In the discussion we address some of the insights and challenges presented through the workshop, and offer suggestions for future work.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2771839.2771926
From Parents to Mentors: Parent-Child Interaction in Co-Making Activities	Proceedings of the 2017 Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Sadka, Ofir; Zuckerman, Oren	Making activities for children often take place at informal learning environments. In this context parents may join their children for co-making activity. It has been shown that this type of activity can be facilitated by educators that serve as mentors. In this paper we aim to explore parent-child interaction in the context of a co-making activity at home. Towards that end, we developed a dedicated kit that couples Automata-building with paper circuits. We also designed five activity cards as scaffolding for parents, to raise their awareness to mentoring principles. We present our design process, evaluation, and findings from eight parent-child co-making activities. Our qualitative analysis indicates the challenges and opportunities for parents as mentors in a co-making activity. We propose a two-dimensional scale that can help designers and maker-space practitioners better understand the different parental roles during a parent-child co-making activities, and the need for better tools and support materials for parents in that context.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3078072.3084332
Braided Teaching in Secondary CS Education: Contexts, Continuity, and the Role of Programming	Proceedings of the 41st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Pasternak, Arno; Vahrenhold, Jan	In this paper, we propose a new approach to thinking about and implementing Computer Science curricula in secondary education. The characteristic feature is to organize the items to be taught into what we call "strands" which then can be interlaced during the course. This naturally leads to a spiral curriculum in secondary Computer Science education. In the view of our proposed approach, we also comment on the role of programming in secondary education.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1734263.1734336
Using and Exploring Hierarchical Data in Spreadsheets	Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems	Chang, Kerry Shih-Ping; Myers, Brad A.	More and more data nowadays exist in hierarchical formats such as JSON due to the increasing popularity of web applications and web services. While many end-user systems support getting hierarchical data from databases without programming, they provide very little support for using hierarchical data beyond turning the data into a flat string or table. In this paper, we present a spreadsheet tool for using and exploring hierarchical datasets. We introduce novel interaction techniques and algorithms to manipulate and visualize hierarchical data in a spreadsheet using the data's relative hierarchical relationships with the data in its adjacent columns. Our tool leverages the data's structural information to support selecting, grouping, joining, sorting and filtering hierarchical data in spreadsheets. Our lab study showed that our tool helped spreadsheet users complete data exploration tasks nearly two times faster than using Excel and even outperform programmers in most tasks.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2858036.2858430
Adaptive Computation: The Multidisciplinary Legacy of John H. Holland	Commun. ACM	Forrest, Stephanie; Mitchell, Melanie	John H. Holland's general theories of adaptive processes apply across biological, cognitive, social, and computational systems.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2964342
The Design and Coding of Greedy Algorithms Revisited	Proceedings of the 16th Annual Joint Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Velázquez-Iturbide, J. Ángel	In this paper we argue that the most typical instruction method used to teach greedy algorithms is inadequate at achieving certain learning goals and we present several contributions to alleviate this situation. Our first group of contributions highlights the role of selection functions and proposes separate treatment in their discovery and proof of optimality. For discovery, we outline some interesting cases of selection functions and for proofs, we examine the role of counterexamples. Furthermore, we argue that their separation provides more opportunities for instructional activities. Our second group of contributions concerns coding greedy algorithms. We discuss the role and adequacy of the template in current use, and also the role of sorting candidates and how to implement sorting.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1999747.1999753
CS Education Re-Kindles Creativity in Public Schools	Proceedings of the 16th Annual Joint Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Bennett, Vicki E.; Koh, Kyu Han; Repenning, Alexander	Creativity is an important aspect of industry and education. The lack of creativity in current students has become a concern for educators. Through the process of implementing the Scalable Game Design project to teach computer science through game authoring, fostered/increased creativity occurred in public middle schools. Despite some structural limitations of the US educational system, creativity among the participating students was recognized. This paper describes a unique solution to fostering creativity while teaching game design in the limiting public school environment.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1999747.1999800
A Middle-School Module for Introducing Data-Mining, Big-Data, Ethics and Privacy Using RapidMiner and a Hollywood Theme	Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Dryer, Amber; Walia, Nicole; Chattopadhyay, Ankur	Today's organizations, including online businesses, use the art of data-driven decision-making i.e. business-intelligence (BI) to benefit from all the data out in the open. Given the current market demand for BI skill-sets, including the knowledge of different sources and tools for data-collection plus processing, today's youth need a basic understanding of data-driven intelligence, and an awareness of big-data related ethics and privacy. However, there has been limited research and development work towards designing an effective educational module in this regard at the K-12 level. We intend to address this particular limitation by presenting a uniquely engaging middle-school learning module based upon a combination of useful topics, like data-mining, predictive-analytics, data-visualization, big-data, ethics and privacy, using the free RapidMiner software-tool. The novelty of our module lies in the use of a GUI-based visual hands-on platform (RapidMiner), a Hollywood movie-theme based educational activity, as well as an added focus on big-data ethics and privacy, and its conceptual mapping to the NSA-GenCyber security-first principles. We discuss and analyze the survey data obtained from over hundred participants through several offerings of our module as an educational workshop through our Google-IgniteCS and NSA-GenCyber programs. The collected learning-analytics data indicate that our module can become a simple yet effective means for introducing data-mining, big-data, ethical and privacy issues, and GenCyber security-first principles at the middle-school level. Our results show prospects of motivating middle-school participants towards further learning of topics in data-science, data-ethics and data-security, which is necessary today in a variety of professions.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3159450.3159553
Exploratory Homeworks: An Active Learning Tool for Textbook Reading	Proceedings of the Ninth Annual International Conference on International Computing Education Research	Esper, Sarah; Simon, Beth; Cutts, Quintin	Constructivist learning theory suggests that learners must construct their own understandings, rather than have understanding passively dumped into their brains. These findings support the US National Research Council's recommendations for the adoption of active learning pedagogies in the classroom. However, the "classroom lecture" is only one of the resources students commonly have for learning in higher education. In this paper, we present exploratory homeworks – a tool to support active learning for teaching programming languages. By leveraging the opportunity for the student to interact with the computer/compiler, we seek to provide a model for students of how to explore and understand programming language constructs and concepts. We report on the use of 15 exploratory homework assignments used in a CS0 course with 440 students in Winter 2011. We provide a model and advice for others wishing to develop exploratory homeworks for their programming courses and present quantitative and qualitative evidence regarding students' positive valuation of the homeworks.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2361276.2361297
Early Programming Education and Career Orientation: The Effects of Gender, Self-Efficacy, Motivation and Stereotypes	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Aivaloglou, Efthimia; Hermans, Felienne	Programming education currently begins at the elementary school age. In this paper we are exploring what affects the learning performance of young students in programming classes. We present the results collected during an eight-week experimental Scratch programming course run in elementary schools. We emphasize factors that have been found to affect learning performance in adult students, including self-efficacy and motivation, and measure how they affect students of this age group. We further explore the students' view of programming as a career path, and measure the effects of the course, their performance, and the stereotypes that they assume for computer scientists. We find that students' intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and previous programming experience are important factors, being strongly correlated with their self-efficacy and their inclination towards a CS career. For female students only, we also find CS career orientation to be strongly correlated with their self-efficacy.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287358
Accelerating Science Gateway Development with Web 2.0 and Swift	Proceedings of the 2010 TeraGrid Conference	Wu, Wenjun; Uram, Thomas; Wilde, Michael; Hereld, Mark; Papka, Michael E.	A Science Gateway is a computational web portal that enables scientists to run scientific simulations, data analysis, and visualization through their web browsers. The major problem of building a science gateway on TeraGrid is how to deploy scientific applications rapidly on computational resources and expose these applications as web services to scientists. In this paper we propose a novel science application framework that can greatly accelerate the development cycle of science gateway systems. This framework enables science gateway developers to import their domain-specific scientific workflow scripts and generate Web 2.0 gadgets for running these application workflows and visualizing the output from workflow executions without writing any web related code. By assembling these application-specific gadgets and some common gadgets predefined in the framework for workflow management, developers can easily set up a customized computational science gateway to meet community requirements. We demonstrate the utility of the framework with an example from computational biochemistry.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1838574.1838597
Written Activity, Representations and Fluency as Predictors of Domain Expertise in Mathematics	Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Multimodal Interaction	Oviatt, Sharon; Cohen, Adrienne	The emerging field of multimodal learning analytics evaluates natural communication modalities (digital pen, speech, images) to identify domain expertise, learning, and learning-oriented precursors. Using the Math Data Corpus, this research investigated students' digital pen input as small groups collaborated on solving math problems. Compared with non-experts, findings indicated that domain experts have an opposite pattern of accelerating total written activity as problem difficulty increases, a lower written and spoken disfluency rate, and they express different content–including a higher ratio of nonlinguistic symbolic representations and structured diagrams to elemental marks. Implications are discussed for developing reliable multimodal learning analytics systems that incorporate digital pen input to automatically track the consolidation of domain expertise. This includes prediction based on a combination of activity patterns, fluency, and content analysis. New MMLA systems are expected to have special utility on cell phones, which already have multimodal interfaces and are the dominant educational platform worldwide.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2663204.2663245
CE21–Maryland: The State of Computer Science Education in Maryland High Schools	Proceeding of the 44th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	desJardins, Marie; Martin, Susan	The goals of UMBC's CE21-Maryland project are to build community and to increase the accessibility, diversity, and quality of high school CS education in Maryland. The ultimate objective is for all Maryland students to have access to high-quality, college preparatory CS courses. We present findings from a survey of high school computing teachers regarding the status of CS education in Maryland. Some findings of interest are that urban and rural students have less access to computing courses than suburban students; female teachers are more likely to attract female students and to have larger AP CS classes; and neither teacher race nor gender is correlated with the number of minority students enrolled in CS classes. We describe community building successes through two Google CS4HS workshops, a Maryland CSTA chapter, and statewide summit meetings for educators and administrators. We also discuss how our methodology can be used as a model for other states who are working towards CS education reform at the high school level.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2445196.2445402
Berkeley Foundation for Opportunities in Information Technology: A Decade of Broadening Participation	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Crutchfield, Orpheus S. L.; Harrison, Christopher D.; Haas, Guy; Garcia, Daniel D.; Humphreys, Sheila M.; Lewis, Colleen M.; Khooshabeh, Peter	The Berkeley Foundation for Opportunities in Information Technology is a decade-old endeavor to expose pre-college young women and underrepresented racial and ethnic minorities to the fields of computer science and engineering, and prepare them for rigorous, university-level study. We have served more than 150 students, and graduated more than 65 seniors who have gone on to attend some of the top institutions in the country. Some of the lessons we have learned include the importance of sustained funding to support a continuing year-round program, world-class leaders and resources, and family and alumni involvement. In this article, we share the inner workings of our program, from its foundation during the dot-com heyday through today, in hopes that our best practices can be useful to others working toward the goal of broadening participation.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2037276.2037279
Lessons Learned on Computer Science Teachers Professional Development	Proceedings of the 2016 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Martinez, María Cecilia; Gomez, Marcos J.; Moresi, Marco; Benotti, Luciana	This paper describes an introductory Computer Science (CS) Professional Development (PD) course for K-12 teachers in Argentina that integrates pedagogical content knowledge and teacher classroom practice. We analyzed teachers' learning of what CS entails and the implementation of inquirybased programming lessons in their schools. Based on pre and post teachers surveys and classroom observations, we found that most teachers learned about the CS object of study and about fundamental programming concepts such as conditionals, loops, variables, etc. Teachers were more likely to replicate the same activities they experienced during PD workshops in their classrooms than to produce their own. Teachers who had a previous background on CS provided in-depth explanations of CS concepts to their students while other teachers superficially introduced the content knowledge. We describe PD activities and characteristics that could explain teachers' learning and incorporation of programming lessons. Findings imply that a PD program that integrates pedagogical content knowledge and teachers classroom practice can effectively improve inquiry-based CS teaching, but may be insufficient preparation for teachers with no previous background on CS.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2899415.2899460
Multiple Levels of Abstraction in Algorithmic Problem Solving	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Ginat, David; Blau, Yoav	The notion of abstraction repeatedly appears, in various ways, at all levels of computer science. It involves the aspects of leaving out details and comprehending concepts and mechanisms. It also involves the aspect of recognizing relationships between task elements. The latter aspect was not yet studied with respect to abstraction levels and algorithm design. We study it here. We analyze senior students' algorithmic solutions according to accepted interpretations of multiple abstraction levels, and offer guidelines for enhancing abstraction in students' algorithmics.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3017680.3017801
Effect of a 2-Week Scratch Intervention in CS1 on Learners with Varying Prior Knowledge	Proceedings of the 2014 Conference on Innovation & Technology in Computer Science Education	Mishra, Shitanshu; Balan, Sudeesh; Iyer, Sridhar; Murthy, Sahana	A large CS1 class often needs to provide scaffolding for novices while keeping advanced learners engaged. Scratch has been shown to be suitable to address a diverse set of requirements. In this study, we determine whether a 2-week Scratch intervention in a CS1 course is useful from two perspectives: i) as a scaffold for novices to learn basic programming concepts and transition to C++, and ii) as a tool for advanced learners to remain engaged and do challenging work. We conducted a field study of 332 first-year undergraduate engineering students, two-thirds of whom were novices. We analyzed student performance on exams and Scratch projects. We administered a survey to determine student perceptions on the usefulness of Scratch. Some key findings of our study are: (i) Novices were able to catch-up to advanced learners in Scratch questions of the type 'Predict the output' and 'Debug the program', (ii) Projects by advanced learners reached 80% of the complexity of 'most loved projects' on the Scratch website, and (iii) 69% of students perceived Scratch to be useful for learning programming concepts and transitioning to C++.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2591708.2591733
Evaluation of Psychoacoustic Sound Parameters for Sonification	Proceedings of the 19th ACM International Conference on Multimodal Interaction	Ferguson, Jamie; Brewster, Stephen A.	Sonification designers have little theory or experimental evidence to guide the design of data-to-sound mappings. Many mappings use acoustic representations of data values which do not correspond with the listener's perception of how that data value should sound during sonification. This research evaluates data-to-sound mappings that are based on psychoacoustic sensations, in an attempt to move towards using data-to-sound mappings that are aligned with the listener's perception of the data value's auditory connotations. Multiple psychoacoustic parameters were evaluated over two experiments, which were designed in the context of a domain-specific problem - detecting the level of focus of an astronomical image through auditory display. Recommendations for designing sonification systems with psychoacoustic sound parameters are presented based on our results.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3136755.3136783
Engaging 'At-Risk' Students through Maker Culture Activities	Proceedings of the TEI '16: Tenth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction	Somanath, Sowmya; Morrison, Laura; Hughes, Janette; Sharlin, Ehud; Sousa, Mario Costa	This paper presents a set of lessons learnt from introducing maker culture and DIY paradigms to 'at-risk' students (age 12-14). Our goal is to engage 'at-risk' students through maker culture activities. While improved technology literacy is one of the outcomes we also wanted the learners to use technology to realize concepts and ideas, and to gain freedom of thinking similar to creators, artists and designers. We present our study and a set of high level suggestions to enable thinking about how maker culture activities can facilitate engagement and creative use of technology by 1) thinking about creativity in task, 2) facilitating different entry points, 3) the importance of personal relevance, and 4) relevance to education.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2839462.2839482
A Computational Theory of Awareness and Decision Making	Proceedings of the 12th Conference on Theoretical Aspects of Rationality and Knowledge	Devanur, Nikhil R.; Fortnow, Lance	We exhibit a new computational-based definition of awareness, informally that our level of unawareness of an object is the amount of time needed to generate that object within a certain environment. We give several examples to show this notion matches our intuition in scenarios where one organizes, accesses and transfers information. We also give a formal process-independent definition of awareness based on Levin's universal enumeration.We show the usefulness of computational awareness by showing how it relates to decision making, and how others can manipulate our decision making with appropriate advertising, in particular, we show connections to sponsored search and brand awareness. Understanding awareness can also help rate the effectiveness of various user interfaces designed to access information.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1562814.1562830
FireFlies2: Interactive Tangible Pixels to Enable Distributed Cognition in Classroom Technologies	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM International Conference on Interactive Surfaces and Spaces	Verweij, David; Bakker, Saskia; Eggen, Berry	Continuous developments in the field of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) are resulting in an omnipresence of digital technologies in our everyday lives, which is also visible in the presence of supportive technologies in education. These technologies, e.g. tablets and computers, usually require focused attention to be operated, which hinders teachers from appropriating them while teaching. Peripheral interactive systems, which do not require focused attention, could play a role in relieving teachers' cognitive load, such that mental resources are freed to focus on other teaching tasks. This paper presents an exploratory study on enabling such cognitive offloading through peripheral interaction in the classroom. We present the design and a seven-week field deployment of FireFlies2 interactive tangible pixels which are distributed over the classroom. Our findings show that FireFlies2 supported cognitive processes of teachers and pupils in a number of scenarios.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3132272.3134122
How “Wide Walls” Can Increase Engagement: Evidence From a Natural Experiment in Scratch	Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems	Dasgupta, Sayamindu; Hill, Benjamin Mako	A core aim for designing constructionist learning systems and toolkits is enabling "wide walls"-a metaphor used to describe supporting a diverse range of creative outcomes. Ensuring that a broad design space is afforded to learners by a toolkit is a common approach to achieving wide walls. We use econometric methods to provide an empirical test of the wide walls theory through a natural experiment in the Scratch online community. We estimate the causal effect of a policy change that gave a large number of Scratch users access to a more powerful version of Scratch data structures, effectively widening the walls for learners. We show that access to and use of these more powerful new data structures caused learners to use data structures more frequently. Our findings provide support for the theory that wide walls can increase engagement and learning.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3173574.3173935
PUMICE: A Multi-Modal Agent That Learns Concepts and Conditionals from Natural Language and Demonstrations	Proceedings of the 32nd Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology	Li, Toby Jia-Jun; Radensky, Marissa; Jia, Justin; Singarajah, Kirielle; Mitchell, Tom M.; Myers, Brad A.	Natural language programming is a promising approach to enable end users to instruct new tasks for intelligent agents. However, our formative study found that end users would often use unclear, ambiguous or vague concepts when naturally instructing tasks in natural language, especially when specifying conditionals. Existing systems have limited support for letting the user teach agents new concepts or explaining unclear concepts. In this paper, we describe a new multi-modal domain-independent approach that combines natural language programming and programming-by-demonstration to allow users to first naturally describe tasks and associated conditions at a high level, and then collaborate with the agent to recursively resolve any ambiguities or vagueness through conversations and demonstrations. Users can also define new procedures and concepts by demonstrating and referring to contents within GUIs of existing mobile apps. We demonstrate this approach in PUMICE, an end-user programmable agent that implements this approach. A lab study with 10 users showed its usability.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3332165.3347899
Mismatch of Expectations: How Modern Learning Resources Fail Conversational Programmers	Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems	Wang, April Y.; Mitts, Ryan; Guo, Philip J.; Chilana, Parmit K.	Conversational programmers represent a class of learners who are not required to write any code, yet try to learn programming to improve their participation in technical conversations. We carried out interviews with 23 conversational programmers to better understand the challenges they face in technical conversations, what resources they choose to learn programming, how they perceive the learning process, and to what extent learning programming actually helps them. Among our key findings, we found that conversational programmers often did not know where to even begin the learning process and ended up using formal and informal learning resources that focus largely on programming syntax and logic. However, since the end goal of conversational programmers was not to build artifacts, modern learning resources usually failed these learners in their pursuits of improving their technical conversations. Our findings point to design opportunities in HCI to invent learner-centered approaches that address the needs of conversational programmers and help them establish common ground in technical conversations.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3173574.3174085
Hardness of Robust Graph Isomorphism, Lasserre Gaps, and Asymmetry of Random Graphs	Proceedings of the Twenty-Fifth Annual ACM-SIAM Symposium on Discrete Algorithms	O'Donnell, Ryan; Wright, John; Wu, Chenggang; Zhou, Yuan	Building on work of Cai, Fürer, and Immerman [18], we show two hardness results for the Graph Isomorphism problem. First, we show that there are pairs of nonisomorphic n-vertex graphs G and H such that any sum-of-squares (SOS) proof of nonisomorphism requires degree Ω(n). In other words, we show an O(n)-round integrality gap for the Lasserre SDP relaxation. In fact, we show this for pairs G and H which are not even (1–10-14)-isomorphic. (Here we say that two n-vertex, m-edge graphs G and H are α-isomorphic if there is a bijection between their vertices which preserves at least αm edges.) Our second result is that under the R3XOR Hypothesis [23] (and also any of a class of hypotheses which generalize the R3XOR Hypothesis), the robust Graph Isomorphism is hard. I.e. for every ε > 0, there is no efficient algorithm which can distinguish graph pairs which are (1 – ε)-isomorphic from pairs which are not even (1 – ε0)-isomorphic for some universal constant ε0. Along the way we prove a robust asymmetry result for random graphs and hypergraphs which may be of independent interest.
Teaching Computational Thinking to Down Syndrome Students	Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality	González-González, Carina; González, Erika Herrera; Ruiz, Lorenzo Moreno; Infante-Moro, Alfonso; Guzmán-Franco, María D.	This paper presents an educational experience about the feasibility of using the KIBO robot to engage the learning of programming and computational thinking with students with Down syndrome (DS). In particular, we describe a pilot study carried out with seven DS students aged between 7-19, but with a cognitive age from 3–6. The programming and computational thinking contents had been adapted to their particular needs and integrated into their current curricular activities. We studied the engaging of students using KIBO, the grade of comprehension of the sequences and programming and the emotional behavior of students with DS during the sessions. The results of this study shows that people with DS are capable to acquire satisfactorily basic programming and computational thinking skills using KIBO. Also, the motivation and the emotional state of DS students were positive promoted through the designed activities.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3284179.3284191
Improving Computational Thinking Using Follow and Give Instructions	Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality	Figueiredo, José; García-Peñalvo, Francisco J.	Computational Thinking can be defined as a set of skills for problem solving based on Computer Science. Computational Thinking skills are not only limited to the field of computing but also extensible to all areas of knowledge. Young people grow up surrounded by technology but many of them go for university without any prior knowledge in computer science. Several initiatives have been created to promote Computational Thinking abilities in students all over the world. Teaching computational thinking must necessarily involve problem-solving, and can be applied to various types of problems that do not directly involve coding tasks. However, it is recognized to everyone that programming is a good way to improve Computational Thinking. In this article, we have done a survey on the existing tools that use the codification as main means of development of the abilities of computational thinking or not. It was also a concern to mention those that provide a wide variety of resources for teachers. This paper is an attempt to demonstrate the importance of computational thinking in the first beginning of learning programming, and what activities best contribute to increase the abilities of each computer engineering student in computational thinking according to the characteristics of those who attend the Polytechnic of Guarda, Portugal. Most of our students have never had the opportunity to learn computational thinking.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3144826.3145351
Promoting Computational Thinking and Creativeness in Primary School Children	Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality	Chiazzese, Giuseppe; Fulantelli, Giovanni; Pipitone, Vito; Taibi, Davide	This paper presents the preliminary results of the project "Computational Thinking for children education", aimed at promoting computational thinking, creativity and learning amongst primary school children. The didactic activities of the project focus on computer programming and, in particular, the development of video games. The paper introduces also a teaching model based on narrative learning where the screenplay of the game has a key role. A preliminary analysis of the project results highlights how children's perception of computer programming is influenced by practical coding sessions; furthermore, these results suggest that some individual features (e.g. gender; math and language competencies), and the socio-economics familiar context can significantly impact on development of computational thinking skills.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3144826.3145354
Computational Thinking beyond STEM: An Introduction to "Moral Machines" and Programming Decision Making in Ethics Classroom	Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality	Seoane-Pardo, Antonio M.	This paper describes a learning activity on computational thinking in Ethics classroom with compulsory secondary school students (14-16 years). It is based on the assumption that computational thinking (or better "logical thinking") is applicable not only to STEM subjects but to any other field in education, and it is particularly suited to decision making in moral dilemmas. This will be carried out through the study of so called "moral machines", using a game-based learning approach on self-driving vehicles and the need to program such cars to perform certain behaviours under extreme situations. Students will be asked to logically base their reasoning on different ethical approaches and try to develop a schema of decision making that could serve to program a machine to respond to those situations. Students will have to deal also with the uncertainty of reaching solutions that will be debatable and not universally accepted as part of de difficulty, more ethical than technical, to provide machines with the ability to take decisions where there is no such thing as a "right" versus "wrong" answer, and potentially both (or more) of the possible actions will bring unwanted consequences.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3012430.3012494
A New Perspective on Computational Thinking	Commun. ACM	Yaşar, Osman	Addressing its cognitive essence, universal value, and curricular practices.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3214354
Evaluation and Impact of a Required Computational Thinking Course for Architecture Students	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Senske, Nick	Non-major education continues to be a growing area of study in computer science education research. This paper focuses on architects as an audience and the teaching of computer science by architects, who successfully applied computer science education research. The author describes the structure and development of a required computational thinking course with an average yearly enrollment of 69 students and how it applied best practices from Media Computation to improve student outcomes and engagement. A four-year impact study found that a flipped classroom model combined with peer learning methods was superior to traditional lectures and labs for improving student performance and reducing attrition. Comparisons of pre- and post-class surveys revealed an improved perception of computing and an increased interest in the subject – a positive outcome for a required introductory course. The author also studied the course's long-term effects. Three years after taking the course, a majority of students felt they retained what they learned and that learning computational thinking helped them to learn new software and perform better in advanced computing courses. By taking into account how architects learn and revising in response to assessments, we believe our course structure and teaching methodology demonstrates an effective case for applying computer science education research within an architectural curriculum.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3017680.3017750
Widening the Scope of FabLearn Research: Integrating Computational Thinking, Design and Making	Proceedings of the FabLearn Europe 2019 Conference	Eriksson, Eva; Iversen, Ole Sejer; Baykal, Gökçe Elif; Van Mechelen, Maarten; Smith, Rachel; Wagner, Marie-Louise; Fog, Bjarke Vognstrup; Klokmose, Clemens; Cumbo, Bronwyn; Hjorth, Arthur; Musaeus, Line Have; Petersen, Marianne Graves; Bouvin, Niels Olof	FabLearn has primarily been concerned with studies of digital fabrication technologies in education, however, we witness an increased interest in integrating other related topics such as computational thinking, digital design and empowerment as an integrated whole. In this paper, we present a five years design research program for digital fabrication, computational thinking and design, to highlight why the FabLearn community should embrace this wider agenda to accomplish its ultimate goal to encourage a new generation to critically and constructively engage in the design of digital technology. The contribution of this paper is a number of open questions and considerations regarding the scope of European FabLearn research that we hope the community will consider and that might give rise to further discussions.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3335055.3335070
A Robotics-Based Approach to Foster Programming Skills and Computational Thinking: Pilot Experience in the Classroom of Early Childhood Education	Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality	González, Yen Air Caballero; Muñoz-Repiso, Ana García-Valcárcel	This document has the purpose to present some results obtained in the pilot experience, play and program with Bee-Bot. The activities were developed in the framework of the doctoral research project whose purpose is the design and integration of learning activities with robotics to foster programming skills and computational thinking in the classroom of early childhood. Teachers and students of the second cycle of early childhood education of a concerted school participated in the experience during 2016-2017 academic period. School is in Salamanca, Spain. The activity allowed students to solve programming challenges using the Bee-Bot floor robot. Instruments were used to collect data, such as: questionnaires, interviews, rubrics and field diary. In general terms, the results obtained were positive. The technical, pedagogical and social aspects proposed in this research have received the favorable acceptance of teachers and students. Therefore, the information generated allowed to strengthen the design, structure and evaluation of the robotics program would be used in later stages of the investigation.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3284179.3284188
Learning Computational Thinking and Social Skills Development in Young Children through Problem Solving with Educational Robotics	Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality	Caballero-Gonzalez, Yen-Air; Muñoz-Repiso, Ana García-Valcárcel; García-Holgado, Alicia	The technological advance that is currently evident in the different social contexts is contributing to consolidate educational processes that allow the strengthening of technological and social skills in students. This paper presents some results obtained in the development of a learning experience in computational thinking and social interaction skills, using problem solving activities and educational robotics in a playful way. The experience involved 46 students and 2 teachers of the first level of primary education of a concerted school in Salamanca, Spain, during the period 2017-2018. A rubric and checklists were used as data collection instruments. The results show a significant advance in the computational thinking and social development skills explored.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3362789.3362874
TunePad: Computational Thinking Through Sound Composition	Proceedings of the 2017 Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Gorson, Jamie; Patel, Nikita; Beheshti, Elham; Magerko, Brian; Horn, Michael	Computational thinking skills will be important for the next generation of students. However, there is a disparity in the populations joining the field. Integrating computational thinking into artistic fields has shown to increase participation in computer science. In this paper, we present our initial design prototype for TunePad, a sound composition tablet application controlled by a block-based programming environment. TunePad is designed to introduce learners to computational thinking and to prepare them for text-based coding environments. From our preliminary testing, with children ages 7-14, we observed that our design actively engages learners and communicates how the programming blocks control the sounds being played. This testing is a prelude to more formal studies as we continue to improve the design and interface of TunePad. With this work, we intend to engage students in computational thinking who may not have otherwise been exposed, giving the opportunity to more people to enter the computer science field.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3078072.3084313
Connecting Undergraduate Programs to High School Students: Teacher Workshops on Computational Thinking and Computer Science	J. Comput. Sci. Coll.	Morreale, Patricia; Joiner, David; Chang, George	The high school preparation of future computer science undergraduates can be varied and depends strongly on the experiences and subject knowledge of their high school teachers. In an effort to connect undergraduate computer science programs to high schools for future student success in college, a public comprehensive university is hosting high school teacher workshops to help teachers enhance their teaching effectiveness. This has established a pathway from the university to the high school. Pre- and post- workshop surveys show that these teacher workshops have changed the perceptions high school teachers had regarding careers in computer science.
Coding or Hacking? Exploring Inaccurate Views on Computing and Computer Scientists among K-6 Learners in Chile	Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Gutierrez, Francisco J.; Simmonds, Jocelyn; Casanova, Cecilia; Sotomayor, Cecilia; Hitschfeld, Nancy	Advancing computational thinking in elementary education has been rapidly gaining attention due to the prospective of developing 21st century skills. However, interventions in this domain risk failure if they do not explicitly address the particular socio-cultural traits of the deployment scenario. This is the case in most countries of Latin America, where computing has not reached a sustainable penetration in K-12 education. In order to bridge this gap, we designed a one-week workshop for advancing computational thinking targeted to 10-12 years old Chilean students with no prior experience in programming. This paper describes our intervention and presents the results of a qualitative study analyzing positive and negative aspects of the experience. Although most participants effectively acquired basic programming skills by the end of the intervention, we also identified several inaccurate views on computing and computer scientists. For instance, computing was mostly perceived as a set of informal experiences rather than a way for enabling creation, automation, and work. The word "hacking" appears to be used as a metaphor for more technical terms, such as "programming" or "algorithm". Finally, negative stereotypical views of computer scientists resulting from the intervention were not as frequent as initial perceptions. These results provide fresh evidence on how to design, adapt, and evaluate computational thinking interventions targeted to K-6 students in Latin America.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3159450.3159598
TIPP&SEE: A Learning Strategy to Guide Students through Use - Modify Scratch Activities	Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Salac, Jean; Thomas, Cathy; Butler, Chloe; Sanchez, Ashley; Franklin, Diana	With the rise of Computational Thinking (CT) instruction at the elementary level, it is imperative that elementary computing instruction support a variety of learners. A popular pedagogical approach for this age group is Use–>Modify–>Create, which introduces a concept through a more scaffolded, guided instruction before culminating in a more open-ended project for student engagement. Yet, there is little research on student learning during the Use–>Modify step, nor strategies to promote learning in this step. This paper introduces TIPP&SEE, a metacognitive learning strategy that further scaffolds student learning during this step. Results from an experimental study show statistically-significant performance gains from students using the TIPP&SEE strategy on nearly all assessment questions of moderate and hard difficulty, suggesting its potential as an effective CS/CT learning strategy.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3328778.3366821
International Perspectives on CS Teacher Formation and Professional Development	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Maiorana, Francesco; Berry, Miles; Nelson, Mark; Lucarelli, Chery; Phillipps, Margot; Mishra, Shitanshu; Benassi, Andrea	Drawing on Mishra and Koehler's "TPACK" model [1], we recognize that great Computer Science (CS) teaching demands great pedagogy, great technology skills and great subject knowledge. The main challenge facing any jurisdiction in implementing a CS curriculum within schools is the shortage of new teachers being trained in CS and to meet the demand many countries have focused on professional development (PD) for existing teachers across a diverse range of subjects. Some initial PD efforts in CS were often brief, with little follow-on support, and supported through external grant funding. This created challenges and opportunities for teacher PD in CS. As the need for CS at the K-12 level continues to grow, approaches should be sustainable and scalable. This includes preparing teachers at all levels, pre k-12, while they are still learning to be teachers and some funding initiatives have included preservice teacher support as part of this [2]. Inside the European Union (EU) the Scientix project [3] represents a focus European Commission (EC) funded projects and is a repository for PD with resources for pedagogy, technology and subject knowledge. Besides this effort, spreading CS knowledge has been supported by volunteers led movements like CoderDojo. The panelists will discuss the following main topics: 1) Pre-service vs in-service, where do teachers come from? 2) Interdisciplinary ways of infusing CS. 3) Ways of replicating across countries CS teacher training initiatives aimed at sustaining and growing the number and quality of both in-service and pre-service teachers able to teach CS effectively. 4) Effective approaches to help teachers to build confidence in their ability to teach Computer Science (CS)	https://doi.org/10.1145/3059009.3059067
What Everyone Needs to Know about Computation	Proceedings of the 41st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Barr, John; Cooper, Steve; Goldweber, Michael; Walker, Henry		https://doi.org/10.1145/1734263.1734305
Reconciling the Promise and Pragmatics of Enhancing Computing Pedagogy with Data Science	Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Bart, Austin Cory; Kafura, Dennis; Shaffer, Clifford A.; Tilevich, Eli	Data science keeps growing in popularity as an introductory computing experience, in which students answer real-world questions by processing data. Armed with carefully prepared pedagogical datasets, computing educators can contextualize assignments and projects in societally meaningful ways, thereby benefiting students' long-term professional careers. However, integrating data science into introductory computing courses requires that the datasets be sufficiently complex, follow appropriate organizational structure, and possess ample documentation. Moreover, the impact of a data science context on students' motivation remains poorly understood. To address these issues, we have created an open-sourced manual for developing pedagogical datasets (freely available at https://think.cs.vt.edu/pragmatics). Structured as a collection of patterns, this manual shares the expertise that we have gained over the last several years, collecting and curating a large collection of real-world datasets, used in a dozen of universities worldwide. We also present new evidence confirming the efficacy of integrating data science in an introductory computing course. As a significant extension of our ongoing work, this study not only validates existing positive assessment, but also provides fine-grained nuance to the potential of data science as a motivational educational element.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3159450.3159465
Stories from the Scratch Community: Connecting with Ideas, Interests, and People	Proceeding of the 44th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Brennan, Karen; Resnick, Mitchel	This special session aims to provoke discussion about new strategies for engaging young people in computer programming, drawing on experiences of educators and young people using the Scratch programming environment and online communities. The session will combine several different formats, including research presentations and analysis by two members of the team that develops and supports Scratch, short presentations and demonstrations by five educators and young people working with Scratch, and discussions among audience participants.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2445196.2445336
K–8 Learning Trajectories Derived from Research Literature: Sequence, Repetition, Conditionals	ACM Inroads	Rich, Kathryn M.; Strickland, Carla; Binkowski, T. Andrew; Moran, Cheryl; Franklin, Diana		https://doi.org/10.1145/3183508
Teaching Elementary Students Programming in a Physical Computing Classroom	Proceedings of the 17th Annual Conference on Information Technology Education	Jin, Karen H.; Haynie, Kathleen; Kearns, Gavin	A physical computing classroom is a popular setting to teach elementary students programming through the use of realistic physical hardware. However, various learning activities and their associated instructional media may cause distraction and disengagement in students' learning experiences. We propose a method to improve the design of learning activities by analyzing their associated physical media usage. We discuss how this method was applied in the design of a summer program for elementary students. Our initial evaluation indicates the program was effective in increasing students' computing knowledge as well as successful in stimulating and engaging students' interests in programming.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2978192.2978238
Changing Girls' Attitudes towards Computer Science	J. Comput. Sci. Coll.	Khoja, Shereen; Wainwright, Camille; Brosing, Juliet; Barlow, Jeffrey	This paper describes the initial results of running a Computer Science camp for middle school girls. The goal of the camp is to change the way that girls from all ethnic and class backgrounds experience the field of Computer Science. The camp focuses on women Computer Scientists as leaders and features original curriculum that utilizes active learning and computational thinking, a mentoring program, a multi-media approach and interactive web site, as well as a ten-year study of the aspirations and career choices of the students involved.
History of Logo	Proc. ACM Program. Lang.	Solomon, Cynthia; Harvey, Brian; Kahn, Ken; Lieberman, Henry; Miller, Mark L.; Minsky, Margaret; Papert, Artemis; Silverman, Brian	Logo is more than a programming language. It is a learning environment where children explore mathematical ideas and create projects of their own design. Logo, the first computer language explicitly designed for children, was invented by Seymour Papert, Wallace Feurzeig, Daniel Bobrow, and Cynthia Solomon in 1966 at Bolt, Beranek and Newman, Inc. (BBN).Logo’s design drew upon two theoretical frameworks: Jean Piaget’s constructivism and Marvin Minsky’s artificial intelligence research at MIT. One of Logo’s foundational ideas was that children should have a powerful programming environment. Early Lisp served as a model with its symbolic computation, recursive functions, operations on linked lists, and dynamic scoping of variables.Logo became a symbol for change in elementary mathematics education and in the nature of school itself. The search for harnessing the computer’s potential to provide new ways of teaching and learning became a central focus and guiding principle in the Logo language development as it encompassed a widening scope that included natural language, music, graphics, animation, story telling, turtle geometry, robots, and other physical devices.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3386329
A Topical Review of Evaluation Instruments for Computing Education	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Decker, Adrienne; McGill, Monica M.	As computing education research continues to grow and mature as a field, it becomes more important to focus on the quality and rigor of our research studies. One important aspect of any research study is its formal evaluation. Using standardized and validated instruments relevant to computer science education to perform evaluations can increase the quality of the study and the value of its results. However, researchers often create their own instruments rather than using existing ones, perhaps due to their lack of knowledge of the value of using an existing instrument or due to the challenge of finding such instruments. Through a review of relevant computing education literature, this paper presents a listing of 47 evaluation instruments specifically designed for measuring programs or constructs related to computing that can influence student achievement and learning. Analysis of purpose, target audience, reliability, and validity of the instruments is also presented. The paper ends with a call for the community to begin to make more regular use of validated instruments in their studies when possible and to develop and validate additional instruments in areas where few exist.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287393
Building Skills in Introductory Programming	Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality	Figueiredo, José; García-Peñalvo, Francisco José	Learning to program is difficult and requires a lot of work, dedication, and training. The difficulties of teaching and learning programming are a cause for concern for everyone where this subject is needed. It is a universal problem. The theme of teaching and learning programming difficulties is a serious problem not only for the important concepts underlying and structuring the course, but also for the lack of motivation, the failure, and abandonment that such frustration may imply for the student. It is important to act quickly. The follow-up of each student must be immediate and personalized. It is not possible to follow a traditional system of exposing the syntax and semantics of a language, with demonstrative examples of the concept, something more is needed. It is important to make an individual and constant evaluation of all the concepts that are part of the programming course. With this constant and personalized evaluation, it is possible to build a profile of each student's competences – building skills in introductory programming. Giving each student the opportunity to improve particular skills. This concept is very similar to the skills of a character in a computer game, which can be acquired through training, performing tasks or practicing a certain ability. The paper goal is to describe a system that allows us to suggest exercises and to evaluate the results automatically. That will allow to construct the profile of the student in programming, according to the different phases of learning. This set of skills allow the teacher to have complete and updated information of the students' knowledge at all times, and thus minimizes the students' demotivation and failure.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3284179.3284190
Why Computing Belongs within the Social Sciences	Commun. ACM	Connolly, Randy	Fully appreciating the overarching scope of CS requires weaving more than ethics into the reigning curricula.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3383444
AP CS Principles: Engaging, Challenging, and Rewarding	ACM Inroads	Kick, Richard; Trees, Frances P.		https://doi.org/10.1145/2710672
Computer Science and the Three Rs	Commun. ACM	Hoffmann, Leah	A growing sense of crisis prevails as computer science searches for its place in the K–12 curriculum.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2347736.2347743
A Dataset of Scratch Programs: Scraped, Shaped and Scored	Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Mining Software Repositories	Aivaloglou, Efthimia; Hermans, Felienne; Moreno-León, Jesús; Robles, Gregorio	Scratch is increasingly popular, both as an introductory programming language and as a research target in the computing education research field. In this paper, we present a dataset of 250K recent Scratch projects from 100K different authors scraped from the Scratch project repository. We processed the projects' source code and metadata to encode them into a database that facilitates querying and further analysis. We further evaluated the projects in terms of programming skills and mastery, and included the project scoring results. The dataset enables the analysis of the source code of Scratch projects, of their quality characteristics, and of the programming skills that their authors exhibit. The dataset can be used for empirical research in software engineering and computing education.	https://doi.org/10.1109/MSR.2017.45
Physical Computing in STEM Education	Proceedings of the Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Schulz, Sandra; Pinkwart, Niels	STEM education research has received considerable attention in recent years. The goal of STEM education is to achieve a common literacy across different STEM subjects and to strengthen every single subject via the combination with other subjects. We present a way of incorporating Computer Science elements in STEM education and a small case study which tests the suitability of this approach, finding initial positive evidence.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2818314.2818327
Fourth Grade Students Reading Block-Based Programs: Predictions, Visual Cues, and Affordances	Proceedings of the Eleventh Annual International Conference on International Computing Education Research	Dwyer, Hilary; Hill, Charlotte; Hansen, Alexandria; Iveland, Ashley; Franklin, Diana; Harlow, Danielle	Visual block-based programming environments allow elementary school students to create their own programs in ways that are more accessible than in textual programming environments. These environments help students write code by removing syntax errors and reducing typing. Students create code by dragging, dropping, and snapping constructs together (e.g. blocks) that are organized by lists, colors, shape, images, etc. However, programming in visual block-based environments is not always simple; in fact, it can become complex quickly. In addition to elements that create code, the visual aspects of these environments provide readers information about what happens, when, and how. Here, we focus on how students used visual cues when reading programs in our block-based programming environment, LaPlaya, a variant of Scratch. Specifically we identified the visual cues students noticed and acted upon. These included not only those that were intended by designers (perceptible affordances), but also those that were not intended by designers (false affordances). Through a detailed content analysis of 13 focus groups with fourth graders we created an initial taxonomy of visual cues in our programming environment and explored how students used these cues to make predictions about provided code, and the types of affordances such cues offered students.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2787622.2787729
Empowering All Students: Closing the CS Confidence Gap with an In-School Initiative for Middle School Students	Proceedings of the 47th ACM Technical Symposium on Computing Science Education	Buffum, Philip Sheridan; Frankosky, Megan Hardy; Boyer, Kristy Elizabeth; Wiebe, Eric; Mott, Bradford W.; Lester, James C.	The important goal of broadening participation in computing has inspired many successful outreach initiatives. Yet many of these initiatives, such as out-of-school activities or innovative new computer science courses for secondary school students, may disproportionately attract students who already have prior interest and experience in computing. How, then, do we engage the silent majority of students who do not self-select computer science? This paper examines this question in the context of ENGAGE, an in-school outreach initiative for middle school students. ENGAGE's learning activities center on a game-based learning environment for computer science. Results reveal that the initiative improved the computer science attitudes of students who were not already predisposed to study computer science, in a way that a corresponding after-school program could not. The results illustrate how an in-school initiative can empower young students who might not otherwise consider studying computer science.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2839509.2844595
Reflecting on Three Offerings of a Community-Centric MOOC for K-6 Computer Science Teachers	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Falkner, Katrina; Vivian, Rebecca; Falkner, Nickolas; Williams, Sally-Ann	A number of institutions and organisations provide online or face-to-face professional learning as part of outreach initiatives to increase skill levels and support for teachers in K-12 Computing education. With a number of countries introducing new K-12 Computer Science curricula around the globe, this provides a prime opportunity for the Computer Science education community to transform and develop models of teacher professional learning that address teachers' needs at-scale. This paper explores the theoretical underpinnings of a community-based professional learning MOOC for Australian teachers for K-6 Computer Science. This paper reflects on data collected from three offerings of the MOOC, presented in light of the theory and design considerations. This paper provides valuable insights of the design of community-centric MOOCs, and acts as a guide for the construction of online professional learning opportunities for Computer Science educators.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3017680.3017712
What Are We Doing When We Teach Computing in Schools?	Commun. ACM	Fincher, Sally	Research on the cognitive, educational, and policy dimensions of teaching computing is critical to achieving "computer literacy."	https://doi.org/10.1145/2742693
Computing for the Masses	Commun. ACM	Xu, Zhiwei; Li, Guojie	A new paradigm is needed to cope with the application, technology, and discipline challenges to our computing profession in the coming decades.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2001269.2001298
Second Level Computer Science: The Irish K-12 Journey Begins	Proceedings of the 18th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research	Quille, Keith; Faherty, Roisin; Bergin, Susan; Becker, Brett A.	This paper initially describes the introduction of a new computer science subject for the Irish leaving certificate course. This is comparable to US high school exit exams (AP computer science principals) or the UK A level computer science. In doing so the authors wish to raise international awareness of the new subject's structure and content. Second, this paper presents the current work of the authors, consisting of early initiatives to try and give the new subject the highest chances of success. The initiatives consist of two facets: The first is the delivery of two-hour computing camps at second level schools (to address stereotypes and provide insight on what computer science really is), which was delivered to 2,943 students, in 95 schools between September 2017 and June 2018. Second, the authors followed this with teacher continual professional development (CPD) sessions, totalling 22, to just over 500 teachers. Early findings are presented, showing potentially concerning trends for gender diversity and CPD development. A call is then raised, to the international computer science education community for wisdom and suggestions that the community may have developed from prior experience. This is to obtain feedback and recommendations for the new subject and the authors' current initiatives, to address early concerns and help develop the initiatives further.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3279720.3279742
Introducing Computing Concepts to Non-Majors: A Case Study in Gothic Novels	Proceedings of the 46th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Bort, Heather; Czarnik, Mimi; Brylow, Dennis	This paper presents an approach to integrating computer science and quantitative literacy concepts in an undergraduate English Literature course. We show how students with no prior background in computer science can engage in computing activities directly related to their topic of interest and gain a deeper understanding of their topic as well as a better appreciation and understanding of computer science and quantitative literacy in the process. Students work in an interdisciplinary learning environment focusing on literary analysis and quantitative literacy with computing concepts acting as the bridge between the two areas.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2676723.2677308
Teaching Software Engineering Principles to K-12 Students: A MOOC on Scratch	Proceedings of the 39th International Conference on Software Engineering: Software Engineering and Education Track	Hermans, Felienne; Aivaloglou, Efthimia	In the last few years, many books, online puzzles, apps and games have been created to teach young children programming. However, most of these do not introduce children to broader concepts from software engineering, such as debugging and code quality issues like smells, duplication, refactoring and naming. To address this, we designed and ran an online introductory Scratch programming course in which we teach elementary programming concepts and software engineering concepts simultaneously. In total 2,220 children actively participated in our course in June and July 2016, most of which (73%) between the ages of 7 and 11. In this paper we describe our course design and analyze the resulting data. More specifically, we investigate whether 1) students find programming concepts more difficult than software engineering concepts, 2) there are age-related differences in their performance and 3) we can predict successful course completion. Our results show that there is no difference in students' scores between the programming concepts and the software engineering concepts, suggesting that it is indeed possible to teach these concepts to this age group. We also find that students over 12 years of age perform significantly better in questions related to operators and procedures. Finally, we identify the factors from the students' profile and their behaviour in the first week of the course that can be used to predict its successful completion.	https://doi.org/10.1109/ICSE-SEET.2017.13
Applying Validated Pedagogy to MOOCs: An Introductory Programming Course with Media Computation	Proceedings of the 2016 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Falkner, Katrina; Falkner, Nickolas; Szabo, Claudia; Vivian, Rebecca	Significant advances have been made in the learning and teaching of Introductory Programming, including the integration of active and contextualised learning pedagogy. However, Massively Open Online Courses (MOOCs), where Computer Science and, more specifically, introductory programming courses dominate, do not typically adopt such pedagogies or lessons learned from more traditional learning environments. Moreover, the improvement of learning within the MOOC context in terms of discipline-specific pedagogy, and the improvement of student learning outcomes and processes have not been studied in depth.This paper reports findings from a foundation programming skills MOOC that supports the learning of fundamental Computer Science concepts and the development of programming skills through a media computation approach, based upon digital artworks and animations. In this paper, we explore the course activity data as well as a sample of students' source code submissions to investigate their engagement with the course and the quality and development of their programming skill over the six weeks of the course duration.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2899415.2899429
Integrating Hard and Soft Skills: Software Engineers Serving Middle School Teachers	Proceedings of the 43rd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Burns, Richard; Pollock, Lori; Harvey, Terry	We have developed and implemented, over four semesters, a model for engaging computer science majors in service learning for teachers of grades 6-8 at a K-8 school in an underserved community. This paper describes the design of a course focused on interweaving software engineering practice, service learning, and development of "soft" professional skills. CS student teams partner with middle school teacher teams to create learning games for classrooms, and then conduct classroom instruction and observation. We report on our results from evaluating the experience of CS students and middle school teachers through pre-post surveys, evaluator observation of student demo presentations and classroom instruction, focus groups, and student reflective journals.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2157136.2157199
Statistics-Infused Introduction to Computer Science	Proceedings of the 46th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Hall-Holt, Olaf A.; Sanft, Kevin R.	The ability to use computational tools to collect, organize, visualize, and analyze data is a valuable skill both inside and outside of computer science. In this paper we describe the design and implementation of a statistics-infused introduction to computer science, developed in collaboration with statistics faculty, at St. Olaf College. We propose that there exists a growing demographic of 'data-centric' students who expect to write small amounts of code in the context of work in other fields, and who are eager to take a CS course adapted to their needs. This particular data-centric CS1 course has been a catalyst for collaboration between faculty in multiple fields and multiple institutions.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2676723.2677218
Middle School Students Using Alice: What Can We Learn from Logging Data?	Proceeding of the 44th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Werner, Linda; McDowell, Charlie; Denner, Jill	There is growing interest in how we can use computer logging data to improve computational tools and pedagogies to engage children in complex thinking and self-expression, but our techniques lag far behind our theories. Only recently have learning scientists begun to measure, collect, analyze, and report how data informs the science of children's learning. In this paper, we describe our initial efforts towards developing tools to mine computer logging data for information on how to enhance learning opportunities. The data were collected as part of an NSF-funded project, and include logs from 320 middle school students using Alice to program computer games in semester-long courses. We describe some lessons learned and decisions made in the process of reconstructing high-level user actions in Alice from low-level Alice logs.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2445196.2445347
A Framework for Computing Education: Hybrid Interaction System: The Need for a Bigger Picture in Computing Education	Proceedings of the 18th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research	Schulte, Carsten; Budde, Lea	This theory and philosophy paper deals with the question how computing education can be framed. Against the background of the explosion in the field of computer science, the question arises as to what should be taught - and this answer is ultimately related to the normative questions as to why should be taught.The framework presented in the paper is intended to discuss this question from the perspective of educational theory. Our approach does not start by trying to capture "the nature of the discipline" as is usually done, but by asking what we need for "educating the nation's young". This does not mean that educational considerations should exclude the discipline, certainly it is still the primary reference, but not the only one. In our framework, education is understood as transformation of self-perception and world-perception. Based on this understanding of education, more precisely Bildung, we approach the question of what is a useful general educational perspective about computing, and what and above all why it should be taught in schools. Our answer is a didactic model that pursues the central idea of a reciprocal interaction between a human and a digital artefact.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3279720.3279733
Resources and Features of Robotics Learning Environments (RLEs) in Spain and Latin America	Proceedings of the First International Conference on Technological Ecosystem for Enhancing Multiculturality	Pittí, Kathia; Curto, Belén; Moreno, Vidal; Rodríguez, Ma José	In today's information society there is a wide range of resources available to carry out different activities involving Educational Robotics (ER). Teachers can choose from a variety of robotics platforms, such as EIM, IM or I (Electronics/Mechanics/Informatics), as well as different software programs (textual or graphical), and thus eventually create a particular Robotics Learning Environment (RLE). Recent studies have shown that learning results associated with ER activities have a stronger link to RLE factors than to proper tools. In this paper we examine the state of the art (RLE resources and features) of ER in Spain and Latin America. A total of 127 teachers completed an online survey between March and May 2013. The final results confirm similar features existing between ordinary school activities and those carried out after school, as well as a high presence of hereby proposed features (active, manipulative, constructive, collaborative, reflexive, intentional, complex, conversational, contextual and technological), promoting significant learning. However, there are important differences with regard to gender, age and participants' countries of origin, as well as their participation in competitions, and their implementation of phases or roles, depending on the different features taken into consideration. This paper points at the importance of focusing research on pedagogical actions which may strengthen RLE features, and thus improve learning results.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2536536.2536584
It's about Power	Commun. ACM	Vakil, Sepehr; Higgs, Jennifer	A call to rethink ethics and equity in computing education.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3306617
Putting the Computer Science in Computing Education Research	Commun. ACM	Franklin, Diana	Investing in computing education research to transform computer science education.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2700376
Intermediate-Level Knowledge in Child-Computer Interaction	Proceedings of the 17th ACM Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Barendregt, Wolmet; Bekker, Tilde; Börjesson, Peter; Eriksson, Eva; Vasalou, Asimina; Torgersson, Olof	In this workshop, we invite researchers to jointly explore how the Child-Computer Interaction (CCI) field can establish intermediate-level knowledge, being a kind of design knowledge that resides in the realm between the design of particular artifacts and theories. In this full day workshop we want to invite (1) researchers and designers who position themselves as producing intermediate-level knowledge (2) people in the field of design research who have not necessarily thought about their work as producing intermediate-level knowledge. Together we will discuss the pros and cons of different kinds of intermediate-level knowledge and how we can promote the creation of these kinds of knowledge in the CCI field.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3202185.3205865
Clustering Student Programming Assignments to Multiply Instructor Leverage	Proceedings of the Second (2015) ACM Conference on Learning @ Scale	Yin, Hezheng; Moghadam, Joseph; Fox, Armando	A challenge in introductory and intermediate programming courses is understanding how students approached solving a particular programming problem, in order to provide feedback on how they might improve. In both Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and large residential courses, such feedback is difficult to provide for each student individually. To multiply the instructor's leverage, we would like to group student submissions according to the general problem-solving strategy they used, as the first stage of a “feedback pipeline”. We describe ongoing explorations of a variety of clustering algorithms and similarity metrics using a corpus of over 800 student submissions to a simple programming assignment from a programming MOOC. We find that for a majority of submissions, it is possible to automatically create clusters such that an instructor “eyeballing” some representative submissions from each cluster can readily describe qualitatively what the common elements are in student submissions in that cluster. This information can be the basis for feedback to the students or for comparing one group of students' approach with another's.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2724660.2728695
Informing Content-Driven Design of Computer Programming Games: A Problems Analysis and a Game Review	Proceedings of the 9th Nordic Conference on Human-Computer Interaction	Laporte, Lieve; Zaman, Bieke	Currently, educational games are being developed to teach children the basics of computer programming. Research and design of such games is usually based on general learning theories. Yet, computer programming poses specific types of difficulties to novice programmers. Taking into account these particular characteristics and problems of computer programming as a learning content in the design of programming games could allow for producing games that are more suitable to the needs of novice programmers. This paper first reports on a novice programmer problems analysis, to gain insight into learners' specific difficulties. Then, a review of existing programming games is presented to investigate how and to which extent these games deal with specific programming problems. The results of these studies aim to contribute to the requirements and ideation phases of a programming game design process, thereby informing a learning content-driven design perspective.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2971485.2971499
Computer Graphics in Context: An Approach to a First Course in Computer Graphics	ACM SIGGRAPH ASIA 2008 Educators Programme	Cunningham, Steve	A context for a computer science course is defined to be a field outside computer science in which the technical course context can be used. We use the term "context" because it gives us a way to see how the computer science content and the application area relate to each other. And we say that the course is taught in context is this other field is used throughout the course for motivation, examples, and projects.We consider the idea of developing a computer graphics course in a context and discuss how that context can be used to engage students in the subject, to learn how to express ideas in the subject through computer graphics, and to build a sense of community within a class. This kind of engagement, expression, and community building are well known to make a subject more attractive as well as to broaden and deepen learning.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1507713.1507715
Toward Classroom Experiences Inclusive of Students with Disabilities	Interactions	Metatla, Oussama; Thieme, Anja; Brulé, Emeline; Bennett, Cynthia; Serrano, Marcos; Jouffrais, Christophe		https://doi.org/10.1145/3289485
Introductory Computing Course Content: Educator and Student Perspectives	Proceedings of the 2011 Conference on Information Technology Education	Elarde, Joseph V.; Chong, Fatt-Fei	Selecting the appropriate content for introductory computing courses is an important part of attracting and retaining students in computer related education programs. This paper reports the results of an educator survey including SIGCSE and SIGITE members designed to evaluate topics that member institutions currently include and would prefer to include in their introductory computing courses notably for non-majors. In addition, we contrast information obtained from the educator surveys to a student preference survey and student outcome evaluations from our introductory computing course. In this paper we show how the perspectives of computer science and information technology educators differ with regard to content of their courses and the differences between the currently offered content and what would be preferred. We also examine survey respondent perspectives regarding the teaching of the office suite, broadening participation, and interdisciplinary topics.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2047594.2047610
TauRUs: A "Taulbee Survey" for the Rest of Us	ACM Inroads	Goldweber, Michael	The TauRUs survey (Taulbee For the Rest of Us) is an attempt to capture data regarding the state of computer science education at non-Ph.D. granting institutions. Annually, the Taulbee survey reports on the state of computer science programs at Ph.D. granting institutions. What this survey attempts to answer is how well does Taulbee data represent non-Ph.D. programs? If Taulbee is not representative, what are the differences between the three cohorts of programs: Ph.D. granting programs (which include Masters and undergraduate programs), Masters granting programs (which also include undergraduate programs), and undergraduate only programs.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1963533.1963547
A (Relatively) Unsatisfactory Experience of Use of Scratch in CS1	Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality	Martínez-Valdés, José Alfredo; Velázquez-Iturbide, J. Ángel; Hijón-Neira, Raquel	Scratch is a "rich-media programming language" that has become very popular at high school because students may learn it very quickly and produce surprisingly animated programs. Consequently, some instructors have proposed using Scratch at the university in introductory programming courses. Their experiences report on students' high motivation and sometimes also on higher performance. We adopted Scratch as the introductory programming language for a CS1 course in a videogames major. It was used for two weeks and then the course switched to using Java. The results we obtained for both the Scratch language and the Dr. Scratch tool were less satisfactory than expected and, in some regards, disappointing. We describe our experience, analyze students' acceptance and discuss some consequences and lessons learnt to Scratch in university courses.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3144826.3145356
Constructing Meaning: Designing Powerful Story-Making Explorations for Children to Express with Tangible Computational Media	Proceedings of the 2017 Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Panjwani, Alisha	Story-Making is a process that cultivates creative learning by combining innovative forms of storytelling and new forms of making with novel technologies. In this paper, I highlight creative experiences for engaging children in making physical representations of their personal stories using Tangible Computational Media such as paper electronics, programmable projections, and sewable circuits. By sharing examples of the artifacts and stories made by children, I describe how they construct and express personal meaning artistically, electronically, and computationally. Reflecting on Story-Making explorations with children, I share ten design practices for developing creative learning environments, experiences, and tools that broaden and deepen children's engagement with new technologies.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3078072.3079723
Data Journalism: Lessons Learned While Designing an Interdisciplinary Service Course	Proceedings of the 46th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Plaue, Christopher; Cook, Lindsey R.	We present the design and implementation of an interdisciplinary service course on data journalism, a first-ever collaboration between the computer science department and college of journalism at our institution. The course covered the basics of dataset acquisition, cleaning, and analysis, and taught key programming and web development concepts. Students created an online portfolio of exercises, culminating in a news story and data visualization. The course was well received by students coming from a variety of backgrounds. We provide recommendations for future iterations of this course.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2676723.2677263
Embodied Interaction through Movement in a Course Work	Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Movement Computing	Erkut, Cumhur; Dahl, Sofia	Designing for and through movement is becoming increasingly important in human computer interaction, and it is widely accepted that the designers should develop their bodily skills and learn how to use the movement as design material. Yet, the reports on the education space around embodied interaction are scarce. We present an approach for teaching and designing embodied interaction in collaboration with contemporary dance choreographers. We describe a workshop, where after movement sessions, simple projects were implemented by the participants. The evaluation of projects and student feedback indicate that the four learning objectives, namely: 1) movement as a design material, 2) bodily skills needed for technological implementation, 3) movement qualities, and 4) practical projects, were attained for most of the participants. For some participants, however, the movement qualities were hard concepts to grasp and utilize in design, and this difficulty had an impact on all the other learning objectives. Further experiments with new tools, techniques, contexts, and guidelines are therefore required to highlight the importance of movement qualities in design.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3077981.3078026
Brain Jam: STEAM Learning through Neuroscience-Themed Game Development	Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Game Jams, Hackathons, and Game Creation Events	Pollock, Ian; Murray, James; Yeager, Beth	Improving STEM education is currently a national priority, precipitated by the urgent need to develop a STEM-literate future workforce [26]. This study presents a description of preliminary findings from the development, implementation, and examination of an after-school pilot project combining neuroscience education and the creation of playable media for underserved high school students in Hayward, California.The program, developed by university faculty, graduate students and the Institute for STEM Education, is an interdisciplinary and collaborative way to combine neuroscience and design thinking. Drawing on two existing university programs, the CSUEB Game Jam and Brain Bee, it offers an after-school program that is engaging, content-rich, and transdisciplinary. Combining neuroscience and design thinking into STEAM, the program also answers a call by California Next Generation Science and Engineering Standards [21] for increased integration of different disciplines in inquiry-based approaches.The evaluation research study of the Brain Jam project was guided by questions of how this after-school program was implemented and the consequences for student engagement. The study also looked at the growth in science literacy and practice as well as design thinking. Preliminary findings appear to support the effectiveness of this transdisciplinary, interactive, and problem-centered approach. They suggest that "folding together" game design and neuroscience was effective in supporting deeper thinking and understanding, and increased student interest in both disciplines.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3055116.3055122
Teaching Cybersecurity with Networked Robots	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Lédeczi, Ákos; MarÓti, MiklÓs; Zare, Hamid; Yett, Bernard; Hutchins, Nicole; Broll, Brian; Völgyesi, Péter; Smith, Michael B.; Darrah, Timothy; Metelko, Mary; Koutsoukos, Xenofon; Biswas, Gautam	The paper presents RoboScape, a collaborative, networked robotics environment that makes key ideas in computer science accessible to groups of learners in informal learning spaces and K-12 classrooms. RoboScape is built on top of NetsBlox, an open-source, networked, visual programming environment based on Snap! that is specifically designed to introduce students to distributed computation and computer networking. RoboScape provides a twist on the state of the art of robotics learning platforms. First, a user's program controlling the robot runs in the browser and not on the robot. There is no need to download the program to the robot and hence, development and debugging become much easier. Second, the wireless communication between a student's program and the robot can be overheard by the programs of the other students. This makes cybersecurity an immediate need that students realize and can work to address. We have designed and delivered a cybersecurity summer camp to 24 students in grades between 7 and 12. The paper summarizes the technology behind RoboScape, the hands-on curriculum of the camp and the lessons learned.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287450
Information Technology Research Challenges for Healthcare: From Discovery to Delivery	SIGHIT Rec.	Graham, Susan; Estrin, Deborah; Horvitz, Eric; Kohane, Isaac; Mynatt, Elizabeth; Sim, Ida	This whitepaper is a reprint from the Computing Community Consortium (http://www.cra.org/ccc/), first printed on May 25, 2010. This paper is an outgrowth of the workshop, "Discovery and Innovation in Health IT," sponsored by the National Science Foundation, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the National Library of Medicine, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Computing Community Consortium, and the American Medical Informatics Association. The workshop was held at the Parc 55 Hotel in San Francisco on October 29 and 30, 2009.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1971706.1971708
Reduction in CS: A (Mostly) Quantitative Analysis of Reductive Solutions to Algorithmic Problems	J. Educ. Resour. Comput.	Armoni, Michal	Reduction is a problem-solving strategy, relevant to various areas of computer science, and strongly connected to abstraction: a reductive solution necessitates establishing a connection among problems that may seem totally disconnected at first sight, and abstracts the solution to the reduced-to problem by encapsulating it as a black box. The study described in this article continues a previous, qualitative study that examined the ways undergraduate computer science students perceive, experience, and use reduction as a problem-solving strategy. The current study examines the same issue, but in the context of a larger population, using also quantitative analysis, and focusing on algorithmic problems. The findings indicate difficulties students have with the abstract characteristics of reduction and with acknowledging reduction as a general problem-solving strategy.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1482348.1482350
CS0: Introducing Computing with Raspberry Pis	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Krupp, Brian; Watkins, Andrew	This paper presents our experience implementing a newly designed introduction to computing course for first year undergraduate students. The redesigned course focuses on the use of Raspberry Pi microcomputers as a common computing platform in order to encourage student experimentation and fun in a relatively low-cost environment. The course we describe represents a departure at our university from a traditional first-semester introduction to computing which emphasized foundational technical and mathematical skills but less exploration of the field of computing in a more wholistic manner. Our new course focuses on exposure to computing through experimentation. Additionally, it emphasizes community building among the students as well as affording them the opportunity to bring their creativity to bear in a final project showcase. As a result, the course is proving to be attractive not just to traditional computing majors but to a wider swath of the university community. This paper describes the topics selected in the redesign of the course, a summary of the labs involved, a discussion of assignments, and a description of the final project process. We discuss feedback received from students and the overall perception of the course among students and faculty. We also reflect on our experiences from redesigning the course and provide advice for those wishing to adopt a similar introductory course.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287488
Gender Equity in Computing: International Faculty Perceptions and Current Practices	Proceedings of the 2016 ITiCSE Working Group Reports	Hamilton, Margaret; Luxton-Reilly, Andrew; Augar, Naomi; Chiprianov, Vanea; Gutierrez, Eveling Castro; Duarte, Elizabeth Vidal; Hu, Helen H.; Ittyipe, Shoba; Pearce, Janice L.; Oudshoorn, Michael; Wong, Emma	In many countries serious effort has been put into developing and running programs that encourage girls to enjoy learning programming. At school level, many girls have done very well in these experiences, but despite their confidence and enthusiasm for programming at the time of the intervention, few have continued on to enroll in tertiary computing programs. In higher education institutions, numerous equity initiatives have attempted to improve both recruitment and retention, yet the pipeline continues to shrink.The running of interventions takes effort on the part of the academics to develop and much time, often in vacation periods, to deliver. As the success of these programs frequently relies on the goodwill of faculty, the authors formed an international multi-disciplinary working group to explore faculty attitudes and perceptions of these gender equity programs, and identify key features of enduring programs.In this paper, we gather and critically review existing literature resources with the aim of developing evaluation guidelines for the running of intervention programs from primary school to university education in order to encourage girls of all ages to seriously consider the prospect of undertaking a computing degree and to better support them during this time. Additionally, we explore the perceptions of faculty towards gender equity and gender equity programs, and discuss how faculty perceptions align with research findings.Our findings identify a clear need for gender equity programs, more consistent evaluation of the effectiveness of such programs including gathering, analysing and storing longitudinal data and more widespread dissemination of gender equity information to faculty.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3024906.3024911
Introductory Programming Courses in Australasia in 2016	Proceedings of the Nineteenth Australasian Computing Education Conference	Mason, Raina; Simon	This paper reports on a survey of introductory programming courses in Australia and New Zealand conducted in the first half of 2016. Such surveys have been conducted a number of times in the past 15 years, and we have access to some of the past data to enable us to perform some longitudinal analysis. In the previous iteration of the study, in 2013, Python had joined Java as the dominant language used in introductory programming courses, and student numbers were apparently on the rise, having previously been falling. Those trends are found to continue in 2016, with Python being taught in the same number of courses as Java, but to greater numbers of students; and with a substantial increase in student numbers both overall and averaged per course. We also report on the reasons for the choices of programming languages; on the use of IDEs with the languages (which appears to be falling slightly); on the provision of resources that might help students (which also appears to be falling slightly); on the respondents' aims in their courses; and on considerations of academic integrity in these programming courses.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3013499.3013512
Bonk: Accessible Programming for Accessible Audio Games	Proceedings of the 17th ACM Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Kane, Shaun K.; Koushik, Varsha; Muehlbradt, Annika	Introductory computer programming presents a number of challenges for blind and visually impaired screen reader users. In addition to the challenges of navigating complex code documents using a screen reader, novice programmers who are blind are often unable to experience fun coding projects such as programming games or animations. To address these accessibility barriers, we developed Bonk, an accessible programming environment that enables the creation of interactive audio games using a subset of the JavaScript programming language. Bonk enables novice programmers to create, share, play, and remix accessible audio games. In this paper, we introduce the Bonk programming toolkit and describe its use in a week-long programming workshop with blind and visually impaired high school students. Students in the workshop were able to create and share original audio games using Bonk, and expressed enthusiasm about furthering their programming knowledge.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3202185.3202754
INSPIRED High School Computing Academies	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Doerschuk, Peggy; Liu, Jiangjiang; Mann, Judith	If we are to attract more women and minorities to computing we must engage students at an early age. As part of its mission to increase participation of women and underrepresented minorities in computing, the Increasing Student Participation in Research Development Program (INSPIRED) conducts computing academies for high school students. The academies are designed to increase students’ knowledge of and interest in computing and to encourage females and minorities to participate in computing. INSPIRED academies differ from others in several ways. They are relatively easy to organize and require relatively few resources; they focus on computing concepts and object-oriented programming; they expose students to successful female and minority computer scientists; and they actively engage university students from underrepresented groups to organize, coordinate, teach, and help assess the academies. This not only provides role models for the high school students but also helps engage the university students and promote their professional development. Our assessment results show that high school student participants have gained significant knowledge and interest in computing through participation in the academies. This article describes the organization, coordination, content, and assessment of the academies, along with suggestions for those who would like to design academies like these. It also discusses how to prepare university students for their roles in the academies and how their participation has helped in their professional development. It includes pointers to sites from which the instructional and assessment materials can be downloaded for those who wish to replicate or adapt these materials.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1993069.1993071
Cops, Robbers, and Threatening Skeletons: Padded Decomposition for Minor-Free Graphs	Proceedings of the Forty-Sixth Annual ACM Symposium on Theory of Computing	Abraham, Ittai; Gavoille, Cyril; Gupta, Anupam; Neiman, Ofer; Talwar, Kunal	We prove that any graph excluding Kr as a minor has can be partitioned into clusters of diameter at most Δ while removing at most O(r/Δ) fraction of the edges. This improves over the results of Fakcharoenphol and Talwar, who building on the work of Klein, Plotkin and Rao gave a partitioning that required to remove O(r2/Δ) fraction of the edges. Our result is obtained by a new approach that relates the topological properties (excluding a minor) of a graph to its geometric properties (the induced shortest path metric). Specifically, we show that techniques used by Andreae in his investigation of the cops and robbers game on graphs excluding a fixed minor, can be used to construct padded decompositions of the metrics induced by such graphs. In particular, we get probabilistic partitions with padding parameter O(r) and strong-diameter partitions with padding parameter O(r2) for Kr-free graphs, O(k) for treewidth-k graphs, and O(log g) for graphs with genus g.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2591796.2591849
SE in ES: Opportunities for Software Engineering and Cloud Computing in Environmental Science	Proceedings of the 40th International Conference on Software Engineering: Software Engineering in Society	Simm, W. A.; Samreen, F.; Bassett, R.; Ferrario, M. A.; Blair, G.; Whittle, J.; Young, P. J.	New and emergent computing architectures and software engineering practices provide an opportunity for environmental models to be deployed more efficiently and democratically. In this paper we aim to capture the software engineering practices of environmental scientists, highlight opportunities for software engineering and work towards developing a domain specific language for the configuration and deployment of environmental models. We hold a series of interviews with environmental scientists involved in developing and deploying computer based environmental models about the approach taken in engineering models, and describe a case study in deploying an environmental model (WRF: Weather Research Forecasting) on a cloud architecture. From these studies we find a number of opportunities for A) software engineering methods and tools such as Domain Specific Languages to play a role in abstracting from underlying computing complexity, and for B) new architectures to increase efficiency and availability of deployment. Together, we propose they will allow scientists to concentrate on fundamental science rather than specifics of the underlying computing.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3183428.3183430
Computer Science Pedagogical Content Knowledge: Characterizing Teacher Performance	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Yadav, Aman; Berges, Marc	Computer science education efforts are expanding across the globe to equip students with the necessary computing skills for today’s digital world. However, preparing students to become literate in computing activities requires the training of tens of thousands of teachers in computer science. The discrepancy between student needs and teacher preparation in computer science has raised questions of quality teachers, particularly for teachers who do not possess adequate content or pedagogical knowledge to teach computer science efficiently. To address this issue, we designed an instrument to measure knowledge needed to teach computer science (i.e., computer science pedagogical content knowledge). Results exhibited that our instrument measured aspects of teachers’ computer science pedagogical content knowledge; however, teachers’ prior background in teaching did not influence their performance. We discuss implications for future research and practice.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3303770
StressMon: Scalable Detection of Perceived Stress and Depression Using Passive Sensing of Changes in Work Routines and Group Interactions	Proc. ACM Hum.-Comput. Interact.	Zakaria, Camellia; Balan, Rajesh; Lee, Youngki	Stress and depression are a common affliction in all walks of life. When left unmanaged, stress can inhibit productivity or cause depression. Depression can occur independently of stress. There has been a sharp rise in mobile health initiatives to monitor stress and depression. However, these initiatives usually require users to install dedicated apps or multiple sensors, making such solutions hard to scale. Moreover, they emphasise sensing individual factors and overlook social interactions, which plays a significant role in influencing stress and depression while being a part of a social system. We present StressMon, a stress and depression detection system that leverages single-attribute location data, passively sensed from the WiFi infrastructure. Using the location data, it extracts a detailed set of movement, and physical group interaction pattern features without requiring explicit user actions or software installation on client devices. These features are used in two different machine learning models to detect stress and depression. To validate StressMon, we conducted three different longitudinal studies at a university with different groups of students, totalling up to 108 participants. Our evaluation demonstrated StressMon detecting severely stressed students with a 96.01% True Positive Rate (TPR), an 80.76% True Negative Rate (TNR), and a 0.97 area under the ROC curve (AUC) score (a score of 1 indicates a perfect binary classifier) using a 6-day prediction window. In addition, StressMon was able to detect depression at 91.21% TPR, 66.71% TNR, and 0.88 AUC using a 15-day window. We end by discussing how StressMon can expand CSCW research, especially in areas involving collaborative practices for mental health management.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3359139
Approximation Algorithms and Hardness of the k-Route Cut Problem	Proceedings of the Twenty-Third Annual ACM-SIAM Symposium on Discrete Algorithms	Chuzhoy, Julia; Makarychev, Yury; Vijayaraghavan, Aravindan; Zhou, Yuan	We study the k-route cut problem: given an undirected edge-weighted graph G = (V, E), a collection (s1, t1), (s2, t2),..., (sr, tr) of source-sink pairs, and an integer connectivity requirement k, the goal is to find a minimum-weight subset E' of edges to remove, such that the connectivity of every pair (si, ti) falls below k. Specifically, in the edge-connectivity version, EC-kRC, the requirement is that there are at most (k − 1) edge-disjoint paths connecting si to ti in GE', while in the vertex-connectivity version, VC-kRC, the same requirement is for vertex-disjoint paths. Prior to our work, poly-logarithmic approximation algorithms have been known for the special case where k ≤ 3, but no non-trivial approximation algorithms were known for any value k > 3, except in the single-source setting. We show an O(k log3/2 r)-approximation algorithm for EC-kRC with uniform edge weights, and several polylogarithmic bi-criteria approximation algorithms for EC-kRC and VC-kRC, where the connectivity requirement k is violated by a constant factor. We complement these upper bounds by proving that VC-kRC is hard to approximate to within a factor of kε for some fixed ε > 0.We then turn to study a simpler version of VC-kRC, where only one source-sink pair is present. We give a simple bi-criteria approximation algorithm for this case, and show evidence that even this restricted version of the problem may be hard to approximate. For example, we prove that the single source-sink pair version of VC-kRC has no constant-factor approximation, assuming Feige's Random κ-AND assumption.
Does Computational Thinking Correlate with Personality? The Non-Cognitive Side of Computational Thinking	Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality	Román-González, Marcos; Pérez-González, Juan-Carlos; Moreno-León, Jesús; Robles, Gregorio	Computational thinking (CT) is being considered as a key set of problem-solving skills to be acquired by the new generations of digital citizens and workers in order to thrive in a computer-based world. However, from a psychometric point of view, CT is still a poorly defined psychological construct: there is no full consensus on a formal definition of CT or how to measure it; and its correlations with other psychological constructs, whether cognitive or non-cognitive, have not been completely established. In response to the latter, this paper aims to study specifically the correlations between CT and the several dimensions from the 'Big Five' model of human personality: Conscientiousness, Openness to Experience, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. To do so, the Computational Thinking Test (CTt) and the Big Five Questionnaire-Children version (BFQ-C) are administered on a sample (n = 99) of Spanish students from 5th to 10th grade. Results show statistically significant correlations between CT and: Openness to Experience (r = 0.41), Extraversion (r = 0.30), and Conscientiousness (r = 0.27). These results are partially consistent with the literature about the links between cognitive and personality variables, and corroborate the existence of a non-cognitive side of CT. Hence, educational interventions aimed at fostering CT should take into account these non-cognitive issues in order to be comprehensive and successful.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3012430.3012496
From Computational Thinking to Coding and Back	Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality	DePryck, Koen	Introducing coding in the curriculum at an early age is considered a long term investment in bridging the skills gap between the technology demands of the labour market and the availability of people to fill them. The keys to success include moving from mere literacy to active control - not only at the level of learners but also at the level of teachers. However, given the fast development of the field, one might wonder whether acquiring specific coding skills really is the essence of introducing coding early in the curriculum. We argue that the reach of ICT -including coding skills- is much broader than STEM alone and a background in STEM is no longer a requirement for successful coding. The complex link between coding and computational thinking is the real critical success factor. We refer to TACCLE3 (an EU Erasmus+ project) as a successful approach to the implementation and valorisation of computational thinking across the curriculum.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3012430.3012492
Infusing Computational Thinking Across Disciplines: Reflections & Lessons Learned	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Pollock, Lori; Mouza, Chrystalla; Guidry, Kevin R.; Pusecker, Kathleen	In this work, we describe our effort to develop, pilot, and evaluate a model for infusing computational thinking into undergraduate curricula across a variety of disciplines using multiple methods that previously have been individually tried and tested, including: (1) multiple pathways of computational thinking, (2) faculty professional development, (3) undergraduate peer mentors, and (4) formative assessment. We present pilot instantiations of computational thinking integration in three different disciplines including sociology, mathematics and music. We also present our professional development approach, which is based on faculty support rather than a co-teaching model. Further, we discuss formative assessment during the pilot implementation, including data focusing on undergraduate students' understanding and dispositions towards computational thinking. Finally, we reflect on what worked, what did not work and why, and identify lessons learned. Our work is relevant to higher education institutions across the nation interested in preparing students who can utilize computational principles to address discipline-specific problems.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287469
The Role of Computational Thinking Practices in Making: How Beginning Youth Makers Encounter & Appropriate CT Practices in Making	Proceedings of the 7th Annual Conference on Creativity and Fabrication in Education	Wagh, Aditi; Gravel, Brian; Tucker-Raymond, Eli	1There are increasing calls to introduce computational thinking (CT) practices at the K-12 level. These calls are motivated by a consensus that CT practices can be valuable for everyone. This work is based on the assertion that making, or the personal construction of objects employing digital and/or analog technologies, can provide a rich context for enacting CT practices. This paper investigates the activities of a group of beginning youth makers creating an interactive digital/ physical water piano to ask: What forms of CT practices do they enact, and in what ways are these practices further developed in their work? Data includes qualitative ethnographic data including observations, recordings and interviews. We explore the ways youth encounter new, yet relatable and intriguing practices—like debugging to isolate an issue—and appropriate them within particular contexts and for particular goals, often to deal with the immediate challenges they are facing. We end by offering conjectures for ways to support beginning youth makers in appropriating CT practices.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3141798.3141808
Grounding Computational Thinking Skill Acquisition Through Contextualized Instruction	Proceedings of the Eleventh Annual International Conference on International Computing Education Research	Nickerson, Hilarie; Brand, Catharine; Repenning, Alexander	Computational thinking (CT) involves a broadly applicable and complex set of processes that are often explained by way of the knowledge, attitudes, and general practices that they entail. However, to become facile with CT, learners require instruction that is grounded in concrete, relevant experiences. This paper examines teacher practices that are intended to promote CT skill acquisition through instruction that takes place in two framing contexts. The phenomenological context, which is based on observable patterns of object interaction that recur in games and simulations, is particularly valuable for developing the capacity to think abstractly. Abstraction is the key to recognizing analogous conditions, an ability that is the basis for transferring learning to new situations. The disciplinary context describes areas of application within and across subject areas, including computer science, that can foster proficiency with data representation, problem decomposition, and other CT skills. Using the Scalable Game Design curriculum as a lens to examine classroom practices, we find that teachers both plan and enact CT instruction in these contexts.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2787622.2787720
Designing a Middle School Science Curriculum That Integrates Computational Thinking and Sensor Technology	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Gendreau Chakarov, Alexandra; Recker, Mimi; Jacobs, Jennifer; Van Horne, Katie; Sumner, Tamara	This experience report describes two iterations of a curriculum development process in which middle school teachers worked with our research team to collaboratively design and enact instructional units where students used sensors to investigate scientific phenomena. In this report, we examine the affordances of using a sensor platform to support the integration of disciplinary learning and computational thinking (CT) aligned with Next Generation Science Standards and the CT in STEM Taxonomy developed by Weintrop and colleagues. In the first unit, students investigated the conditions for mold growth within their school using a custom sensor system. After analyzing implementation experiences and student interest data, our team engaged in another round of co-design to develop a second instructional unit. This unit uses a different sensor system (the micro:bit) which supports additional CT in STEM practices due to its block-based programming interface and its real time data display. For the second unit we selected a different phenomenon: understanding and designing maglev trains.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287476
Computational Thinking through Programming and Algorithmic Art	SIGGRAPH 2009: Talks	Orr, Genevieve	General education students can be taught computational thinking skills through courses that marry computer programming with algorithmic art. Algorithmic art is a varied and growing field where images are generated on the computer using mathematical and computer algorithms (see http://processing.org/exhibition/index.html for examples). Visually oriented students may be motivated to learn programming when it is taught in a context that is as much focused on art, artists, and design principles as it is on mathematics and programming. This presentation will include 1) a discussion of the challenges of teaching programming, 2) the role of teaching style, motivation, and programming environment, 3) a summary of common algorithms and their relation to design principles, and 4) examples of artwork that has been created by current artists.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1597990.1598021
A Didactic Scenario for Implementation of Computational Thinking Using Inquiry Game Learning	Proceedings of the 2017 International Conference on Education and E-Learning	Psycharis, Sarantos; Kotzampasaki, Evangelia	We present an education scenario for the simulation of the "pixel" of a computer screen. The teaching and learning process is implemented as a game problem based scenario related to the "rescue" of an object by the students. We used the Arduino controller and the Ejs and S4A software in order to motivate students to be involved in the computational experiment methodology and the dimensions of the computational thinking (CT). Research is in process for the effectiveness of this scenario to 5th and 6th grade students using a CT questionnaire.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3160908.3160918
Promoting Computational Thinking in K-12 Students by Applying Unplugged Methods and Robotics	Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality	Conde, Miguel Á.; Fernández-Llamas, Camino; Rodríguez-Sedano, Francisco J.; Guerrero-Higueras, Ángel M.; Matellán-Olivera, Vicente; García-Peñalvo, Francisco J.	Nowadays students live in the digital age and they do not only should learn to speak, write or develop specific skills. Students needs to be successful in their context and a possible way to achieve this is by developing the computational thinking. In the last few years there are several initiatives to promote computational thinking and to define approaches and methods to support it. One of this is the unplugged methods, in which students develop computational thinking skills without using the technology. This paper presents an experiment to promote computational thinking by using unplugged methods and employing robots as teachers as an engagement factor for the students. During the experiment, they have been distributed in two groups. One has carried out unplugged activities to develop computational thinking while the other did not. From the experiment, it is possible to see that results are better for those students that have completed unplugged activities and there are differences depending on age.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3144826.3145355
Computational Thinking Should Just Be Good Thinking	Commun. ACM	Guzdial, Mark; Kay, Alan; Norris, Cathie; Soloway, Elliot	Seeking to change computing teaching to improve computer science.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3363181
How Character Customization Affects Learning in Computational Thinking	Proceedings of the ACM Symposium on Applied Perception	Lin, Lorraine; Parmar, Dhaval; Babu, Sabarish V.; Leonard, Alison E.; Daily, Shaundra B.; Jörg, Sophie	The ability to select or customize characters in educational applications and games has been shown to influence factors related to learning effects such as transfer, self-efficacy, and motivation. Most previous conclusions on the perception of virtual characters and the effect of character assignment in interactive applications have been reached through short, one-task experiments. To investigate more long-term effects of assigning versus customizing characters as well as explore perceptions of personal character appearance, we conduct a study in which sixth and seventh grade students are introduced to programming concepts with the software VEnvI (Virtual Environment Interactions) in seven one-hour sessions over two weeks. In VEnvI, students create performances for virtual characters by assembling blocks. With a between-subjects design, in which some of the students can alter their character and others are not given that possibility, we examine the influence of the presence or absence of character choice options on learning.We hypothesize that students have higher learning outcomes when they can choose and customize how their character looks compared to when they are assigned a character. We confirm this hypothesis for a category of learning (Remember and Understand) and give insights on students' relationships with their character.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3119881.3119884
Changing Perceptions of Computer Science and Computational Thinking among High School Teachers	J. Comput. Sci. Coll.	Morreale, Patricia; Joiner, David	Interest in specific college majors begins in high school. The influence of high school math and science teachers is important, both for high school preparation of future computer science undergraduates, and for the understanding and interest in prospective majors high school teachers can encourage in their students. With the simultaneous decline in high school computer science curriculum offerings and undergraduate majors in computer science, an effort has been made to update the perception of computer science and computational thinking among high school teachers by hosting local non-residential summer workshops for high school teachers and their students.Pre- and post- workshop surveys show that the summer workshops have changed the perceptions high school teachers had regarding careers in computer science, resulting in a 50% increase in the likelihood that a high school teacher would recommend computer science, computational science, or information technology to their students as a career. By changing teacher perceptions of computer science and computational thinking, high school teachers are more likely to include computer science as one of the college majors suggested to their students.
CTArcade: Learning Computational Thinking While Training Virtual Characters through Game Play	CHI '12 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems	Lee, Tak Yeon; Mauriello, Matthew Louis; Ingraham, John; Sopan, Awalin; Ahn, June; Bederson, Benjamin B.	In this paper we describe CTArcade, a web application framework that seeks to engage users through game play resulting in the improvement of computational thinking (CT) skills. Our formative study indicates that CT skills are employed when children are asked to define strategies of common games such as Connect Four. In CTArcade, users can train their own virtual characters while playing games with it. Trained characters then play matches against other virtual characters. Based on reviewing the matches played, users can improve their game character. A basic usability evaluation was performed on the system, which helped to define plans for improving CTArcade and assessing its design goals.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2212776.2223794
Examining the Impact of Computational Creativity Exercises on College Computer Science Students' Learning, Achievement, Self-Efficacy, and Creativity	Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Peteranetz, Markeya S.; Wang, Shiyuan; Shell, Duane F.; Flanigan, Abraham E.; Soh, Leen-Kiat	The purpose of the present study was to investigate how the inclusion of computational creativity exercises (CCEs) merging computational and creative thinking in undergraduate computer science (CS) courses affected students' course grades, learning of core CS knowledge, self-efficacy, and creative competency. CCEs were done in lower- and upper-division CS courses at a single university. Students in CCE implementation courses were compared to students in the same courses in different semesters. Propensity score matching was used to create comparable groups (control and implementation) based on students' GPA, motivation, and engagement. Results showed that implementing CCEs in undergraduate CS courses enhanced grades, learning of core CS knowledge, and self-efficacy for creatively applying CS knowledge. However, CCEs did not impact creative competency. The effect of the CCEs was consistent across upper- and lower-division courses for all outcomes. Unlike previous studies that only established the support for CCEs, such as positive dosage effects, the results of this study indicate that CCEs have a causal effect on students' achievement, learning, and self-efficacy, and this effect is independent of general academic achievement, motivation, and engagement. These findings establish the CCEs as a validated, evidence-based instructional method.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3159450.3159459
Report of the Spanish Computing Scientific Society on Computing Education in Pre-University Stages	Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality	Velázquez-Iturbide, J. Ángel	In recent years, many developed countries have addressed computing education in primary or secondary education. Potential benefits for students in these educational stages and for the society are great, existing a wide range of approaches to such a computing education. The Spanish Computing Scientific Society (SCIE), with the support of the Spanish Board of Deans of Computing Schools (CODDII) created in September 2017 a working group formed by experts in either computing or computing education with the goal of elaborating a report with specific recommendations about this issue for the Spanish government. The report was issued in July 2018 and recommends, in conformance to Spanish educational laws, to establish a matter called "Informatics". This matter would preferably be implemented as a mandatory course offered from primary to secondary education. The course contents comprise six areas: programming, computers and operating systems, networks and the Internet, data, digital content, and security. The course would include issues of both digital literacy and computing as a discipline, with digital literacy contents based on the European DIGCOMP framework.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3284179.3284180
The Royal Society of Edinburgh/British Computer Society Computer Science Exemplification Project	Proceedings of the 18th ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Scott, Jeremy	In August 2011, Google Chairman Eric Schmidt came to Scotland and expressed great concern at the state of Computer Science (CS) education in the UK's schools. This was a timely intervention: in Scotland, a new national curriculum is providing an opportunity to cement CS and computational thinking firmly within the curriculum and reverse a recent decline in uptake. To support teachers delivering this new curriculum and to provide students with an experience of CS that is accessible and exciting, the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) and British Computer Society (BCS) have commissioned three extensive resources that seek to deliver CS in a way that is relevant to students' own digital lives. These use a range of pedagogical approaches to teach computational thinking and enable meaningful interdisciplinary learning – a cornerstone of Scotland's new curriculum.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2462476.2465574
Computing with CORGIS: Diverse, Real-World Datasets for Introductory Computing	ACM Inroads	Bart, Austin Cory; Whitcomb, Ryan; Kafura, Dennis; Shaffer, Clifford A.; Tilevich, Eli	To successfully bring introductory computing to non-CS majors, one needs to create a curriculum that will appeal to students from diverse disciplines. Several educational theories emphasize the need for introductory contexts that align with students' long-term goals and are perceived as useful. Data Science, using algorithms to manipulate real-world data and interpreting the results, has emerged as a field with cross-disciplinary value, and has strong potential as an appealing context for introductory computing courses. However, it is not easy to find, clean, and integrate datasets that will satisfy a broad variety of learners. The CORGIS project (https://think.cs.vt.edu/corgis) enables instructors to easily incorporate data science into their classroom. Specifically, it provides over 40 datasets in areas including history, politics, medicine, and education. Additionally, the CORGIS infrastructure supports the integration of new datasets with simple libraries for Java, Python, and Racket, thus empowering introductory students to write programs that manipulate real data. Finally, the CORGIS web-based tools allow learners to visualize and explore datasets without programming, enabling data science lessons on day one. We have incorporated CORGIS assignments into an introductory course for non-majors to study their impact on learners' motivation, with positive initial results. These results indicate that external adopters are likely to find the CORGIS tools and materials useful in their own pedagogical pursuits.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3095781.3017708
FabCode: Visual Programming Environment for Digital Fabrication	Proceedings of the 2014 Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Agrawal, Harshit; Jain, Rishika; Kumar, Prabhat; Yammiyavar, Pradeep	In this paper, we introduce FabCode, a visual programming environment using which one can create designs that can be manufactured using digital fabrication techniques like 3D printing and laser cutting. This project is primarily about making accessible and enhancing the kinds of "thinking" that the computational medium is capable of supporting and spreading. FabCode is situated in the context of design and engineering of objects, and is based on the premise that programming 3D models for personal fabrication would enable practice of computational thinking for the same. Children will learn as they work on personally meaningful projectsbuilding, describing, printing and playing with things, and debugging and discussing their processes and outcomes. It will be a childcentered, constructionist tool for FabLabs.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2593968.2610490
Defining and Designing Computer Science Education in a K12 Public School District	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Proctor, Chris; Bigman, Maxwell; Blikstein, Paulo	Computer science is poised to become a core discipline in K12 education, however there are unresolved tensions between the definitions and purposes of computer science and public education. This study's goal is to explore how logistical and conceptual challenges emerge while designing a comprehensive K12 computer science program in a public school district. While the policy infrastructure for K12 computer science education is rapidly developing, few districts have yet implemented computer science as a core discipline in their K12 programs and very little research has explored the challenges involved in putting ideas into practice. This study reports on a committee designing a comprehensive K12 computer science education program at a small public school district in California. Through a grounded-theory qualitative interpretation of committee-member interviews and board meeting transcripts, we surfaced three themes which were the primary points of tension: how computer science is defined, how it ought to be taught, and what process ought to be used to answer these questions. Grounding these tensions in the academic discourse on K12 computer science education, this study offers recommendations to other districts designing comprehensive computer science education and suggests future directions of computer science education research that will be most useful to stakeholders of these processes.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287440
Subgoal Labeled Worked Examples in K-3 Education	Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Joentausta, Johanna; Hellas, Arto	Worked examples are step-by-step instructions that are used to demonstrate and teach problem-solving processes. Subgoal labels are used to group the steps of worked examples into cohesive units that may help the learner to identify key information about the process. We conducted a study on the applicability of subgoal labeled worked examples with 9 and 10-year-old pupils (n=43) who were learning the principles of programming using LightBot. Using a between groups design, pupils in three classes were working with LightBot. One of the groups had no additional instructional materials for the LightBot environment, one of the groups had a set of worked examples without subgoal labels, and the last group had the same set of worked examples with subgoal labels. We measured pupils' success in terms of how many LightBot levels they completed during the class. In addition, pupils' beliefs and attitudes towards programming were assessed before and after the experiment. Our results indicate that in a programming environment such as LightBot, simple worked examples provide no significant benefit over no examples, but worked examples with subgoal labels can help pupils complete more levels. At the same time, the instructional materials in the study had no significant influence on the pupils' beliefs towards computer use or programming.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3159450.3159494
Teaching "Lawfulness" With Kodu	Proceedings of the 47th ACM Technical Symposium on Computing Science Education	Touretzky, David S.; Gardner-McCune, Christina; Aggarwal, Ashish	This paper introduces reasoning about lawful behavior as an important computational thinking skill and provides examples from a novel introductory programming curriculum using Microsoft's Kodu Game Lab. We present an analysis of assessment data showing that rising 5th and 6th graders can understand the lawfulness of Kodu programs. We also discuss some misconceptions students may develop about Kodu, their causes, and potential remedies.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2839509.2844652
The Beaver Contest: Attracting Youngsters to Study Computing	Proceedings of the 16th Annual Joint Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Haberman, Bruria; Cohen, Avi; Dagiene, Valentina	Attracting young students to computer science studies has always been a challenge. We present a unique outreach program: the Beaver international contest on informatics and computer fluency that was established with the goal to convey computing concepts to as many youngsters as possible in a way that can motivate them to be more interested in computing. For the last few years the contest has been operating in several countries in Europe (http://www.bebras.org). Recently, in order to attract youngsters to study computer science, the Beaver project was initiated in Israel by adapting its framework to the requirements of the national educational system.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1999747.1999891
DeMystifying Computing with Magic	Proceedings of the 43rd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Garcia, Daniel D.; Ginat, David	One of the most important tasks an introductory computing student must do is to form a mental model of how the computer works. This could be as specific as understanding the read-evaluate-print loop of an interpreter, or as general as believing that the computer works predictably and deterministically. However, some have fuzzy mental models, or worse, sincerely believe that the computer works unpredictably, "by magic". We seek to demystify computing for these students using analogy, by showing them something that even magic itself isn't really mystical, it is just computation.Magic is one of the most colorful examples of "unplugged" (i.e., without-computer, active learning) activities. It adds a unique facet in that it holds a hidden secret that an audience can be challenged to unfold. Once solved, students are often enthusiastic to perform the magic in front of others. In this session, we will share a variety of magic tricks whose answer is grounded in computer science: modulo arithmetic, permutations, algorithms, binary encoding, probability, etc. For each trick, we will have an interactive discussion of its underlying computing fundamentals, and tips for successful showmanship. Audience participation will be critical, for helping us perform the magic, discussing the solution, and contributing other magic tricks.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2157136.2157164
Quantitative Correlation between Ability to Compute and Student Performance in a Primary School	Proceedings of the 45th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Oliveira, Osvaldo L.; Nicoletti, Maria C.; del Val Cura, Luis M.	Many studies have provided qualitative arguments for the premise that the ability to compute is fundamental and therefore should be treated at all levels of education. This work presents a quantitative indication of the validity of this premise for primary school students. In order to precisely define what ability a student should have to use a model of computation to compute, this work reports an experimental study that shows a significant correlation between the student's ability to compute and his/her academic performance in a primary school.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2538862.2538890
CS Principles: Development and Evolution of a Course and a Community	Proceeding of the 44th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Astrachan, Owen; Briggs, Amy; Diaz, Lien; Osborne, R. Brook		https://doi.org/10.1145/2445196.2445382
CS as a Graduation Requirement: Catalyst for Systemic Change	Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Dettori, Lucia; Greenberg, Ronald I.; McGee, Steven; Reed, Dale; Wilkerson, Brenda; Yanek, Don	Since President Obama's announcement of the Computer Science for All Initiative in 2016, there has been a surge in the number of districts that are planning for or newly implementing computer science (CS) offerings at their schools. Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is the first large school district to have adopted Computer Science as a high school graduation requirement, taking this significant step along the path towards systemic change. The foundation was laid eight years ago when an informal alliance was formed between a CPS high school CS teacher, a CPS administrator, and three university computer scientists.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3159450.3159646
Making Computer Science Education Mandatory: Exploring a Demographic Shift in Switzerland.	Proceedings of the 2019 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Repenning, Alexander; Lamprou, Anna; Petralito, Serge; Basawapatna, Ashok	A promising approach to make K-12 Computer Science education more systemic could arise from a strategy focusing mostly on pre-service teachers educated through mandatory courses instead of self-selected in-service teachers. When employing mandatory courses, schools of education can reach all future teachers, but what are potential consequences resulting from this demographic shift? Pre-service teachers may not expect to acquire programming skills and may not be convinced of the relevance of Computer Science. In 2017, one of the first mandatory Computer Science education courses for pre-service K-12 teachers was introduced at the School of Education of northwestern Switzerland (PH FHNW). The mandatory nature of the course was possible because of the introduction of Computer Science as a subject in a new national curriculum. The course, based on Scalable Game Design, was taken by over 600, mostly female (75%), pre-service elementary school teachers. This paper explores the characteristics of this new audience and investigates the consequences of mandatory pre-service teacher Computer Science education. While our research shows that the course was successful, with regards to improving the students' skills, it reveals significant gender effects concerning attitudes towards Computer Science and self-efficacy.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3304221.3319758
Assessing Problem-Solving Process At Scale	Proceedings of the Third (2016) ACM Conference on Learning @ Scale	Grover, Shuchi; Bienkowski, Marie; Niekrasz, John; Hauswirth, Matthias	Authentic problem solving tasks in digital environments are often open-ended with ill-defined pathways to a goal state. Scaffolds and formative feedback during this process help learners develop the requisite skills and understanding, but require assessing the problem-solving process. This paper describes a hybrid approach to assessing process at scale in the context of the use of computational thinking practices during programming. Our approach combines hypothesis-driven analysis, using an evidence-centered design framework, with discovery-driven data analytics. We report on work-in-progress involving novices and expert programmers working on Blockly games.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2876034.2893425
Getting Started in Teaching and Researching Computer Science in the Elementary Classroom	Proceedings of the 46th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Franklin, Diana; Hill, Charlotte; Dwyer, Hilary; Iveland, Ashley; Killian, Alexandria; Harlow, Danielle	The recent growth of interest in computer science has created a movement to more readily introduce computer science in K-12 classrooms. However, little research exists on how to successfully bring computer science to lower grade levels. In this paper, we present advice for researchers and curriculum developers who are getting started working with computer science in elementary schools. Specifically, we focus on practical tips for studies of this nature, developed from our experiences piloting a computational thinking curriculum with 4th-6th grade students. We address issues arising in elementary school classrooms such as recruiting and interfacing with teachers and schools, classroom management strategies, student computer literacy and developmental stages, and curriculum life cycles.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2676723.2677288
Scratch Microworlds: Designing Project-Based Introductions to Coding	Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Tsur, Moran; Rusk, Natalie	In this paper, we present our experience developing introductory coding environments called Scratch Microworlds. These interactive environments enable learners to get started with coding by creating projects, rather than solving puzzles. The primary educational goal of these microworlds is to engage learners (ages 8 to 14) who otherwise may not be drawn to coding. The microworlds are simplified versions of the Scratch coding environment that contain a small set of blocks and are designed to encourage exploration and experimentation. They are also interest-based, so learners can choose to work on a topic that is motivating to them (such as dance, music, or soccer). We present three main design principles and related challenges that we addressed through the iterative process of developing Scratch Microworlds: (1) how to simplify initial experiences while still supporting creativity, (2) how to provide scaffolding while maintaining learners' agency, and (3) how to provide starting points that spark rather than limit the imagination. We share observations and feedback from workshops with children and educators, which informed our iterative design process. We conclude by considering next steps for providing more entry points into coding that support children as creative thinkers.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3159450.3159559
From Scratch to Patch: Easing the Blocks-Text Transition	Proceedings of the 11th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Robinson, William	A significant consequence of the phenomenal success of block-based languages such as Scratch in introducing novices to computer programming, coupled with the fact that "real world" programming is generally performed via textual languages, has been that educators have been increasingly forced to address the question of how one may best facilitate this transition. Yet if transfer of computational thinking (CT) skills from one language to another is to occur such skills must exist in the first place, and therefore prior to the issue of transition one must also consider the extent to which a first language provides support for their development. Drawing upon experience gained as a teacher of Computing to children in UK Key Stages 1, 2 and 3, using both Scratch and Python, this discussion presents the pedagogical arguments for a modified version of Scratch 1.4 called "Patch". Patch addresses these issues by providing inter alia an integrated tracing/debugging tool and user-editable pseudo-code blocks to assist algorithm development and implementation. In addition to providing enhanced support for the teaching of CT skills, Patch also introduces new iterator blocks and user-defined functions with Python-like syntax, as well as a number of other syntactical changes, in order to prepare for and minimise the gap between these two languages.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2978249.2978265
Exploring Adolescent's STEM Learning through Scaffolded Game Design	Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Foundations of Digital Games	Games, Alex; Kane, Luke	This paper presents the findings of two case studies concentrating on the learning experiences of disadvantaged middle school children participating in The Science and Art of Game Design (SAGD) and Globaloria, learning environments intended to teach skills in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, through educational game design within informal and school-based settings.In SAGD, youth are introduced to the STEM principles underlying modern computer games through a two-part curriculum that takes a reverse engineering approach to educational game design. It begins with Gamestar Mechanic, a web-based role-playing game that encourages students to think of games as systems made up of game-specific components and principles that are learned by playing games, repairing dysfunctional games, and creating new ones for sharing and critique in an online communities [1]. The second part encourages them to learn to use these design principles and apply them to solving of problems requiring computational thinking [2] within the design of games centered on STEM subjects using Microsoft Kodu, a Microsoft 3D game creation tool.Globaloria is a learning environment designed for middle school classrooms where students learn STEM concepts in the process of learning to design computer games using the Adobe Flash platform. Globaloria classrooms are designed around constructionist pedagogies, and feature a project-based curriculum supported by a framework of Web 2.0 technologies, and an online community of school classrooms, educators, and professional game designers.Using multimodal content and discourse analysis, the study examined the evolution of students' STEM learning and literacy in these two contexts, as a function of their changes in language use, design strategies, and game artifact production. Findings suggest that scaffolded game design can provide an effective context for students to develop deep understandings and engagement with STEM subjects, in forms valued within the 21st century workplace.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2159365.2159366
Mobile Augmented Reality: Exploring a New Genre of Learning	GetMobile: Mobile Comp. and Comm.	Litts, Breanne K.; Lewis, Whitney E.	The proliferation of smartphones provides easy access to experience augmented reality (AR), which has fundamentally shifted the conversation around educational technology both in and out of classrooms. Early research on this new genre of teaching and learning afforded by AR has shown to improve and/or increase learning performance, learning motivation, student engagement, and positive attitudes (Bacca et al., 2014). As mobile technologies reach ubiquity, educators have become exceptionally concerned with designing tools and activities that equip young people to engage with these technologies as producers not just consumers. Of equal significance is the critical issue of ensuring that all young people have equitable access to not only the technologies but also to be able to participate in creating the technologies (Kafai & Burke, 2013). In this column, our goal is to present one approach by which we can empower all young people to produce with mobile augmented reality technologies.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3308755.3308757
Becoming Makers: Examining "Making" Literacy in the Elementary School Science Classroom	Proceedings of the 2017 Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Chu, Sharon Lynn; Deuermeyer, Elizabeth; Martin, Rachel; Quek, Francis; Berman, Alexander; Suarez, Mario; Zarei, Niloofar; Nam, Beth; Banigan, Colin	This paper extends the concept of digital literacy and applies it to Making. Through case descriptions, we contribute an understanding of how children can become or fail to become individuals literate in Making within a formal learning context. Our analysis draws from video recordings and other data sources of two 4th grade classrooms in which the students, who had already participated in 1.5 years of more structured 'makified activities', engaged in an open-ended, exploration-based, and playful task that was more in line with the spirit of Making. Student teams were classified as 'high in Making literacy' and 'low in Making literacy', revealing how Making literacy was expressed at the level of skills, mental models, and practices in various ways for different students. Our qualitative analysis demonstrates what burgeoning Making literacy may mean in a public elementary school classroom, paving the way for a vision of a time when Making becomes generalized practice.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3078072.3079745
Rediscovering the Passion, Beauty, Joy, and Awe: Making Computing Fun Again, Part 6	Proceeding of the 44th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Garcia, Daniel D.; Barr, Valerie; Guzdial, Mark; Malan, David J.	In his SIGCSE 2007 keynote, Grady Booch exhorted us to share the "passion, beauty, joy and awe" (PBJA) of computing. This led to sessions that have provided a forum for sharing: What we've done: Highlighting successful PBJA initiatives the presenters have undertaken or seen and wish to trumpet; What we should do (curriculum): Pointing out where our curriculum is lacking in PBJA, and how to fix it; How we should do it (pedagogy): Sharing how a change in attitude/focus/etc. can make strides to improving PBJA.This year we've gathered educators whose intro class numbers are exploding or who have instituted very creative and successful paths into the major. In this panel we will explore best practices in these crucial early years, in terms of extolling the PBJA of computing.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2445196.2445308
Reaching Future Computer Scientists	Commun. ACM	Morreale, Patricia; Joiner, David	Think teachers, not students.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1924421.1924448
Scale or Fail	Commun. ACM	Repenning, Alexander	Moving beyond self-selected computer science education in Switzerland.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3199603
Sharing Ideas, Writing Apps, and Creating a Professional Web Presence	Commun. ACM	Guzdial, Mark; Linden, Greg; Lau, Tessa	Greg Linden reveals his new approach to reading research papers, Mark Guzdial discusses how to encourage students to write computer programs, and Tessa Lau shares her ideas about the importance of Web visibility.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1538788.1538792
Computing in the Arts: A Model Curriculum	Proceedings of the 45th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Manaris, Bill; McCauley, Renée; Mazzone, Marian; Bares, William	In this paper, we describe Computing in the Arts (CITA), an innovative interdisciplinary major, which combines computer science with artistic theory and practice. CITA is relatively easy to implement across a variety of higher education institutions, because it repurposes existing courses and resources in computer science and the arts. CITA is relatively easy to implement across a variety of higher education institutions, because it repurposes existing courses and resources in computer science and the arts. At our institution, this involves three tracks (music, visual art, and theatre). CITA incorporates four synthesis courses, one per academic year, which help students interweave the two distinct curricular experiences into a cohesive whole in preparation for their capstone project. CITA has been fully implemented at the authors' institution. In the three years of its existence, it has increased participation in computer science by 23% mainly from an underserved population (students interested in the arts). Approximately 40% of these students are women. While these students are not necessarily strong in mathematics, they tend to be strong in design and creativity, thus enriching the pool of computing professionals with people able to envision new technologies and surprising innovations. Such people are fully versed in computer science so they can easily collaborate with more traditional computing professionals such as software engineers and scientific programmers. We discuss our successes, and provide pointers for others to establish similar degree programs, including potential challenges and lessons learned.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2538862.2538942
Concepts and Practices: Designing and Developing A Modern K-12 CS Framework	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Parker, Miranda C.; DeLyser, Leigh Ann	Computer science is rapidly expanding across the United States, and as schools look for guidance about what constitutes developmentally appropriate topics, state education departments are looking for assistance in the creation of standards. The K–12 Computer Science (CS) Framework was developed to fit these needs. The framework is the first of its kind in the K–12 CS domain, filling a much-needed structural and definitional role in the field. The framework was created as part of a collaboration at multiple levels within the CS community across the United States. Following the footsteps of other disciplines, this framework provides definitions and guidelines on what students should know (concepts) and be able to do (practices) within certain grade bands in today's computing classrooms. This paper details why the framework was developed, how it was designed, and what impacts it could have on the future of K–12 computing education.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3017680.3017778
Coding at a Crossroads	Commun. ACM	Resnick, Mitchel; Rusk, Natalie	While millions of students worldwide have enjoyed coding experiences over the last decade, the next challenge is spreading educational values and approaches.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3375546
Computing as If Infrastructure Mattered	Commun. ACM	Blanchette, Jean-François	Understanding the technical and social fundamentals of the computing infrastructure is essential in the continuously evolving technological realm.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2347736.2347748
When Participatory Design Becomes Policy: Technology Comprehension in Danish Education	Proceedings of the 16th Participatory Design Conference 2020 - Participation(s) Otherwise - Volume 1	C Smith, Rachel; Bossen, Claus; Dindler, Christian; Sejer Iversen, Ole	While several studies have addressed the challenge of sustaining PD initiatives over time and supporting large-scale participatory processes, little is known about how PD and ideals fare on a national scale. We examine the process in which outcomes from a PD project were used and implemented as part of a mandatory course in Technology Comprehension in K9 education, commissioned by the Danish Ministry of Education. Our study is based on interviews with 12 people from the Danish educational sector, ranging from schoolteachers to the Minister of Education. Our findings demonstrate that while knowledge generated in a PD project can travel to the level of national policy, significant challenges emerge when outcomes from bottom-up PD is used in top-down policy. We conclude the paper by reflecting on how PD is equipped to create impact through policy.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3385010.3385011
Ways of Thinking in Informatics	Commun. ACM	Frauenberger, Christopher; Purgathofer, Peter	An innovative, entry-level informatics course enables students to ponder CS problems in different ways, from different perspectives.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3329674
Why an Informatics Degree?	Commun. ACM	Groth, Dennis P.; MacKie-Mason, Jeffrey K.	Isn't computer science enough?	https://doi.org/10.1145/1646353.1646364
Hi-Lo Tech Games: Crafting, Coding and Collaboration of Augmented Board Games by High School Youth	Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Kafai, Yasmin; Vasudevan, Veena	Most research on game making activities for learning has focused on programming screen-based designs. Only recently has research begun to include the design of tangible interfaces; connecting on-screen programming with hands-on crafting. In this paper, we examine the potential of a workshop that combines the high and low of technology with game design in which teams of high school youth crafted, coded and collaborated on their own augmented board games to highlight intersections between learning programming and making, and creating across digital and tangible modalities. We focused our analysis of students' projects, interactions, and reflections on how young designers conceptualized the integration of screen and board game elements, realized computational concepts and practices in their board game designs and augmentations, and reflected on their game design experience connecting crafting and coding. In the discussion, we review how the expansion of game making activities can create new opportunities for interaction design and research.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2771839.2771853
Preparing STEM Teachers to Offer New Mexico Computer Science for All	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Lee, Irene A.; Psaila Dombrowski, Maureen; Angel, Ed	In this paper, we describe a new teacher professional development program, New Mexico Computer Science for All (NM-CSforAll), that prepares high school science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) teachers to serve as learning coaches / teaching assistants for a dual credit Computer Science (CS) course. The dual credit course for students follows a "flipped classroom" model with the lecture portion delivered online through University of New Mexico (UNM) and the lab portion offered by participating teachers at local high schools. The course utilized a novel curriculum focusing on teaching CS concepts through computer modeling of complex adaptive systems. We reflect on what we learned while preparing STEM teachers to become CS teachers and discuss the affordances and barriers to bringing CS education to rural and under-resourced schools across the state of New Mexico.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3017680.3017719
Towards a Framework for Teaching Debugging	Proceedings of the Twenty-First Australasian Computing Education Conference	Li, Chen; Chan, Emily; Denny, Paul; Luxton-Reilly, Andrew; Tempero, Ewan	Debugging is an important component of software development, yet most novice programmers are not explicitly taught to apply systematic strategies or processes for debugging. In this paper we adapt a framework developed for teaching troubleshooting to the debugging domain, and explore how the literature on teaching debugging maps to this framework. We identify debugging processes that are fundamental for novices to learn, aspects of debugging that novices typically struggle to develop, and shortcomings of tools designed to support teaching of debugging.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3286960.3286970
Exploring Emerging Design Patterns in Student-Made Climate Change Games	Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games	Barnes, Jackie; Hoover, Amy K.; Fatehi, Borna; Moreno-León, Jesús; Smith, Gillian; Harteveld, Casper	While scholarly interest typically focuses on what student designers learn from creating digital games, there has been little investigation into what student designers make. This paper analyzes what design patterns emerge within a set of games from student designers who were instructed to design educational games about climate change using a particular design tool called Scratch. In this preliminary investigation, 19 games are analyzed using the triadic game design framework, which explores relationships between the topic (Reality), learning goal (Meaning) and genre (Play) of serious games. Here we suggest that these decisions fell into a few prototypical patterns, and suggest further paths of inquiry into students' designs regarding considering students' experience with games and supporting the representation of abstract concepts.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3102071.3116224
Improving Undergraduate Student Performance in Computer Science at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) through Industry Partnerships	Proceedings of the 46th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Washington, A. Nicki; Burge, Legand; Mejias, Marlon; Jean-Pierre, Ketly; Knox, Qi'Anne	While computer science (CS) continues to permeate every aspect of society, the number of high-school students that are adequately prepared to enroll in university computer science programs is declining. To address the nation's needs it is clear that the retention rates of underrepresented minorities in CS programs across the country must increase, including the instruction and retention of students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). At the university, a multi-phased program was developed that first partnered the department with Google to develop a unique program that incorporated Google software developers and undergraduate students, as well as course restructuring to better prepare underclassmen in their first three courses of study. First-year results indicated the program was successful in increasing student retention and interest in CS.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2676723.2677277
Are Boys More Confident than Girls? The Role of Calibration and Students' Self-Efficacy in Programming Tasks and Computer Science	Proceedings of the 13th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Kallia, Maria; Sentance, Sue	Computer programming is regarded as a difficult subject at both school and university. There have been a vast amount of studies with a focus on identifying students' difficulties, common errors and misconceptions in programming, and on the development and design of instructional techniques that could potentially help students overcome these difficulties. Nevertheless, there are few studies that explore students' performance in programming under the prism of self-regulation theory. To this end, the current study considers girls' and boys' calibration and how it is related with their performance in programming, self-evaluation, and self-efficacy in computer science. Calibration is a measure of the accuracy with which people assess their confidence in their own performance. The results of our study suggest that boys feel significantly more efficacious in computer science than girls, as well as make significantly more accurate predictions (better calibrated) of their programming performance than girls. The implications of these findings for the current education practices are outlined and discussed.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3265757.3265773
Visualizing Prolog: A "Jigsaw Puzzle" Approach	ACM Inroads	Mondshein, Lee; Sattar, Abdul; Lorenzen, Torben	At Bridgewater State College, Prolog serves as a student's first introduction to programming in a declarative language. Students often find it difficult to understand how Prolog implements logical deduction and handles variable bindings as it processes a query. The authors show snapshots of the deduction process and present a graphical ("jigsaw puzzle") representation of the emerging logical relationships, which our students find to be helpful. Typical parent-child predicate relationships are used as introductory examples.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1869746.1869761
What Can Be Done about Gender Diversity in Computing? A Lot!	Commun. ACM	Vardi, Moshe Y.		https://doi.org/10.1145/2816937
Future-Oriented Motivation and Retention in Computer Science	Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Peteranetz, Markeya S.; Flanigan, Abraham E.; Shell, Duane F.; Soh, Leen-Kiat	Retaining students in computer science (CS) courses and majors is a concern for many undergraduate CS programs in the United States. A large proportion of students who initially declare a major in CS do not complete a CS degree. The impact of future-oriented motivational constructs such as career aspirations and future connectedness on retention has received relatively little research attention, but these are potential contributors to students' retention in CS courses. The purpose of this study was to investigate how future-oriented motivation related to CS students' retention in CS courses over three consecutive semesters. Students enrolled in CS courses (four 100-level courses, one 200-level course, three 300-level courses, and five 400-level courses) completed survey measures of future-oriented motivation, and course enrollment data were collected for the three semesters. Logistic regression was used to determine whether motivation variables could distinguish between students who were enrolled in at least one CS course during a given semester and students who were not enrolled in any CS courses. Results indicate that, across all three semesters, career aspirations and knowledge of CS career paths were associated with a greater likelihood of continuing to take CS courses, and stronger future connectedness was associated with a lower likelihood of continuing to take CS courses. Implications for CS educators are discussed.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3159450.3159513
Understanding the "Teacher Experience" in Primary and Secondary CS Professional Development	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research	Reding, Tracie Evans; Dorn, Brian	The increasing awareness for the need of effective Computer Science Education (CSE) Professional Development (PD) at the K-12 grade levels has been demonstrated by the increase in grant funding for CSE PD programs, public awareness campaigns by industry, and scale-up initiatives in schools. While the increase in funding has led to increasing availability of PD programs, funding alone does not guarantee a successful experience for teachers. This study investigates the affective experiences of a cohort of ten in-service teachers (nine middle school and one high school) as they participate in an intensive, multi-faceted summer CSE PD program at a Midwestern metropolitan university in North America. Teachers' experiences were documented in their written daily journals, which were analyzed qualitatively using thematic and sentiment analysis techniques. We find five cognitive themes that recurred throughout the program along with sentiment values associated with daily activities. Through the examination of these results, recommendations regarding how to best engage teachers by understanding their concerns and affective responses are included to help design more effective CSE PD implementations.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3105726.3106185
Cultivating a K12 Computer Science Community: A Case Study	Proceeding of the 44th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Hug, Sarah; Guenther, Richard; Wenk, Michael	In this paper, we use a sociocultural lens to provide an in-depth case study of a computer science program at a high school serving traditionally underserved youth. The study illuminates the contextual factors that supported dramatic programmatic growth, including the policy, curriculum, pedagogy, community, and school factors leading to student recruitment and retention in computer science. By focusing on computer science classroom practices and beyond, the study sheds light on the role multiple stakeholders can take in supporting computer science education in a K12 setting, and suggests strategies for program development in other K12 computer science settings.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2445196.2445278
Introduction to Special Issue (Part 1): Broadening Participation in Computing Education	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Ladner, Richard; VanDeGrift, Tammy	This special issue includes the first set of articles addressing broadening participation in computing education. The articles span the stages of the pipeline, from introducing middle school children to computer science to retaining underrepresented groups at the university level. The preface presented here outlines the need for increasing the participation of underrepresented minorities, women, and people with disabilities in the development of technology. In addition, the preface summarizes the six articles included in this first (of two) issues on broadening participation.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1993069.1993070
Teaching Abstraction in Computer Science to 7th$ Grade Students	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Statter, David; Armoni, Michal	Abstraction is one of the most fundamental ideas in computer science (CS), and as such, according to Bruner [23], it should be taught spirally, starting as early as possible and revisited at every level of education. However, teaching CS abstraction to novices is a very challenging task, and CS educational research has often demonstrated students' difficulties in learning this idea, in different contexts and at different age levels. The challenge in teaching CS abstraction is even greater when dealing with young students, since according to theories on children's cognitive development, their abstraction abilities may still be not fully developed. In 2013, Armoni [5] introduced a framework for teaching abstraction in the context of algorithmic problem solving, intended for novice students. We studied the effect of this framework in an introductory CS course for 7th graders, in which Scratch was used as the programming language for implementing algorithmic solutions. Our findings indicate that the framework was highly effective for developing CS abstraction skills as well as other related skills and aspects, such as the tendency to provide explanations for solutions, the use of initialization processes, and the perception of the nature of CS. It also significantly improved students’ general CS performance in this course.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3372143
A Problem-Based, Survey Introduction to Computer Science for Majors and Non-Majors	J. Comput. Sci. Coll.	Tartaro, Andrea; Cottingham, Haley	This paper describes a new course in our computer science curriculum that uses an interdisciplinary problem and survey-based approach to introduce the computer science discipline to both majors and non-majors.
Teaching Parallelism without Programming: A Data Science Curriculum for Non-CS Students	Proceedings of the Workshop on Education for High-Performance Computing	Gil, Yolanda	The goal of our work is to develop an open and modular course for data science and big data analytics that is accessible to non-programmers. The course is designed to cover major concepts that are useful to understand the benefits of parallel and distributed programming while not relying on a programming background. These key concepts focus more on algorithmic aspects rather than architecture and performance issues. A key aspect of our work is the use of workflows to illustrate key concepts and to allow the students to practice.	https://doi.org/10.1109/EduHPC.2014.12
Cyber Policies on the Rise	Commun. ACM	Kirkpatrick, Keith	A growing number of companies are taking out cybersecurity insurance policies to protect themselves from the costs of data breaches.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2811290
Experience and Ownership with a Tangible Computational Music Installation for Informal Learning	Proceedings of the Eleventh International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction	Xambó, Anna; Drozda, Brigid; Weisling, Anna; Magerko, Brian; Huet, Marc; Gasque, Travis; Freeman, Jason	In this paper we present a preliminary design and initial assessment of a computational musical tabletop exhibit for children and teenagers at the Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA). We explore how participatory workshops can promote hands-on learning of computational concepts through making music. We also use a hands-on approach to assess informal learning based on maker interviews. Maker interviews serve to subjectively capture impromptu reflections of the visitors' achievements from casual interactions with the exhibit. Findings from our workshops and preliminary assessment indicate that experiencing and taking ownership of tangible programming on a musical tabletop is related to: ownership of failure, ownership through collaboration, ownership of the design, and ownership of code. Overall, this work suggests how to better support ownership of computational concepts in tangible programming, which can inform how to design self-learning experiences at the museum, and future trajectories between the museum and the school or home.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3024969.3024988
Engaging Under-Represented Minorities in STEM through Game Jams	Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Game Jams, Hackathons, and Game Creation Events	Fowler, Allan; Schreiber, Ian	Although there is an increase in STEM career opportunities, there is a lack of qualified graduates to take these opportunities. Increasing the participation in STEM education has the potential to address this issue. Furthermore, through increasing the ethnic and gender diversity of STEM qualified graduated not only has the potential to increase participation in STEM careers, but also assist in increasing product and service variety.In this discussion the authors present a proposed method for implementing a game development summer camp to form positive perceptions about computer science and STEM.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3055116.3055120
Applying Puzzle-Based Learning to Cyber-Security Education	Proceedings of the 2013 on InfoSecCD '13: Information Security Curriculum Development Conference	Dasgupta, Dipankar; Ferebee, Denise M.; Michalewicz, Zbigniew	Cyber-enabled devices are becoming more and more complex with integration of new capabilities and functionalities, both in software and hardware, making it very difficult for users to realize that they are under cyber attack or the cause of data breach, etc. It is also well-known fact that vulnerabilities at one component can affect other components in any computing device. But it is hard to realize the interdependencies of various components in order to secure the entire path to in and out of a cyber system. Puzzle-based Learning approach proved to have improved learning environment including mathematics, physics and computer science, however, there is very little work has been done in computer and cyber security. We introduced the Puzzle-based Learning to basic cyber security education. We believe that such an interactive learning environment will help students to understand complex attack paths and countermeasures for fraud detection, cybercrime, and advanced persistent threats (APTs). Students can learn not only to protect a specific system but also for a class of Internet-enabled systems with different hardware/software components and architecture, providing similar services.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2528908.2528910
Primary School Teachers' Opinions about Early Computer Science Education	Proceedings of the 16th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research	Funke, Alexandra; Geldreich, Katharina; Hubwieser, Peter	Schools and universities often have to deal with students' misconceptions and stereotypes towards computer science (CS). For example, CS is widely perceived as boring, not interesting and a masculine discipline. To prevent students from forming false and mostly negative attitudes one idea is to introduce computer science concepts like programming before this forming takes place, in other words at a very early stage in school. In consequence, the discussion about the necessity of CS in early childhood education rises more and more. To provide empirical background for this discussion, we interviewed six primary school teachers on their opinions towards computer science courses at primary schools. Based on this results, we are planning a computer science course for 3rd and 4th grade students.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2999541.2999547
Transition to a Modern Education System through E-Learning	Proceedings of the 2017 International Conference on Education and E-Learning	Basogain, Xabier; Olabe, Miguel Ángel; Olabe, Juan Carlos	All around the world, governments are using international benchmarking of education systems as the method to identify the top performing countries. After the world best education systems have been identified, they are used as models for the rest of the countries. This procedure has an obvious limitation: if the rankings are obtained assessing content and methods already established, these are perpetuated. New curriculum and methodologies are difficult to integrate into existing education systems. Research in the last two decades has shown the limitations of the current education systems and the need to incorporate new paradigms. However, the current method that the governments use to design their education systems makes the adoption of radically new paradigms a highly risky proposition. This paper reviews the limitations of the current education systems, in particular in the area of mathematics. It discusses a set of fundamental changes in curriculum and teaching methodology. Finally, it reviews the role of e-learning as an integral part of the transition from traditional education systems to modern systems.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3160908.3160924
Internationalization of Computer Science Education	Proceedings of the 41st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Douglas, Sarah; Farley, Art; Lo, Ginnie; Proskurowski, Andrzej; Young, Michal	Internationalization of computer science education involves incorporating awareness, knowledge and skills of professional life in a global environment. Through an NSF CPATH1 grant we have established a Pacific Rim community of computer science departments, high tech industry and international programs exploring a new model of computer science education that focuses on the knowledge, skills and competencies necessary for professional success and leadership in a global context. This paper describes our progress in building an international community of computer science educators, as well as our efforts in curricular innovation and establishment of international summer schools. Internationalization of computer science education will help attract the best and brightest students and broaden the appeal of computer science to a much more diverse population. Computer science will be seen as a pathway to a career not in an isolated cubicle but in the wide-open world.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1734263.1734404
"I Think We Should...": Analyzing Elementary Students' Collaborative Processes for Giving and Taking Suggestions	Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Tsan, Jennifer; Rodríguez, Fernando J.; Boyer, Kristy Elizabeth; Lynch, Collin	Collaboration plays an essential role in computer science. While there is growing recognition that learners of all ages can benefit from collaborative learning, little is known about how elementary-age children engage in collaborative problem solving in computer science. This paper reports on the analysis of a dataset of elementary students collaborating on a programming project. We found that children tend to make several different types of suggestions. In turn, their partners address those suggestions in different ways such as by implementing them directly in code or by replying through dialogue. We observe that students regularly accept or reject suggestions without explanation or explicit acknowledgement and that it is often unclear whether they understand the substance of the suggestion. These behaviors may inhibit the development of a shared understanding between the partners and limit the value of the collaborative process. These results can inform instructional practice and the development of new adaptive tools that facilitate productive collaborative problem solving in computer science.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3159450.3159507
Blue Sky Ideas in Artificial Intelligence Education from the EAAI 2017 New and Future AI Educator Program	AI Matters	Eaton, Eric; Koenig, Sven; Schulz, Claudia; Maurelli, Francesco; Lee, John; Eckroth, Joshua; Crowley, Mark; Freedman, Richard G.; Cardona-Rivera, Rogelio E.; Machado, Tiago; Williams, Tom	The 7th Symposium on Educational Advances in Artificial Intelligence (EAAI'17, co-chaired by Sven Koenig and Eric Eaton) launched the EAAI New and Future AI Educator Program to support the training of early-career university faculty, secondary school faculty, and future educators (PhD candidates or postdocs who intend a career in academia). As part of the program, awardees were asked to address one of the following "blue sky" questions:1. How could/should Artificial Intelligence (AI) courses incorporate ethics into the curriculum?2. How could we teach AI topics at an early undergraduate or a secondary school level?3. AI has the potential for broad impact to numerous disciplines. How could we make AI education more interdisciplinary, specifically to benefit non-engineering fields?This paper is a collection of their responses, intended to help motivate discussion around these issues in AI education.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3175502.3175509
Perspectives on Active Learning and Collaboration: JavaWIDE in the Classroom	Proceedings of the 43rd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Jenkins, Jam; Brannock, Evelyn; Cooper, Thomas; Dekhane, Sonal; Hall, Mark; Nguyen, Michael	The Java Wiki Integrated Development Environment (JavaWIDE) is an innovative environment that promotes active learning and collaboration in programming courses. This paper surveys how JavaWIDE's features have been used to promote active and collaborative learning in both traditional and distance education (synchronous) in four different environments: high school, summer enrichment courses, and at two- and four-year colleges. The authors describe the context of each teaching and learning environment and the parts of JavaWIDE that are particularly well suited in each context. After discussing the active learning and collaboration techniques employed, student responses to the experience are summarized. This collection of case studies illustrates how the concurrent editing, shared environment awareness and other features of JavaWIDE can be used to promote active learning and collaboration within a heterogeneous set of teaching and learning environments.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2157136.2157194
Gamification and Serious Game Approaches for Introductory Computer Science Tablet Software	Proceedings of the First International Conference on Gameful Design, Research, and Applications	Browne, Kevin; Anand, Christopher	In this paper, we overview the design of tablet apps built to teach introductory computer science concepts, and present the results and conclusions from a study conducted during a first year computer science course at McMaster University. Game design elements were incorporated into the apps we designed to teach introductory computer science concepts, with the primary aim of increasing student satisfaction and engagement. We tested these apps with students enrolled in the course during their regular lab sessions and collected data on both the usability of the apps and the student's understanding of the concepts. Though overall we found students preferred instruction with the apps compared to more traditional academic instruction, we found that students also recommended combined instruction using both traditional methods and the apps in the future. Based on this we conclude that gamification and serious game design approaches are effective at increasing student satisfaction, and make several recommendations regarding the usage and design of educational software incorporating game design elements.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2583008.2583015
What Do CS1 Syllabi Reveal About Our Expectations of Introductory Programming Students?	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Becker, Brett A.; Fitzpatrick, Thomas	A well-received ITiCSE 2016 paper challenged the orthodox view that programming is hard to learn. It contended that CS1 educators' expectations are too high, which can result in poor teaching and learning, and could impact negatively on diversity and equity. The author posed a challenge to the community to collect research-based evidence of what novice programmers can achieve, and use evidence to derive realistic expectations for achievement. We argue that before rising to this challenge we must determine: What exactly do educators expect of introductory programming students? This paper presents our efforts toward answering this question. We manually curated hundreds of CS1 syllabi, providing a fresh perspective of expectation in CS1 courses. We analyzed learning outcomes and their concepts, in addition to languages utilized and other useful CS1 design and delivery information. This work contributes to a current picture of what is expected of introductory programming students, and provides an interactive online tool linked to all collected syllabi and containing all learning outcomes and other associated information. We hope this will aid the community in deciding whether or not we have unrealistic expectations of our CS1 students and if so, our contributions provide a starting point for the community to adjust them.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287485
Testing Surface Area	Proceedings of the Twenty-Fifth Annual ACM-SIAM Symposium on Discrete Algorithms	Kothari, Pravesh; Nayyeri, Amir; O'Donnell, Ryan; Wu, Chenggang	We consider the problem of estimating the surface area of an unknown n-dimensional set F given membership oracle access. In contrast to previous work, we do not assume that F is convex, and in fact make no assumptions at all about F. By necessity this means that we work in the property testing model; we seek an algorithm which, given parameters A and ε, satisfies:• if surf (F) ≤ A then the algorithm accepts (whp);• if F is not ε-close to some set G with surf (G) ≤ κA, then the algorithm rejects (whp).We call κ ≥ 1 the "approximation factor" of the testing algorithm.The n = 1 case (in which "surf(F) = 2m" means F is a disjoint union of m intervals) was introduced by Kearns and Ron [KR98], who solved the problem with κ = 1/ε and O(1/ε) oracle queries. Later, Balcan et al. [BBBY12] solved it with with κ = 1 and O(1/ε4) queries.We give the first result for higher dimensions n. Perhaps surprisingly, our algorithm completely evades the "curse of dimensionality": for any n and any κ > 4/π ≈ 1.27 we give a test that uses O(1/ε) queries. For small n we have improved bounds. For n = 1 can achieve κ = 1 with O(1/ε3.5) queries (slightly improving [BBBY12]), or any κ > 1 with O(1/ε) queries (improving [KR98]). For n = 2, 3 we obtain κ ≈ 1.08, 1.125 respectively, with O(1/ε) queries. Getting an arbitrary κ > 1 for n > 1 remains an open problem.Finally, motivated by the learning results from [KOS08], we extend our techniques to obtain a similar tester for Gaussian surface area for any n, with query complexity O(1/ε) and any approximation factor κ > 4/π ≈ 1.27.
Equity-Oriented Pedagogical Strategies and Student Learning in After School Making	Proceedings of the 6th Annual Conference on Creativity and Fabrication in Education	Ryoo, Jean J.; Kali, Lianna; Bevan, Bronwyn	The maker movement holds great promise to improve the educational experiences of all learners, regardless of age, race/ethnicity, gender, home language, ability, or socioeconomic class. This paper describes how we sought to fulfill this promise by creating a new after school making program serving working class and low-income youth of color in East Oakland. Building on our prior efforts investigating equity-oriented tinkering in after school settings [1, 2], the work described here is part of a larger study led by the Research + Practice Collaboratory (see www.researchandpractice.org). The Collaboratory formed a partnership with the Lighthouse Community Charter School of East Oakland to examine how afterschool tinkering programs support the development of student learning outcomes that are valued during the school day, specifically the development of learning dispositions, creative problem solving, and deeper understanding of STEM concepts and practices. After describing pedagogical strategies (in program/curriculum design and teaching moves) our program used to build a creative making culture, we share a detailed case describing what learning outcomes looked like for a Latina 5th grader (Katrina) who had never been in a making program, never worked with circuitry or soldering, and did not initially identify as a "maker."	https://doi.org/10.1145/3003397.3003404
Using Tabletop Robots to Promote Inclusive Classroom Experiences	Proceedings of the Interaction Design and Children Conference	Neto, Isabel; Johal, Wafa; Couto, Marta; Nicolau, Hugo; Paiva, Ana; Guneysu, Arzu	Geometry and handwriting rely heavily on the visual representation of basic shapes. It can become challenging for students with visual impairments to perceive these shapes and understand complex spatial constructs. For instance, knowing how to draw is highly dependent on spatial and temporal components, which are often inaccessible to children with visual impairments. Hand-held robots, such as the Cellulo robots, open unique opportunities to teach drawing and writing through haptic feedback. In this paper, we investigate how these tangible robots could support inclusive, collaborative learning activities, particularly for children with visual impairments. We conducted a user study with 20 pupils with and without visual impairments, where they engaged in multiple drawing activities with tangible robots. We contribute novel insights on the design of children-robot interaction, learning shapes and letters, children engagement, and responses in a collaborative scenario that address the challenges of inclusive learning.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3392063.3394439
Studying Situated Learning in a Constructionist Programming Camp: A Multimethod Microgenetic Analysis of One Girl's Learning Pathway	Proceedings of the The 15th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Pantic, Katarina; Fields, Deborah A.; Quirke, Lisa	Computationally generated data have increasingly been used to provide insights into individual students' learning in constructionist learning environments. However, such studies have either missed examining the influence of local, physical environments, or they have taken students out of the situated scenarios to study them in isolation. In this paper, we explore an expanded methodological approach in order to examine how computationally generated data insights can potentially be informed or expanded with a microgenetic approach. To achieve that, we examine one ten-year-old novice girl's learning of programming in a week-long Scratch camp, applying a microgenetic approach to analysis across multiple forms of data, from traditional observational and artifact documentation to frequent, computationally generated save data. The findings highlight the utility of this approach in identifying Mila's growing engagement with coding, as well as the iterative and social nature of her learning experiences with Scratch.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2930674.2930725
Gender-Specific Motivation and Expectations toward Computer Science	Proceedings of the 4th Conference on Gender & IT	Völkel, Sarah Theres; Wilkowska, Wiktoria; Ziefle, Martina	This paper provides an analysis of current motives for choosing computer science as a subject of study, focusing on male and female computer science students' perception about expectations and required qualifications for this professional career. A multi-method approach (qualitative and quantitative research) was applied in two studies in Germany to, firstly, explore which motivations dodge behind the decisions to study this complex discipline, and secondly, to examine if motives and the required skills are gender-specific or not. The results of the presented studies confirm that women and men are guided by different motives and expectations regarding the subject of computer science and in some cases evaluate their strengths and abilities in different ways.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3196839.3196858
Theories and Models of Emotions, Attitudes, and Self-Efficacy in the Context of Programming Education	Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research	Malmi, Lauri; Sheard, Judy; Kinnunen, Päivi; Simon; Sinclair, Jane	Research into the relationship between learning computing and students' attitudes, beliefs, and emotions often builds on theoretical frameworks from the social sciences in order to understand how these factors influence, for example, students' motivation, study practices, and learning results. In this paper we explore the computing education research literature to identify new theoretical constructs that have emerged from this research. We focus on empirical work in programming education that extends or adapts theories or instruments from the social sciences or that independently develops theories specific to programming. From an initial data set of more than 3800 papers published in the years 2010–2019, we identify 50 papers that present a range of domain-specific theoretical constructs addressing emotions, affect, beliefs, attitudes, and self-efficacy. They include 11 validated instruments and a number of statistical models, but also grounded theories and pedagogical models. We summarize the main results of many of these constructs and provide references for all of them. We also investigate how these constructs have informed further research by analysing over 850 papers that cite these 50 papers. We categorize the ways that theories can inform further research, and give examples of papers in each of these categories. Our findings indicate that among these categories, instruments have been most widely used in further research, thus affirming their value in the field.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3372782.3406279
Towards (1 + ε)-Approximate Flow Sparsifiers	Proceedings of the Twenty-Fifth Annual ACM-SIAM Symposium on Discrete Algorithms	Andoni, Alexandr; Gupta, Anupam; Krauthgamer, Robert	A useful approach to "compress" a large network G is to represent it with a flow-sparsifier, i.e., a small network H that supports the same flows as G, up to a factor q ≥ 1 called the quality of sparsifier. Specifically, we assume the network G contains a set of k terminals T, shared with the network H, i.e., T ⊆ V(G)∩V(H), and we want H to preserve all multicommodity flows that can be routed between the terminals T. The challenge is to construct H that is small.These questions have received a lot of attention in recent years, leading to some known tradeoffs between the sparsifier's quality q and its size \textbarV(H)\textbar. Nevertheless, it remains an outstanding question whether every G admits a flow-sparsifier H with quality q = 1 + ε, or even q = O(1), and size \textbarV(H)\textbar ≤ f(k, ε) (in particular, independent of \textbarV(G)\textbar and the edge capacities).Making a first step in this direction, we present new constructions for several scenarios:• Our main result is that for quasi-bipartite networks G, one can construct a (1 + ε)-flow-sparsifier of size poly(k/ε). In contrast, exact (q = 1) sparsifiers for this family of networks are known to require size 2Ω(k).• For networks G of bounded treewidth w, we construct a flow-sparsifier with quality q = O(log w/log log w) and size O(w · poly(k)).• For general networks G, we construct a sketch sk(G), that stores all the feasible multicommodity flows up to factor q = 1 + ε, and its size (storage requirement) is f(k, ε).
Information Technology Curricula 2017: Curriculum Guidelines for Baccalaureate Degree Programs in Information Technology		Curricula, Task Group on Information Technology
Computational Thinking Issues	Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality	García-Peñalvo, Francisco J.	This is the second occasion that Computational Thinking track is presented in TEEM Conference. Our Society is claiming for more technical professionals and future job will need workers know the computational principles to be applied in their daily tasks, independently they will be technicians. The computer science and programming skills need to be introduced since early beginning in the children education, but these are not enough, a new way of thinking and solving problems is needed, this is the computational thinking goal.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3144826.3145349
Parallel Computational Thinking	Commun. ACM	Kirkpatrick, Keith	Applications must be programmed to process instructions in parallel to take full advantage of the new multicore processors.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3148760
Primary School Teachers' Conceptions of Computational Thinking	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Garvin, Megean; Killen, Heather; Plane, Jan; Weintrop, David	Computational thinking (CT) is increasingly becoming a part of the K-12 educational landscape. While high schools with computer science teachers or technology coaches on staff are well positioned to help teachers integrate computational thinking into instruction, early childhood through middle schools (grades p-8) are often less well equipped. Further, the concept of CT is often poorly defined, especially as it relates to younger learners. Despite these challenges, teachers are being asked to integrate CT into other content lessons. To understand if and how this is happening, we conducted a statewide survey of primary (early childhood through middle school) Maryland teachers. The survey asked the teachers about their conceptualization of CT, CT resources they rely on, and their comfort levels to provide effective CT instruction for their students. The results of our survey demonstrate that teachers hold diverse views of the concept of CT and use a varied set of instructional resources in their classrooms. The contribution of this work is in helping advance our understanding of the current state of CT in primary classrooms.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287376
File References, Trees, and Computational Thinking	Proceedings of the Fifteenth Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Miller, Craig S.; Perković, Ljubomir; Settle, Amber	We study student understanding of the use of a tree structure in the context of an introductory web development course. In particular, we analyze student answers as they use a tree structure to construct file references in web pages. More fundamentally, our study initiates a bottom-up study of computational thinking by identifying the computational thinking mistakes that students make when they are learning resource referencing for web development. Our preliminary results suggest that students do not necessarily learn abstract concepts (like trees) and abstract rules of reasoning (composing relative and absolute tree paths) by just working with folders and composing file references alone.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1822090.1822128
Computational Thinking as a Liberal Study	Proceedings of the 47th ACM Technical Symposium on Computing Science Education	Mason, Dave; Khan, Irfan; Farafontov, Vadim	Computers and computational thinking are becoming ubiquitous in our world. They are part of the transportation systems we use, the security systems we confront, our entertainment systems, our communication systems, our financial systems, and even our social and political instruments. Computational thinking is a fundamental part of decision-making on a large and increasing number of fronts. It is sometimes hard for a computer scientist to imagine how people without access to those tools can navigate the world in an informed way.We have designed a course to bring the social, historical, cultural and technical context of these systems to the attention of students and citizens who would not otherwise have access to them, so they can better understand the world in which they will live and work. The course is a Computer Science course because it is talking about the science of computers, albeit in an approachable form for an audience without any assumed previous programming experience.The course ran in Winter 2014 and Winter 2015 meeting most of its goals, including engaging the non-traditional student who took it.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2839509.2844655
On Pre-Requisite Skills for Universal Computational Thinking Education.	Proceedings of the Eleventh Annual International Conference on International Computing Education Research	Cole, Elizabeth C.	Computational thinking (CT) has been hailed as valuable to everyone in the population, and if so, it should be taught to all. This research builds on existing work identifying pre-requisite skills for developing CT skills, referred to here as foundational CT skills. To add weight to the validity of the "CT for all" claim, this research attempts to determine whether foundational CT skills are of value to non-IT industry and for pupils elsewhere in their studies. The foundational CT skills will be trialled with pupils in the 5-8 yr age range and evaluated for their contribution to the pupils' ongoing education. Findings will be used to inform the curriculum and help to develop worthwhile computational thinking skills irrespective of the child's chosen career.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2787622.2787737
Assessing Implicit Computational Thinking in Zoombinis Gameplay: Pizza Pass, Fleens & Bubblewonder Abyss	Extended Abstracts Publication of the Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play	Rowe, Elizabeth; Asbell-Clarke, Jodi; Cunningham, Kathryn; Gasca, Santiago	Players can build implicit understanding of challenging scientific concepts when playing digital science learning games [1]. In this study, we examine implicit computational thinking (CT) skills among upper elementary and middle school students during Zoombinis gameplay. We report on the development of a human labeling system for gameplay evidence of four CT skills: problem decomposition, pattern recognition, algorithmic thinking, and abstraction. We define labels that identify use of these skills in three Zoombinis puzzles, based on analysis of video data from both CT novices (upper elementary and middle school students) and CT experts (computer scientists and expert Zoombinis players). Future work will involve the construction of detectors for implicit CT skills based on these human labels, in order to analyze gamelog data at scale and give feedback to teachers.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3130859.3131294
Developing Computational Thinking through Pattern Recognition in Early Years Education	Proceedings of the 2015 British HCI Conference	Calderon, Ana C.; Crick, Tom; Tryfona, Catherine	Alongside recent UK initiatives on computing education, coupled with demands for the development of broader societal digital competencies, we propose that computational thinking skills can be taught to early year students and highlight a method for teaching a specific aspect, namely pattern recognition. Although our example might appear specific to this context, we identify how this could readily be extended to a broader class of educational settings, proposing an underlying pedagogical framework. Finally, a proof-of-concept prototype, corresponding to the implementation of the method, is highlighted.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2783446.2783600
Evaluating the Effect of Using Physical Manipulatives to Foster Computational Thinking in Elementary School	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Aggarwal, Ashish; Gardner-McCune, Christina; Touretzky, David S.	Researchers and educators have designed curricula and resources for introductory programming environments such as Scratch, App Inventor, and Kodu to foster computational thinking in K-12. This paper is an empirical study of the effectiveness and usefulness of tiles and flashcards developed for Microsoft Kodu Game Lab to support students in learning how to program and develop games. In particular, we investigated the impact of physical manipulatives on 3rd – 5th grade students' ability to understand, recognize, construct, and use game programming design patterns. We found that the students who used physical manipulatives performed well in rule construction, whereas the students who engaged more with the rule editor of the programming environment had better mental simulation of the rules and understanding of the concepts.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3017680.3017791
A Systematic Review of Computational Thinking Approach for Programming Education in Higher Education Institutions	Proceedings of the 19th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research	Agbo, Friday Joseph; Oyelere, Solomon Sunday; Suhonen, Jarkko; Adewumi, Sunday	This study examined how computational thinking (CT) has been used to teach problem-solving skills and programming education in the recent past. This study specifically (i) identified articles that discussed CT approach for programming education at higher education institutions (HEIs), (ii) classified the different CT approaches and tools employed for programming education at HEIs, (iii) synthesised and discussed results that are reported by relevant studies that utilized CT for teaching programming at HEIs. A systematic literature review methodology was adopted in this study. Out of 161 articles retrieved, 33 of them that met the inclusion criteria were reviewed. Our study revealed that the use of CT at HEIs for programming education began in 2010; many studies did not specify the context of use, but the use of CT is found to be gaining grounds in many contexts, especially the developed countries; course design approach was mostly employed by educators to introduce CT at HEIs for programming education. Furthermore, this study pointed out how CT approach can be explored for designing a smart learning environment to support students in learning computer programming.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3364510.3364521
A Tangible, Story-Construction Process Employing Spatial, Computational-Thinking	Proceedings of the The 15th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Soleimani, Arash; Green, Keith Evan; Herro, Danielle; Walker, Ian D.	The outcome of a multidisciplinary and iterative process, CyberPLAYce is a tangible, interactive, cyber-physical learning tool for children supporting computational thinking and, particularly, playful storytelling. CyberPLAYce finds inspiration in the concept of child-computer interaction, where meaning is constructed through spatially reconfiguring the physical environment. The novel aspect of CyberPLAYce is its extension of cyber-learning to the dimension of space where children construct meaning at a larger physical scale. This paper outlines the motivations for CyberPLAYce, focuses on the full arc of design and evaluation activities concerning computational thinking (CT) practices that engaged 8-12-year-old storytellers, and concludes with a consideration of future work focusing on spatial thinking with CyberPLAYce. Results from our empirical study suggest that cyber-physical play afforded by CyberPLAYce scaffolds computational thinking, creating, and sharing in children. Particularly for IDC researchers in the educational domain, CyberPLAYce represents a Research-through-design exemplar supporting children's enjoyment of learning and meaning-construction.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2930674.2930703
Assessing In-Service Teachers' Development of Computational Thinking Practices in Teacher Development Courses	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Kong, Siu-Cheung; Lao, Andrew Chan-Chio	To promote computational thinking (CT) education in primary schools, in-service teachers need to attend CT teacher development programmes. One of the intended learning outcomes of the programme is to improve CT practices of teachers, which is one of the three key elements in the CT framework proposed by Brennan and Resnick. Assessing one's CT practices is challenging because there is no universally agreed-upon assessment method on CT practices in the existing literature. This study adopted the Evidence-centered Assessment Design (ECD) method to design test questions to evaluate teachers' development of CT practices. This study provided two Teacher Development Courses (TDCs) to enable teachers to teach CT through programming. TDC 1 focused on developing CT concepts, practices and perspectives of teachers, while TDC 2 put emphasis on pedagogies of teaching CT. 80 teachers participated in the two courses. The CT practices tests were administered before the courses, between the two courses and after the courses respectively. Results indicated that CT practices were improved progressively when the in-service teachers attended the two courses. It indicated that it is useful for teachers to experience programming practices in their initial learning as well as during their pedagogical development.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287470
Personalized Contents Based on Cognitive Level of Student's Computational Thinking for Learning Basic Competencies of Programming Using an Environment b-Learning	Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality	López, Arturo Rojas; García-Peñalvo, Francisco J.	The main objective of the research is to determine the efficiency of using an environment b-learning in the acquisition of basic skills of programming though customizing the content for each student, to achieve a set of activities that can be used will be designed in the Moodle platform and contribute to teaching an initial programming course, considering three skill levels (basic, intermediate and advanced) of computational thinking of students. A mixed methodology approach will be implemented to achieve the objectives. The quantitative approach, whose characteristics using statistical measure phenomena, experimentation and use cause-effect analysis allow a sequential, deductive and testing process in generating results. The qualitative approach is conducted basically in natural environments and meanings are extracted from data allow a process that context the phenomenon and depth of ideas. To measure the cognitive level of students in computational thinking, instruments will be designed based on the bank of items released by the Computer Olympiad Talent Search in order to have reliable instruments (international proposal), valid (measures learning) and objectives (it focuses on the concept to measure) that they match with contents of subject. The main result is to generate personalized education, a learning experience that contributes to student motivation in tune with the academic goals of initial programming courses.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3012430.3012660
Development of Computational Thinking Skills and Collaborative Learning in Initial Education Students through Educational Activities Supported by ICT Resources and Programmable Educational Robots	Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality	González, Yen Air Caballero; Muñoz-Repiso, Ana García-Valcárcel	The purpose of this paper is to present the PhD thesis research plan, which aims to design, integrate and evaluate educational activities mediated by ICT resources and programmable educational robots, in initial education students, obtaining collaborative learning and Training of computational thinking skills. The research will be developed through a mixed methodology, with the intention of being able to carry out a more complete analysis and evaluation of the subject, obtaining data from different sources (teachers, students and coordinators of educational level). Various instruments such as interviews, questionnaires and participant type observation will be used, focusing on teachers and students. In addition, a rubric will be used to evaluate students' performance in the development of learning activities, through the sequential programming of educational robots. The results that will be obtained with this research will allow to carry out a proposal of technological educational action of great quality, based on the benefits and limitations of the integration of ICT resources and programmable Robots, contributing in a significant way to the implementation of new approaches for the Teaching-learning curriculum content from an early age and empowering participants in the development of computational thinking skills and collaborative learning.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3144826.3145450
Dragon Architect: Open Design Problems for Guided Learning in a Creative Computational Thinking Sandbox Game	Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games	Bauer, Aaron; Butler, Eric; Popović, Zoran	Educational games have a potentially significant role to play in the increasing efforts to expand access to computer science education. Computational thinking is an area of particular interest, including the development of problem-solving strategies like divide and conquer. Existing games designed to teach computational thinking generally consist of either open-ended exploration with little direct guidance or a linear series of puzzles with lots of direct guidance, but little exploration. Educational research indicates that the most effective approach may be a hybrid of these two structures. We present Dragon Architect, an educational computational thinking game, and use it as context for a discussion of key open problems in the design of games to teach computational thinking. These problems include how to directly teach computational thinking strategies, how to achieve a balance between exploration and direct guidance, and how to incorporate engaging social features. We also discuss several important design challenges we have encountered during the design of Dragon Architect. We contend the problems we describe are relevant to anyone making educational games or systems that need to teach complex concepts and skills.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3102071.3102106
Programming: A Key Component of Computational Thinking in CS Courses for Non-Majors	ACM Inroads	Cooper, Stephen; Dann, Wanda		https://doi.org/10.1145/2723169
Design Insights into the Creation and Evaluation of a Computer Science Educational Game	Proceedings of the 47th ACM Technical Symposium on Computing Science Education	Horn, Britton; Clark, Christopher; Strom, Oskar; Chao, Hilery; Stahl, Amy J.; Harteveld, Casper; Smith, Gillian	Computer Science (CS) education at the middle school level using educational games has seen recent growth and shown promising results. Typically these games teach the craft of programming and not the perspectives required for computational thinking, such as abstraction and algorithm design, characteristic of a CS curriculum. This research presents a game designed to teach computational thinking via the problem of minimum spanning trees to middle school students, a set of evaluation instruments, and the results of an experimental pilot study. Results show a moderate increase in minimum spanning tree performance; however, differences between gender, collaboration method, and game genre preference are apparent. Based on these results, we discuss design considerations for future CS educational games focused on computational thinking.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2839509.2844656
Reading Hierarchies in Code: Assessment of a Basic Computational Skill	Proceedings of the 2016 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Park, Thomas H.; Kim, Meen Chul; Chhabra, Sukrit; Lee, Brian; Forte, Andrea	One of the skills that comprise computational thinking is the ability to read code and reason about the hierarchical relationships between different blocks, expressions, elements, or other types of nodes, depending on the language. In this study, we present three new instruments for assessing different aspects of reading hierarchies in code, including vocabulary, reasoning, and fluency. One of these instruments is Nester, an interactive tool we have designed to elicit mental models about the hierarchical structure of code in computing languages ranging from HTML, CSS, and LaTeX to JavaScript and Lisp. We describe a lab study in which we administered these instruments to 24 participants with varying degrees of web development experience. We report findings from this study, including participants' ability to define, reason about, and manipulate hierarchies in code, and the errors and misconceptions that relate to them. Finally, we discuss avenues for future work.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2899415.2899435
Pencil Puzzles for Introductory Computer Science: An Experience- and Gender-Neutral Context	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Butler, Zack; Bezakova, Ivona; Fluet, Kimberly	The teaching of introductory computer science can benefit from the use of real-world context to ground the abstract programming concepts. We present the domain of pencil puzzles as a context for a variety of introductory CS topics. Pencil puzzles are puzzles typically found in newspapers and magazines, intended to be solved by the reader through the means of deduction, using only a pencil. A well-known example of a pencil puzzle is Sudoku, which has been widely used as a typical backtracking assignment. However, there are dozens of other well-tried and liked pencil puzzles available that naturally induce computational thinking and can be used as context for many CS topics such as arrays, loops, recursion, GUIs, inheritance and graph traversal. Our contributions in this paper are two-fold. First, we present a few pencil puzzles and map them to introductory CS concepts that the puzzles can target in an assignment, and point the reader to other puzzle repositories which provide the potential to lead to an almost limitless set of introductory CS assignments. Second, we have formally evaluated the effectiveness of such assignments used at our institution over the past three years. Students reported that they have learned the material, believe they can tackle similar problems, and have improved their coding skills. The assignments also led to a significantly higher proportion of unsolicited statements of enjoyment, as well as metacognition, when compared to a traditional assignment for the same topic. Lastly, for all but one assignment, the student's gender or prior programming experience was independent of their grade, their perceptions of and reflection on the assignment.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3017680.3017765
Scratching the Subject Surface: Infusing Computing into K-12 Curriculum	Proceedings of the 42nd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Wolz, Ursula; Ouyang, Youwen; Leutenegger, Scott	As the computing education community grapples with integrating computing into K-12 curriculum, the focus remains primarily on identifying appropriate grade level content and skills[3]. Two problems articulated by Margolis et al.[5], are (1) how to bring computing into an already over-burdened curriculum, (2) how to provide substantive professional development for teachers. We need to look beyond teaching computing concepts as isolated from other disciplines. The power of computing lies in its broad applicability to facilitate creativity in other domains. The panelists will report on using Scratch (http://scratch.mit.edu) in language arts, science and social studies curricula. Our programs demonstrate to middle and high school students and teachers how computational thinking, computing concepts and programming are essential to their course of study. We emphasize active learning where computing is a tool for creativity. We demonstrate how learning 21st century computing skills in the classroom can be fun. This panel will present three perspectives on using Scratch for humane games, scientific modeling and interactive storytelling. There will be significant time for the audience to participate in discussion of broad applicability of our approaches and whether this pedagogy can work at the undergraduate level.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1953163.1953303
Early Developmental Activities and Computing Proficiency	Proceedings of the 2017 ITiCSE Conference on Working Group Reports	Cutts, Quintin; Patitsas, Elizabeth; Cole, Elizabeth; Donaldson, Peter; Alshaigy, Bedour; Gutica, Mirela; Hellas, Arto; Larraza-Mendiluze, Edurne; McCartney, Robert; Riedesel, Charles	As countries adopt computing education for all pupils from primary school upwards, there are challenging indicators: significant proportions of students who choose to study computing at universities fail the introductory courses, and the evidence for links between formal education outcomes and success in CS is limited. Yet, as we know, some students succeed without prior computing experience. Why is this? Some argue for an innate ability, some for motivation, some for the discrepancies between the expectations of instructors and students, and some – simply – for how programming is being taught. All agree that becoming proficient in computing is not easy. Our research takes a novel view on the problem and argues that some of that success is influenced by early childhood experiences outside formal education. In this study, we analyzed over 1300 responses to a multi-institutional and multi-national survey that we developed. The survey captures enjoyment of early developmental activities such as childhood toys, games and pastimes between the ages 0 — 8 as well as later life experiences with computing. We identify unifying features of the computing experiences in later life, and attempt to link these computing experiences to the childhood activities. The analysis indicates that computing proficiency should be seen from multiple viewpoints, including both skill-level and confidence. Our analysis is the first to show, we believe, that particular early childhood experiences are linked to parts of computing proficiency, namely those related to confidence with problem solving using computing technology. These are essential building blocks for more complex use. We recognize issues in the experimental design that may prevent our data showing a link between early activities and more complex computing skills, and suggest adjustments for future studies. Ultimately, we expect that this line of research will feed in to early years and primary education, and thereby improve computing education for all.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3174781.3174789
Pander to Ponder	Proceedings of the 40th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Astrachan, Owen	Ponder means "to weigh in the mind with thoroughness and care" [31]. Pander means "to cater to the weaknesses and base desires of others" [31]. We report on a course we have designed and delivered over a six year period. The course was originally designed as a technical writing course for majors, but has evolved into a non-major's version whose enrollment ranks it as one of the three most highly-enrolled and thus arguably most popular courses for undergraduates at our university. We have worked diligently to ensure that students ponder the topics and problems that comprise the material for the course — and the material is deeply technical at many levels. We have also pandered to student needs in meeting curriculum requirements, offering the course at a time convenient for athletes and others, and using popular media when possible. We started with the goal of engendering interest and passion for computer science and how it affects the world. We report on our efforts to attain this goal while keeping material appropriately technical. We claim our students are engaged in a different type of computational thinking than that espoused in [32, 5, 15]. For the purposes of this paper and discussion we call our approach pander-to-ponder. We provide examples and illustrations of the material we cover, relate it to similar courses at other institutions, and show how we use problems to motivate learning. In the work we report on here the learning is specific to understanding how contributions from computer science are changing the world.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1508865.1508933
Pander to Ponder	SIGCSE Bull.	Astrachan, Owen	Ponder means "to weigh in the mind with thoroughness and care" [31]. Pander means "to cater to the weaknesses and base desires of others" [31]. We report on a course we have designed and delivered over a six year period. The course was originally designed as a technical writing course for majors, but has evolved into a non-major's version whose enrollment ranks it as one of the three most highly-enrolled and thus arguably most popular courses for undergraduates at our university. We have worked diligently to ensure that students ponder the topics and problems that comprise the material for the course — and the material is deeply technical at many levels. We have also pandered to student needs in meeting curriculum requirements, offering the course at a time convenient for athletes and others, and using popular media when possible. We started with the goal of engendering interest and passion for computer science and how it affects the world. We report on our efforts to attain this goal while keeping material appropriately technical. We claim our students are engaged in a different type of computational thinking than that espoused in [32, 5, 15]. For the purposes of this paper and discussion we call our approach pander-to-ponder. We provide examples and illustrations of the material we cover, relate it to similar courses at other institutions, and show how we use problems to motivate learning. In the work we report on here the learning is specific to understanding how contributions from computer science are changing the world.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1539024.1508933
Could You Help Me to Change the Variables? Comparing Instruction to Encouragement for Teaching Programming	Proceedings of the 8th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Makris, Dimosthenis; Euaggelopoulos, Kleomenis; Chorianopoulos, Konstantinos; Giannakos, Michail N.	Computer programming has become an important skill and it can be taught from early school years. Previous research has developed and evaluated several visual programming tools that are suitable for computer education in schools. However, little is known about how pedagogic styles affect student attitudes towards learning computer programming. This paper reports on a preliminary study on the influence of alternative teaching styles on student's enjoyment and attitude towards computing. Two groups of twelve students each were asked to revise a computer game. The traditional instruction group was provided with detailed information, while the encouragement group was asked to help the teacher to change the variables of the game. The results indicate that an encouraging pedagogic style promotes more positive attitudes towards computer programming and more self-confidence than traditional instruction. Further research should repeat the experiment across several weeks for more programming concepts and should also assess the cognitive benefits.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2532748.2532761
Introducing the Computer Science Concept of Variables in Middle School Science Classrooms	Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Buffum, Philip Sheridan; Ying, Kimberly Michelle; Zheng, Xiaoxi; Boyer, Kristy Elizabeth; Wiebe, Eric; Mott, Bradford W.; Blackburn, David C.; Lester, James C.	The K-12 Computer Science Framework has established that students should be learning about the computer science concept of variables as early as middle school, although the field has not yet determined how this and other related concepts should be introduced. Secondary school computer science curricula such as Exploring CS and AP CS Principles often teach the concept of variables in the context of algebra, which most students have already encountered in their mathematics courses. However, when strategizing how to introduce the concept at the middle school level, we confront the reality that many middle schoolers have not yet learned algebra. With that challenge in mind, this position paper makes a case for introducing the concept of variables in the context of middle school science. In addition to an analysis of existing curricula, the paper includes discussion of a day-long pilot study and the consequent teacher feedback that further supports the approach. The CS For All initiative has increased interest in bringing computer science to middle school classrooms; this paper makes an argument for doing so in a way that can benefit students' learning of both computer science and core science content.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3159450.3159545
Semantic Reasoning in Young Programmers	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Touretzky, David S.; Gardner-McCune, Christina; Aggarwal, Ashish	Reading, tracing, and explaining the behavior of code are strongly correlated with the ability to write code effectively. To investigate program understanding in young children, we introduced two groups of third graders to Microsoft's Kodu Game Lab; the second group was also given four semantic "Laws of Kodu" to better scaffold their reasoning and discourage some common misconceptions. Explicitly teaching semantics proved helpful with one type of misconception but not with others. During each session, students were asked to predict the behavior of short Kodu programs. We found different styles of student reasoning (analytical and analogical) that may correspond to distinct neo-Piagetian stages of development as described by Teague and Lister (2014). Kodu reasoning problems appear to be a promising tool for assessing computational thinking in young programmers.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3017680.3017787
Educational Robotics Summer Camp at IPB: A Challenge Based Learning Case Study	Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality	Gonçalves, José; Lima, José; Brito, Thadeu; Brancalião, Laiany; Camargo, Caio; Oliveira, Vitor; Conde, Miguel Á.	Robotics in education has special relevance in current digital society where students should know how to deal with technology. In this paper, it is presented an educational experiment in the mobile robotics domain. The referred experiment was part of a summer camp, which took place at the Polytechnic Institute of Bragança Portugal, being its technological aspects related with mobile robotics. Other than the technological aspects, the students participated in many different cultural and social activities, having the opportunity to know the city of Bragança and also to know different persons, mainly students, professors, researchers and laboratory technicians. The applied approach in the summer camp was a challenge based learning methodology, being involved in the experiment 3 professors, 4 monitors, working with a group of 16 secondary school students. The described experiment was planned as an activity of the RoboSTEAM - Integrating STEAM and Computational Thinking development by using robotics and physical devices ERASMUS+ Project.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3362789.3362910
From 'Use' to 'Choose': Scaffolding CT Curricula and Exploring Student Choices While Programming (Practical Report)	Proceedings of the 14th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Lytle, Nicholas; Catete, Veronica; Isvik, Amy; Boulden, Danielle; Dong, Yihuan; Wiebe, Eric; Barnes, Tiffany	As computing skills become necessary for 21st-century students, infused computational thinking (CT) lessons must be created for core courses to truly provide computing education for all. This will bring challenges as students will have widely varying experience and programming ability. Additionally, STEM teachers might have little experience teaching CT and instructing using unfamiliar technology might create discomfort. We present a design pattern for infused CT assignments that scaffold students and teachers into block-based programming environments. Beginning with existing code, students and teachers work together 'Using' and comprehending code before 'Modifying' it together to fix their programs. The activity ends with students 'Choosing' their own extensions from a pre-set list. We present a comparison of two implementations of a simulation activity, one ending with student choosing how to extend their models and one having all students create the same option. Through triangulating data from classroom observations, student feedback, teacher interviews, and programming interaction logs, we present support for student and teacher preference of the 'Student-Choice' model. We end with recommended strategies for developing curricula that follow our design model.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3361721.3362110
Scratch Encore: The Design and Pilot of a Culturally-Relevant Intermediate Scratch Curriculum	Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Franklin, Diana; Weintrop, David; Palmer, Jennifer; Coenraad, Merijke; Cobian, Melissa; Beck, Kristan; Rasmussen, Andrew; Krause, Sue; White, Max; Anaya, Marco; Crenshaw, Zachary	While several introductory computer science curricula exist for children in K-8, there are few options that go beyond sequence, loops, and basic conditionals. The goal of this project is to not only fill this gap with a high-quality curriculum supported by complete instructional materials, but to also do so with an equity-balanced curriculum. That is, a curriculum that values advancing equity equally with student learning outcomes. In this paper, we introduce barriers to equity in public school classrooms, pedagogical approaches to culturally-relevant curricula, and how our Scratch Encore curriculum is designed to support equity-balanced learning. Finally, we present results of our pilot year, including early evidence of students taking advantage of the culturally-relevant design aspects.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3328778.3366912
Note Code: A Tangible Music Programming Puzzle Tool	Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction	Kumar, Vishesh; Dargan, Tuhina; Dwivedi, Utkarsh; Vijay, Poorvi	We present the design of Note Code – a music programming puzzle game designed as a tangible device coupled with a Graphical User Interface (GUI). Tapping patterns and placing boxes in proximity enables programming these "note-boxes" to store sets of notes, play them back and activate different sub-components or neighboring boxes. This system provides users the opportunity to learn a variety of computational concepts, including functions, function calling and recursion, conditionals, as well as engage in composing music. The GUI adds a dimension of viewing the created programs and interacting with a set of puzzles that help discover the various computational concepts in the pursuit of creating target tunes, and optimizing the program made.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2677199.2688817
From Professional Development to the Classroom: Findings from CS K-12 Teachers	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Pollock, Lori; Mouza, Crystalla; Czik, Amanda; Little, Alexis; Coffey, Debra; Buttram, Joan	The CS for All initiative places increased emphasis on the need to prepare K-12 teachers of computer science (CS). Professional development (PD) programs continue to be an essential mechanism for preparing in-service teachers who have little formal background in CS content, skills, and teaching pedagogy. While increased investment by federal agencies and the industry has raised the number of CS PD opportunities for K-12 teachers, there has been limited study of how teachers apply what they learn back in their classroom. This paper describes an in-depth qualitative study through interviews of 28 elementary, middle and high school teachers who participated in summer PD in preparation of teaching a full CS course or integrate CS modules into existing courses (e.g., science, engineering, business, technology, etc). The interview protocol focused on educators' involvement in the PD, specific skills and strategies they learned, whether and how they have been able to apply these new skills in the classroom, what facilitated or impeded this application, and how students have responded.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3017680.3017739
The Development and Implementation of a Context-Based Curricular Framework for Computer Science Education in High Schools	Proceedings of the 14th Annual ACM SIGCSE Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Starr, Christopher W.; Bergman, Doug; Zaubi, Phil	In this paper, we describe a computer science curricular framework for creating innovative, four-year computer science programs for high school computer science courses. Based on a suggested set of great principles of computing by Peter Denning, the framework is structured as a stack of four curricular layers. The result is a framework design that provides a high degree of curricular and pedagogical flexibility, particularly suited for the rapidly changing discipline of computer science. This report describes the computer science curricular framework, the implementation of the framework and the deployment of a four-year curriculum from the implemented framework. Initial classroom experiences are reported.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1562877.1562964
The Development and Implementation of a Context-Based Curricular Framework for Computer Science Education in High Schools	SIGCSE Bull.	Starr, Christopher W.; Bergman, Doug; Zaubi, Phil	In this paper, we describe a computer science curricular framework for creating innovative, four-year computer science programs for high school computer science courses. Based on a suggested set of great principles of computing by Peter Denning, the framework is structured as a stack of four curricular layers. The result is a framework design that provides a high degree of curricular and pedagogical flexibility, particularly suited for the rapidly changing discipline of computer science. This report describes the computer science curricular framework, the implementation of the framework and the deployment of a four-year curriculum from the implemented framework. Initial classroom experiences are reported.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1595496.1562964
Understanding Student Collaboration in Interdisciplinary Computing Activities	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research	Deitrick, Elise; Wilkerson, Michelle Hoda; Simoneau, Eric	Many students are introduced to computing through its infusion into other school subjects. Advocates argue this approach can deepen learning and broaden who is exposed to computing. In many cases, such interdisciplinary activities are student-driven and collaborative. This requires students to balance multiple learning goals and leverage knowledge across subjects. When working in groups, students must also negotiate this balance with peers based on their collective expertise. Balance and negotiation, however, are not always easy. This paper presents data from a project to infuse computing into high school statistics using the R programming language. We analyze multiple episodes of video data from two pairs of students as they negotiated (1) the statistics and computing goals of an activity, (2) the knowledge needed to meet those goals, and (3) whose expertise can help achieve those goals. One pair consistently reached agreement along these dimensions, and engaged productively with both subject matter and computing. The other pair did not reach agreement, and struggled to accomplish their tasks. This work provides examples of productive and unproductive interdisciplinary computing collaborations, and contributes tools to study them.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3105726.3106193
Move Fast and Break Things	Commun. ACM	Vardi, Moshe Y.		https://doi.org/10.1145/3244026
Making Noise: Using Sound-Art to Explore Technological Fluency	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Brunvand, Erik; McCurdy, Nina	We describe our experience designing and delivering a general education technological fluency course that frames the discussion of computer science and engineering technology (electronics and programming) in the context of sound-art: art that uses sound as its medium. This course is aimed at undergraduate students from a wide variety of backgrounds and is designed to fit into the “Intellectual Explorations” area of a general undergraduate program. The goal is to introduce computer engineering and computational principles to non-CS students through an exploration of sound-art, experimental and electronic music, noise-making circuits, hardware hacking, and circuit bending.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3017680.3017714
A Computer Science Study Abroad with Service Learning: Design and Reflections	Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Pollock, Lori; Atlas, James; Bell, Tim; Henderson, Tracy	Study abroad offers students the opportunity to experience other cultures, languages, and environments while obtaining credits toward their degree. Students are also taught to appreciate the diversity of people and culture, such that they may dismiss stereotypes and learn to communicate and collaborate cross-culturally in a global economy. Unfortunately, few universities offer study abroad programs directed specifically to computer science and particularly in combining student technical learning with service learning for broadening participation in computing throughout the world. In this paper, we describe a service-learning-based model for computer science students and other university students with minimal prior computer science experience to engage and inspire themselves and the next generation of computational thinkers through learning, teaching and creating web-based learning games along with local children and teachers in a foreign country. We describe the model focusing on learning objectives, curriculum, field component, planning, and partnership building. We describe the products that undergraduates were able to create in four weeks and their CS education service learning field experiences. Finally, we investigate the impact of the study abroad model on undergraduates' content knowledge, and their career and personal development.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3159450.3159589
Creating Environmental Awareness with Upcycling Making Activities: A Study of Children in Germany and Palestine	Proceedings of the 2017 Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Weibert, Anne; Mouratidis, Marios; Khateb, Renad; Rüller, Sarah; Hosak, Miriam; Potka, Shpresa; Aal, Konstantin; Wulf, Volker	This study explores the development of environmental awareness and computational literacy among children by means of upcycling making activities in Germany and Palestine. Our research supports the idea that the combination of handcraft and digital work, documentation and social interaction in the upcycling can foster the development of a maker identity in children. Findings indicate that upcycling can sensitize children for environmental issues of global relevance, foster their environmental learning and encourage them in the exploration of creative answers.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3078072.3079732
Sustaining Making in the Era of Accountability: STEM Integration Using E-Textiles Materials in a High School Physics Class	Proceedings of the 7th Annual Conference on Creativity and Fabrication in Education	Ball, Douglas; Tofel-Grehl, Colby; Searle, Kristin A.	Maker-projects have often been implemented in K-12 schools to foster the emergence of identity, develop maker mindsets, fuel creation, and master STEM skills and content. This paper explores the ability of an electronic textiles, or e-textile, maker project to develop deeper science learning within a unit where computer science, technology, engineering, design, and physics intersect. Maker-project learning is often dedicated to bridging the areas that make up STEM, namely science, technology, engineering and mathematics. However, the content areas of science and mathematics are often less explored pillars within STEM while implementing maker-projects in a K-12 classroom. We look at how a unit on electricity in a high school physics classroom is taught using the programming of an Arduino microcontroller and electronic textile construction. In this way, the science in computer science is emphasized and understood from a physics perspective.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3141798.3141801
Designing an Assessment for Introductory Programming Concepts in Middle School Computer Science	Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Grover, Shuchi	Teaching of computer science (CS is rapidly expanding in schools. Learning to program is a key ingredient of school CS curricula, and consequently, there is a need for quality measures of student learning of foundational programming concepts. However, high-quality tools for measuring student learning in introductory CS have been under-developed and under-researched. This experience report shares the process of design and refinement of a summative paper-based assessment (that could also be administered online) for introductory programming in middle grades (6-8). We share our experiences with the use of assessment as a pre-post measure in a middle school introductory programming course in diverse, urban school classrooms in the US and use that data to conduct validity, reliability and item discrimination analyses.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3328778.3366896
Ne-Course for Learning Programming	Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality	Figueiredo, José; Gomes, Natália; García-Peñalvo, Francisco José	Difficulties in learning programming are a constant concern in engineering courses. In many research studies involving the learning programming must of the solutions presented, from the beginning of the first programming languages, was to apply different type of problems analysis. Literature relating to the understanding of nature of learning programming skills has been focused explicitly on the teaching methodology and few of them focus on abilities, characteristics and knowledge acquired over the life cycle of learning programming in each student. Most of the students enrolled in engineering courses, where programming is a crucial competence, never had the opportunity to develop skills of computational thinking. In this paper, we focus our work on the learning programming developing and applying a set of exercises where students with more difficulties can express and develop their skills in computational thinking. In order to understand some programming students difficulties we have create a set of exercises, and apply it to a pre-programming course, that allows teachers to understand how students analyse and comprehend aspects such as visualization, spatial interpretation and physical manipulation. This paper also reports on results obtained from a class experiment where Memory Transfer Language was used by students to learn programming. All the exercises must be resolved without any type of technology, designed as a ne-course (no electronic course) for learning programming.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3012430.3012572
Machine Learning Modules for All Disciplines	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Way, Thomas; Papalaskari, Mary-Angela; Cassel, Lillian; Matuszek, Paula; Weiss, Carol; Tella, Yamini Praveena	Recognizing that the changing nature of science and its reliance on massive amounts of data has led to the integral use of machine learning approaches in just about every discipline, we present the results of a multi-year research effort entitled "Broader and Earlier Access to Machine Learning." For this project, we explored teaching strategies for introducing machine learning topics to non-technical students in discipline-relevant ways, culminating in a large collection of ready-to-use learning modules suitable for use in a wide variety of academic fields. We present a roadmap to our online repository of module materials, a detailed walk-thru of the contents of an example module, ideas and approaches for incorporating modules into a class or assisting non-technical colleagues in doing the same, and a summary of results of using these modules in course settings.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3059009.3072979
Using the Context of Algorithmic Art to Change Attitudes in Introductory Programming	J. Comput. Sci. Coll.	Bryant, Robert; Weiss, Richard; Orr, Genevieve; Yerion, Kathie	This paper describes the use of algorithmic art as a context for teaching programming and computational thinking. We show how students can learn to apply mathematics and computer programming to create algorithmic art, and we record changes in their understanding and attitudinal responses toward computer science. The power of this approach lies in the relationship between image and algorithm combined with the fact that visual images are easily understood and enjoyed by most students. The images give clear and immediate feedback about the structure and behavior of the algorithm being explored. Going the other way, the goal of creating a specific visual effect, challenges the student to understand the implication of a given programming or mathematical construct.
About Programming Maturity in Finnish High Schools: A Comparison Between High School and University Students' Programming Skills	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Kaila, Erkki; Lindén, Rolf; Lokkila, Erno; Laakso, Mikko-Jussi	In this study, we compare students' ability to learn and master a variety of computer programming concepts in two different student groups. The first group consists of 64 university level students with various backgrounds (adult control), and the second group consists of 40 Finnish junior high school students of age 15 (adolescent treatment group). Neither group had significant prior programming experience. Both groups were taught a similar semester-long introductory course on Python programming, using the same learning management system (LMS). We find that for almost all of the concepts, both groups perform equally well, but students in the adolescent treatment group perform significantly worse when learning the concepts of loop structures and repetition. The results are further compared to the lecture surveys that were collected from the junior high school course to further explain the causes of the findings. Based on the results and the teaching methods that are presented in this paper, we are able to show that adolescent junior high school students and adult university students have similar abilities to learn abstract computer science concepts using a fully functional programming environment.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3059009.3059021
The Mindstorm Effect: A Gender Analysis on the Influence of LEGO Mindstorms in Computer Science Education	Proceedings of the 7th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Ball, Catherine; Moller, Faron; Pau, Reena	In the UK, as elsewhere, the number of students choosing to study computer science is declining. This is especially true with female students. This paper explores the effectiveness of LEGO Mindstorms in a pedagogic context in education and its ability to attract female students to computer science. A mixed methods approach was used in this study, in which we looked at the FIRST LEGO League competition and how female students participate in these.The results demonstrate that, while young people enjoy using Mindstorms, they do little to influence young people to consider computer science education. They can, however, be used effectively as an opportunity to engage young people in further computing skills and computational thinking. The lessons we learn from this research indicate that we need to use these tools as a foundation rather than as a solution to the problem for attracting more women into computing.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2481449.2481483
Teacher Configurable Coding Challenges for Block Languages	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Tumlin, Nath	COPPER (CustOmizable Puzzle Programming EnviRonment) is a meta-configurable tool for creating coding puzzles on a grid using a blocks-based programming language, similar to puzzles in Code.org's Hour of Code. COPPER has the potential to increase student interest and engagement by allowing a teacher to customize levels for individual classes or students. Teachers can create characters for specialized puzzles by uploading pictures to customize their appearance and using the block-language to design the character's behavior. They can then place these characters onto a grid, and arrange them into a puzzle for their students to solve. A teacher can specify the goal of each coding puzzle, as well as restrict which blocks a student may use, allowing a teacher to gradually introduce programming concepts. For example, an elementary school teacher could highlight concepts from a history lesson by building a customized grid where characters from a historical context navigate around objects relevant to the topic being studied. COPPER uses Google's Blockly framework to eliminate the mental overhead of memorizing textual syntax, allowing students to focus on building computational thinking skills. Block-based languages have been shown to be more effective than text-based languages when teaching programming to first-learners. Combined with customization, COPPER has the potential to lead to higher student interest and comprehension of programming concepts in a customized context. This poster will also summarize results obtained through initial experimentation through collaboration with K-8 teachers and their students.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3017680.3022467
From Classroom-Making to Functional-Making: A Study in the Development of Making Literacy	Proceedings of the 7th Annual Conference on Creativity and Fabrication in Education	Chu, Sharon Lynn; Quek, Francis; Deuermeyer, Elizabeth; Martin, Rachel	An important aspect of the Making ethos is the creation of artifacts that are personally significant through technological means. Many Making activities implicitly presume that participants have the mindset needed to be able to engage in such meaning-making processes before participation. We argue that attention has to be paid to how individuals may acquire this Making literacy in the first place before being able to participate in activities that are aligned with the Making ethos as it is currently most often understood. We present an approach to inculcate Making literacy in children through prescribed Making activities that are aligned with, and thus admissible in the elementary school science curriculum. Our analysis draws from video recordings of two 4th grade classrooms in which the students, who had already participated in 1.5 years of more structured 'makified activities', engaged in an open-ended, exploration-based, playful and more personally meaningful task that was more in line with the Making ethos. Our qualitative analysis demonstrates that a prescribed approach is able to inculcate a burgeoning Making literacy in students from a public elementary school, and thus prepare them to be able to engage in the creation of personally-meaningful artifacts effectively.1	https://doi.org/10.1145/3141798.3141802
CS Unplugged, Outreach and CS Kinesthetic Activities (Abstract Only)	Proceedings of the 43rd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Bell, Tim; Lambert, Lynn; Marghitu, Daniela	Outreach activities including Computer Science Unplugged demonstrate computer science concepts at schools and public venues based around kinesthetic activities rather than hands-on computer use. Computer Science Unplugged is a global project that has shared many such activities for children to adults using no technology, including how binary numbers represent words, images and sound, routing and deadlock, public/private key encryption, and others. These and other effective outreach programs can combat the idea that computer science = programming or, worse, keyboarding; and can educate the public, interest students, and recruit majors. Many people have used these activities, and adapted them for their own culture or outreach purposes. Come share your outreach ideas and experiences with such activities. Employers, researchers and teachers have noted the need for effective outreach to ensure that students and the public be exposed to, and understand what Computer Science is. CS Unplugged is a collection of activities that are accessible to a general audience, need no technology, are fun, and cover many core areas of computer science. The focus of this session will be discussing activities that introduce computer science concepts and way of thinking, and that are consistent with Jeanette Wing's Computational Thinking [Wing06]. The session is intended to allow exchanging ideas about effective outreach in the community, in K-12, and even non-major classes. There are many variations of these activities, and it is valuable to get practitioners together to share their successes - and not-so-successful events - so that others can benefit from them.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2157136.2157410
Creative Programming Experiences for Teenagers: Attitudes, Performance and Gender Differences	Proceedings of the The 15th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Papavlasopoulou, Sofia; Giannakos, Michail N.; Jaccheri, Letizia	With the proliferation of programming languages for children (i.e., Scratch, Alice, Kodu) combined with programmable hardware (i.e., Arduino, 3D printers, robots); efforts to provide evidence based best practices for introducing and engaging children in programming is urgently needed. In this work-in-progress we present the early results of an empirical investigation, regarding students' attitudes towards the creative learning context, and the differences between female and male students. The context is a workshop program, implemented by a group of computer science researchers and artists, with the purpose to introduce young students' programming through creative and meaningful experiences. Hundred and twenty-eight 15-years old students participated to the program. The empirical evaluation is implemented by a post-survey with 105 respondents, and organized around six attitudes: Satisfaction; Intention to use; Enjoyment; Easiness; Usefulness; and Learning Performance. Quantitative data analysis show that there is significant difference between the two genders and that the attitudes have significant relations between them.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2930674.2935994
The Computational Algorithmic Thinking (CAT) Capability Flow: An Approach to Articulating CAT Capabilities over Time in African-American Middle-School Girls	Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Thomas, Jakita O.	Computational algorithmic thinking (CAT) is the ability to design, implement, and assess the implementation of algorithms to solve a range of problems. It involves identifying and understanding a problem, articulating an algorithm or set of algorithms in the form of a solution to the problem, implementing that solution in such a way that the solution solves the problem, and evaluating the solution based on some set of criteria. Supporting Computational Algorithmic Thinking (SCAT) is both a longitudinal between-subjects exploratory research project and a free enrichment program supporting and guiding African-American middle school girls over three years as they iteratively design a set of games for social change. This paper explores the CAT Capability Flow, which begins to describe the processes and sub-skills and capabilities involve in CAT. To do this, we engage in an approach which results in an initial flowchart that depicts the processes students are engaging in as an iteratively-refined articulation of the steps involved in computational algorithmic thinking.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3159450.3159473
The E-Textiles Bracelet Hack: Bringing Making to Middle School Classrooms	Proceedings of the 6th Annual Conference on Creativity and Fabrication in Education	Searle, Kristin A.; Tofel-Grehl, Colby; Allan, Vicki	In this paper, we present an electronic textiles project called the "bracelet hack" that is intended to facilitate the introduction of making activities into classrooms. The project's design significantly decreases the costs and amount of classroom time that must be spent on the construction aspects of the project while still engaging students in design challenges. To test our hypothesis that the bracelet hack would allow just as much introduction to coding as more complicated, sewn LilyPad Arduino projects, we introduced the bracelet hack in the context of a professional development workshop for middle school science teachers. We analyzed teachers' audio recorded interactions while completing the bracelet hack and found that teachers were able to learn computational concepts, practices, and perspectives through the activity.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3003397.3003416
An Interview with Mark Guzdial	Ubiquity	Denning, Peter	Mark Guzdial is a Professor in the School of Interactive Computing at Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech). His research focuses on the intersection of computing and education, from the role of computing in facilitating education to how we educate about computing. In this interview with him, he discusses how we teach computing and to whom, especially his contention that a contextualized approach is a powerful tool to teach everyone about computing. –Editor	https://doi.org/10.1145/1922681.1925843
Effects of Teacher Training in a Computer Science Principles Curriculum on Teacher and Student Skills, Confidence, and Beliefs	Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Hamlen, Karla; Sridhar, Nigamanth; Bievenue, Lisa; Jackson, Debbie K.; Lalwani, Anil	Common barriers to broad-based adoption of Computer Science in secondary schools include 1) insufficient numbers of trained teachers who are capable of teaching CS courses in K-12 schools, and 2) a narrow base of students interested in taking CS courses which does not include a large number of females or students from traditionally underrepresented racial groups. In an effort to overcome these obstacles, we developed and employed a teacher professional development program to develop both content and pedagogical strategies to teach Computer Science Principles while also broadening and expanding participation in CS. Teachers were selected for this program in an effort to understand the impact of the intervention with teachers of diverse backgrounds, who teach in a variety of types of schools and with diverse student populations, and with a range of previous Computer Science content knowledge and teaching experience. Teacher content mastery, confidence and attitudes, as well as student content mastery and confidence were assessed at multiple times. Key goals of the program were to develop ability and confidence in programming skills among teachers and students, and to train and encourage teachers to use peer instruction, allowing for a great deal of interaction among students and engagement with the content facilitating the development of expertise among students. Significant findings showed that teachers improved in both knowledge and confidence after taking the workshop, and the gains were evident for their students as well. Their students also demonstrated improvement in both skills and confidence after taking CS Principles, regardless of gender, race, or ethnicity.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3159450.3159496
CSTA K–12 Computer Science Standards: Revised 2011		Seehorn, Deborah; Carey, Stephen; Fuschetto, Brian; Lee, Irene; Moix, Daniel; O'Grady-Cunniff, Dianne; Owens, Barbara Boucher; Stephenson, Chris; Verno, Anita
Social Networking: The New Computer Fluency?	Proceedings of the 41st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Purewal, Tarsem S.	This paper describes a course in online social networking that is flexible enough to meet the needs of most CS0 courses. Two sections of the course were taught at the College of Charleston during the Spring 2009 semester. We describe our experiences, we outline the topics and we offer suggestions on how the topics can meet the objectives of more traditional CS0 offerings.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1734263.1734301
TofuDraw: A Mixed-Reality Choreography Tool for Authoring Robot Character Performance	Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Wistort, Ryan; Breazeal, Cynthia	TofuDraw combines an expressive semi-autonomous robot character (called Tofu) with a new mixed reality DigitalPaint interface whereby children can draw a "program" on the floor that governs the robot character's behavior. Initial evaluations of the TofuDraw system with children ages 3–8 suggest that children can successfully use this interface to choreograph the expressive robot's behavior. Our ultimate goal for this tool is to enable young children to engage in STEM learning experiences in new contexts such as creating interactive robot theatre performances.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1999030.1999064
Youth Making Machine Learning Models for Gesture-Controlled Interactive Media	Proceedings of the Interaction Design and Children Conference	Zimmermann-Niefield, Abigail; Polson, Shawn; Moreno, Celeste; Shapiro, R. Benjamin	Machine learning (ML) technologies are ubiquitous and increasingly influential in daily life. They are powerful tools people can use to build creative, personalized systems in a wide variety of contexts. We believe ML has vast potential for young people to use to make creative projects, especially when used in conjunction with programming. This potential is understudied. We know little about what projects youth might create, or what computational practices they could engage in while building them. We combined a beginner-level ML modeling toolkit with a beginning programming tool and then investigated how young people created and remixed projects to incorporate custom ML-based gestural inputs. We found that (1) participants were able to build and integrate ML models of their own gestures into programming projects; (2) the design of their gestures ranged from coherent to disjoint with respect to the narratives, characters, and actions of their interactive worlds; and (3) they tested their projects by assessing the programmed vs. modeled aspects of them as distinct units. We conclude with a discussion of how we might support youth in combining code and ML modeling going forward.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3392063.3394438
Automated Assessment Tools: Too Many Cooks, Not Enough Collaboration	J. Comput. Sci. Coll.	Pettit, Raymond; Prather, James	The demand for computer science education is rapidly growing. Given the rate of increase in enrollments, faculty can struggle to provide quality instruction and assessment to students. When faced with assessing a larger group of students, automated assessment tools (AATs) are often suggested as a resource. Researchers have been creating tools for decades, but often in isolation. These tools have been growing in popularity in introductory programming courses, but researchers may have a difficult time synthesizing valid data to draw conclusions about the tools' efficacy for increasing student learning. This paper briefly examines the range and usefulness of AATs and demonstrates the need for collaboration between the researchers creating them in order to produce higher quality tools that can demonstratively show an increase in student learning.
CURRICULAR SYNCOPATIONS\textlessbr\textgreater\textlessbr\textgreaterThe Role of Programming in Introductory Computing Courses	ACM Inroads	Walker, Henry M.		https://doi.org/10.1145/1805724.1805728
Launching Swiss Computer Science Education Week	Proceedings of the Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Escherle, Nora; Assaf, Dorit; Basawapatna, Ashok; Maiello, Carmine; Repenning, Alexander	The systemic introduction of computer science education in federalist countries such as the United States, Germany, and Switzerland can be extremely difficult. The lack of top down dissemination mechanisms makes it hard to scale up even successful Computer Science Education strategies to national levels, necessitating bottom up approaches. High profile initiatives such as Computer Science EducationWeek, including the Hour of Code tutorials, provide an alternate route to reaching potentially large numbers of students, but in international contexts require proper adaptation to local languages and cultures. In 2014, Scalable Game Design Switzerland launched the Swiss computer science education Week featuring a multi-lingual "Frogger 3D" game creation activity. Results show the power of this bottom up approach to help jump-start student exposure to computer science in a relatively short amount of time. The first Swiss Computer Science EducationWeek reached 10,000 Swiss students, from 21 out of 26 Swiss cantons, with qualitative feedback and quantitative retention data indicating a sustainable and enjoyable experience for students and teachers.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2818314.2818321
Can Students Design Software? The Answer Is More Complex Than You Think	Proceedings of the 47th ACM Technical Symposium on Computing Science Education	Hu, Chenglie	In this paper, we first present an assessment on students' software design abilities based on qualitative data from a design class. We will then provide, using the assessment as a backdrop, a discussion on the nature of software design, the challenges of teaching design, and ways to improve design education.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2839509.2844563
Can You Learn to Teach Programming in Two Days?	Proceedings of the Australasian Computer Science Week Multiconference	Haden, Patricia; Gasson, Joy; Wood, Krissi; Parsons, Dale	Between 2011 and 2013, an updated set of national standards for secondary school computer science education was introduced in New Zealand. This change caused great difficulties for many existing "computing" teachers. After many years of teaching primarily word processing, they were suddenly tasked with teaching programming, even though they were themselves unable to program. In this paper we describe the structure and results of two in-service professional development workshops for these teachers. The workshop structure places emphasis not only on improving a teacher's programming skill, but on exposing him or her to validated pedagogical techniques in programming education. Preliminary results are positive, with most teachers being able to transfer the training into their own classrooms. After the workshops, teachers continue to request support, especially additional classroom-ready materials. We maintain that effective in-service training must include this ongoing support.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2843043.2843063
Education in the Knowledge Society Doctoral Consortium	Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality	García-Holgado, Alicia; García-Peñalvo, Francisco J.; Ramírez-Montoya, María Soledad	The Doctoral Consortium track is linked with the Education in the Knowledge Society PhD Programme at the University of Salamanca since the first edition. This track is not closed to PhD students from this programme, but also it is open for PhD candidates from other Programmes that develop their researchers in Knowledge Society related topics. The main aim of the Doctoral Consortium is to provide a discussion space for PhD candidates in which they can share their research progress and receive feedback from senior researchers of the scientific committee. Moreover, this track fosters the relationships between the students in order to establish synergies between them.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3012430.3012650
Identifying Teachers' Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge for Computer Science in the Primary Years	Proceedings of the 2019 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research	Vivian, Rebecca; Falkner, Katrina	Best practice for building teacher capacity in subject domains requires strong links to be made between the curriculum content, pedagogy and the effective use of teaching resources. Until recently primary school computing education has largely focused on developing digital literacy and the effective use Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) for learning and teaching. However, the introduction of new Computer Science (CS) curricula worldwide raises a significant need for finding ways to build our understanding of effective learning and teaching and how to build teacher capacity.The technological, pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK) model has been adopted by teachers and education researchers for understanding and designing purposeful classroom technology integration across subject areas. While TPACK has been well-researched in other subject areas, such as mathematics and science, limited research has harnessed TPACK for CS.We adopt the TPACK model as a framework to analyse teachers' contributions to an online teacher professional development (PD) community for algorithms and programming, further exploring differences associated with teacher confidence. We present examples of TPACK generated by teachers that demonstrate the unique and complex nature of TPACK for CS and build a conceptualisation of TPACK for primary years' CS. Our paper has implications for the design of primary years CS PD for teachers and the evaluation of teachers' professional knowledge in CS education.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3291279.3339410
ACM RETENTION COMMITTEE\textlessbr\textgreater\textlessbr\textgreaterStudent-Focused Initiatives for Retaining Students in Computing Programs	ACM Inroads	Richardson, Debra J.		https://doi.org/10.1145/3204467
Computer Science Education for Primary and Lower Secondary School Students: Teaching the Concept of Automata	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Isayama, Daiki; Ishiyama, Masaki; Relator, Raissa; Yamazaki, Koichi	We explore the feasibility of early introduction to automata theory through gamification. We designed a puzzle game that players can answer correctly if they understand the fundamental concepts of automata theory. In our investigation, 90 children played the game, and their actions were recorded in play logs. An analysis of the play logs shows that approximately 60% of the children achieved correct-answer rates of at least 70%, which suggests that primary and lower secondary school students can understand the fundamental concepts of automata theory. Meanwhile, our analysis shows that most of them do not fully understand automata theory, but some of them have a good understanding of the concept.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2940331
Cybersecurity in Liberal Arts General Education Curriculum	Proceedings of the 23rd Annual ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Mountrouidou, Xenia; Li, Xiangyang; Burke, Quinn	Cybersecurity learning has been explored through different analytical lenses, across a range of grade levels and academic institutions. From attempts to standardize learning with accreditation to refining curricula and labs, there is currently considerable effort to create more programs in this discipline to address a million-job gap within the cybersecurity workforce. One primary challenge in cybersecurity education on the post-secondary level is offering experiential coursework to undergraduate students at liberal arts institutions. While such experiential coursework is already prevalent at research universities, smaller liberal arts institutions are still trying to gain a foothold into offering cybersecurity as a course of study. We address this issue with the design of an undergraduate course and cybersecurity learning modules that fit into the liberal arts education. First, we present the design of a general education course situated in a new educational paradigm, project CyberPaths, aiming at helping primarily undergraduate institutions with limited resources to introduce experiential cybersecurity learning. It takes advantage of experiential learning through a cloud infrastructure called Global Environment for Network Innovations (GENI). Then we describe our experience teaching this First Year Experience (FYE) course that exposed freshmen of different majors to cybersecurity. We present the design of pre- and post-course surveys, as well as focus group interviews that were used to evaluate students’ learning experience. Student feedback and direct observation suggest that incorporating flexible cybersecurity modules into general education coursework can be an effective vehicle to demonstrate importance and key concepts of cybersecurity to a diverse student population.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3197091.3197110
Building Bridges to Other Departments: Three Strategies	Proceedings of the 41st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Barr, Valerie; Liew, Chun Wai; Salter, Rich	With the declining interest among incoming college students and the nationwide drop in computer science (CS) enrollments ([2, 1]), many CS departments would like to broaden participation in computing by reaching out to other departments on their campuses. One tactic is to encourage interdisciplinary work that has computing as a significant component. These efforts may result in more CS majors, increased enrollments in certain CS courses, and a student population that is better equipped to utilize computing within the contexts of their disciplines.This panel presents three approaches to building bridges to other departments and disciplines. Rich Salter, Oberlin College, will discuss the involvement of CS in the Oberlin Center for Computation and Modeling. Chun Wai Liew, Lafayette College, will discuss ways in which the CS department has built tools specifically to assist faculty in other departments, facilitating student exposure to and understanding of computation. Valerie Barr, Union College, will focus on the infusion of computation into course curricula outside CS, often coupling the use of existing tools with discussion of the underlying models and computational issues.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1734263.1734285
Jeannette M. Wing @ PCAST; Barbara Liskov Keynote	Commun. ACM	Wing, Jeannette M.; Barr, Valerie	The Communications Web site, http://cacm.acm.org, features more than a dozen bloggers in the BLOG@CACM community. In each issue of Communications, we'll publish selected posts or excerpts.twitterFollow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/blogCACMhttp://cacm.acm.org/blogs/blog-cacmJeannette M. Wing discusses her PCAST presentation about the importance of computer science and its impact. Valerie Barr shares highlights from Barbara Liskov's keynote at Grace Hopper.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1995376.1995380
Amir Pnueli and the Dawn of Hybrid Systems	Proceedings of the 13th ACM International Conference on Hybrid Systems: Computation and Control	Maler, Oded	In this talk I present my own perspective on the beginning (I refer mostly to the period 1988-1998) of hybrid systems research at the computer science side, focusing on the contributions of the late Amir Pnueli, mildly annotated with some opinions of mine.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1755952.1755953
Learning Cluster Computing by Creating a Raspberry Pi Cluster	Proceedings of the SouthEast Conference	Doucet, Kevin; Zhang, Jian	The study of cluster computing and its applications are vital to the future of computer science. By linking a group of computers to provide more processing power than one computer can alone, this is the principle upon which modern supercomputers are built. This short paper describes a student's learning experience in cluster computing. As part of the Texas Woman's University's Quality Enhancement project, the student received funding to purchase computing components to create a low-cost cluster computer using 5 Raspberry Pis. The data collected from experiments running on the cluster computer is compared to those from a single Raspberry Pi. The results from those experiments are presented in the paper.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3077286.3077324
LearnCS! A New, Browser-Based C Programming Environment for CS1	J. Comput. Sci. Coll.	Lipman, Derrell	LearnCS! is a learning environment specifically written for use by first-year computer science students. It provides students with a browser-based programming and execution environment which contains a depiction of the notional machine for the C language, and contains a built-in debugger. Many error messages are customized to assist the beginning student of computer science. These features have seemingly yielded good results in improving students' comprehension of CS1 concepts.
Social Competence and STEM: Teen Mentors in a Makerspace	Proceedings of the The 15th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Bar-El, David; Zuckerman, Oren; Shlomi, Yaron	We study the experiences of high school student volunteers as mentors in a public makerspace for children. Based on interviews, we present the teenagers' varied backgrounds, doubts, and lessons learned. While most studies around maker activities have focused on learning of STEM subject matter, our findings point to an additional outcome, an empowerment in social competence. We discuss our insights about teenage mentorship in makerspaces and propose future research directions.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2930674.2936005
How Computer Science at CMU is Attracting and Retaining Women	Commun. ACM	Frieze, Carol; Quesenberry, Jeria L.	Carnegie Mellon University's successful efforts enrolling, sustaining, and graduating women in computer science challenge the belief in a gender divide in CS education.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3300226
Child-Computer Interaction, Ubiquitous Technologies, and Big Data	Interactions	Hourcade, Juan Pablo; Antle, Alissa N.; Anthony, Lisa; Fails, Jerry Alan; Iversen, Ole Sejer; Rubegni, Elisa; Skov, Mikael; Slovak, Petr; Walsh, Greg; Zeising, Anja	In this forum we celebrate research that helps to successfully bring the benefits of computing technologies to children, older adults, people with disabilities, and other populations that are often ignored in the design of mass-marketed products. — Juan Pablo Hourcade, Editor	https://doi.org/10.1145/3274572
Computer Programs, Dialogicality, and Intentionality	Proceedings of the Tenth Annual Conference on International Computing Education Research	Tenenberg, Josh; Kolikant, Yifat Ben-David	Computer programs are addressed to two different audiences: to the computer, which interprets the program according to the formal semantics of the programming language in which it is written, and to human readers, who try to discern how the program will operate in a real-world context. In this paper, we use Bakhtin's notion of dialogicality, along with recent research in psycholinguistics and evolutionary psychology, as a theoretical basis for reflecting on the way in which computer programs embed cooperative communicative norms between programmers and program readers, and how these can be and sometimes are exploited in the program text. In doing so, this provides an important set of theoretical lenses for undertaking and interpreting empirical research in computer science education.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2632320.2632351
Towards Understanding Human Mistakes of Programming by Example: An Online User Study	Proceedings of the 22nd International Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces	Lee, Tak Yeon; Dugan, Casey; Bederson, Benjamin B.	Programming-by-Example (PBE) enables users to create programs without writing a line of code. However, there is little research on people's ability to accomplish complex tasks by providing examples, which is the key to successful PBE solutions. This paper presents an online user study, which reports observations on how well people decompose complex tasks, and disambiguate sub-tasks. Our findings suggest that disambiguation and decomposition are difficult for inexperienced users. We identify seven types of mistakes made, and suggest new opportunities for actionable feedback based on unsuccessful examples, with design implications for future PBE systems.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3025171.3025203
Bringing Contexts into the Classroom: A Design-Based Approach	Proceedings of the 7th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Rick, Detlef; Morisse, Marcel; Schirmer, Ingrid	Project-based learning and application-oriented approaches drawing on real-world issues and examples, have always been widely used in both secondary and higher Computer Science (CS) education. Recent demands for teaching CS or Informatics in context and building courses on coherent application areas outside CS go even further [4, 23]. In Germany the open working group IniK (Informatik im Kontext) compiles educational material and concepts for teaching Informatics in context [42, 24, 10, 8]. However, there is only little theoretical foundation for IniK as an educational approach and its implementation at schools and universities [7].In this paper we suggest a process model for bringing 'real-world' application contexts into the Informatics classroom. The proposed model is grounded on a design-based study and has evolved from theoretical and practical insights gained in five university-level project courses and five associated school projects. The model focuses on the development of context artifacts which originate from the real-world context, and teaching units building on the context artifacts. When teaching units are instantiated in the classroom, context artifacts are recontextualized in an educational context and are employed as learning equipment fostering the students' imagination, and thus anchoring the real-world application context within the classroom context.In the tradition of classical German Didaktik models [18, 28], the process model aims at providing a tool and a terminology for the preparation and reflection of instruction. On the basis of the model we discuss both the potential value and the drawbacks of teaching Informatics in context.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2481449.2481476
Computer Science Curricular Guidance for Associate-Degree Transfer Programs	Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Tang, Cara; Tucker, Cindy; Servin, Christian; Geissler, Markus	After two years of intense curriculum development effort, the ACM CCECC (Committee for Computing Education in Community Colleges) published Computer Science Curricular Guidance for Associate-Degree Transfer Programs with Infused Cybersecurity, known as CSTransfer2017. Based on Computer Science Curricula 2013 (CS2013), this guidance was specially designed to aid in the smooth transfer from associate degrees to baccalaureate degrees. The curriculum contains 17 of CS2013's 18 knowledge areas, and a variety of knowledge units appropriate in the first two years of a computer science degree. The guidance comprises over 200 learning outcomes, 64 of which are infused with cybersecurity, along with a three-tiered assessment rubric using measurable verbs from Bloom's Revised Taxonomy. In addition to the CSTransfer2017 task group consisting of 20 community college educators, input from both two- and four-year educators was collected via surveys administered to a global audience, as well as two rounds of public review and comment on drafts of the guidance. Examples of degree and certificate programs that align with CSTransfer2017 are part of a growing repository hosted on the CCECC website, ccecc.acm.org. These program examples demonstrate the adaptability of this competency-based curriculum approach to a variety of computing programs. The CCECC invites institutions to highlight their computer science degree program by submitting a program example at ccecc.acm.org/correlations.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3159450.3159536
The ACM and IEEE-CS Guidelines for Undergraduate CS Education	Commun. ACM	Hemmendinger, David	ACM curriculum recommendations have been instrumental over the last 40 years in defining what is taught at educational institutions around the world.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1230819.1230838
Bringing Computer Science Education to Secondary School: A Teacher First Approach	Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Neutens, Tom; Wyffels, Francis	The Progra-MEER professional development workshop is a one year program organized collaboratively by the computer science departments of three Flemish universities. It aims to improve the computer science knowledge of in service teachers in a physical computing context. Since Flemish schools are starting to implement STEM in their schools, the program links computer science to STEM and project based learning. This paper gives a description of the design and implementation of the program while providing an analysis of its strengths and weaknesses. We show that the program leads to the successful implementation of different physical computing projects. However, it needs to further support the practical project implementations while spending more attention on assessment and context definition. Additionally, the program has to invest more effort in creating a sustainable community of practice so knowledge and experiences can still be shared even after the program has finished.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3159450.3159568
A Biology-Themed Introductory CS Course at a Large, Diverse Public University	Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Berger-Wolf, Tanya; Igic, Boris; Taylor, Cynthia; Sloan, Robert; Poretsky, Rachel	We present the curriculum and evaluation of a pilot Biology-themed CS1 course offering at a large public university. Inspired by Harvey Mudd's CS 5 Green, we adapt CS1 + Bio to fit the needs of our student body, which is much more typical for those US institutions that produce the bulk of the nation's CS undergraduate degrees. This course was team-taught by a computer science professor and a biology professor, and combined typical CS1 topics with relevant biology content. Our initial offering attracted students who would not otherwise have taken CS1, and was the only one of our three CS1 courses where more students reported planning to major in CS after the course than before it.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3159450.3159538
App Inventor for Android in a Healthcare IT Course	Proceedings of the 13th Annual Conference on Information Technology Education	MacKellar, Bonnie	App Inventor for Android is a new programming environment that allows novice programmers to build applications for Android mobile devices. In this paper, we describe a healthcare IT course in which students with little or no programming background built healthcare related mobile applications. The course was designed based on the principles of studio-based learning, with students completing and sharing projects of their own choosing. Mobile applications were used to illustrate the role of IT applications in healthcare and teach design and user interface principles. In this paper, we discuss our experiences with this augmented course, describing the rationale, the process of introducing the new material, the student-designed applications, and the results from the course evaluation.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2380552.2380621
Informatics Education in Europe: Are We All In The Same Boat?		Education (CECE), The Committee on European Computing
Food for Thought: Supporting African American Women's Computational Algorithmic Thinking in an Intro CS Course	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Rankin, Yolanda A.; Thomas, Jakita O.; Irish, India	African American women who have little if any experience in computer programming prior to matriculation into college often struggle in introductory CS courses that emphasize programming from the outset. These same students feel underprepared and disadvantaged, oftentimes choosing to withdraw from such courses which contributes to the underrepresentation of African American women in CS. The challenge lies in creating equitable learning environments that bridge students' everyday experiences to fundamental CS concepts. In this experience report, we introduce the Dessert Wars Challenge, an alternative pedagogical strategy that leverages students' everyday experiences with food to forge meaningful connections to CS. We examine how African American women's participation in the Dessert Wars Challenge supports the development of their Computational Algorithmic Thinking (CAT) capabilities, the ability to design, implement, assess and adapt algorithms, and contributes to their retention in a college-level introductory CS course.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287484
Paper Mechatronics: Present and Future	Proceedings of the 17th ACM Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Oh, Hyunjoo; Hsi, Sherry; Eisenberg, Michael; Gross, Mark D.	Creative iterative development over the past several years has generated an extensive set of computational tools, learning resources, and materials in the realm of paper mechatronics - an educational craft and design approach that weaves computational and mechanical elements into established traditions of children's construction with paper. Here, we both reflect upon our past and recent work of paper mechatronics, then look to the near- to medium-term future to speculate upon both the emerging trends in technology design and expanding learning potential of this medium for children along material, spatial, and temporal dimensions. We summarize lessons learned through various children's workshops with our materials; and we use these lessons as a foundation upon which to create a wide variety of novel tools and activities in educational papercrafting. We speculate upon the frontiers of this work based on current convergences and shifts in tangible creative computational media.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3202185.3202761
Web Science: Expanding the Notion of Computer Science	Proceedings of the 43rd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	White, Su; Vafopoulos, Michalis	This paper discusses the role and place of Web Science in the computing disciplines. It provides an account of work which has been established towards defining an initial curriculum for Web Science. It presents and analyses plans for future curriculum developments utilizing novel methods to support and elaborate curriculum definition and review. The findings of a desk survey of Web Science education are presented. The paper then recommends future activities which may help determine whether we should expand the notion of computer science.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2157136.2157241
Aim for the Sky: Fostering a Constructionist Learning Environment for Teaching Maker Skills to Children in India	Proceedings of the Conference on Creativity and Making in Education	Alekh, Velayudhan; Vennila, Vilvanathan; Nair, Rahul; Susmitha, Vattigunta; Muraleedharan, Anirudh; Alkoyak-Yildiz, Meltem; Akshay, Nagarajan; Bhavani, Rao R.	The education system in schools in India at large focuses on the transmission of knowledge to students and sets the expectation to simply memorize and reproduce it on tests in the form it was originally taught to them. In order to lay the ground for teaching 21st-century skills, it is imperative to go beyond the confines of the textbook and lecture-based learning and to encourage applying the knowledge imparted in the classroom in creative contexts and to solve problems. The paper discusses the workshop conducted to teach maker skills in the context of STEM-based learning to eighth graders in a semi-urban school in India. The students were taught to work with tools and the principles of design and the science required to create and launch water rockets. Pre-workshop and post-workshop surveys were conducted to measure for change in intrinsic motivation and general self-efficacy of the students who participated in the making activity. The results reveal a reported significant reduction in performance related tension and pressure after participating in such collaborative activities among other findings that are discussed in detail in the paper.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3213818.3213830
Developing a Pedagogical Framework for Designing a Multisensory Serious Gaming Environment	Proceedings of the 1st ACM SIGCHI International Workshop on Multimodal Interaction for Education	Price, Sara; Duffy, Sam; Gori, Monica	The importance of multisensory interaction for learning has increased with improved understanding of children’s sensory development, and a flourishing interest in embodied cognition. The potential to foster new forms of multisensory interaction through various sensor, mobile and haptic technologies is promising in providing new ways for young children to engage with key mathematical concepts. However, designing effective learning environments for real world classrooms is challenging, and requires a pedagogically, rather than technologically, driven approach to design. This paper describes initial work underpinning the development of a pedagogical framework, intended to inform the design of a multisensory serious gaming environment. It identifies the theoretical basis of the framework, illustrates how this informs teaching strategies, and outlines key technology research driven perspectives and considerations important for informing design. An initial table mapping mathematical concepts to design, a framework of considerations for design, and a process model of how the framework will continue to be developed across the design process are provided.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3139513.3139517
Investigating the Role of Being a Mentor as a Way of Increasing Interest in CS	Proceedings of the 47th ACM Technical Symposium on Computing Science Education	Clarke-Midura, Jody; Allan, Vicki; Close, Kevin	In order to affect career decisions, it is important to reach youth at early ages. While some have focused on using mentors in order to successfully teach mentees, few have focused on the benefits to the mentors themselves. To our knowledge, no other research has been conducted on the effect that serving as a near-peer mentor has on increasing the mentors' interest, self-efficacy, value-beliefs, and skills in computer science. Our paid mentorships provided youth two weeks of participation in computer science camps using App Inventor. The mentors in our pilot study increased self-efficacy and interest after the mentoring activity, on average. This all-female mentoring experience provided opportunities to transcend barriers such as negative stereotyping and lack of role models. We feel that being able to reach high school girls at a critical stage makes this pedagogical approach ideal. The positive results, even with the short duration of the intervention, are encouraging.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2839509.2844581
A Survey of Introductory Programming Courses in Ireland	Proceedings of the 2019 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Becker, Brett A.	Between January and April of 2018, a comprehensive survey of introductory programming courses was undertaken across all sectors of Irish third-level institutions (universities, institutes of technology, and private colleges). The survey instrument was based on - and nearly identical to - recent surveys in the UK and Australasia. In total we report on 39 introductory programming courses at 25 third-level institutions. This includes 6 of 7 universities and 13 of 14 institutes of technology, representing 90% of all publicly funded institutions. We also report on 4 private colleges representing 80% of colleges in the Irish Higher Education Colleges Association that offer computing degrees.In addition to general course structure and composition, we explore programming language use, the reasons for using them, and their impact on teaching and learning. We also gain first-hand insight from instructors through an analysis of their own course aims, and explore their viewpoints on teaching introductory programming. The results of this survey provide a unique insight into the CS1 courses of a single country that is currently introducing computer science at the K-12 level.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3304221.3319752
An ACM 2013 Exemplar Course Integrating Fundamentals, Languages, and Software Engineering	Proceedings of the 45th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Hallstrom, Jason O.; Hochrine, Cathy; Sorber, Jacob; Sitaraman, Murali	This paper summarizes our experiences integrating topics in the software development fundamentals (SDF), programming languages (PL), and software engineering (SE) knowledge areas of the ACM 2013 curriculum within a single course. It is novel in combining object-oriented programming and software development practices with fundamental analytical reasoning about software correctness. The aim is to integrate and cover the topics in an effective fashion. The course description in this paper represents an approach we have applied successfully for over 5 years. Students tend to consider this course to be one of the more challenging encountered in the first two years of study. Interestingly, the challenge appears to stem equally from mastering object-oriented programming and design pattern components of the course, as it does from learning to use specifications for analytical reasoning of component correctness.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2538862.2538969
Preparing and Supporting Industry Professionals as Volunteer High School Computer Science Co-Instructors	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Papini, Anthony; DeLyser, Leigh Ann; Granor, Nathaniel; Wang, Kevin	The rapid expansion of computer science (CS) education across the United States has left schools struggling to find teachers for CS classrooms. One approach to supplementing school and teacher expertise is to use industry professionals as volunteers in the classroom. This paper outlines the model of recruiting, training, and supporting volunteers in CS classrooms used by TEALS, a national computer science education program that creates co-teaching partnerships between industry experts and educators. This paper presents detailed information about the volunteers and the training the they receive, as well as the impact and outcomes on the students and cooperating teachers. Results from teacher, student, and volunteer surveys show satisfaction with the volunteers, as well as continued growth in perceived volunteer classroom performance over the year.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3017680.3017743
Effective Computer Science Teacher Professional Development: Beauty and Joy of Computing 2018	Proceedings of the 2019 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Milliken, Alexandra; Cody, Christa; Catete, Veronica; Barnes, Tiffany	The Advanced Placement Computer Science Principles (AP CSP) course has been fully active for 2 years, garnering a large group of diverse students [2], and flaming the need for highly trained CSP teachers, especially in effective practices for diversity and equity. We have conducted summer professional development (PD) workshops from 2012-2018 which have prepared 748 teachers to teach AP CSP using the Beauty and Joy of Computing (BJC) curriculum. To improve equity and readiness for teaching, we have refined our PD by: shortening the PD from 6 weeks to 1 week; developing new, highly scaffolded pre-PD work; and modifying the in-person schedule to incorporate more pedagogy and teaching experiences, while continuing to provide in-depth, hands-on support for teachers to learn the basics of programming. The most recent revisions to our PD schedule resulted in improved post-PD survey results, with teachers from the 2018 cohort planning to adopt more of the BJC curriculum than in past years. From 2017 to 2018, planned adoption rates increased by 13%, resulting in 73% of the 2018 PD participants planning to adopt more than $60%$ of the BJC curriculum and 58% planning to adopt 80-$100% of the BJC curriculum in their classrooms in 2018-2019. In this paper, we discuss the most recent BJC PD implementation and provide evidence of increased teacher self-efficacy in areas including fostering interest in computing for underrepresented populations.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3304221.3319779
A Functional Approach to Data Science in CS1	Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Dahlby Albright, Sarah; Klinge, Titus H.; Rebelsky, Samuel A.	As part of the development of a new interdisciplinary initiative in data science that draws from statistics, mathematics, computer science, and the social sciences, we have developed a new introductory CS course that emphasizes data science and that we refer to as DataCSCi. Unlike other introductory data science courses, such as Berkeley's Data 8, our course retains the broad array of concepts necessary not only to introduce programming principles related to data science, but also to prepare students for the second course in our standard introductory computer science sequence. In particular, the course includes coverage of recursion (numeric and structural), unit testing, linked data structures, and other concepts we rely upon in subsequent courses in computer science. At the same time, we introduce students to a wide variety of techniques and approaches that support them in their subsequent work in data science, including techniques for wrangling, cleaning, and visualizing data. We achieve this combination of breadth and depth through two core approaches: We focus on a spiral "use then implement" approach and we focus on a functional model of programming using Scheme/Racket. While Python and R are the most commonly used languages for data science, we find that Scheme works particularly well to introduce students to concepts both complex, like map-reduce, and simple, like list filtering. In this paper, we report on the design of the curriculum, particularly the capstone project and the ways in which we incorporate the burgeoning subfield of data science for social good.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3159450.3159550
Lessons Learned With Girls, Games, and Design	Proceedings of the Third Conference on GenderIT	Ochsner, Amanda	Girls have long been dismissed and trivialized by the game industry. The Girls' Game Movement of the 1990s aimed to create games specifically for girls, but ultimately struggled to reach consensus on whether to make games catering to the feminine content that girls expressed interest in, or whether to challenge gender stereotypes and guide the ways that girls engage with games. Other research-based programs and interventions to engage girls in game design have faced similar difficulties, attempting to find balance between respecting girls' values and empowering them as designers. This paper offers a review of these programs, highlighting similarities in findings about what girls value in games and design, and synthesizing shared challenges and struggles. Analyzing past programs can be invaluable to contemporary educators, scholars, and designers looking to engage girls with game design and technology.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2807565.2807709
Scaffolding of Learning in Library Makerspaces	Proceedings of the FabLearn Europe 2019 Conference	Einarsson, Árni Már; Hertzum, Morten	Makerspaces have spread to libraries in recent years, to promote equitable access to technologies, expand services, and encourage participation and learning. In this paper, scaffolding of learning is studied from the perspective of library makerspace practitioners. On the basis of interviews in six Danish libraries, we analyze formal, non-formal, and informal activities and identify seven ways of scaffolding. Three challenges are discussed: (a) fostering community while ensuring inclusion in informal activities, (b) avoiding to stifle creativity in short-term activities, and (c) finding the role of the library in formal activities. We propose actions to overcome these challenges, such as encouraging scaffolds across formal, non-formal and informal learning activities and addressing the educational role of the library.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3335055.3335062
Everything is INTERRELATED: Teaching Software Engineering for Sustainability	Proceedings of the 40th International Conference on Software Engineering: Software Engineering Education and Training	Penzenstadler, Birgit; Betz, Stefanie; Venters, Colin C.; Chitchyan, Ruzanna; Porras, Jari; Seyff, Norbert; Duboc, Leticia; Becker, Christoph	Sustainability has become an important concern across many disciplines, and software systems play an increasingly central role in addressing it. However, teaching students from software engineering and related disciplines to effectively act in this space requires interdisciplinary courses that combines the concept of sustainability with software engineering practice and principles. Yet, presently little guidance exist on which subjects and materials to cover in such courses and how, combined with a lack of reusable learning objects. This paper describes a summer school course on Software Engineering for Sustainability (SE4S). We provide a blueprint for this course, in the hope that it can help the community develop a shared approach and methods to teaching SE4S. Practical lessons learned from delivery of this course are also reported here, and could help iterate over the course materials, structure, and guidance for future improvements. The course blueprint, availability of used materials and report of the study results make this course viable for replication and further improvement.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3183377.3183382
Sounds of Silence: Exploring Contributions to Conversations, Non-Responses and the Impact of Mediating Technologies in Triple Space	Proceedings of the 17th ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work & Social Computing	Lee, Joon Suk; Tatar, Deborah	We investigate collocated triads as they play a collaborative, problem-solving game using distributed technology on laptops. We examine how different triads attain and maintain mutual understanding in triple-space–when working on a hard problem, with communicating technologies and face-to-face interaction. We present qualitative and quantitative evidence that demonstrates the descriptive adequacy of a model of triadic interaction in triple space. We use that model to argue that the notion of good-enoughness is not a group attribute, but rather tied to each dyadic pair. This intellectual framework allows us to examine how non- response operates within these triple-space interactions when interaction is supported by different media. The results related to non-response raise the possibility that different media may result in subtle influence on the balance of participant goals.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2531602.2531655
On Being Actionable: Mythologies of Business Intelligence and Disconnects in Drill Downs	Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on Supporting Group Work	Verma, Nitya; Voida, Amy	We present results from a case study of the use of business intelligence systems in a human services organization. We characterize four mythologies of business intelligence that informants experience as shared organizational values and are core to their trajectory towards a "culture of data": data-driven, predictive and proactive, shared accountability, and inquisitive. Yet, for each mythology, we also discuss the ways in which being actionable is impeded by a disconnect between the aggregate views of data that allows them to identify areas of focus for decision making and the desired "drill down" views of data that would allow them to understand how to act in a data-driven context. These findings contribute initial empirical evidence for the impact of business intelligence's epistemological biases on organizations and suggest implications for the design of technologies to better support data-driven decision making.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2957276.2957283
A Day in the Life of Jos: A Web-Based Game to Increase Children's Digital Literacy	Proceedings of the 17th ACM Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Maqsood, Sana; Mekhail, Christine; Chiasson, Sonia	Digital literacy is an important educational topic because most children consume and create digital media regularly. We used procedural rhetoric to iteratively design an educational game for 11–13 year olds about digital literacy topics. We conducted three empirical user studies to evaluate the game's usability and effectiveness throughout the design process. Results from our summative study showed that children's digital literacy knowledge and intended behavior improved significantly immediately after playing the game and one week later. They also found the game usable, fun, and relatable. We present a case study of our design process, and use insights from our work to propose recommendations for designing children's educational games using procedural rhetoric.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3202185.3202753
UNTANGLED: A Game Environment for Discovery of Creative Mapping Strategies	ACM Trans. Reconfigurable Technol. Syst.	Mehta, Gayatri; Crawford, Carson; Luo, Xiaozhong; Parde, Natalie; Patel, Krunalkumar; Rodgers, Brandon; Sistla, Anil Kumar; Yadav, Anil; Reisner, Marc	The problem of creating efficient mappings of dataflow graphs onto specific architectures (i.e., solving the place and route problem) is incredibly challenging. The difficulty is especially acute in the area of Coarse-Grained Reconfigurable Architectures (CGRAs) to the extent that solving the mapping problem may remove a significant bottleneck to adoption. We believe that the next generation of mapping algorithms will exhibit pattern recognition, the ability to learn from experience, and identification of creative solutions, all of which are human characteristics. This manuscript describes our game UNTANGLED, developed and fine-tuned over the course of a year to allow us to capture and analyze human mapping strategies. It also describes our results to date. We find that the mapping problem can be crowdsourced very effectively, that players can outperform existing algorithms, and that successful player strategies share many elements in common. Based on our observations and analysis, we make concrete recommendations for future research directions for mapping onto CGRAs.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2517325
Computational Thinking and Programming Education Principles	Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality	García-Peñalvo, Francisco José	After the computational thinking sessions in the previous 2016 and 2017 editions of TEEM Conference, the third edition of this track has been organized in the current 2018 edition. Computational thinking is still a very significant topic, especially, but not only, in pre-university education. However, an important debate exists about how computer science concepts should be introduced in pre-university studies. Most of the proposals join computational thinking issues and programming, but there are many options and opinions. In this track, some interesting contributions are presented.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3284179.3284184
Computational Thinking and Robotics in Education	Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality	García-Peñalvo, Francisco José; Conde, Miguel Á.; Gonçalves, José; Lima, José	After the computational thinking sessions in the previous 2016-2018 editions of TEEM Conference, the fourth edition of this track has been organized in the current 2019 edition. Computational thinking is still a very significant topic, especially, but not only, in pre-university education. In this edition, the robotic has a special role in the track, with a strength relationship with the STEM and STEAM education of children at the pre-university levels, seeding the future of our society.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3362789.3362957
Computational Thinking in CS Teaching Materials: A Pilot Study	Proceedings of the 13th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research	Barendsen, Erik; Stoker, Idzard	This poster reports on research in progress. We develop a coding scheme to analyze teaching materials with respect to Computational Thinking (CT) content. In this pilot study, we apply the coding scheme to a sample of Dutch materials for Computing Science. The framework turns out to be useful for both global and in-depth analysis of CT content.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2526968.2526995
Teacher Feedback on Delivering Computational Thinking in Primary School	Proceedings of the 11th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Bell, Tim; Duncan, Caitlin; Atlas, James	We report on the preliminary results of an ongoing study examining the teaching of new primary school topics based on Computational Thinking in New Zealand. We analyse detailed feedback from 13 teachers participating in the study, who had little or no previous experience teaching computer science and related topics. From this we extract key themes identified by the teachers that are likely to be encountered deploying a new curriculum, including unexpected opportunities for cross-curricula learning, development of social skills, and engaging a wide range of students.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2978249.2978266
Introducing Computational Thinking through Non-Programming Science Activities	Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Ouyang, Youwen; Hayden, Katherine L.; Remold, Julie	Many programs offer informal experiences in programming for select students who may qualify or whose parents pay fees for attending. Integrating computational thinking (CT) in the formal classroom setting provides equal opportunities to develop valuable problem-solving skills for all students. However, such integration poses challenges since teachers may have limited experiences in computing and may be pressured by time constraints due to the need to cover Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) as well as district specific initiatives. A 2-year intervention has been designed to target upper elementary level self-contained classrooms to increase teachers' knowledge and ability for integrating CT into science lessons. Twenty teachers from four school districts in Southern California participated in the first year of the project's professional development activities. These schools have varying levels of diversity and socioeconomic status of student populations. Instead of using popular drag-and-drop programming tools such as Scratch or Tynker, the first year of the project focused on key CT concepts and helped teachers connect these concepts with skills important for student success in science activities. This paper reports on the study of the project's impact on student learning of key CT concepts among students from project classrooms. The main elements of the professional development are also described.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3159450.3159520
Bringing Computational Thinking to Teachers' Training: A Workshop Review	Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality	Dodero, Juan Manuel; Mota, José Miguel; Ruiz-Rube, Iván	In recent years, several visual programming languages and tools are emerging, which allow young students to easily program applications. Particularly, the block-based language used by Scratch has been the standard in most school initiatives to introduce Computational thinking (CT) in courses unrelated to computing. However, CT competences are not specifically included in the curricula of many Higher Education degrees that future teachers of Primary and Secondary Education have to complete. This paper describes a workshop for teachers' training on CT. It is based on the block-based common language of Scratch, but focused on enhancing teachers' skills to develop mobile applications with a tool based on the MIT's AppInventor. This workshop provided some insights on the capabilities of future teachers in the use of programming tools1.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3144826.3145352
How Many Abilities Can We Measure in Computational Thinking? A Study on Bebras Challenge	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Araujo, Ana Liz Souto O.; Andrade, Wilkerson L.; Guerrero, Dalton D. Serey; Melo, Monilly Ramos Araujo	While several approaches have been proposed to assess computational thinking (CT) abilities, it is still unclear how many and which these abilities are. Despite the undisputed importance of assessment, the fact is that there is not enough evidence on which abilities are merely theoretical and which can be empirically observed in the context of CT. This paper is part of a larger investigation in which we try to answer a simple question: can CT abilities be quantitatively defined and measured? In this particular study, we try to answer a simple question: How many CT abilities can be empirically observed using factor analysis? We approach this question, using a dataset containing answers of 1564 students from Lithuania in the Bebras Challenge from 2015. Firstly, we used confirmatory factor analysis to verify a theory that claims that five CT abilities are assessed by the contest. Our analysis shows the theory is not statistically supported. Secondly, we used principal component analysis as an exploratory analysis to try to derive an appropriate number of factors from the data. Surprisingly, the analysis suggests there are only two main recognizable factors. Finally, we briefly discuss these factors and hypothesize that the first is called evaluation ability, which would include abstraction, generalization, and decomposition, while factor 2 is algorithmic thinking and logical reasoning.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287405
Computational Thinking in the Danish High School: Learning Coding, Modeling, and Content Knowledge with NetLogo	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Musaeus, Line Have; Musaeus, Peter	Computational thinking (CT) is emerging as an important theme in computer science and high school education. However, research is needed to inform high-school teachers how to foster students' development of CT in computer science and other subjects. Evidence suggests that agent-based modeling is a valuable way for students to learn CT in different subjects. This paper reports a teaching experiment where researchers, developers, and high school teachers collaborated to develop six NetLogo models. The models were used in nine Danish High Schools in the following four subjects: Biotechnology, chemistry, biology, and social science. Teachers and students had no or very limited experience with programming. Students build CT and content knowledge by using, modifying, and creating code in the models. This paper provides details for others to adopt the models and the underlying CMC framework, which integrates: Coding, Modeling, and Content. The paper evaluates the results from an open-ended questionnaire with all participating students (n=210) and semi-structured interviews with all teachers (n=15). Thematic analysis was applied to categorize the qualitative data. Results showed that students were able to use, modify, and create code in NetLogo that enabled them to develop CT and content knowledge. The CMC framework represents a fruitful way for teachers to design and teach and for students to tinker with learning CT.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287452
A Principled Approach to Designing a Computational Thinking Practices Assessment for Early Grades	Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Basu, Satabdi; Rutstein, Daisy; Xu, Yuning; Shear, Linda	In today's increasingly digital world, it is critical that all students learn to think computationally from an early age. Assessments of Computational Thinking (CT) are essential for capturing information about student learning and challenges. Several existing K-12 CT assessments focus on concepts like variables, iterations and conditionals without emphasizing practices like algorithmic thinking, reusing and remixing, and debugging. In this paper, we discuss the development of and results from a validated CT Practices assessment for 4th-6th grade students. The assessment tasks are multilingual, shifting the focus to CT practices, and making the assessment useful for students using different CS curricula and different programming languages. Results from an implementation of the assessment with about 15000 upper elementary students in Hong Kong indicate challenges with algorithm comparison given constraints, deciding when code can be reused, and choosing debugging test cases. These results point to the utility of our assessment as a curricular tool and the need for emphasizing CT practices in future curricular initiatives and teacher professional development.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3328778.3366849
Assessing Middle School Students' Computational Thinking Through Programming Trajectory Analysis	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Akram, Bita; Min, Wookhee; Wiebe, Eric; Mott, Bradford; Boyer, Kristy Elizabeth; Lester, James	With national K-12 education initiatives such as "CSForAll," block-based programming environments have emerged as widely used tools for teaching novice programming. A key challenge presented by block-based programming environments is assessing students' computational thinking (CT) and programming competencies. Developing assessment methods that can evaluate students' use of CT practices such as testing and refining, and developing and using appropriate algorithms, can help teachers evaluate students learning and provide appropriate scaffolding. In this work, we utilize an evidence-centered assessment design approach to devise a three-dimensional assessment to evaluate students' CT competencies based on evidence extracted from their programming trajectories in a block-based programming environment. In this assessment, the first dimension assesses students' knowledge of essential CT concepts, the second dimension assesses students' dynamic testing and refining strategies, and the third dimension assesses their overall problem-solving efficiency. We apply the assessment framework to data collected from students' interactions with a game-based learning environment designed to develop middle-grade students' CT competencies and programming skills. The results demonstrate that students' knowledge of basic CT constructs, such as appropriate use and combination of control structures, serves as the foundation for designing and implementing effective algorithms. Further, we assessed students testing and refining strategies over the three dimensions of novelty, positivity, and scale. The results demonstrate that students with higher algorithmic capabilities tend to make more novel, positive, and small-scale changes. The results reveal distinctive patterns in students' approaches to computational thinking problem solving and make a step toward identifying and assessing productive computational thinking practices.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3293798
Computational Thinking as Play: Experiences of Children Who Are Blind or Low Vision in India	The 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility	India, Gesu; Ramakrishna, Geetha; Bisht, Jyoti; Swaminathan, Manohar	Torino is a tangible programming environment designed for teaching the computational thinking curriculum in the UK to children who are blind or low vision (henceforth, just children) in an inclusive setting. In this paper we describe the experience of children in Bangalore, India, when Torino was introduced to them as a toy for creating and sharing stories, songs and music. We conducted 12 play sessions with 12 children (4 girls and 8 boys) with diverse backgrounds belonging to three different schools for the blind. We briefly present the reasons for play being central to our effort of bringing computational thinking to children who are blind and low vision in India, and share some experiences of the children and some insights that we have gathered so far: Children not only enjoyed every session, they rapidly moved from playing with pre-created examples, to making changes, to demanding that their favorite stories be told. In observing such play, we could infer that they have grasped the basic concepts of computational thinking? flow of control, variables, loops? though not articulated in that vocabulary.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3308561.3354608
Improving Assessment of Computational Thinking Through a Comprehensive Framework	Proceedings of the 18th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research	Basso, Demis; Fronza, Ilenia; Colombi, Alessandro; Pahl, Claus	In recent years, Computational Thinking (CT) made its way into K-12 as a key set of 21st-century skills. However, the issue of assessing student's learning of CT remains a challenging one: it is indeed not clear how to achieve a comprehensive evaluation that is able to assess not only the technical and domain-specific skills, but also the domain-independent meta-skills of CT. Finding a solution to this issue is crucial, because assessment not only determines whether or not educational goals are being met, but also supports the design of a curriculum. Multiple forms of assessments have been proposed within the main perspective of programming skills, neglecting the possible generalization of CT training on other skills. In this work, we first review the existing approaches to CT assessment. Then, we discuss what non-technical skills (relational skills and cognitive life-skills) should be included in a comprehensive CT assessment framework. Moreover, we provide an indication of possible solutions to capitalize on the existing experiences in order to achieve a feasible integration of different types of assessment.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3279720.3279735
Measuring the Impact of Computational Thinking Workshops on High School Teachers	J. Comput. Sci. Coll.	Morreale, Patricia; Goski, Catherine; Jimenez, Luis; Stewart-Gardiner, Carolee	Computational thinking knowledge is used to develop solutions for computational problems, such as those found in mathematics and computer science. Over the past several years, workshops on computational thinking and computer science tools have been provided to high school teachers, most recently as part of Google's Computer Science for High School (CS4HS) initiative. The lasting impact of these workshops on the high school teachers and their students after the teacher returns to the classroom is not well known. The computational thinking knowledge and tools of high school teachers in a regional area of the U. S. was assessed during two workshops, one held several months after the other, to determine the utility and benefit, if any, of the workshops for the teachers and their students. The results of this research contribute to understanding the perception of computational thinking and computer science among high school teachers, as well as to the identification of the best tools and resources which high school teachers are most likely to use and which can be used to implement computational thinking in core curriculum standards, including mathematics.
Implementation of Unplugged Teaching Activities to Foster Computational Thinking Skills in Primary School from a Gender Perspective	Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality	Torres-Torres, Yucnary-Daitiana; Román-González, Marcos; Pérez-González, Juan-Carlos	The participation of girls and women is fundamental in solving problems that the society demands. Currently, the figures indicate a deficit of female presence in the STEM context, which implies the loss of the talent of the female collective. The school, as the transforming axis of society, must generate actions that motivate, involve and generate commitment in girls and women, enhancing their engagement in the STEM context. This paper shows two unplugged activities taken from a serial of activities implemented with elementary students and families in a digital cultural center in Madrid-Spain. The implementation is based on general objectives such as 1. To introduce and motivate interest since an early age in computer programming, 2. To develop gender dynamics that educate on gender equity to strengthen female empowerment in the STEM area. Performing the example in the roles of female gender in science, as well as transforming stereotypes with the purpose of motivate girls and adult women, without excluding the male group. The activities also seek to train Computational Thinking skills, to introduce basic computer programming concepts as well as showing that unplugged activities are important in teaching computer programming, and integrate women into the STEM area, as an important tool to reduce gender gaps. Based on our informal observations, some results were: involvement of the female collective in the construction of codes, improvement in the dynamics of gender equity in each activity and that the girls created more complex codes than males.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3362789.3362813
Bebras as a Teaching Resource: Classifying the Tasks Corpus Using Computational Thinking Skills	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Lonati, Violetta; Malchiodi, Dario; Monga, Mattia; Morpurgo, Anna	We present a new classification method for Bebras tasks based on the ISTE/CSTA operational definition of computational thinking. The classification can be appreciated by teachers without a formal education in informatics and it helps in detecting the cognitive skills involved by tasks, and makes their educational potential more explicit.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3059009.3072987
Entry: Visual Programming to Enhance Children's Computational Thinking	Adjunct Proceedings of the 2015 ACM International Joint Conference on Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing and Proceedings of the 2015 ACM International Symposium on Wearable Computers	Han, Ahyoung; Kim, Jihyun; Wohn, Kwangyun	This paper introduces Entry, a visual programming application which is developed to facilitate children's computational thinking. As an HTML5-based visual programming platform, it provides children and beginners with an integrated environment in which they not only learn programming in an easy and fun way but also create, post and share their own programs. This will enhance children's computational thinking and is expected to serve as an effective learning tool for the STEAM education. We have held a workshop with 16 elementary school teachers and conducted a preliminary survey to illuminate Entry's 1) potential educational implications on logical thinking, problem solving and creativity, and 2) applicability in the field of education. This paper is expected to contribute to future research on programming education and STEAM education programs for children.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2800835.2800871
CodeFruits: Teaching Computational Thinking Skills Through Hand Gestures	Extended Abstracts Publication of the Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play	Goyal, Sidhant; Chopra, Simran; Mohanan, Dileep	Researchers in the past have explored several interactive tools and techniques to teach students abstract concepts of programming and computational thinking. They have explored playful and collaborative way to do so which includes text-based, visual or tangible programming toolkits. In CodeFruits, we are exploring hand gestures as an input interaction mechanism. These hand gestures represent different elements of programming languages such as functions and parameters. We have developed a gesture based interactive game which implicitly helps K-12 students to learn abstract concepts of computational thinking and write a computational code in an easier, playful and engaging way.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3130859.3131335
Abenteuer Informatik: Hands-on Exhibits for Learning about Computational Thinking	Proceedings of the 7th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Gallenbacher, Jens	Computational thinking is one of the pillars of the ACM-CSTA standards for teaching computer science from kindergarten to college. Our approaches Abenteuer Informatik – Informatik begreifen (adventures in informatics – hands on computer science) and Abenteuer Technik are well established in the german-speaking community as means to connect computer science with other subjects and as means of clarifying some prejudices against computer science, especially problematic for establishing computer science as subject in schools.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2481449.2481487
An Architectural Design of ScratchThAI: A Conversational Agent for Computational Thinking Development Using Scratch	Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Advances in Information Technology	Katchapakirin, Kantinee; Anutariya, Chutiporn	Scratch is a visual, block-based programming language, adopted as a computational thinking development tool in elementary education among many countries. Thailand has also recently included Scratch as part of the computing science course in its basic education. However, Thailand is facing a shortage of ICT teachers who are skillful in Scratch programming, especially in small provincial schools. This research aims to overcome the shortage by developing ScratchThAI, a Scratch tutorial chatbot. It is designed to assist young learners directly through a messaging platform. By giving supports through a textual conversation, more relevant advice, knowledge, and resources could be provided precisely. Different levels of each computational thinking concept are extracted and evaluated by the designed assessment algorithm. Extra predefined exercises are assigned based on the analyzed learner's strengths and weaknesses in order to actively improving the learner's understanding. Moreover, gamification is incorporated to engage and motivate young learners in computational thinking development.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3291280.3291787
The Zones of Proximal Flow Tutorial: Designing Computational Thinking Cliffhangers	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Basawapatna, Ashok; Repenning, Alexander; Savignano, Mark	The creation of computer science tutorials is becoming critically important as hundreds of millions of students each year get their first CS experience through self-directed online activities. Creating a "cliffhanger" activity, with high engagement during and motivation to continue learning post activity, is a balancing act. If tutorials provide too much detailed information, users may be able to follow instructions but can feel overwhelmed or bored. On the other hand, tutorials that do not sufficiently explain crucial steps risk frustrating users who might drop out of the activity. Zones of Proximal Flow (ZPF) tutorials are simple to create and provide a navigation structure of differentiated instruction allowing users to choose appropriate detail based on their self-assessed state of flow, from bored to anxious. Using Retention of Flow analysis, two Hour of Code game design tutorials were analyzed: a sophisticated online tutorial for the creation of Frogger, and a simple ZPF tutorial for the creation of Pac-Man. One hope was that the simple ZPF Pac-Man tutorial would not do much worse than the sophisticated Frogger tutorial, but surprisingly the ZPF Pac-Man tutorial significantly outperformed the Frogger tutorial in terms of student retention. The Pac-Man tutorial also displayed a high student motivation to continue programming past the end of differentiated instruction.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287361
Math on a Sphere: Using Public Displays to Support Children's Creativity and Computational Thinking on 3D Surfaces	Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Hsi, Sherry; Eisenberg, Michael	Math on a Sphere (MoS) is a newly developed Web-based environment that enables children to imagine, program, and share creative designs on a public spherical display, the "Science on a Sphere" system created by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The MoS software, similar in spirit to the Logo language, was installed at an exhibit located in the Lawrence Hall of Science at the University of California at Berkeley and at the Fiske Planetarium at University of Colorado, Boulder. Twenty-five children ages 8 to 13 in two cohorts tested the MoS software during a half-day workshop held at the Lawrence Hall. In addition to using the MoS software to create beautiful and original works of art, children also engaged in hands-on crafts and inquiry-based math activities to further promote learning of spherical geometry and computational thinking. MoS software workshop had a positive impact on children's engagement, but had mixed results about their understanding of geometry as evidenced by direct observations and results from pre/post-surveys, which are reported here.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2307096.2307137
Scholar: A Campus HPC Resource to Enable Computational Literacy	Proceedings of the Workshop on Education for High Performance Computing	Baldwin, Michael E.; Zhu, Xiao; Smith, Preston M.; Harrell, Stephen Lien; Skeel, Robert; Maji, Amiya	To teach the computational science necessary to prepare STEM students for positions in both research and industry, faculty need HPC resources specifically tailored for their classrooms. Scholar was developed as a large-scale computing tool that faculty can use in their classrooms to teach HPC as well as scientific principles and experimentation. In this paper, we discuss the pedagogical need for a campus-wide HPC teaching resource and outline how such a resource was implemented at Purdue University.
Interactive Fiction: Weaving Together Literacies of Text and Code	Proceedings of the 2017 Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Proctor, Chris; Blikstein, Paulo	We propose structural parallels between textual literacy and computational literacy, and explore interactive fiction as a medium at their intersection. We designed and built a web application allowing students to read and write interactive fiction and a curriculum weaving the two literacies together. A study evaluating the curriculum found modest adoption of literacy practices from each domain. Our qualitative observations suggest a mechanism for how each literacy can support the other: incorporating computation into English/Language Arts makes it possible for students to model linguistic processes which are otherwise ephemeral. In the other direction, situating Computer Science concepts in students' identities and experiences can make them personally meaningful and address inequities in STEM education. A third study, underway, will quantify the extent to which one literacy supports growth in the other.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3078072.3084324
A Hands-On Cybersecurity Curriculum Using a Robotics Platform	Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Yett, Bernard; Hutchins, Nicole; Stein, Gordon; Zare, Hamid; Snyder, Caitlin; Biswas, Gautam; Metelko, Mary; Lédeczi, Ákos	This paper presents a study using a robotics platform for teaching computing and cybersecurity concepts to high school students. 38 students attended a week-long camp, starting with projects such as a simulation-only game and a simple autonomous driving program for the robots in order to learn and apply computational thinking (CT) and networking skills. They were then assigned a series of challenges that required developing progressively more advanced cybersecurity measures to protect their robots. This culminated in a final challenge that required implementing defensive measures such as encryption, secure key exchange and sequence numbers. We used an evidence-centered design framework to construct rubrics for grading student work. The pre- and post-test results show that the interventions helped students learn cybersecurity and CT concepts, but they had difficulties with networking concepts. These results correlate with scores from the game and the final challenge. Overall, surveys show that the competition-based robotics learning framework engaged students and supported their overall learning, but our intervention needs to be modified to help students learn networking concepts	https://doi.org/10.1145/3328778.3366878
Learning by Fixing and Designing Problems: A Reconstruction Kit for Debugging E-Textiles	Proceedings of the 7th Annual Conference on Creativity and Fabrication in Education	Lui, Debora; Anderson, Emma; Kafai, Yasmin; Jayathirtha, Gayithri	In this paper, we present the development of a "reconstruction kit" for e-textiles, which transforms fixed-state construction kits—maker tools and technologies that focus on the creation of semi-permanent projects—into flex-state construction kits that allow for endless deconstruction and reconstruction. The kit uses modular pieces that allow students to both solve and create troubleshooting and debugging challenges, which we call "DebugIts." We tested our prototype in an after-school workshop with ten high school students, and report on how they interacted with the kit, as well as what they learned through the DebugIt activities. In the discussion, we delve into the affordances and challenges of using these kits as both learning and assessment tools. We also discuss how our pilot and prototype can inform the design of reconstruction kits in other areas of making.1	https://doi.org/10.1145/3141798.3141805
Rethinking Debugging as Productive Failure for CS Education	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Kafai, Yasmin; DeLiema, David; Fields, Deborah A.; Lewandowski, Gary; Lewis, Colleen	Computational thinking has become the calling card for re-introducing coding into schools. While much attention has focused on how students engage in designing systems, applications, and other computational artifacts as a measure of success for computational thinking, far fewer efforts have focused on what goes into remediating problems in designing systems and interactions because learners invariably make mistakes that need fixing-or debugging. In this panel, we examine the often overlooked practice of debugging that presents significant learning challenges (and opportunities) to students in completing assignments and instructional challenges to teachers in helping students to succeed in their classrooms. The panel participants will review what we know and don't know about debugging, discuss ways to conceptualize and study debugging, and present instructional approaches for helping teachers and students to engage productively in debugging situations.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287333
Revisiting Turtles and Termites: An Open-Ended Interactive Physical Game with Multiple Robots	Proceedings of the 2017 Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Gourlet, Pauline; Le Goc, Mathieu; Follmer, Sean	We present a first prototype of an open-ended interactive physical game aiming at developing children's understanding of dynamic systems in a playful and embodied way. We use a swarm user interface, Zooids, developed by Le Goc et al., made of independent self-propelled elements that move collectively and react to user input. Papert promoted an active way of developing a computational literacy, through programming a turtle with LOGO, from which Resnick proposed StarLogo, a "multi-turtles" language to simulate complex systems behaviors. Our interface is positioned in between these two perspectives: it allows to physically interact with multiple "turtles", each having its own dynamic. Each Zooid can be assigned an action that will affect the system behavior. Based on this principle, our first prototype invites children to resolve situations by changing individual actions in a dynamic system.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3078072.3091979
Programming Touch and Full-Body Interaction with a Remotely Controlled Robot in a Secondary Education STEM Course	Proceedings of the 22nd Pan-Hellenic Conference on Informatics	Merkouris, Alexandres; Chorianopoulos, Konstantinos	Contemporary research has introduced educational robotics in the classroom, but there are few studies about the effects of alternative embodied interaction modalities on computational thinking and science education. Twenty-six middle school students were asked to program interfaces for controlling the heading and speed of a robot using two types of embodied interaction modalities. We compared touch and full-body gestures to autonomous control, which does not require any embodied interaction. We assessed the development of their computational thinking skills by analyzing the projects they created during a problem-solving task and examined their understandings of science concepts related to kinematics. We found that novice students preferred full-body interfaces, while advanced students moved to more disembodied and abstract computational thinking. These findings might be applied to focus computing and science education activities to the right age and abilities groups of students.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3291533.3291537
Implementation and Outcomes of a Three-Pronged Approach to Professional Development for CS Principles	Proceedings of the 47th ACM Technical Symposium on Computing Science Education	Mouza, Chrystalla; Pollock, Lori; Pusecker, Kathleen; Guidry, Kevin; Yeh, Ching-Yi; Atlas, James; Harvey, Terry	One of the greatest challenges in broadening participation in computer science is teacher preparation, as few middle and high school teachers have a formal background in computing. Further, without a credentialing program, there are limited ways to learn content and pedagogical strategies for effective computer science instruction. As a result, professional development is key to successful reform in the teaching of computer science. In this paper, we describe our three-pronged approach to the design of a professional development model for middle and high school teachers interested in implementing the Computer Science Principles (CSP) curriculum in their classrooms or infusing CSP modules into STEM curricula. We describe our model focusing on content, pedagogical strategies and follow-up classroom support during the academic year. We subsequently report on participating teacher outcomes, in terms of self-rated understandings, attitudes and implementation practices. We share lessons learned and offer recommendations for professional development designers.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2839509.2844585
CEO: A Triangulated Evaluation of a Modeling-Based CT-Infused CS Activity for Non-CS Middle Grade Students	Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Global Computing Education	Lytle, Nicholas; Cateté, Veronica; Dong, Yihuan; Boulden, Danielle; Akram, Bita; Houchins, Jennifer; Barnes, Tiffany; Wiebe, Eric	With the increased demand for introducing computational thinking (CT) in K-12 classrooms, educational researchers are developing integrated lesson plans that can teach CT fundamentals in non-computing specific classrooms. Although these lessons reach more students through the core curriculum, proper evaluation methods are needed to ensure the quality of the design and integration. As part of a research practice partnership, we work to infuse research-backed curricula into science courses. We find a three-pronged approach of evaluation can help us make better decisions on how to improve experimental curricula for active classrooms. This CEO model uses three data sources (student code traces, exit ticket responses, and field observations) as a triangulated approach that can be used to identify programming behavior among novice developers, preferred task ordering for the assignment, and scaffolding recommendations to teachers. This approach allows us to evaluate the practical implementations of our initiative and create a focused approach for designing more effective lessons.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3300115.3309527
Demonstrating the Ability of Elementary School Students to Reason About Programs	Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Aggarwal, Ashish; Touretzky, David S.; Gardner-McCune, Christina	Over the last decade, CS Education researchers have developed different curricula, resources, and strategies to foster computer science learning in K-12 education. However, there is a lack of research about how elementary school students develop the ability to reason about programs. Reasoning about programs consists of a student's ability to read, write, debug, trace, and predict program behavior. This paper presents results from a think-aloud study of fourth and fifth grade students learning to program in Kodu. The goal of this study was to track students' understanding of how Kodu interprets and executes rules of a program. To understand students' reasoning of program execution, we explicitly taught them the Laws of Kodu computation which govern the decision making and execution process of Kodu rules. We collected students' responses on pre- and post-assessments, and we conducted think-aloud interviews with students where students explained their answers to assessment questions. We found that explicitly teaching students how Kodu rules are interpreted significantly improved their ability to understand the execution of programs and to explain program behavior. The results of this study provide insight into how elementary school students reason about simple programs, and how this ability can be scaffolded.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3159450.3159488
If ____________, You Might Be a Computational Thinker!	Proceedings of the 41st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Garcia, Daniel D.; Lewis, Colleen M.; Dougherty, John P.; Jadud, Matthew C.	Computational Thinking (CT) has been articulated as a "fundamental skill for everyone, not just for computer scientists" [10]. Almost all agree with the lofty goals of the initiative, to teach humanity the ability to see the world through the sharpened eyes of a computer scientist. Others have shared their vision of what CT is, how to pave the way [7], weave it into a curriculum [1, 2, 9], and what the effects might be [8]. However, what does it really mean to be a computational thinker? While it is helpful to see examples that show we're already engaged in CT (e.g., using a backpack is pre-fetching and caching), it is perhaps more valuable to see everyday situations that are transformed when viewed through a computational thinker's trained eyes (e.g., writing dates as YYYY-MM-DD so they'll sort correctly). We hope to present enough examples to satisfy a growing chorus of those who need more grounding, using a unique delivery format.Jeff Foxworthy is a popular and successful stand-up comedian, especially in rural areas of the southern United States [5]. His signature bit is to find subtle aspects of life that are common to "rednecks", a term used to describe "uneducated white farm laborers" (whose neck is red from sunburn) [3]. These observations are never meant to be mean-spirited, are told with acute comic timing, and audiences love them. Here are some of his best [4], using his template:If _____________________________, you might be a redneck!...you think the last words to the Star Spangled Banner are 'Gentlemen, start your engines'......you get stopped by a state trooper, and when he asks you if you have an I.D. and you say, 'Bout what?'......you carried a fishing pole into Sea World...We will use a similar template and each of the four "stand up computational thinkers" will riff on observations of life as seen through CT eyes. We hope to provide enough examples that the (mostly CT) audience will feel compelled to join us in an "open mike" format and share their experiences. Whenever possible, we will channel Mr. Foxworthy and aim for the funny bone.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1734263.1734355
Gumshoe: A Model for Undergraduate Computational Journalism Education	Proceedings of the 42nd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Pulimood, Sarah Monisha; Shaw, Donna; Lounsberry, Emilie	This paper describes a collaboration between computer science and journalism students and professors at our small, primarily undergraduate college, and a large metropolitan newspaper. Our students' work was a catalyst for a hard-hitting series of investigative stories, with far-reaching consequences. The Gumshoe project is a model for computational journalism at an undergraduate institution. The project demonstrates that when computer scientists and journalists reach out across disciplinary boundaries, computational thinking and collaboration can solve a real problem, and have a substantive impact on society.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1953163.1953314
Blending Mobile Programming and Liberal Education in a Social-Economic High School	Proceedings of the International Conference on Mobile Software Engineering and Systems	Fronza, Ilenia; El Ioini, Nabil; Corral, Luis	Mobile programming is one of the fastest growing approaches in many fields, such as marketing or e-commerce. From the educational perspective, this means that students should understand that they can build mobile applications (apps) without being professionals, and at the same time recognize their own potential to use technology in any professional path they choose. This goal is not trivial, even if students are in general curious and open to learn about the creation of apps. Indeed, especially in liberal education, students get discouraged upfront as they perceive programming as a difficult task. This paper describes a course that was created to fit the educational needs of a social-economic high school. Students take part of an interdisciplinary project in which the Software Engineering process is used to promote CT skills. The course was repeated twice and involved 29 students (8th and 9th grade).	https://doi.org/10.1145/2897073.2897096
Update on the CS Principles Project	Proceedings of the 43rd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Astrachan, Owen; Briggs, Amy; Cuny, Jan; Diaz, Lien; Stephenson, Chris	The CS Principles Project is a collaborative effort to develop a new introductory course in computer science, accessible to all students. Computer Science educators at all levels have worked together on the development of the new curriculum under the direction of the College Board with support from the National Science Foundation. This special session provides an opportunity for the CS Principles project leaders to report on recent updates and new directions, and to engage in discussion on all aspects of the project with SIGCSE participants	https://doi.org/10.1145/2157136.2157276
Dancing Computer: Computer Literacy Though Dance	Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Advances in Mobile Computing and Multi Media	Owen, Charles B.; Dillon, Laura; Dobbins, Alison; Keppers, Noah; Levinson, Madeline; Rhodes, Matthew	The Dancing Computer project is developing a system that aims to increase computer literacy in elementary-aged children by teaching them first to read code before they write it. The main objective is to educate children on basic concepts of Computer Science. Children are given tablet computers that present a simple program line-by-line that they execute as they pretend to be a computer. The programs are acted out on a portable dance floor consisting of colored tiles and the program statements instruct the child to move, turn, and act out dance poses and terminology. This is a unique and different approach - the norm being to start students off writing code in some language. This project has the potential to increase the level of Computer Literacy for thousands of children. This project's goal is to increase understanding of what a computer does, what a program does, and the step-by-step nature of computer programs.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3007120.3007131
Contextualized Teaching in the Lower Secondary EducationLong-Term Evaluation of a CS Course from Grade 6 to 10	Proceedings of the 47th ACM Technical Symposium on Computing Science Education	Pasternak, Arno	In this paper we will report on the design, teaching and evaluation of a Computer Science course in the lower secondary education from grade 6 to grade 10 based on contextualised ideas.With this study we are able to demonstrate that students can indeed be taught Computer Science as a (main) subject from early grades to the end of lower secondary education.We will present quantitative and qualitative results. We will analyse the results of the course with the instrument of the effect size d and draw first consequences.So it becomes apparent that Computer Science can be taught just like any other science worth full curriculum credit even starting at the beginning of the lower secondary education.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2839509.2844592
An Analysis of a Media-Based Approach to Teach Programming to Middle School Students	Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Araujo, Luis Gustavo J.; Bittencourt, Roberto A.; Santos, David M.B.	Previous studies have presented approaches to teach programming based on contexts close to students, such as games, robotics, and media. Those contexts may turn learning easier and more motivating. Media manipulation is one of such contexts relevant to teenage students, for their thorough use of image applications and social networks. In this work, we design and evaluate a spiral approach to teach programming to ninth-grade students of a middle school in Brazil's countryside. The approach is contextualized by media, i.e., image creation and manipulation, and we use the Python language with turtle graphics and JES tools to support it. Results point out to the influence of context and tools on learning, significant changes of perception about computing, high motivation to learn how to code, as well as a positive correlation between learning and motivation.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3159450.3159526
Digital Culture Creative Classrooms (DC3): Teaching 21st Century Proficiencies in High Schools by Engaging Students in Creative Digital Projects	Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Tinapple, David; Sadauskas, John; Olson, Loren	Children and young adults are immersed in digital culture, but most are not familiar with the computational thinking behind the latest tools and technologies. There are few opportunities in secondary school curricula for students to learn such practices, but we believe that skills such as computational thinking, creative coding, collaboration, innovation, and information literacy can be taught in a highly effective manner by using aesthetic challenges as a motivation. In other words, by engaging students in creative digital arts projects they are naturally driven to acquire the many new skills to effectively use and understand the computational tools and techniques involved in creating digital and interactive projects. In this paper, we outline a project-based digital arts curriculum through which novice middle/high school students are intrinsically motivated to learn and apply science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) skills and computational thinking.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2485760.2485803
Increasing the Capacity of STEM Workforce: Minor in Bioinformatics	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Khuri, Sami; VanHoven, Miri; Khuri, Natalia	In this paper, we describe the Minor in Bioinformatics that we created to better prepare students, especially women, in acquiring computational and programming skills. Our program was motivated by the fact that women are underrepresented in computer science and in other information technology-related fields. We aim to recruit biology undergraduates, who are more than 60% female, to the new cohort-based integrative interdisciplinary Minor in Bioinformatics program. By rooting this new computational program in biological concepts and questions, we plan to interest and educate biology students in computational methods, which can be applied to complex questions in the growing field of bioinformatics. We expect that the Minor in Bioinformatics program will serve as a general framework for establishing similar interdisciplinary programs at large institutions and small colleges.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3017680.3017721
Interdisciplinary Computer Science Pre-Service TeacherPreparation: Panel	Proceedings of the 2019 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Maiorana, Francesco; Richards, Gretchen; Lucarelli, Chery; Berry, Miles; Ericson, Barbara	Many researchers [1] recognize that great Computer Science (CS) teaching demands great pedagogy, technology, and subject knowledge. It is believed that without a focus on teachers, which are the connection between schools, universities, and work, and their preparation the gap in CS knowledge will be difficult to close [2] and the support to curricular indications, as the national curriculum for computing in England, Computer Science Principles, CS 10K, CS for All, CSTA, Scientix, will not sustainable. World-spread projects as Computing At School, Mobile Computer Science Principles or Initial Teacher Education Lab emphasize the role of teachers in reaching students, sustaining their daily practice. International initiatives as code.org, CoderDojo, Code Club are great examples of well propagated curricular, pedagogical and technological innovations in education. Beside this the research effort has produced many block-based programming languages, tools, and technologies "Low floor and high ceiling". With this deluge of content, pedagogical and technological innovations there is the necessity to involve and sustain teachers in getting confidence with CS. Ways to accomplish this will be discussed.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3304221.3325543
Application of the Delphi Method in Computer Science Principles Rubric Creation	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Cateté, Veronica; Barnes, Tiffany	Growing public demand for computer science (CS) education in K-12 schools requires an increase in well-qualified and well-supported computing teachers. To alleviate the lack of K-12 computing teachers, CS education researchers have focused on hosting professional development workshops to prepare in-service teachers from other disciplines to teach introductory level computing courses. In addition to the curriculum knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge taught in the professional development workshops, these new teachers need support in computer science subject matter knowledge throughout the school year. In particular, these new teachers find it difficult to grade programs and labs. This research study uses two variations of the Delphi Method to create learning-oriented rubrics for Computer Science Principles teachers using the Beauty and Joy of Computing curriculum. To perform this study we implemented (1) a heavy-weight, heterogeneous wide-net Delphi, and (2) a lower-weight, homogeneous Delphi composed of master teachers. These methods resulted in the creation of two systematically- and rigorously-created rubrics that produce consistent grading and very similar inter-rater reliabilities.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3059009.3059042
Perceived Instrumentality and Career Aspirations in CS1 Courses: Change and Relationships with Achievement	Proceedings of the 2016 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research	Peteranetz, Markeya S.; Flanigan, Abraham E.; Shell, Duane F.; Soh, Leen-Kiat	We explored CS1 students' perceived instrumentality (PI) for the course and aspirations for a career related to CS. Perceived instrumentality refers to the connection one sees between a current activity and a future goal. There are two types of PI: endogenous and exogenous. Endogenous instrumentality refers to the perception that mastering new information or skills is important for achieving distal goals. Exogenous instrumentality refers to the perception that obtaining an external reward (such as a grade) is essential for obtaining future goals. We investigated (1) how students' PI and career aspirations changed over the course of a semester, (2) how these changes differed as a function of course enrollment and major (CS or not), (3) the relationship between PI and career aspirations, and (4) whether PI and career aspirations predicted academic achievement. Overall and for most subgroups, exogenous instrumentality increased significantly and endogenous instrumentality decreased significantly across the semester, though the degree of change varied among some subgroups. Career aspirations decreased overall and for most subgroups, but CS majors showed a much smaller decrease than non-majors, and students in a CS/business honors course showed an overall increase in career aspirations. Finally, students' achievement outcomes were predicted by their PI and career aspirations. These findings contribute to the literature on motivation in CS1 courses and points to PI as a promising avenue for influencing student motivation. Implications for student motivation and retention in CS and other STEM courses are also discussed.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2960310.2960320
Is Quantum Computing for Real? An Interview with Catherine McGeoch of D-Wave Systems	Ubiquity	Tichy, Walter	In this interview, computer scientist Catherine McGeoch demystifies quantum computing and introduces us to a new world of computational thinking.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3084688
Two Teachers, Two Perspectives on CS Principles	Proceedings of the 47th ACM Technical Symposium on Computing Science Education	Griffin, Jean; Pirmann, Tammy; Gray, Brent	This paper reports on an investigative, qualitative case study of the teaching practices of two public high school Computer Science teachers as they teach courses that are fully or partially aligned with the CS Principles framework. One teaches at an urban, high minority STEM school, the other at a middle class suburban school. Ethnographic methods were used to collect data via classroom observations and teacher interviews. Within-case and across-case analyses are presented which characterize the teachers' practices regarding pedagogy, curricula, creative activities, problem-solving activities, and management of social interactions. The findings provide detailed insights regarding the challenges these teachers face and the strategies they use, which may be useful to teachers in a variety of settings at both the high school and college/university levels.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2839509.2844630
Linking Language & Thinking with Code: Computing within a Writing-Intensive Introduction to the Liberal Arts	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	O'Hara, Keith J.; Burke, Kathleen; Ruggiero, Diana; Anderson, Sven	This paper describes the design, implementation and preliminary evaluation of a computing component for a three-week writing-intensive introductory program at a liberal arts college. Specific curricular recommendations are presented that could have a direct, positive impact if adopted in similar courses. A two-pronged approach involving a faculty-led HTML workshop, along with student-led contextualized coding studios, was employed. Computing Unplugged activities were used, including a novel Page Rank Unplugged networking activity. An analysis of attitude surveys shows the program positively changed students attitudes about enjoyment solving CS problems, but potentially reinforced the misconception that CS is just learning programming languages.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3059009.3059018
Promoting Constructive Mindsets for Overcoming Failure in Computer Science Education	Proceedings of the Tenth Annual Conference on International Computing Education Research	Lovell, Emily	Encountering failure while cultivating computational literacy is inevitable, as debugging is a normal and necessary part of any programmer's workflow. Unfortunately, internalization of this failure is one discouraging factor in many students' choice not to pursue computer science. In this proposal, I outline my dissertation research on constructive mindsets for overcoming failure in introductory programming contexts. This work is motivated by an overarching interest in broadening participation in computing – and, in particular, attracting and retaining more female computer science students. My doctoral research examines the differences in how technical students and non-technical students approach learning to code, with the goal of generating best practices for other educators.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2632320.2632331
Using Physical Computing Projects in Teaching Introductory Programming	Proceedings of the 19th Annual SIG Conference on Information Technology Education	Jin, Karen H.; Eglowstein, Howard; Sabin, Mihaela	Physical computing engages students who are learning how to program through hands-on projects with tangible devices. Many of these projects are fun and artistic, but may not be very helpful in demonstrating fundamental but non-obvious concepts such as variables, conditionals or complex control flow. With access to many fun "gadgets", e.g., sensors, motors, LEDs, etc., students could get very excited with their projects, while not necessarily learning enough about programming and computational problem solving. This work presents the authors' experience of teaching a physical computing workshop for middle school students using Adafruit Circuit Playground Express and Microsoft MakeCode. Classroom projects not only are engaging but also effectively demonstrate abstract programming concepts. Projects selection is based on a set of software and hardware features in order to choose the ones that best help students learn basic programming concepts.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3241815.3241879
Techniques at the Intersection of Computing and Music	Proceedings of the 17th ACM Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Heines, Jesse M.; Greher, Gena R.; Ruthmann, S. Alex	Our work on Performamatics aims to enhance students' computational thinking (CT) by engaging them in fundamental concepts that unite computing and music. Our approach leverages students' near universal interest in music as a context for rich CT experiences. The techniques we share are used in a General Education course open to students in any major called Sound Thinking, which is now being offered for the fourth time.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2325296.2325387
Where Exactly Are the Difficulties in Reasoning Logically about Code? Experimentation with an Online System	Proceedings of the 23rd Annual ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Cook, Michelle; Fowler, Megan; Hallstrom, Jason O.; Hollingsworth, Joseph E.; Schwab, Tim; Sun, Yu-Shan; Sitaraman, Murali	CS students can typically reason about what a piece of code does on specific inputs. While this is a useful starting point, graduates must also be able to logically analyze, comprehend, and predict the behavior of their code in more general terms, no matter what the inputs are. Results of data collection and analysis from an online educational system show it can help to pinpoint the difficulties in doing this for individual students and groups, and to partition the groups in terms of their difficulties so that instructional interventions may be better targeted. Unlike traditional debugging, this online system helps reveal difficulties in reasoning in more general terms because it is equipped with a verification engine.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3197091.3197133
GP: A General Purpose Blocks-Based Language (Abstract Only)	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Maloney, John; Nagle, Michael; Mönig, Jens	The first programming language for most children worldwide today is a blocks-based language like Scratch or Snap. GP is a blocks-based programming language designed to be a follow-on. GP aims to be a general purpose language, like Python or Ruby, in which students can create more complex programs or create standalone applications. GP includes a mechanism for creating modules for others to re-use and a wide variety of primitives, including tools for manipulating CVS and JSON data, using serial port and network connections, and manipulating pixels in pictures or samples in sounds. The language could be used in computer science classes beyond introductory computer science. GP explores the questions: "How far can we go with a blocks-based programming language? Do we have to move students to a textual programming language to explore advanced computational ideas and applications?" In this laptop required workshop, participants will try out GP. They will explore sample projects and create their own projects that push on advanced features of GP such as using multiple classes and instances, creating sets of blocks that can be shared as extension modules, using cloud data, or manipulating images and sounds. GP will be released (free and open source) in Summer 2017, so our goal is to find early adopters who are interested in trying GP and developing examples for others.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3017680.3017825
Engaging Young Learners in Making Games: An Exploratory Study	Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games	Fowler, Allan	There has some initial work on using game play and game development to engage young children in STEM learning [5, 22, 23]. However, there not been a lot of recent work on using game development to engage young children in improving computational thinking. In this paper, the author provides an overview of an exploratory study of a group of forth grade and a group of fifth grade students during summer 2017. Both groups of students used a free game development platform from Microsoft (Kodu Game Lab) to make computer games. The results found that the participants in both camps demonstrated significant changes in attitudes and perceptions of CS.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3102071.3116225
Teaching the First Programming Course with Python's Turtle Graphic Library	Proceedings of the 2016 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Vidal Duarte, Elizabeth	How to keep students interested in a CS1 course is not new to those who teach the subject. This work describes our experience in the use of Python with its Turtle Graphic Library in a game-oriented approach that seeks to increase the interest and motivation of students. We present the assignment for branch, loops and functions: the simulation of a basic game with a spaceship that can shoot a bullet to the enemy. Our experience has shown us that students get engaged and motivate themselves with the graphical component. We have found an improvement in students' grades.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2899415.2925499
Non-Programming Activities for Engagement with Foundational Concepts in Introductory Programming	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Grover, Shuchi; Lundh, Patrik; Jackiw, Nicholas	Programming-in a text-based or visual language-is a complex activity that novices find difficult to learn. In this paper, we present an experience report on how novel activities designed for early conceptual exploration can support middle school students' engagement with and learning of foundational programming concepts beginning programmers often struggle with, specifically, variables, expressions (Boolean, arithmetic, relational), loops, and abstraction. We drew on mathematics education research on dynamic representations to design and develop a set of four non-programming, (open access) web-based, interactive activities and micro-worlds and two unplugged activities as part of a suite of activities that can be embedded in a typical introductory programming curriculum to introduce learners to the target concepts before they encounter them in programming. This report describes the activities as well as our experience with their use as part of an introductory computer science course in three diverse, urban, middle school classrooms in the US	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287468
Theater Robotics for Human Technology Education	Proceedings of the 15th Koli Calling Conference on Computing Education Research	Laamanen, Mikko; Jormanainen, Ilkka; Sutinen, Erkki	Theater robotics allows its users to learn by transforming a story into a theatrical performance acted out by robots. A preliminary implementation uses affordable robotics kits controlled by a scripting environment that was designed iteratively by observing the users from the viewpoint of a given set of criteria. The end result facilitates a truly interdisciplinary learning experience that combines two types of artifacts: robots built with technology and engineering, and stories founded on humanities. Theater robotics can be applied not only in technology or robotics education, but also in computing education to teach specific skills such as computational thinking or basic concepts of programming with robots.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2828959.2828975
Serious Toys: Three Years of Teaching Computer Science Concepts in K-12 Classrooms	Proceedings of the 2014 Conference on Innovation & Technology in Computer Science Education	Feaster, Yvon; Ali, Farha; Zhai, Jiannan; Hallstrom, Jason O.	Computational thinking represents a collection of structured problem solving skills that cross-cut educational disciplines. There is significant future value in introducing these skills as early as practical in students' academic careers. Over the past three years, we have developed, piloted, and evaluated a series of K-12 outreach modules designed to introduce fundamental computing concepts. We piloted two modules with more than 340 students, and evaluation results show that the modules are having a positive impact. We combined the two previously piloted modules with a newly developed module and piloted the combined program with over 170 students. Evaluation results again show that the combination is having a positive impact. In this paper, we summarize the program, discuss our experiences piloting it, and summarize key evaluation results. Our hope is to engender discussion and adoption of the materials at other institutions.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2591708.2591732
Students' Experiences from the Use of MIT App Inventor in Classroom	Proceedings of the 18th Panhellenic Conference on Informatics	Perdikuri, Katerina	MIT App Inventor for Android is a visual programming environment for creating applications for Android-based smartphones and tablets. It constitutes an alternative, quite easy but also powerful programming platform as it allows the development of apps using databases, interactive maps and other advanced concepts and most importantly, you do not have to write code. In this paper we first present how App Inventor works, its limitations and benefits compared to other Android application development environments, and we subsequently report on teacher and students' experiences from using App Inventor as an introductory programming course with senior high school students. The students were able to create mobile apps quite easily either following specified instructions or on their own initiative. Overall, the research conducted using a questionnaire found that App Inventor could make programming enjoyable and accessible to novices, enabling students to develop computing skills and computational thinking. Finally, we discuss possible extensions App Inventor could have as a visual programming environment for mobile application development.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2645791.2645835
Use of Tangible Learning in Stem Education	SIGGRAPH ASIA 2016 Mobile Graphics and Interactive Applications	Lee, Kian Teck	Tangible Learning explores the use of tangible media integrated with mobile technology to enhance engagement and mobility for STEM education with children. Tangible Learning allows users to experience and understand thinking processes such as design thinking and computational thinking through rapid prototyping with tangible media, which is then translated into digital format on the mobile applications for direct feedback and testing of their prototype. This significantly widens the accessibility for younger age groups. The use of tangible media also encourages collaborative creation and learning of children as compared to when only the mobile application is used. Lastly, we will also take a look at one of the existing products in the market and how it has been successfully brought into the classrooms and view the creations of children who attended the session.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2999508.3008582
Is It Feasible to Teach Query Programming in Three Different Languages in a Single Session? A Study on a Pattern-Oriented Tutorial and Cheat Sheets	Proceedings of the 1st UK & Ireland Computing Education Research Conference	Sundin, Lovisa; Cutts, Quintin	Undergraduates and postgraduates in science subjects are increasingly expected to conduct their data analyses using R, SQL and Python. This requires of instructors to develop resources that get students up and running quickly. This study presents and evaluates a learning design that (1) uses a pattern-oriented tutorial to teach language-independent key operations for implementing data analytic queries, and (2) uses cheat sheets to show how these operations map onto language-specific syntax. The evaluation study (N=21) concludes that using this approach, two thirds of the data science novices sampled could implement simple to moderately complex queries in all the aforementioned languages within two hours. A permutation test moreover produced a significant main effect of language, with SQL ranking the highest in accuracy. The results form part of a general discussion on the merits and language-dependent feasibility of pattern-oriented aids for accelerated data science instruction.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3351287.3351293
MYR: A Web-Based Platform for Teaching Coding Using VR	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Berns, Christopher; Chin, Grace; Savitz, Joel; Kiesling, Jason; Martin, Fred	MYR is a browser-based, educational platform built to spark student interest in computer science by allowing users to write code that generates three-dimensional, animated scenes in virtual reality. The interface consists of two primary components: (1) an integrated editor, which leverages the MYR API and the A-Frame entity-component-system, and (2) a real-time renderer that displays the corresponding scene. The scenes, which vary in complexity, are viewable using virtual reality headsets, smartphones, and any device that supports a web browser. By providing access to the specific domain of virtual reality to students, the system aims to make computer science concepts tangible for novice programmers. The MYR development team conducted pilot tests with middle school students in order to collect feedback from this audience. The larger goal of the project is to develop MYR as a research tool to gain insight into computing students' success, motivation, and confidence in learning computing.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287482
A Large-Scale Evaluation of a Rubric for the Automatic Assessment of Algorithms and Programming Concepts	Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Alves, Nathalia da Cruz; von Wangenheim, Christiane Gresse; Hauck, Jean Carlo Rossa; Borgatto, Adriano Ferreti	As computing education makes its way into schools, there is still little research on how to assess the learning of algorithms and programming concepts as a central topic. Furthermore, in order to ensure valid instructional feedback, an important concern is the reliability and construct validity of an assessment model. Therefore, this work presents a large-scale evaluation of the CodeMaster rubric for the performance-based assessment of algorithms and programming concepts by analyzing software artifacts created by students as part of complex, open-ended learning activities. The assessment is automated through a web-based tool that performs a static analysis of the source code of App Inventor projects. Based on 88,812 projects from the App Inventor Gallery, we statistically analyzed the reliability and construct validity of the rubric. Results indicate that the rubric can be regarded as reliable (Cronbach's alpha α=0.84). With respect to construct validity, there also exists an indication of convergent validity based on the results of a correlation and factor analysis. This indicates that the rubric can be used for a valid assessment of algorithm and programming concepts of App Inventor programs as part of a comprehensive assessment completed by other assessment methods. The results can guide the improvement of assessment models, as well as support the decision on the application of the rubric in order to support computing education in K-12.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3328778.3366840
"... And We Are the Creators!" Technologies as Creative Material	Proceedings of the Fourteenth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction	Matthews, Sarah; Viller, Stephen; Boden, Marie A.	Tangible embedded technology kits are increasingly being used in schools, often as a means of providing students a platform for problem solving and computational thinking. When they are incorporated in creative tasks such as open-ended design projects, embedded technologies take on the role of a design material - a medium for exploration, iteration and creation. This paper presents some early results of a video analysis of school children's collaborative interactions with tangible, embedded technologies in an open-ended design task. We identify some of the difficulties students encounter and some of the practices they develop with these kits as they work to progress their designs. Our findings detail how children deal with the opacity of the system and how they use it as a springboard for imagination. Our study provides an opportunity to reflect on how technology kits currently resist becoming a design material.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3374920.3374980
Evaluating the Use of Pedagogical Virtual Machine with Augmented Reality to Support Learning Embedded Computing Activity	Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Computer and Automation Engineering	Alrashidi, Malek; Gardner, Michael; Callaghan, Vic	Embedded computing is often considered as a hidden technology where learners can require more assistance to inspect processes and activities hidden within the technologies, making use of debugging, monitoring, and visual tools. To the student, this kind of technology often has abstract behaviours where the only information/things people can see is the final action, and they do not know how the internal processes work and communicate inside the embedded computing device to achieve the desired result. Augmented reality (AR) can overcome this issue and produce a magic-lens view for revealing hidden embedded computing activities. This can result in learners achieving a better level of knowledge and awareness of the technology, as well as higher learning outcomes. AR on its own will not improve the learning processes without first considering how to manage and represent the hidden information. Therefore, a pedagogical virtual machine (PVM) model was employed, and to evaluate the learning effectiveness of the proposed model. We conducted an experiment based on a problem-solving educational mobile robot task. Twenty students participated in the experimental (AR approach) and control (conventional approach) group. The result showed that the augmented reality approach was more effective in increasing students' computational thinking and learning outcomes. In addition, the augmented reality approach reduced both time completion and debugging times.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3057039.3057088
Using Music to Foster Engagement in Introductory Computing Courses	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Jamshidi, Fatemeh; Marghitu, Daniela	The importance of imaginative assignments and innovative curriculum design in computer science (CS) education has been researched for some time now. In this poster, the authors discuss an interdisciplinary K12 informal education course called Computational Thinking in Music. The goal is to engage students in computer science by prioritizing personal expression, creativity, and aesthetics. The research includes a creative curriculum based on modeling theory of evidence-based pedagogical research, and an empirical one: by the time of the SIGCSE Symposium, the authors expect to have comparative results for control courses, where active learning curriculum was not used at all, as well as for the course with active learning curriculum. The Computational Thinking in Music course intends to broaden the number of individuals, particularly from underrepresented groups, who show interest and persist in the field of computer science through the use of student's intrinsic interests. Specifically, this study built an authentic STEAM learning environment through the use of EarSketch (https://earsketch.gatech.edu/landing) and Scratch (https://scratch.mit.edu/) two creative computing programs. The poster will display our findings in a creative fashion convenient for drawing informative conclusions. Two measures are used in assessing the effectiveness of creative curriculum: student scores on typical assessment instruments and student perceptions on Likert scales. Thus far the data are remarkably consistent over the various settings and indicates that participants of this camp benefitted more from an authentic learning environment allowing for music, creativity, and imagination than from a more traditional computing camp without the addition of musical concepts.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3293855
K-12 Computer Science Framework		Committee, K.-12 Computer Science Framework Steering	The development of the K–12 Computer Science Framework was led by the Association for Computing Machinery, Code.org, Computer Science Teachers Association, Cyber Innovation Center, and National Math and Science Initiative in collaboration with states, school districts, and the computer science education community. The framework was developed to inform the development of standards and curriculum, build capacity for teaching computer science, and guide the implementation of computer science pathways. The framework promotes a vision in which all students critically engage in computer science issues; approach problems in innovative ways; and create computational artifacts with a practical, personal, or societal intent. The K–12 Computer Science Framework comes at a time when our nation's education systems are adapting to a 21st century vision of students who are not just computer users but also computationally literate creators who are proficient in the concepts and practices of computer science. The framework provides a unifying vision to guide computer science from a subject for the fortunate few to an opportunity for all.
Coding for Outdoor Play: A Coding Platform for Children to Invent and Enhance Outdoor Play Experiences	Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems	Ofer, Netta; David, Idan; Erel, Hadas; Zuckerman, Oren	Outdoor play is in decline, including its benefits to children's development. Coding, a typically indoor, screen-based activity, can potentially enrich outdoor play, serving as a rule-making medium. We present a coding platform that controls a programmable hardware device, enabling children to technologically-enhance their outdoor play experiences by inventing game ideas, coding them, and playing their games together with their friends. In the evaluation study, 24 children used the system to invent and play outdoor games. Results show children are able to bridge between the different domains of coding and outdoor play. They used the system to modify traditional games and invent new ones, enriching their outdoor experience. Children merged computational concepts with physical game elements, integrated physical outdoor properties as variables in their code, and were excited to see their code come to life. We conclude children can use coding to express their ideas by creating technologically-enhanced outdoor play experiences.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3290605.3300394
MATH COUNTS\textlessbr\textgreater\textlessbr\textgreaterComputational Maturity	ACM Inroads	Dougherty, John P.		https://doi.org/10.1145/2893484
Tangible and Shared Storytelling: Searching for the Social Dimension of Constructionism	Proceedings of the 2017 Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Baranauskas, M. Cecília C.; Posada, Julian E. Gutiérrez	To reimagine Logo's ideas in the next years demands imagining ways of reinventing 'programming' in learning environments, making sense in different social contexts. The benefits of storytelling environments built with tangible technologies have shown a successful endeavor favoring the shared construction of the narratives. This article presents a computational environment based on tangible interfaces with the purpose of allowing a group of children and teachers, to create, share and tell stories together. The proposed environment was experimented within an educational context with 9 years old children and their teachers. This environment intends to illustrate the concept of socio-constructionism.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3078072.3079743
K-5 Teachers' Uses of Levels of Abstraction Focusing on Design	Proceedings of the 12th Workshop on Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Waite, Jane; Curzon, Paul; Marsh, William; Sentance, Sue	Recent research with middle school and university students highlights two factors that contribute to programming success: 1) understanding the level of abstraction that you are working at, and 2) being able to move between levels. In this qualitative study we explored levels of abstraction, and particularly the design level, with five K-5 teachers. Here we outline 11 main findings. The teachers interviewed use the design level for both programming and writing. However, the two expert computing teachers have a far greater depth of understanding of the opportunities for the use of the design level, supporting pupils to understand the level they are working at and helping them move between levels of abstraction by using designs in novel ways. Further work is needed to investigate whether our results are generalisable. Further exploration of levels of abstraction and particularly how the design level helps K-5 learners learn to program, in the same way that planning supports novices learning to write, is warranted.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3137065.3137068
Weaving a Tapestry: Creating a Satellite Workshop to Support HS CS Teachers in Attracting and Engaging Students	Proceedings of the 43rd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Siraj, Ambareen; Kosa, Martha J.; Olmstead, Summer-Mistine	In this paper, we describe the Tennessee Technological University (TTU) Tapestry Workshop for high school (HS) teachers. The Tapestry Workshop initiative - a collaborative partnership between TTU, the University of Virginia (UVA) and HS teachers - shares strategies, practices, and innovative ideas for teaching Computer Science (CS) effectively. This three-day professional development workshop utilized informational, technical, networking, activity-, and discussion-oriented sessions geared towards attracting and engaging a diverse body of CS students. The workshop was a worthwhile professional development activity for both the organizers and attendees and contributed to the initiation of a local HS CS program.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2157136.2157282
CS 1: Beyond Programming	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Baldwin, Douglas; Barr, Valerie; Briggs, Amy; Havill, Jessen; Maxwell, Bruce; Walker, Henry M.	In this special session, we share a variety of ways in which CS 1 courses can broaden their focus beyond programming. These courses strive to effectively introduce the fundamental ideas of computer science, and the importance of computing in broader contexts, without sacrificing programming rigor.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3017680.3017802
Sniffing Through Millions of Blocks for Bad Smells	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Techapalokul, Peeratham	Code smells codify poor coding patterns known to degrade software quality. Block-based languages have proven to be a viable educational and end-user programming paradigm with increasing adoption across a broad spectrum of users and domains. This rising popularity of this programming paradigm calls for a serious look at the program quality written in block-based languages. While code smells in the context of text-based languages have been studied extensively, the research community lacks a comprehensive understanding of code smells in block-based software. To address this problem, we present the results of a large-scale study of code smells prevalent in programs written in the highly popular Scratch programming language. We analyzed programs submitted to the public Scratch repository in 2016, considering a million programs altogether. We discovered interesting relationships between the prevalence of certain smells and the levels of proficiency of the programmers commonly introducing them. Our findings not only can help block-based programmers improve the quality of their software, but also establish the requirements for refactoring support in this programming domain.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3017680.3022450
A Creative Game Design and Programming App	Motion, Interaction and Games	Chatain, Julia; Bitter, Olivier; Fayolle, Violaine; Sumner, Robert W.; Magnenat, Stéphane	We present a game creation app for tablets that builds on the popularity of video games while focusing attention on creativity and problem solving. With our app, users design and build a game by first drawing characters and objects on paper with markers and crayons, and then automatically integrate them with our app. An event-based visual programming language allows to program the game logic. In the spirit of creative play, users can jump at any point between the design, programming and test phases in order to realize their imagination. We evaluate our app with a user study to understand how gender and the use of self-made drawings influence the type of games users create and their state of flow during the process. Our results show that letting users draw their own game elements can lead to higher engagement. We also show that girls tend to spend more time programming and less time testing compared to boys, and that our app can help girls gain self-confidence.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3359566.3360056
Tangible Music Programming Blocks for Visually Impaired Children	Proceedings of the Fourteenth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction	Sabuncuoglu, Alpay	Programming can benefit children on learning science, math, and creative thinking, and has become a part of the primary school curriculum. However, programming tools for visually impaired children are still scarce. We developed an affordable and accessible tangible music platform for visually impaired children that aims to teach the basics of programming through music creation. By ordering the tangible blocks in an algorithmic structure, the children can create a melody. The physical and conceptual design of the system was developed with the help of visually impaired developers. We conducted a user study with fourteen visually impaired middle school children to observe their interactions with the prototype. In this paper, we present our design, provide several TUI design considerations for students with low to zero sight, and discuss the results of our user study and future directions.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3374920.3374939
Off to New Shores: Preparing Primary School Teachers for Teaching Algorithmics and Programming	Proceedings of the 13th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Geldreich, Katharina; Talbot, Mike; Hubwieser, Peter	In many countries, the demands are getting louder to bring computer science education into primary schools. Curricula and teaching approaches are evolving and educators have to work their way into new topics. Many primary school teachers feel overstrained by these developments and the need for appropriate teacher training is rising. In this paper, we describe the structure and contents of an in-service professional development workshop for primary school teachers without any previous knowledge in computer science (CS) as well as first results of the pilot run with 40 teachers. Throughout the three-day workshop, the teachers get the chance to follow the students' path of learning by taking a primary school programming course themselves, engage intensively with the underlying algorithmic concepts through in-depth exercises and work on their own ideas for implementations in the classroom.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3265757.3265783
Employing Retention of Flow to Improve Online Tutorials	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Basawapatna, Ashok; Repenning, Alexander	Online CS Ed Week and Hour of Code activities attempt to motivate hundreds of millions of student participants across the world in computer science each year. A key goal of these endeavors is long-term student engagement. However, if the activity experience is bad, it could have effects adverse to the stated goal. Thus, it is imperative upon designers to actively improve the online activity ensuring the maximum numbers of students are retained throughout the exercise. We present a simple proof of concept method outlining a means for Computer Science Education Week and Hour of Code online activities to identify and improve hazardous points wherein students tend to drop out. This is achieved by finding so called flow stoppers in activity retention that diverge from an ideal theoretical Markov chain model, and scaffolding the activity at that point to better support participants. Initial data presented indicates that even minor changes can have a significant effect on keeping a greater number of students engaged.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3017680.3017799
The Relationship of Gender, Experiential, and Psychological Factors to Achievement in Computer Science	Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Hinckle, Madeline; Rachmatullah, Arif; Mott, Bradford; Boyer, Kristy Elizabeth; Lester, James; Wiebe, Eric	Computer science (CS) is widely recognized as a field with a significant gender gap despite the growing prevalence of computing. Several factors including CS attitudes, exposure to CS, experience with computer programming, and confidence in using computers are understood to be correlated with the low participation of women in CS. These factors also play an important role in students' interest in CS careers and are particularly crucial during secondary school. However, there is a dearth of research that examines differences in how these factors are inter-correlated for younger students (ages 11-13). The purpose of this study was to generate and test a statistical model that demonstrates the inter-correlation amongst these factors with respect to gender. A total of 260 middle school students participated in this study. Four instruments measuring students' CS attitudes, confidence in using computers, CS conceptual understanding, and prior experience with CS-related activities were used. Structural equation modeling was utilized to test the hypothesized model. The findings showed that previous participation in CS-related activities had a significant direct effect on CS attitudes and confidence in using computers, but the effect on students' CS conceptual understanding was indirect. We also found that in a female specific model, previous participation had a significantly stronger direct effect on CS attitudes compared to its effect in a male specific model. The importance of providing more CS-related experience, especially to female students, as well as suggestions on activities that promote gender equity in the field are discussed.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3341525.3387403
Quantifying the Effects of Prior Knowledge in Entry-Level Programming Courses	Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Global Computing Education	Smith, David H.; Hao, Qiang; Jagodzinski, Filip; Liu, Yan; Gupta, Vishal	Computer literacy and programming are being taught increasingly at the K-12 level with more students than ever matriculating in college with prior programming experience. Accurately assessing student programming skills acquired in high school can inform college faculty about the range of competencies in introductory programming courses. The tool predominantly-used for assessing past CS knowledge and skills is a survey, which lacks quantitative rigor. This study aims to (1) quantify the effects of prior knowledge in entry-level programming courses and (2) compare the different measurement approaches of student prior knowledge in programming, including surveys and aptitude tests. The results of this study reveal that a discrepancy exists between the results of surveys and aptitude tests. Consistent with prior survey studies, our survey results showed that the effects of student prior programming knowledge faded gradually during the course period. In contrast, the aptitude test results indicated that the effects of student prior knowledge did not weaken over time. The accuracy of both measurements and implications for instructors were further discussed.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3300115.3309503
Computing on the Silicon Prairie: The State of CS in Nebraska Public Schools	Proceedings of the 46th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Dorn, Brian; Babb, Derek; Nizzi, Dawn M.; Epler, Cory M.	Access to high quality K-12 computer science education has garnered considerable public attention in the United States in the wake of Code.org's December 2013 Hour of Code. An increasing number of states are now counting CS coursework towards high school graduation requirements, and teacher certification for computing courses is being revisited across the country. In this work, we explore the current state of computer science education in Nebraska public schools using objective enrollment data from the 2013-2014 academic year. We find limited access to introductory programming courses, while basic computer/IT literacy coursework is commonplace. Lack of CS courses is particularly acute in small schools, which make up a majority of Nebraska's public schools. We also present data illustrating limited pursuit of IT teaching endorsement/certification in the state and highlight current issues for teacher training programs that lead to such certification in Nebraska.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2676723.2677261
A Systems Change Approach to CS Education: Creating Rubrics for School System Implementation	Proceedings of the 2019 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	DeLyser, Leigh Ann; Wright, Lauren	Computer science education is moving from an elective subject in K-12 schools to a more compulsory topic with a focus on all students. As a new discipline is added to education, we need to explore not only the implications and theory behind student and teacher learning and development, but also the systems change that will happen in organizations in order to produce sustainable CS education. In this paper, we explore theories of systems change, especially in education, and describe the creation of a series of rubrics to help districts self-assess their CS education supports. Early data is presented from a pilot year of workshops with 67 school districts showing a partial landscape of how school districts rate their own strengths and weaknesses and provide a discussion of initial evidence of validity for the rubrics.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3304221.3319733
Increasing Engagement and Enrollment in Breadth-First Introductory Courses Using Authentic Computing Tasks	Proceedings of the 42nd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	McFall, Ryan L.; DeJongh, Matthew	The breadth-first approach to teaching introductory computer science is one way of dispelling the common misperception that programming is the sole task of the computer scientist. The breadth-first approach is particularly useful in courses for non-majors. Hands-on activities that make up laboratory assignments for these courses tend to focus on learning to program or simulations of program execution. These activities unfortunately fail to build on the foundations laid by a breadth-first approach, and serve to perpetuate the computer science = programming misperception. We have developed a set of laboratory activities which are based on what we call authentic computing tasks: everyday tasks that students want to know how to accomplish. Example tasks include image editing, operating system installation and configuration, and building home computer networks. Explicit connections are made between these authentic computing tasks and the computer science concepts being covered in the lecture portion of the course. The course has experienced dramatic increases in enrollment, and we have evidence that students see the connections, rather than coming to believe that performing computing tasks well is the essence of computer science.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1953163.1953289
Drops and Kinks: Modeling the Retention of Flow for Hour of Code Style Tutorials	Proceedings of the 11th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Repenning, Alexander; Basawapatna, Ashok	It can be difficult to evaluate Hour of Code activities for outcome measures such as motivation. Participation levels, for example, might be more indicative of marketing effectiveness and give little insight into longitudinal user engagement. By imagining these activities as a series of steps, we can develop a survival function model based on simple Markov chains. The student-retention this model predicts can be compared to empirical retention data gathered from traditional step-by-step and puzzle based programming tutorials. Retention of Flow is an affective evaluation [1] instrument that compares empirical student retention data to this model to better understand student motivation throughout the activity and beyond. This paper discusses two specific aspects of this Retention of Flow analysis. Drops, or sharp declines in retention, indicate a loss of motivation resulting from cognitive, practical and technical challenges. Kinks in retention indicate more gradual shifts in activity motivation. This paper uses data from a puzzle and a tutorial-based Hour of Code activity to show how understanding the Retention of Flow as a mathematical model can help with the evaluation and the design of programming tutorials.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2978249.2978260
The Creation of a Low-Cost Raspberry Pi Cluster for Teaching	Proceedings of the Western Canadian Conference on Computing Education	Doucet, Kevin; Zhang, Jian	Parallel programming is a computing model in which the computations are run on multiple processors simultaneously. In order to teach or learn parallel computing, there is a need for a computer system on which parallel programs can be executed. One such computing system is cluster computer in which a group of individual computers networked together to run multiple processes concurrently. Providing step-by-step instructions on building a cluster computer using 20 Raspberry Pi 3s, this experience report describes a low-cost cluster for teaching parallel computing in the undergraduate and high-school computing classrooms. The main contribution of this report is the detailed explanation on the software configuration including MPI (Message Passing Interface) when setting up the cluster. The MPI library described in this paper is Open-MPI.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3314994.3325088
The Creation of a Low-Cost Raspberry Pi Cluster for Teaching	Proceedings of the Western Canadian Conference on Computing Education	Doucet, Kevin; Zhang, Jian	Parallel programming is a computing model in which the computations are run on multiple processors simultaneously. In order to teach or learn parallel computing, there is a need for a computer system on which parallel programs can be executed. One such computing system is cluster computer in which a group of individual computers networked together to run multiple processes concurrently. Providing step-by-step instructions on building a cluster computer using 20 Raspberry Pi 3s, this experience report describes a low-cost cluster for teaching parallel computing in the undergraduate and high-school computing classrooms. The main contribution of this report is the detailed explanation on the software configuration including MPI (Message Passing Interface) when setting up the cluster. The MPI library described in this paper is Open-MPI.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3314994.3325088
Computing and Music: A Spectrum of Sound	Proceedings of the 42nd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Beck, Robert E.; Burg, Jennifer; Heines, Jesse M.; Manaris, Bill		https://doi.org/10.1145/1953163.1953171
From the Editor's Desk: TOCE Continues on a Positive Trajectory in 2016	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Hundhausen, C. D.	During my first full year as editor-in-chief of ACM Transations on Computing Education (TOCE), the editorial board and I took the following four steps to improve the journal's ability to serve the growing community of computing education researchers: (1) We streamlined the peer review process, (2) we established a new partnership with the ACM Special Interest Group on Computer Science Education Conference, (c) we transitioned to a double-blind review process, and (4) we recruited guest editors for two new special issues that address timely research topics. In this editorial, I present key statistics on TOCE's review process and submissions during the 2016 calendar year, discuss and reflect on the positive steps we took to improve the journal during 2016, and describe steps we will consider in the coming year in order to ensure that ACM TOCE continues on its positive trajectory. These include forging additional partnerships with professional conferences, altering the review criteria to make the journal more welcoming to a broader range of research, especially within the K-12 space, and developing a set of evidence standards for research published in the journal.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3078193
Make and Learn: A CS Principles Course Based on the Arduino Platform	Proceedings of the 2016 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Russell, Ingrid; Jin, Karen H.; Sabin, Mihaela	We present preliminary experiences in designing a Computer Science Principles undergraduate course for all majors that is based on physical computing with the Arduino microprocessor platform. The course goal is to introduce students to fundamental computing concepts in the context of developing concrete products. This physical computing approach is different from other existing CS Principles courses. Students use the Arduino platform to design tangible interactive systems that are personally and socially relevant to them, while learning computing concepts and reflecting on their experiences. In a previous publication [1], we reported on assessment results of using the Arduino platform in an Introduction to Digital Design course. We have introduced this platform in an introductory computing course at the University of Hartford in the past year as well as in a Systems Fundamentals Discovery Course at the University of New Hampshire to satisfy the general education requirements in the Environment, Technology, and Society category. Our goal is to align the current curriculum with the CS Principles framework to design a course that engages a broader audience through a creative making and contextualized learning experience.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2899415.2925490
BeadLoom Game: Adding Competitive, User Generated, and Social Features to Increase Motivation	Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Foundations of Digital Games	Boyce, Acey; Doran, Katelyn; Campbell, Antoine; Pickford, Shaun; Culler, Dustin; Barnes, Tiffany	BeadLoom Game (BLG) is an educational puzzle game designed to teach students basic Cartesian coordinates, iteration, and layering. Although this game has been proven to be successful at teaching students these concepts, many participants reported wanting more competitive and free-play creative elements in the game. In response, we augmented the BeadLoom Game with a competitive high score table, a creative custom puzzle mode, and a social network framework. Here we report results of an experiment where middle school students are given versions of the BLG with different combinations of these new features. Based on the in-game metrics and player surveys we show that while both the competitive and the creative game modes increase a majority of the player's motivation it is not until we add both features that we maximize this effect. Through a combination of creative and competitive game modes we are able to have the highest motivation for the largest number of different players.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2159365.2159384
CS Principles: Piloting a National Course	Proceedings of the 43rd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Astrachan, Owen; Morelli, Ralph; Barnette, Dwight; Gray, Jeff; Uche, Chinma; Cowles, Bill; Dovi, Rebecca		https://doi.org/10.1145/2157136.2157230
Problem Solving and Algorithmic Development with Flowcharts	Proceedings of the 12th Workshop on Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Smetsers-Weeda, Renske; Smetsers, Sjaak	Programming, where problem solving and coding come together, is cognitively demanding. Whereas traditional instructional strategies tend to focus on language constructs, the problem solving skills required for programming remain underexposed.In an explorative small-scale case study we explore a "thinking-first" framework combined with stepwise heuristics, to provide students structure throughout the entire programming process.Using unplugged activities and high-level flowcharts, students are guided to brainstorm about possible solutions and plan their algorithms before diving into (and getting lost in) coding details. Thereafter, a stepwise approach is followed towards implementation. Flowcharts support novice programmers to keep track of where they are and give guidance to what they need to do next, similar to a road-map.High-level flowcharts play a key role in this approach to problem solving. They facilitate planning, understanding and decomposing the problem, communicating ideas in an early stage, step-wise implementation and evaluating and reflecting on the solution (and approach) as a whole.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3137065.3137080
Computing Education Theories: What Are They and How Are They Used?	Proceedings of the 2019 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research	Malmi, Lauri; Sheard, Judy; Kinnunen, Päivi; Simon; Sinclair, Jane	In order to mature as a research field, computing education research (CER) seeks to build a better theoretical understanding of how students learn computing concepts and processes. Progress in this area depends on the development of computing-specific theories of learning to complement the general theoretical understanding of learning processes. In this paper we analyze the CER literature in three central publication venues – ICER, ACM Transactions of Computing Education, and Computer Science Education – over the period 2005–2015. Our findings identify new theoretical constructs of learning computing that have been published, and the research approaches that have been used in formulating these constructs. We identify 65 novel theoretical constructs in areas such as learning/understanding, learning behaviour/strategies, study choice/orientation, and performance/progression/retention. The most common research methods used to devise new constructs include grounded theory, phenomenography, and various statistical models. We further analyze how a number of these constructs, which arose in computing education, have been used in subsequent research, and present several examples to illustrate how theoretical constructs can guide and enrich further research. We discuss the implications for the whole field.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3291279.3339409
Automated Assessment of the Visual Design of Android Apps Developed with App Inventor	Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Solecki, Igor; Porto, João; Alves, Nathalia da Cruz; Gresse von Wangenheim, Christiane; Hauck, Jean; Borgatto, Adriano Ferreti	One way to teach computing in K-12 is through the development of mobile applications with App Inventor. Although already broadly used worldwide, there is still a need for support for the assessment of the applications created by the students. Existing rubrics focusing mostly on programming concepts do not cover more comprehensively the performance-based assessment of user interface design concepts, important for the usability and aesthetics of the applications. Thus, in order to support the assessment of the visual design of apps based on its compliance with design theory and guidelines, we developed the CodeMaster UI Design - App Inventor rubric in the context of computing education. In order to facilitate its application in practice, we automated the assessment of applications created with App Inventor through a static code analysis by an online tool. We evaluated the reliability and validity of the rubric based on the automated assessment of 1,775 projects from the App Inventor Gallery. The results indicate that the rubric can be considered reliable (Cronbach's alpha = 0.84). In terms of construct validity, there is also evidence of convergent validity. The results presented in this article can be used to support the assessment of computing education in practice as well as to point out further research opportunities.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3328778.3366868
Rediscovering the Passion, Beauty, Joy, and Awe: Making Computing Fun Again, Part 4	Proceedings of the 42nd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Garcia, Daniel D.; Hutton, Michele Friend; Lemon, Eugene; Paley, Josh	In 2006, computing education was suffering from a crisis - enrollments were dropping sharply at universities and colleges across the United States, and interest in computing from high school and middle school students was waning significantly. At the 2007 SIGCSE Symposium, the ACM Education Board organized a special session to explore the underlying causes [7]. In his keynote at the same conference, Grady Booch exhorted us to share the "passion, beauty, joy and awe" (PBJA) of computing [4]. This led to a series of room-packed sessions at the following three SIGCSE symposia to explore that idea from different perspectives [8, 9, 12]. They have provided a forum for sharing: " What we've done: Highlighting successful PBJA initiatives the presenters have undertaken or seen and wish to celebrate. - What we should do (curriculum): Pointing out where our curriculum is lacking in PBJA, and how to fix it. - How we should do it (pedagogy): Sharing how a change in attitude / focus / etc. can make strides to improving PBJA. Fortunately, enrollments have been continually rising, and there are colleges where the numbers are so strong (returning to historic highs), that some claim the crisis is over [10, 13]. Many dispute this, however, citing statistics that indicate under-represented students have not returned, and continuing negative connotations about the field [2]. Also, recent news of limited hiring in the information technology sector could have a damping affect [11]. This PBJA "movement" was born out of this enrollment crisis, but is not tied to it. There is always value in sharing novel best practices and advocating techniques that make computing fun. In the past, we tried to gather educators who brought a wide variety of perspectives (e.g., in 2010 we heard from international, domestic, high school, university and industrial representatives). This year, we've shifted from that "breadth-first" model to a "depth-first" one, and have invited three K-12 teachers who, collectively, have taught computing at an all-girls middle school, an under-served high school, and an affluent high school. The hope with this panel is to be able to drill down and understand the K-12 space, in terms of extolling the PBJA of computing.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1953163.1953332
Plain Talk on Computing Education	Commun. ACM	Guzdial, Mark	The Communications Web site, http://cacm.acm.org, features more than a dozen bloggers in the BLOG@CACM community. In each issue of Communications, we'll publish selected posts or excerpts.twitterFollow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/blogCACMhttp://cacm.acm.org/blogs/blog-cacmMark Guzdial considers how the variety of learning outcomes and definitions impacts the teaching of computer science.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2788449
A Tangible Math Game for Visually Impaired Children	The 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility	Pires, Ana Cristina; Marichal, Sebastian; Gonzalez-Perilli, Fernando; Bakala, Ewelina; Fleischer, Bruno; Sansone, Gustavo; Guerreiro, Tiago	We present iCETA, an inclusive interactive system for math learning, that enables children to autonomously engage and solve additive composition tasks. It was designed through a set of participatory sessions with visually impaired children and their educators, and supports math learning through the combination of tangible interaction with haptic and auditory feedback. Tangible blocks representing numbers 1 to 5 were used to add or subtract and correctly solve the task embedded in a computerized game. Our approach aims to provide better scaffolding for understanding the abstract concept of a number by working with different representations of that number, as the size of the block, Braille, color and audio feedback.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3308561.3354596
Supporting Undergraduate Computer Science Education Using Educational Robots	Proceedings of the 50th Annual Southeast Regional Conference	Saad, Ashraf; Shuff, Travis; Loewen, Gabriel; Burton, Kyle	There has been a sharp decline in undergraduate enrollment in computer science over the past decade. Reasons for the decline vary amongst computer science programs. However, upon observation it is noticeable that many students considering computer science as their undergraduate major decide to pursue other fields due to misconceptions about the discipline. Some students are even intimidated by the computer science curriculum. One way in which educators are trying to combat this issue is by introducing computer science concepts using a more hands-on and involved approach with educational robots. Robots provide an exciting platform that students might not initially think of when contemplating their choice in higher education. We present a novel approach to integrate the use of educational robots into introductory computer science courses as a learning tool in order to increase student motivation and improve the enrollment rate of computer science undergraduate students.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2184512.2184596
Interdisciplinary Computing in Many Forms	Proceedings of the 45th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Cassel, Lillian (Boots); MacKellar, Bonnie; Peckham, Joan; Spradling, Carol; Reichgelt, Han; Westbrook, Suzanne; Wolz, Ursula		https://doi.org/10.1145/2538862.2538866
Classifying the Tools of Contextualized Programming Education and Forms of Media Computation	Proceedings of the 16th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research	Lukkarinen, Aleksi; Sorva, Juha	Teachers have used various approaches and tools to introduce computing concepts in motivating contexts. In this article, we review contextualized programming education in general as well as a form of contextualization, media computing, in particular. From a review of the literature, we formulate: 1) A broad-brush overview of the components of contextualized programming education, focusing especially on technological tools; 2) a classification of tools for media computation; and 3) a list of the operations on multimedia that feature in media computation courses. These results can help teachers and educational technologists who are interested in learning about contextualized programming education, building new tools, and positioning their work in relation to the literature.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2999541.2999551
Teacher Professional Development through a Physical Computing Workshop	Proceedings of the 11th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Neutens, Tom; wyffels, Francis	In recent years there has been a push towards more CS and STEM education in Flanders. These two domains require a set of skills with which teachers are currently often unfamiliar. To enable teachers to acquire these skills, professional development programs should be implemented. In this paper we first present a way of identifying the properties of such a program to allow comparison with other programs. Next, we describe a professional development program in the form of a physical computing workshop.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2978249.2978270
The New CSTA K–12 Computer Science Standards	Proceedings of the 17th ACM Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Stephenson, Chris; Cooper, Steven; Boucher Owens, Barbara; Gal-Ezer, Judith	In this panel, we describe the new CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards, their organization, and their hoped-for impact.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2325296.2325380
Splashing the Surface of Research: A Study of Koli Abstracts	Proceedings of the 19th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research	Sorva, Juha	Water is wet. The Pope is Catholic. In this poster, we explore what else isn't new to the Koli Calling research community. We hypothe size that the introductory sentences of abstracts reflect the commu nity's shared assumptions. Using a mixed-methods approach, we analyze all the abstracts published in Koli proceedings to date. The results suggest, among other things, that the community believes programming to be difficult and online education to be common. For deeper insights, we would have needed to actually read the papers.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3364510.3366148
Computing as Model-Based Empirical Science	Proceedings of the 2nd ACM SIGSIM Conference on Principles of Advanced Discrete Simulation	FIshwick, Paul	Is computer science a science? This question has been asked since the inception of the field in the 1940s. Computer Science is certainly a science in the sense of a mature body of knowledge, including systematic method and practice. Many in the field have argued that the body of knowledge argument is sufficient. To provide a more substantive argument in favor of a science interpretation, other researchers have suggested that computer science is an artificial, experimental science not unlike economics. To build from, and complement prior views, we claim that computing is an empirical science, similar to that of physics or biology. Demonstrating this claim requires broadening the foundations of computing to include analog systems, and employing modeling and simulation as a fundamental approach toward observing computing in natural and artificial contexts. An example model of mixed discrete-event/continuous information is presented in support of this claim.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2601381.2601391
CS and Biology's Growing Pains	Commun. ACM	Goth, Gregory	Biologists can benefit from learning and using the tools of computer science, but several real-world obstacles remain.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1666420.1666427
Predictive Student Modeling in Block-Based Programming Environments with Bayesian Hierarchical Models	Proceedings of the 28th ACM Conference on User Modeling, Adaptation and Personalization	Emerson, Andrew; Geden, Michael; Smith, Andy; Wiebe, Eric; Mott, Bradford; Boyer, Kristy Elizabeth; Lester, James	Recent years have seen a growing interest in block-based programming environments for computer science education. Although block-based programming offers a gentle introduction to coding for novice programmers, introductory computer science still presents significant challenges, so there is a great need for block-based programming environments to provide students with adaptive support. Predictive student modeling holds significant potential for adaptive support in block-based programming environments because it can identify early on when a student is struggling. However, predictive student models often make a number of simplifying assumptions, such as assuming a normal response distribution or homogeneous student characteristics, which can limit the predictive performance of models. These assumptions, when invalid, can significantly reduce the predictive accuracy of student models.To address these issues, we introduce an approach to predictive student modeling that utilizes Bayesian hierarchical linear models. This approach explicitly accounts for individual student differences and programming activity differences by analyzing block-based programs created by students in a series of introductory programming activities. Evaluation results reveal that predictive student models that account for both the distributional and hierarchical factors outperform baseline models. These findings suggest that predictive student models based on Bayesian hierarchical modeling and representing individual differences in students can substantially improve models' accuracy for predicting student performance on post-tests. By improving the predictive performance of student models, this work holds substantial potential for improving adaptive support in block-based programming environments.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3340631.3394853
Reforming K-12 Computer Science Education… What Will Your Story Be?	ACM Inroads	Stephenson, Chris; Wilson, Cameron		https://doi.org/10.1145/2189835.2189850
Master Teachers in Computing: What Have We Achieved?	Proceedings of the Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Smith, Neil; Allsop, Yasemin; Caldwell, Helen; Hill, David; Dimitriadi, Yota; Csizmadia, Andrew Paul	Recent changes to the teaching of Computing in all schools in England have been profound and wide-ranging, changing the subject from one focussed on the use of ICT products to one focussed on the understanding and creation of computing systems. This change in the curriculum has created a strong demand for professional development of in-service teachers, to develop their skills and expertise to deliver this new curriculum.One approach to developing in-service teachers to deliver the new computing curriculum has been through the Computing At School Master Teacher programme, appointing and training experienced in-service teachers to deliver continual professional development (CPD) peer-to-peer. However, many potential Master Teachers require additional training before they can take up this role.In this paper, we describe how we have trained two cohorts of Master Teachers in two successive years. Evaluation of the first cohort informed revisions to the second cohort's training. The diverse needs of the individual trainees, identified through semi-structured interviews and analysis of completed tasks, led to a variety of CPD being delivered, but almost all required training and practice with programming.Before and during the programme, the trainers shared resources and had online meetings to discuss their work. This was useful in terms of establishing and maintaining consistency between different providers. The use of many teaching strategies that provided collaborative working and discussion opportunities were highly rated by the trainees.The first cohort of teachers has already delivered a significant amount of CPD in their first year after training. The second cohort are well placed to start their CPD delivery, with a better appreciation of where they need to develop their own skills.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2818314.2818332
A Citation Analysis of the Sigcse 2007 Proceedings	SIGCSE Bull.	Lister, Raymond; Box, Ilona	This paper identifies the most commonly cited conferences, journals and books among the 1398 citations made in the 122 publications of the SIGCSE 2007 proceedings. The SIGCSE 2007 authors cited a very large array of conferences, journals and books, but the majority are only cited within a single paper. There are only a very small set of journals and conferences cited frequently. Most books cited are concerned with technical information or are textbooks. Only 2% of books are concerned with computer science education and 23% with education in general. The picture that emerges from this citation analysis is that the SIGCSE community does not have a substantial core set of educational literature. Also, the epistemology of the SIGCSE community is primarily objectivist, with a focus on content, rather than a constructivist, student-centered focus on learning.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1352322.1352295
When Students Are Not Programmers	ACM Inroads	Konidari, Eleni; Louridas, Panos	We present our experience from using Python to teach programming to high school students (aged 15). We selected Python as it is regarded to be a language suitable for teaching, while at the same time it has the advantage of being a production language, widely used around the world. Our experience shows that the success of a language in a professional setting does not predict success as a teaching tool. Based on our observations we offer some general conclusions on programming languages for teaching.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1721933.1721952
Ingenium: Engaging Novice Students with Latin Grammar	Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems	Zhou, Sharon; Livingston, Ivy J.; Schiefsky, Mark; Shieber, Stuart M.; Gajos, Krzysztof Z.	Reading Latin poses many difficulties for English speakers, because they are accustomed to relying on word order to determine the roles of words in a sentence. In Latin, the grammatical form of a word, and not its position, is responsible for determining the word's function in a sentence. It has proven challenging to develop pedagogical techniques that successfully draw students' attention to the grammar of Latin and that students find engaging enough to use. Building on some of the most promising prior work in Latin instruction-the Michigan Latin approach–and on the insights underlying block-based programming languages used to teach children the basics of computer science, we developed Ingenium. Ingenium uses abstract puzzle blocks to communicate grammatical concepts. Engaging students in grammatical reflection, Ingenium succeeds when students are able to effectively decipher the meaning of Latin sentences. We adapted Ingenium to be used for two standard classroom activities: sentence translations and fill-in-the-blank exercises. We evaluated Ingenium with 67 novice Latin students in universities across the USA. When using Ingenium, participants opted to perform more optional exercises, completed translation exercises with significantly fewer errors related to word order and errors overall, as well as reported higher levels of engagement and attention to grammar than when using a traditional text-based interface.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2858036.2858239
The Responsive Enterprise: Embracing the Hacker Way	Commun. ACM	Meijer, Erik; Kapoor, Vikram	Soon every company will be a software company.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2677032
Using Video Game Development to Engage Undergraduate Students of Assembly Language Programming	Proceedings of the 14th Annual ACM SIGITE Conference on Information Technology Education	Kawash, Jalal; Collier, Robert	It is widely accepted that the instruction of programming in assembly language is often a challenging and frustrating experience, both to educators and undergraduate students. Although little can be done to simplify the curriculum, it is absolutely crucial that frustration not compel students to abandon the subject. Our use of game development in a second-year course affords a unique opportunity to present this complex subject, without omission, in such a way as to create an experience that most students find entertaining. The results of a class survey indicated that 65% of participants agree or strongly agree that the experience was enjoyable (with only 11% in disagreement). We conclude that this ensures a sufficiently engaging experience that offsets the tedium inherent to the subject. The consensus of most students was that the complexity of video game design does not detract from their enjoyment of the course and contrarily has a positive impact on their learning overall. This position is supported by additional survey results.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2512276.2512281
Professional Recognition Matters: Certification for In-Service Computer Science Teachers	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Sentance, Sue; Csizmadia, Andrew	In the context of rapid curriculum change, teaching computer science in school requires new skills and knowledge that existing teachers may not have. As well as a programme of teacher professional development (TPD), certification can be used to provide recognition to in-service teachers who have made the transition to computer science. The BCS Certificate in Computer Science Teaching has been designed and developed to give teachers professional recognition of their competence in teaching the computer science elements of the Computing curriculum. In this paper we describe the innovative design of this national certification and our experience over the last two years of its implementation; we are not aware of any similar scheme to offer professional recognition to in-service K-12 computer science teachers.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3017680.3017752
A Cross-Case Analysis of Instructional Strategies to Support Participation of K-8 Students with Disabilities in CS for All	Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Ray, Meg J.; Israel, Maya; Lee, Chung eun; Do, Virginie	Despite the proliferation of K-12 computer science (CS) programs and implementation of "CS for All" initiatives in U.S. schools, little research has been conducted on effective pedagogical approaches in K-12 CS. Even less research has focused on meeting the needs of students with disabilities. This paper presents findings from a qualitative case study examining the experiences of teachers who taught CS classes that included students with disabilities. The goal of this study was to identify pedagogical approaches that the teachers used to meet the needs of all students. Results indicated that teachers implemented three primary instructional strategies to address the needs of students with disabilities including facilitating student collaboration, using the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework, and using explicit instruction to teach CS concepts.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3159450.3159482
Beyond Game Design for Broadening Participation: Building New Clubhouses of Computing for Girls	Proceedings of Gender and IT Appropriation. Science and Practice on Dialogue - Forum for Interdisciplinary Exchange	Kafai, Yasmin; Burke, Quinn	The absence of women in IT has been a vexing issue for over two decades. Most attempts to broaden participation in computing have focused on "unlocking the clubhouse" to a more diverse group of participants. One popular approach has been to ask girls to program games, which developed into the Game Design Movement, a series of studies and tools to help develop and empower females as designers of interactive digital media. This paper examines the rationales and successes behind the Game Design Movement in order to outline new strategies for broadening participation in computing. Rather than simply "unlocking the clubhouses" through expanded game-making activities, we argue here that educators and researchers should devote themselves to "building new clubhouses" altogether by focusing on using new programmable materials, interactive activities, and both in-person and online communities that leverage the traditions of girls' play worlds and the cultural practices of women's crafting communities.
Reductive Thinking in a Quantitative Perspective: The Case of the Algorithm Course	Proceedings of the 13th Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Armoni, Michal	The research described in this paper continues a previous, qualitative (mostly interview-based) study that examined the ways undergraduate computer science students perceive, experience, and use reduction as a problem-solving strategy. The current study examines the same issue, but in the context of a larger population, using quantitative analysis methods, and focusing on algorithmic problems.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1384271.1384288
Reductive Thinking in a Quantitative Perspective: The Case of the Algorithm Course	SIGCSE Bull.	Armoni, Michal	The research described in this paper continues a previous, qualitative (mostly interview-based) study that examined the ways undergraduate computer science students perceive, experience, and use reduction as a problem-solving strategy. The current study examines the same issue, but in the context of a larger population, using quantitative analysis methods, and focusing on algorithmic problems.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1597849.1384288
Changing Culture: Educating the Next Computer Scientists	Proceedings of the 2015 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Adshead, Deborah; Boisvert, Charles; Love, David; Spencer, Phil	Since 2012 the United Kingdom has fundamentally reformed its computing teaching: the subject matter, the reliance on university specialists, even the subject name has changed. We describe the response at Sheffield Hallam University, which has been to involve academic staff from both the Department of Education and the Department of Computing, forming the Centre for Computing Education. The aim of our integrated approach is to help support the transformation from 'ict' to `Computing'. Through the Centre's work, a new generation of young teachers and trainees are being supported to embrace the cultural change. The growing use of tools and resources we provide, the visits, events, and teacher support network is strengthening the curricular shift in many schools. However, the challenge remains to reach schools who, so far, struggle to engage with the depth of change in the curriculum. Whilst still young, we believe that our integrated approach can continue to make a strong contribution to the teaching of computing at K-12 level in the uk.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2729094.2742610
Designing One Year Curriculum to Teach Artificial Intelligence for Middle School	Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Sabuncuoglu, Alpay	Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become a common ingredient in everyday products and a part of early education. Educators teach the subject to inform students about their possible advantages and risks. Recently, various resources have been designed to teach AI, however, these resources generally fail to meet an interdisciplinary approach and do not narrate the overall picture of AI development. To address this gap, we developed a 36-week open-source AI curriculum for middle school education. Our contribution is threefold: (1) Providing interdisciplinary connections to reveal the background of developing a new technology (2) Structuring the recent resources in the field to ease the integration of AI into classrooms (3) Presenting an inclusive approach with online and unplugged activities. In this paper, we present the design process of our curriculum, details about the lecture structures and it's supplementary materials. Finally, we share our observations from the teacher (n=18) and student (n=60) workshops.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3341525.3387364
Investigating Differences in Wiki-Based Collaborative Activities between Student Engagement Profiles in CS1	Proceedings of the 47th ACM Technical Symposium on Computing Science Education	Eck, Adam; Soh, Leen-Kiat; Shell, Duane F.	Introductory computer science courses are being increasingly taught using technology-mediated instruction and e-learning environments. The software and technology in such courses could benefit from the use of student models to inform and guide customized support tailored to the needs of individual students. In this paper, we investigate how student motivated engagement profiles developed in educational research can be used as such models to predict student behaviors. These models are advantageous over those learned directly from observing individual students, as they rely on different data that can be available a priori before students use the technology. Using tracked behaviors of 249 students from 7 CS1 courses over the span of 3 semesters, we discover that students with different engagement profiles indeed behave differently in an online, wiki-based CSCL system while performing collaborative creative thinking exercises, and the differences between students are primarily as expected based on the differences in the profiles. Thus, such profiles could be useful as student models for providing customized support in e-learning environments in CS1 courses.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2839509.2844615
Teaching Biologists to Compute Using Data Visualization	Proceedings of the 42nd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Robbins, Kay A.; Senseman, David M.; Pate, Priscilla Elizabeth	The accelerating use of computation in all aspects of science continues to widen the gap between student skills and expectations. Currently, computation is taught using one of two approaches: teach students a standard programming language (e.g., FORTRAN, JAVA or C) perhaps augmented by support tools such as Alice or teach them to use a program such as MATLAB by formulating and solving math problems. Both approaches have high failure rates for students hindered by poor mathematics training and weak logic skills. This paper describes an alternative approach that introduces students to computing in the context of data analysis and visualization using MATLAB. Our goal is produce computationally qualified young scientists by teaching a highly relevant computational curriculum early in their college career. The course, which integrates writing, problem-solving, statistics, visual analysis, simulation, and modeling, is designed to produce students with usable data analysis skills. The course is in its third year of implementation and is required of all biology majors at the University of Texas at San Antonio.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1953163.1953265
Analysing the Attitude of Students towards Robots When Lectured on Programming by Robotic or Human Teachers	Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality	Conde, Miguel Á.; Fernández, Camino; Rodríguez-Lera, Francisco J.; Rodríguez-Sedano, Francisco J.; Matellán, Vicente; García-Peñalvo, Francisco J.	The study presented in this paper explored the acceptance of robots as teachers for a group of K-12 students. These students attended a programming session designed to applied computational principles in different fields. We have analyzed how this acceptance varies with age, and also if their opinion changes if they were exposed to a real robot teacher or not. To this end, participants (N=210) were divided in two groups, one was lectured by a teacher and the other one by a Baxter robot. We used the Negative Attitudes towards Robots Scale and the Robot Anxiety Scale questionnaires to evaluate students' perception. Statistical analysis of the answers to these questionnaires is discussed in the paper, both taking into account the whole groups and another considering three subgroups based on age. Main conclusion of the study is that the use of the robot is relevant in the perception of the students about robots, but also that age is significant in the perception of robots as potential teachers.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3012430.3012497
Computer Science Principles for Teachers of Blind and Visually Impaired Students	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Stefik, Andreas; Ladner, Richard E.; Allee, William; Mealin, Sean	The College Board's AP Computer Science Principles (CSP) content has become a major new course for introducing K-12 students to the discipline. The course was designed for many reasons, but one major goal was to broaden participation. While significant work has been completed toward equity by many research groups, we know of no systematic analysis of CSP content created by major vendors in relation to accessibility for students with disabilities, especially those who are blind or visually impaired. In this experience report, we discuss two major actions by our team to make CSP more accessible. First, with the help of accessibility experts and teachers, we modified the entire Code.org CSP course to make it accessible. Second, we conducted a one-week professional development workshop in the summer of 2018 for teachers of blind or visually impaired students in order to help them prepare to teach CSP or support those who do. We report here on lessons learned that are useful to teachers who have blind or visually impaired students in their classes, to AP CSP curriculum providers, and to the College Board.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287453
InfoSphere: An Extracurricular Learning Environment for Computer Science	Proceedings of the 7th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Bergner, Nadine; Holz, Jan; Schroeder, Ulrik	This paper describes one of our measures to raise students' interest for Computer Science (CS) and to provide them with a realistic idea of the field. We outline the underlying concepts and theories of InfoSphere – the extracurricular learning environment for CS at RWTH Aachen University. After explaining the theoretical, organizational, and infrastructural foundations, we provide an overview over the didactical concept of our 13 different CS workshops for school students of different ages. Furthermore, we introduce the benefits of InfoSphere for our three different target groups: school students, university students in teacher training, and active CS teachers. Finally, we present first results from our ongoing evaluation of the school students' perception of the field of CS before and after visiting one of the InfoSphere workshops.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2481449.2481457
Do User-Defined Gestures for Flatscreens Generalize to Interactive Spherical Displays for Adults and Children?	Proceedings of the 8th ACM International Symposium on Pervasive Displays	Soni, Nikita; Gleaves, Schuyler; Neff, Hannah; Morrison-Smith, Sarah; Esmaeili, Shaghayegh; Mayne, Ian; Bapat, Sayli; Schuman, Carrie; Stofer, Kathryn A.; Anthony, Lisa	Interactive spherical displays offer unique opportunities for engagement in public spaces. Research on flatscreen tabletop displays has mapped the gesture design space and compared gestures created by adults and children. However, it is not clear if the findings from these prior studies can be directly applied to spherical displays. To investigate this question, we conducted a user-defined gestures study to understand the gesture preferences of adults and children (ages 7 to 11) for spherical displays. We compare the physical characteristics of the gestures performed on the spherical display to gestures on tabletop displays from prior work. We found that the spherical form factor influenced users' gesture design decisions. For example, users were more likely to perform multi-finger or whole-handed gestures on the sphere than in prior work on tabletop displays. Our findings will inform the design of interactive applications for spherical displays.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3321335.3324941
Securing Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) Programming Exams	Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Kurniawan, Oka; Lee, Norman Tiong Seng; Poskitt, Christopher M.	Traditional pen and paper exams are inadequate for modern university programming courses as they are misaligned with pedagogies and learning objectives that target practical coding ability. Unfortunately, many institutions lack the resources or space to be able to run assessments in dedicated computer labs. This has motivated the development of bring-your-own-device (BYOD) exam formats, allowing students to program in a similar environment to how they learnt, but presenting instructors with significant additional challenges in preventing plagiarism and cheating. In this paper, we describe a BYOD exam solution based on lockdown browsers, software which temporarily turns students' laptops into secure workstations with limited system or internet access. We combine the use of this technology with a learning management system and cloud-based programming tool to facilitate conceptual and practical programming questions that can be tackled in an interactive but controlled environment. We reflect on our experience of implementing this solution for a major undergraduate programming course, highlighting our principal lesson that policies and support mechanisms are as important to consider as the technology itself.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3328778.3366907
FLOSS in Software Engineering Education: Supporting the Instructor in the Quest for Providing Real Experience for Students	Proceedings of the XXXIII Brazilian Symposium on Software Engineering	Silva, Fernanda Gomes; Brito, Moara Sousa; Tavares, Jenifer Vieira Toledo; Chavez, Christina von Flach G.	Software engineering courses play an important role in computer science programs and are expected to provide the required basic knowledge and skills for professional practice in software industry. However, teaching software engineering principles, concepts and practices, and relating them to real-world scenarios are challenging tasks. The adoption of open source software projects may address such challenges. In this paper we report on an experience of the teaching object-oriented modeling with Unified Modeling Language (UML) Class Diagrams using open source projects. We conducted a case study with students of the software engineering discipline of the Computer Science course. We supported the instructor in some activities related to syllabus planning, including the selection of a Free/Libre/Open Source Software (FLOSS) projects and the creation of examples to be used in the classroom. The instructor selected and used a small FLOSS project to support the modeling activities. Then, the instructor applied an evaluation activity and a perception questionnaire about the methodology used. After the end of the classes, we conducted an interview with the instructor to present a brief report of his experience in the classroom. In the perception of students, the experience with FLOSS projects enhanced their ability to handle real projects and third-party code, and to deal with the job market. They also reported developing skills such as proactivity and communication. From the instructor's perspective, the group was enthusiastic and dynamic, and interacted more during practical activities.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3350768.3353815
Deconstructing Sociotechnical Identity in Maker Cultures	Proceedings of the 4th Conference on Gender & IT	Marshall, Andrea; Rode, Jennifer	In this paper we argue that Makers engage in various degrees of sociotechnical identity formation. We explore the role of gender in maker identity formation and how the masculine characteristics of maker spaces create challenges for feminine identity construction and expression. Our ethnographic study of German computer clubs indicated that children as Makers synthesize gender and technical identities within the context of STEAM skill building activities.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3196839.3196855
A Discourse-Based Approach for Arabic Question Answering	ACM Trans. Asian Low-Resour. Lang. Inf. Process.	Sadek, Jawad; Meziane, Farid	The treatment of complex questions with explanatory answers involves searching for arguments in texts. Because of the prominent role that discourse relations play in reflecting text producers’ intentions, capturing the underlying structure of text constitutes a good instructor in this issue. From our extensive review, a system for automatic discourse analysis that creates full rhetorical structures in large-scale Arabic texts is currently unavailable. This is due to the high computational complexity involved in processing a large number of hypothesized relations associated with large texts. Therefore, more practical approaches should be investigated. This article presents a new Arabic Text Parser oriented for question-answering systems dealing with لماذا “why” and كيف “how to” questions. The Text Parser presented here considers the sentence as the basic unit of text and incorporates a set of heuristics to avoid computational explosion. With this approach, the developed question-answering system reached a significant improvement over the baseline with a Recall of 68% and MRR of 0.62.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2988238
Pyrus: Designing A Collaborative Programming Game to Promote Problem Solving Behaviors	Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems	Shi, Joshua; Shah, Armaan; Hedman, Garrett; O'Rourke, Eleanor	While problem solving is a crucial aspect of programming, few learning opportunities in computer science focus on teaching problem-solving skills like planning. In this paper, we present Pyrus, a collaborative game designed to encourage novices to plan in advance while programming. Through Pyrus, we explore a new approach to designing educational games we call behavior-centered game design, in which designers first identify behaviors that learners should practice to reach desired learning goals and then select game mechanics that incentivize those behaviors. Pyrus leverages game mechanics like a failure condition, distributed resources, and enforced turn-taking to encourage players to plan and collaborate. In a within-subjects user study, we found that pairs of novices spent more time planning and collaborated more equally when solving problems in Pyrus than in pair programming. These findings show that game mechanics can be used to promote desirable learning behaviors like planning in advance, and suggest that our behavior-centered approach to educational game design warrants further study.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3290605.3300886
Glitch, Please: Datamoshing as a Medium-Specific Application of Digital Material	Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Designing Pleasurable Products and Interfaces	Gross, Shad	Digital material, the computation and information that makes digital devices function, can be ethereal and difficult to conceptualize in terms of its material properties. In terms of experience design, this can make it difficult to tap into the expressive capabilities of this unique medium. We investigate the properties of computational material by looking at glitches, errors in functioning, through the lens of medium-specificity. As a specific type of glitch art, we look at datamoshing - a technique where the compression of digital video is altered for creative purposes. By examining the ways that the digital material is revealed by datamoshing, we seek insight into the unique expressive capabilities of digital devices.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2513506.2513525
Exploring Accessible Programming with Educators and Visually Impaired Children	Proceedings of the Interaction Design and Children Conference	Pires, Ana Cristina; Rocha, Filipa; de Barros Neto, Antonio José; Simão, Hugo; Nicolau, Hugo; Guerreiro, Tiago	Previous attempts to make block-based programming accessible to visually impaired children have mostly focused on audio-based challenges, leaving aside spatial constructs, commonly used in learning settings. We sought to understand the qualities and flaws of current programming environments in terms of accessibility in educational settings. We report on a focus group with IT and special needs educators, where they discussed a variety of programming environments for children, identifying their merits, barriers and opportunities. We then conducted a workshop with 7 visually impaired children where they experimented with a bespoke tangible robot-programming environment. Video recordings of such activity were analyzed with educators to discuss children's experiences and emergent behaviours. We contribute with a set of qualities that programming environments should have to be inclusive to children with different visual abilities, insights for the design of situated classroom activities, and evidence that inclusive tangible robot-based programming is worth pursuing.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3392063.3394437
Notional Machines in Computing Education: The Education of Attention	Proceedings of the Working Group Reports on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Fincher, Sally; Jeuring, Johan; Miller, Craig S.; Donaldson, Peter; du Boulay, Benedict; Hauswirth, Matthias; Hellas, Arto; Hermans, Felienne; Lewis, Colleen; Mühling, Andreas; Pearce, Janice L.; Petersen, Andrew	This report defines notional machines (NMs), and provides a series of definitional characteristics by which they may be identified. Over several sections, it includes a first-hand report of the origin of NMs, reports a systematic literature review to track the use and development of the concept, and presents a small collection of examples collected through interviews with experienced teachers. Additionally, the report presents NMs in a common format, and makes some preliminary explorations of their use in practice, including examples of instructors using multiple NMs in sequence. Approach and method are fully detailed in evidential appendices, to support replication of results and adoption/adaptation of practice.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3437800.3439202
Using Informed Design in Informal Computer Science Programs to Increase Youths’ Interest, Self-Efficacy, and Perceptions of Parental Support	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Clarke-Midura, Jody; Sun, Chongning; Pantic, Katarina; Poole, Frederick; Allan, Vicki	Our work is situated in research on Computer Science (CS) learning in informal learning environments and literature on the factors that influence girls to enter CS. In this article, we outline design choices around the creation of a summer programming camp for middle school youth. In addition, we describe a near-peer mentoring model we used that was influenced by Bandura's self-efficacy theory. The purpose of this article, apart from promoting transparency of program design, was to evaluate the effectiveness of our camp design in terms of increasing youths’ interest, self-efficacy beliefs, and perceptions of parental support. We found significant gains for all three of these concepts. Additionally, we make connections between our design choices (e.g., videos, peer support, mentor support) and the affective gains by thematically analyzing interview data concerning the outcomes found in our camps.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3319445
Cloud Computing: Developing Contemporary Computer Science Curriculum for a Cloud-First Future	Proceedings Companion of the 23rd Annual ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Foster, Derek; White, Laurie; Adams, Joshua; Erdil, D. Cenk; Hyman, Harvey; Kurkovsky, Stan; Sakr, Majd; Stott, Lee	Cloud Computing adoption has seen significant growth over the last five years. It offers a diverse range of scalable and redundant service deployment models, including Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), and Containers-as-a-Service (CaaS). These models are applied to areas such as IoT, Cyber-Physical Systems, Social Media, Data Science, Media Streaming, Ecommerce, and Health Informatics. The growth in cloud presents challenges for companies to source cloud expertise to support their business, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises with limited resources. The UK Government recently published the Digital Skills Crisis report, identifying skill-set challenges facing industry, with a shortage in cloud skills negatively impacting business. While cloud technologies have evolved at significant pace, the development of Computer Science curriculum in the further and higher education sector has lagged behind. The challenges faced in the sector includes the training of educators, institutional gaps (software and hardware policies), regulatory constraints, and access to cloud platforms. By embedding fundamental cloud skills throughout the educator and student journey, both stakeholders will be better positioned to understand and practically apply the use of appropriate cloud services, and produce graduates to support the needs of industry. This working group has carried out work to: i) assess current cloud computing curricula in CS and similar programs, ii) document industry needs for in-demand cloud skills, iii) identify issues and gaps around cloud curriculum uptake, and iv) develop solutions to meet the skill demands on core Cloud Computing topics, technical skills exercises, and modules for integration with contemporary Computer Science curricula.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3293881.3295781
If Memory Serves: Towards Designing and Evaluating a Game for Teaching Pointers to Undergraduate Students	Proceedings of the 2017 ITiCSE Conference on Working Group Reports	McGill, Monica M.; Johnson, Chris; Atlas, James; Bouchard, Durell; Messom, Chris; Pollock, Ian; Scott, Michael James	Games can serve as a valuable tool for enriching computer science education, since they can facilitate a number of conditions that can promote learning and instigate affective change. As part of the 22nd ACM Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education (ITiCSE 2017), the Working Group on Game Development for Computer Science Education convened to extend their prior work, a review of the literature and a review of over 120 educational games that support computing instruction. The Working Group builds off this earlier work to design and develop a prototype of a game grounded in specific learning objectives. They provide the source code for the game to the computing education community for further review, adaptation, and exploration. To aid this endeavor, the Working Group also chose to explore the research methods needed to establish validity, highlighting a need for more rigorous approaches to evaluate the effectiveness of the use of games in computer science education. This report provides two distinct contributions to the body of knowledge in games for computer science education. We present an experience report in the form of a case study describing the design and development of If Memory Serves, a game to support teaching pointers to undergraduate students. We then propose guidelines to validate its effectiveness rooted in theoretical approaches for evaluating learning in games and media. We include an invitation to the computer science education community to explore the game's potential in classrooms and report on its ability to achieve the stated learning outcomes.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3174781.3174783
In-Flow Peer Review	Proceedings of the Working Group Reports of the 2014 on Innovation & Technology in Computer Science Education Conference	Clarke, Dave; Clear, Tony; Fisler, Kathi; Hauswirth, Matthias; Krishnamurthi, Shriram; Politz, Joe Gibbs; Tirronen, Ville; Wrigstad, Tobias	Peer-review is a valuable tool that helps both the reviewee, who receives feedback about his work, and the reviewer, who sees different potential solutions and improves her ability to critique work. In-flow peer-review (IFPR) is peer-review done while an assignment is in progress. Peer-review done during this time is likely to result in greater motivation for both reviewer and reviewee. This workinggroup report summarizes IFPR and discusses numerous dimensions of the process, each of which alleviates some problems while raising associated concerns.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2713609.2713612
Computational Thinking Bins: Outreach and More	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Morrison, Briana B.; Dorn, Brian; Friend, Michelle	Computational Thinking Bins are stand alone, individual boxes, each containing an activity for groups of students that teaches a computing concept.We have a devised a system that has allowed us to create an initial set, test the set, continually improve and add to our set. We currently use these bins in outreach events for middle and high school students. As we have shared this resource with K-12 teachers, many have expressed an interest in acquiring their own set. In this paper we will share our experience throughout the process, introduce the bins, and explain how you can create your own set.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287497
Growth Mindset in Computational Thinking Teaching and Teacher Training	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research	Lodi, Michael	Teacher training in computational thinking is becoming more and more important, as many countries are introducing it at all K-12 school levels. Introductory programming courses are known to be difficult and some studies suggest they foster a fixed-mindset views of intelligence, reinforcing the idea that only some people have the so called "geek gene". This is particularly dangerous if thought by future school teachers. Interventions to stimulate "CS growth mindset" in students and their teachers are fundamental and worth CS education research.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3105726.3105736
Facilitating Computational Thinking through Digital Fabrication	Proceedings of the 18th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research	Montero, Calkin Suero	Curricular changes towards fostering computational thinking through programming activities for students of all ages are spreading rapidly throughout Europe. However, students may be negatively biased or not interested or prepared to engage in such activities. This work proposes digital fabrication within a hands-on pedagogical frame as an approach to engage students in programming activities facilitating the use and understanding of computational thinking concepts. Within the proposed approach, students engage in programming applied to develop tasks from their school curriculum. This paper illustrates the approach through pilot trial experiences at a local junior high school.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3279720.3279750
Computational Thinking as an Emergent Learning Trajectory of Mathematics	Proceedings of the 17th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research	Niemelä, Pia; Partanen, Tiina; Harsu, Maarit; Leppänen, Leo; Ihantola, Petri	In the 21st century, the skills of computational thinking complement those of traditional math teaching. In order to gain the knowledge required to teach these skills, a cohort of math teachers participated in an in-service training scheme conducted as a massive open online course (MOOC). This paper analyses the success of this training scheme and uses the results of the study to focus on the skills of computational thinking, and to explore how math teachers expect to integrate computing into the K-12 math syllabus. The coursework and feedback from the MOOC course indicate that they readily associate computational thinking with problem solving in math. In addition, some of the teachers are inspired by the new opportunities to be creative in their teaching. However, the set of programming concepts they refer to in their essays is insubstantial and unfocused, so these concepts are consolidated here to form a hypothetical learning trajectory for computational thinking.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3141880.3141885
Understanding Students' Computational Thinking through Cognitive Interviews: A Learning Trajectory-Based Analysis	Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Luo, Feiya; Israel, Maya; Liu, Ruohan; Yan, Wei; Gane, Brian; Hampton, John	For K-8 computer science (CS) education to continue to expand, it is essential that we understand how students develop and demonstrate computational thinking (CT). One approach to gaining this insight is by having students articulate their understanding of CT through cognitive interviews. This study presents findings of a cognitive interview study with 13 fourth-grade students (who had previously engaged in integrated CT and mathematics instruction) working on CT assessment items. The items assessed four CT concepts: sequence, repetition, conditionals, and decomposition. This study analyzed studentstextquotesingle articulated understanding of the four CT concepts and the correspondence between that understanding and hypothesized learning trajectories (LTs). We found that 1) all students articulated an understanding of sequence that matched the intermediate level of the Sequence LT; 2) a majority of studentstextquotesingle responses demonstrated the level of understanding that the repetition and decomposition items were designed to solicit (8 of 9 responses were correct for repetition and 4 of 6 were correct for decomposition); and 3) less than half of studentstextquotesingle responses articulated an understanding of conditionals that was intended by the items (4 of 9 responses were correct). The results also suggested questioning the directional relationships of two statements in the existing Conditionals LT. For example, unlike the LT, this study revealed that students could understand "A conditional connects a condition to an outcome” before "A condition is something that can be true or false.”	https://doi.org/10.1145/3328778.3366845
How Presentation Affects the Difficulty of Computational Thinking Tasks: An IRT Analysis	Proceedings of the 17th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research	Lonati, Violetta; Monga, Mattia; Malchiodi, Dario; Morpurgo, Anna	This paper discusses how a few changes in some computational thinking tasks proposed during the Bebras challenge affected the solvers' performance. After the 2016 challenge held in November in our country (Italy), we interviewed some participants on the difficulties they had faced and we modified some of the tasks accordingly. We then proposed the whole set of tasks, with some of them modified, to pupils who had not participated to the challenge in November and compared performances in the two sessions. Using Item Response Theory, we measured the change in the distribution of difficulty and discrimination of the modified tasks. On the basis of the obtained results, we tried to better understand the many factors which influenced the difference in performances, both in the conceptual and cognitive task content and in its presentation (text, images, layout).	https://doi.org/10.1145/3141880.3141900
Situating Computational Thinking with Big Data: Pedagogy and Technology (Abstract Only)	Proceedings of the 46th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Bart, Austin Cory	As Computational Thinking becomes pervasive in undergraduate programs, new students must be educated in meaningful, authentic contexts that they find both motivating and relatable. I propose working with big data as a novel context for introductory programming, authentic given its importance in diverse fields such as agriculture, history, and more. Big data is considered difficult to use because of its inherent technical obstacles. To overcome these difficulties, I introduce a new project: CORGIS - a "Collection of Real-time, Giant, Interesting, Situated Datasets". The CORGIS project comprises a collection of libraries that provide an interface to big data for students, architectures for rapidly enabling new datasets, and a web-based textbook platform for disseminating relevant course materials. This textbook features an online block-based programming environment, real-time collaborative text editing, and continuous server-side storage. In this poster, I describe the educational theory guiding this work, the novel technolgy created and deployed, and the initial, promising results.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2676723.2693616
Personalized Education Using Computational Thinking and B-Learning Environment: Classroom Intervention	Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality	Rojas-López, Arturo; García-Peñalvo, Francisco J.	The percentages of 1dropout, accreditation and average grade of students that study university courses of Methodology of programming and Programming of first and second semester of career of Information and Communication Technologies in the Technological University of Puebla are not favorable and represent a problem to be solved by academic team, for the above, the main objective of present study is to show results of interventions carried out in front of a group of educational strategies that allowed to have better percentages in comparison with those obtained in the last 8 years. The first intervention involved evaluation of computational thinking through abilities of Generalization, Decomposition, Abstraction, Evaluation and Algorithmic Design, then students were offered 10 learning scenarios for Methodology of programming course. In the second intervention, 4 elements were manipulated to offer options in course of Programming, which were contents, modes of work, rhythms and time, and evaluation. In both interventions, use of Moodle platform allowed to expose learning contents and to have an appropriate context chosen by students. The main result was to generate personalized education as well as a learning experience that contributed to motivation of student in harmony with academic goals of initial programming courses.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3144826.3145357
Cultural Appropriation of Computational Thinking Acquisition Research: Seeding Fields of Diversity	Proceedings of the 2014 Conference on Innovation & Technology in Computer Science Education	de Souza, Clarisse S.; Salgado, Luciana C.; Leitão, Carla F.; Serra, Martha M.	In this paper, we report the developments of a Computational Thinking Acquisition project carried out in pilot Brazilian schools. The project is a branch of a successful, more than a decade old project in the USA. We present and discuss the factors that led to specific cultural appropriation and diversification of the North American experience. In particular, we explain the kind of technology that has been developed in South America compared to the one developed and used in the USA, and propose that the lessons we have learned in the project's short history in Brazil can already seed the reflection of IT and Education researchers.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2591708.2591729
A Teacher Workshop for Introducing Computational Thinking in Rural and Vulnerable Environments	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Simmonds, Jocelyn; Gutierrez, Francisco J.; Casanova, Cecilia; Sotomayor, Cecilia; Hitschfeld, Nancy	In Latin America, computational thinking workshops are mostly developed in urban areas, charging participation fees. And although teachers are increasingly being expected to include technology in their classrooms, computational thinking and programming are not mandatory topics in teacher training programs. This hinders the development of digital skills among Latino students, and we expect that the digital gap between urban and rural populations will expand over time, especially in socio-economically vulnerable populations. Believing that teachers can be agents of change, we designed a 12 hour workshop to train the K-8 teaching staff in a rural and vulnerable school. The goal of this experience was to help these teachers develop basic computational thinking skills and devise new ways to incorporate what they learned in their classrooms. In this paper, we report our experience facilitating this workshop, and analyze the teacher perceptions before and after the intervention. Teacher attitudes changed drastically during the execution of the workshop, and they were able to come up with creative ways of incorporating computational thinking activities into their subjects. The reported experience can be used as input to develop public policies with respect to how computational thinking should be introduced in rural and vulnerable environments.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287456
Trastea.Club, an Initiative to Develop Computational Thinking among Young Students	Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality	Guenaga, Mariluz; Menchaca, Iratxe; Garaizar, Pablo; Eguíluz, Andoni	Trastea.club (http://www.trastea.club/) is an initiative of the University of Deusto (Spain) aimed to develop STEM-related skills among young students (STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Science). We chose the name "trastea" because it means to tinker in Spanish, a verb that fits with the hands-on approach of this initiative. Since January 2014, we have organized more than 180 workshops attended by more than 3.200 students from 35 different schools. With the aim of supporting the methodological and technical changes needed to integrate these new skills in the classroom, 216 teachers also benefited from our training courses, consultancy and support to adapt Trastea.club's activities to their curricula. Initiatives such as Trastea.club aim to support the constant adaptation process faced by schools and teachers due to the rapidly changing technologies and the evolution of students' profiles. The main goal of this initiative is to help schools in their constant adaptation processes towards the new digital literacy1.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3144826.3145358
Assessments for Computational Thinking in K-12 (Abstract Only)	Proceedings of the 46th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Grover, Shuchi; Bienkowski, Marie; Snow, Eric	As computer science (CS) and computational thinking (CT) make their way into all levels of K-12 education, valid assessments aligned with new curricula can assist in measuring student learning, easing the way for adoption of new computing courses, and evaluation of pedagogical approaches for teaching computing ideas and concepts. Without attention to rigorous assessment, CT can have little hope of making its way successfully into K-12 school education settings at scale. This BoF session will involve discussion around ongoing work at SRI International (under several NSF-funded projects) on the design and development of formative and summative assessments for the ECS curriculum. Additionally, various forms of assessment (including free response and multiple-choice questions, and computational artifacts), and insights from past research on their use will be discussed. BOF attendees will be able to discuss multiple viewpoints, connect with others who care about assessment of CT, and share resources and ideas.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2676723.2691843
Considerations and Technical Pitfalls for Teaching Computational Thinking with BBC Micro:Bit	Proceedings of the Conference on Creativity and Making in Education	Tyrén, Markus; Carlborg, Niklas; Heath, Carl; Eriksson, Eva	As many countries are about to make changes in the primary school curriculum by introducing computational thinking, new methods and support for teachers is needed in order help them develop and adapt teaching materials. In this paper, technical pitfalls and other considerations for designing teaching materials with the microcontroller BBC micro:bit are presented. The results are based on a series of 21 workshops in different parts of Sweden aiming to investigate what is important to consider when designing teaching materials with the BBC micro:bit for training Swedish primary schools students computational thinking skills. The contribution of the paper are a number of identified considerations that can be helpful for teachers when designing exercises and planning for teaching computational thinking with the BBC micro:bit.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3213818.3213829
Combining Block-Based Programming and Hardware Prototyping to Foster Computational Thinking	Proceedings of the 20th Annual SIG Conference on Information Technology Education	Fronza, Ilenia; Corral, Luis; Pahl, Claus	The promotion of Computational Thinking principles at different levels of education enables the development of practical competencies for software development. Several off-the-shelf technologies exist to promote computational abilities with the support of block-based programming and working hardware. However, in some contexts, a significant limitation is the complexity and costs that carry the acquisition and implementation of working hardware such as Educational Robots. In this paper, we discuss a strategy to reinforce the learning of Computational Thinking (CT) skills by providing an analogous method to Educational Robots. We offer an affordable solution to assist high school students to build a CT-based software/hardware integrated solution. We executed this strategy in a coding bootcamp where students were required to design and implement an algorithm, and illustrate its execution in software and hardware. The proposed exercise delivered the expected results engaging students to ideate the solution of a problem, implement an algorithm, and create a physical demonstration of it.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3349266.3351410
An Exploratory Study of Augmented Embodiment for Computational Thinking	Proceedings of the 24th International Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces: Companion	Chung, Cheng-Yu; Hsiao, I-Han	The contiguity of physical and digital content of embodied learning has been shown to increase student's engagement in educational contexts. Applications with various kinds of physical interactions have been deployed to enhance the learning experiences in many engineering domains. However, even though computer science education (CSE) is one of zestful topics in the recent years, there are few studies focusing on the embodiment of CSE materials, by which the abstract and intangible concepts could be transformed into an intuitive affordance that utilizes sensorimotor experiences during the learning process. We propose an augmented embodiment mobile app designed for computational thinking (CT), specifically the debugging practices and abstraction concept, that makes use of gestures and augmented reality for learners to interact with the content. We examine the logic by the design framework for embodied learning and discuss potential extensions of multimodal analytics in such an application. Our preliminary user study in a middle school shows students' engagement in the application, however, it also reflected several design issues that need to be solved in the next iteration. The future plan of data analysis and experiments is also discussed.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3308557.3308676
Documentation Comes to Life in Computational Thinking Acquisition with Agentsheets	Proceedings of the 11th Brazilian Symposium on Human Factors in Computing Systems	Mota, Marcelle Pereira; Faria, Leonardo Serra; de Souza, Clarisse Sieckenius	This paper is about the use of live documentation in Computational Thinking Acquisition (CTA) programs with AgentSheets. AgentSheets is a visual programming environment to build games. Based on previous studies showing that semiotic relations among visual game elements could be further explored to the benefit of the learners, we designed PoliFacets, a Web extension to AgentSheets cast as a live conversational document. With it, teachers and learners can follow different threads of conversation about (multiple representations of) game elements and relations between them. We present a qualitative evaluation study of PoliFacets with two experienced AgentSheets instructors and three school teachers trained to coach students in CTA programs. Findings show that although our system has not yet completely fulfilled our design intent, it has led participants to gain relevant insights about their teaching and learning, as well as to articulating doubts and misunderstandings that otherwise could have gone unnoticed.
Introducing Computational Thinking to 5 and 6 Year Old Students in Dutch Primary Schools: An Educational Design Research Study	Proceedings of the 17th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research	Koning, Josina I.; Faber, Hylke H.; Wierdsma, Menno D. M.	Computational thinking is taking an ever increasing role in education. According to the Netherlands institute for curriculum development there currently is little to no education on this topic in Dutch primary schools. Since teachers are the key to high quality education, it is important to know which knowledge primary school teachers should have on this topic. This exploratory research is part of a larger design-based study on how 5–6 year old students can develop CT skills at a basic level and what teachers in primary education need to know about computational thinking to teach it. This poster describes the educational design research consisting of a total of three rounds and the results after the first two rounds.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3141880.3141908
Mixed Methods for the Assessment and Incorporation of Computational Thinking in K-12 and Higher Education	Proceedings of the 2016 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research	Weese, Joshua Levi	A movement to include computer science in K-12 curriculum standards has sparked a significant interest in computational thinking (CT). This paper describes current and future work in the development of visual programming curricula for teaching CT at the K-12 level and self-efficacy surveys for evaluating the effectiveness of the curricula at fostering CT. Current work on a comprehensive system for automated extraction of assessment data for descriptive analytics and visualization is also described. To complement attitude surveys, a translation of Scratch to Blockly is proposed. Data on student programming behaviors at the collegiate level will be collected and quantitatively analyzed to help assess CT in support of self-efficacy.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2960310.2960347
The Development of Internationalized Computational Thinking Curriculum in Hong Kong Primary Education (Abstract Only)	Proceedings of the 47th ACM Technical Symposium on Computing Science Education	Wong, Gary K.W.; Zhu, Kening; Ma, Xiaojuan; Huen, John	Computational Thinking (CT) has been widely introduced and investigated in recent years, particularly in the U.S. since the born of visual, block-based, drag-drop programming environments such as Kodu, Scratch, Minecraft and App Inventor. Although the user interface is mainly in English, the characteristics of these easy-to-use, game-based, and interactive tools attract many teachers and researchers in the world to pay much attention to the possibilities and opportunities of introducing these tools to students. Recently, some primary school teachers in Hong Kong begin to independently introduce some of these programming tools to students at age 7 - 11 as a part of learning activities in their computer lessons. Their motives are similar but not the same, such as making a fun learning and teaching experience, motivating students for active and collaborative participation, and introducing CT concepts to develop generic skills (e.g. problem solving skills, creativity, and critical thinking). However, there is an absence of well-developed and planned curriculum for "coding education" to introduce computational thinking systematically to students in the local context with expected learning outcomes. Due to the uniqueness of K-12 curriculum in Hong Kong, the existing curriculum model in the U.S. may need to be customized and redesigned to become suitable for integrating into the curriculum in Hong Kong. In this poster, it describes the first proposed coding education curriculum in Hong Kong primary education (Primary 4 to Primary 6) with relevant objectives, structures, contents, and learning outcomes. A new pedagogical design framework for CT is introduced in this poster, which could be generalizable and yet to be evaluated. This new curriculum will serve as the curriculum guide to local teachers, and is the first research initiative of a three-year longitudinal study investigating the impact of CT activities to students particularly in Hong Kong. The experience of this curriculum development for CT concepts in K-12 education can inspire teachers and researchers in other parts of the world when adopting and internationalizing CT activities based on the curriculum model developed under the U.S. education.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2839509.2850528
Approaches of Learning and Computational Thinking in Students That Get into the Computer Sciences Career	Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality	Villalba-Condori, Klinge Orlando; Cuba-Sayco, Sonia Esther Castro; Chávez, Evelyn Paola Guillen; Deco, Claudia; Bender, Cristina	The way in which the student processes the information, codifies it and recovers it, constitutes its learning approach. The learning process differentiates two qualitative ways of dealing with this process: the deep approach and the superficial approach. The use of each approach depends on the context. However, the adoption of a deep learning approach is positively related to the academic performance. Computational Thinking is defined as a competence of the XXI century, which allows solving problems from a computational point of view, and there is a variety of instruments that allow to measure it, and to know the state in which the evaluated student is. In this paper, we verified the existence of the positive significant relationship between the learning approach and computational thinking in students entering the career of Computer Sciences. By applying Pearson correlation test to verify the relationship between Learning Approaches and Computational Thinking, we found that both variables have homogeneous behaviors and that students show similar conditions. Men are in better conditions than women on the evaluated aspects of the Computational Thinking, Also, we found a significantly positive relationship between Computational Thinking and the Learning Approach (r = 0,882). This result shows that the learning approaches that students' practice are linked to the computational thinking they demonstrate. According to the results, the teachers of this career must develop active and deep methodological strategies due to the predisposition in these students.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3284179.3284185
Computational Thinking in a Non-Majors CS Course Requires a Programming Component	ACM Inroads	Walker, Henry M.		https://doi.org/10.1145/2727126
Grasping Algorithms: Exploring Toys That Teach Computational Thinking	Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Mobile and Ubiquitous Multimedia	Root, Erika; Steinkamp, Maren; Coldewey, Beatrice; Poloczek, Christin; Scharnowski, Frederik; Kettner, Mark; Koelle, Marion; Ananthanarayan, Swamy; Willms, Marlon	Computational thinking has received increased attention over the past several years and is considered by many to be a fundamental and necessary literacy for children. One approach to teaching this skill has been through tangible programming since it facilitates intuitive interaction with children. In this paper, we introduce CodeTrain and CodeBox, two motorized toys whose behavior can be programmed through wooden building blocks without the use of a computer, tablet, or screen-based interface. The goal with both these designs is to foster playful exploration of computational thinking in pre-adolescent children through tangible objects. We describe the design process from the conceptual design to the functional prototype. Furthermore, we present first impressions of the prototypes from a pilot study and highlight some lessons learned from our first iteration.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3152832.3156620
Infusing Computing: Analyzing Teacher Programming Products in K-12 Computational Thinking Professional Development	Proceedings of the 2019 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Dong, Yihuan; Cateté, Veronica; Lytle, Nicholas; Isvik, Amy; Barnes, Tiffany; Jocius, Robin; Albert, Jennifer; Joshi, Deepti; Robinson, Richard; Andrews, Ashley	In summer 2018, we conducted two week-long professional development workshops for 116 middle and high school teachers interested in infusing computational thinking (CT) into their classrooms. Teachers learned to program in Snap!, connect CT to their disciplines, and create infused CT learning segments for their classes. This paper investigates the extent to which teachers were able to successfully infuse CT skills of pattern recognition, abstraction, decomposition, and algorithms into their learning products.In this work, we analyzed 58 teacher-designed programming products to look for common characteristics, such as project type, intended coding requirements for their students, and code features/functionality. Teacher-created products were classified into five types: animation, interactive story, quiz, intended game, and simulation/exploration tools. Coding requirements varied from using and/or explaining provided code, modifying existing code, programming with starter code, to building entire programs. Products were classified according to the extent to which they involved sprite manipulation, questions/answers, event handling, drawing, and control blocks. We found that teachers from different disciplines created products that vary in type, coding requirements, and features to suit their specific needs. Moreover, we found relationships between discipline, project type, and the required coding teachers expected students to do.Our results inform future Infusing Computing Professional Development (PD) to provide more targeted training to support different teacher needs.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3304221.3319772
A Work in Progress Paper: Evaluating a Microworlds-Based Learning Approach for Developing Literacy and Computational Thinking in Cross-Curricular Contexts	Proceedings of the Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Jenkins, Craig	In the 1960s, Papert and his team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) developed Turtle Graphics using the LOGO programming language. Underpinning this development was a profound new philosophy of how learning happens with computers: a microworlds-based approach to learning. The wider aim of this research project is to examine how a microworlds-based approach may be revived in contemporary educational contexts by secondary school teachers in cross-curricular subject areas. It examines the microworld as a tool for secondary level learning at ages eleven-to-fourteen and explores its potential role in making relevant conceptual learning accessible through practical, constructionist approaches in cross-curricular applications.This particular work-in-progress paper reports on a comparative evaluation of a microworlds-based approach to teaching poetic verse in the subject domain of drama. A quasi-experimental design was used in order to measure performance gains in specific aspects of computational thinking and literacy development following the microworld-based intervention. Preliminary data reveals a higher improvement in performance but further qualitative data needs to be collected in order to provide further insight to support the quantitative findings.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2818314.2818316
Digital and Physical Fabrication as Multimodal Learning: Understanding Youth Computational Thinking When Making Integrated Systems Through Bidirectionally Responsive Design	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Richard, Gabriela T.; Giri, Sagun	This article proposes and explores the kinds of computational thinking, creative practices, design activities, and inclusive learning opportunities provided to diverse high school youth when designing integrated systems through simultaneously physically and digitally responsive wearable games and systems. Previous work in this area, conducted by Richard, coined the term “bidirectionally responsive design” (BRD) to describe the design of dual-feedback systems using multiple digital and physical interfaces. BRD also emphasizes using simplified fabrication tools, media and coding platforms, and microcontrollers common in youth content creation communities and makerspaces. This study provides a framework to analyze computational concepts, practices, and perspectives that leverage an integrated systems and multimodal learning approach, such as BRD, adding to, building on, and integrating previous analytic approaches to looking at Scratch coding, media design, physical computing and e-textiles. Using a detailed case study of one team during one of the early workshop iterations, we conduct a multimodal analysis of bidirectionally responsive making activities and discuss the ways that they present novel understanding of integrating diverse interests and encouraging collaborative and distributed computational thinking. We further examine how BRD operationalizes and extends multimodal learning theory by adding tangible and integrative dimensions as additional modalities learners can leverage to facilitate meaning making, metacognition, and agency. We also discuss how designing integrated systems, as facilitated through BRD, provides an opportunity to engage in authentic practices around the design of complex systems.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3243138
Conceptual Learning through Accessible Play: Project Torino and Computational Thinking for Blind Children in India	Proceedings of the 2020 International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development	India, Gesu; Ramakrishna, Geetha; Pal, Joyojeet; Swaminathan, Manohar	Project Torino is a physical programming environment designed for teaching computational thinking (CT) to school children in the UK, regardless of the level of vision. We introduced Project Torino to children in three schools for the blind in Bangalore, India as a toy for playing with songs, rhymes, and stories. We present the results of 103 semi-structured play sessions spread over three months with 12 children (2 girls, 10 boys) with diverse backgrounds. We found that children progressed from playing with pre-connected examples, to making changes, to actively participating in what items are played. Engaging the children in conversation while they played, we established that the teams had grasped three basic concepts of computational thinking–flow of control, variables, and loops, without any explicit instructions towards learning them. We propose that play-based approaches can be successfully used with low resource overhead to introduce fundamental concepts of CT.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3392561.3394634
Technology Comprehension: Scaling Making into a National Discipline	Proceedings of the Conference on Creativity and Making in Education	Tuhkala, Ari; Wagner, Marie-Louise; Nielsen, Nick; Iversen, Ole Sejer; Kärkkäinen, Tommi	We account for the first research results from a governmentinitiated experiment that scales Making to a national discipline. The Ministry of Education, in Denmark, has introduced Technology Comprehension as a new discipline for lower secondary education. Technology Comprehension is first experimented as an elective subject in 13 schools. The discipline combines elements from computing, design, and the societal aspect of technology and, thus, resonates with the existing FabLearn and Making initiatives in Scandinavia. We report the identified opportunities and challenges based on interviews, surveys, and a theme discussion with experienced teachers from the 13 schools. The main takeaways are: First, the teachers did not perceive Technology Comprehension as a distinguished discipline, which calls for more research on how Making is scaled into a national discipline. Second, Technology Comprehension opens up for interdisciplinary and engaging learning activities, but teachers need scaffolding and support to actualise these opportunities. Third, Technology Comprehension challenges teachers' existing competencies in relation to the discipline and students' prerequisites and needs. Teachers need pedagogical means to take the societal aspect into account within the discipline. Finally, we argue for further research on supporting teachers when scaling Technology Comprehension on a national level.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3213818.3213828
Computing Education as a Foundation for 21st Century Literacy	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Guzdial, Mark	Teaching programming as a way to express ideas, communicate with others, and understand our world is one of the oldest goals for computing education. The inventor of the term "computer science" saw it as the third leg of STEM literacy. In this talk, I lay out the history of the idea of universal computational literacy, some of what it will take to get there, and how our field will be different when we do.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3290953
From Theory Bias to Theory Dialogue: Embracing Cognitive, Situated, and Critical Framings of Computational Thinking in K-12 CS Education	ACM Inroads	Kafai, Yasmin; Proctor, Chris; Lui, Debora		https://doi.org/10.1145/3381887
An Expansively-Framed Unplugged Weaving Sequence Intended to Bear Computational Fruit of the Loom	Proceedings of FabLearn 2019	Lee, Victor R.; Vincent, Heidee	We report on a late-breaking project that centralizes the Maker practice of loom-based weaving as a locus for unplugged computational thinking. While unplugged activities are appealing for making computation accessible, they also come with the risk of developing inert knowledge. To address and mitigate that risk, we introduce a new framework that we are developing called "Expansively-framed Unplugged" (EfU) computing education. We report on some initial testing and refinement of a learning sequence that starts with weaving on a loom and ends with optimizing code in Scratch. The testing was done with a school librarian who is will be implementing a coding program with students at a middle school library using this EfU sequence.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3311890.3311907
Programming the Central Dogma: An Integrated Unit on Computer Science and Molecular Biology Concepts	Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Ritz, Anna	Much of modern biology requires quantitative and computational skills for the proper analysis of large-scale datasets, and there is a recognized need for computational training in undergraduate biology programs. This experience report describes a four-week unit designed to introduce fundamental computer science concepts and molecular biology concepts in an integrated fashion. The unit serves as the first four weeks of an introductory course taught within the Biology Department at an undergraduate institution, and is designed to introduce computational thinking to non-computational science majors. Survey results reveal that the course has attracted students from all years (first years through seniors), the majority of students have been women, and students have large self-perceived learning gains in computer science concepts. The unit shows promise for engaging non-computational students through applications in introductory molecular biology. Materials are available at http://www.reed.edu/biology/courses/bio131/resources.html.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3159450.3159590
Development of a Questionnaire on Self-Concept, Motivational Beliefs, and Attitude Towards Programming	Proceedings of the 14th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Leifheit, Luzia; Tsarava, Katerina; Moeller, Korbinian; Ostermann, Klaus; Golle, Jessika; Trautwein, Ulrich; Ninaus, Manuel	Academic self-concept, motivational beliefs, and attitudes towards a school subject are relevant for learning and educational achievement. A positive self-concept in science and mathematics is argued to motivate students to persist and advance in studying these subjects. In particular, self-concept, motivational beliefs, and attitudes towards STEM domains were found to be predictive of educational achievement. Recently, programming was suggested to be a key competence in education.To assess self-concept, motivational beliefs, and attitudes towards programming, we developed a new questionnaire based on existing scales for mathematics. The new questionnaire assesses the same aspects for programming on seven subscales, such as self-concept, belief about usefulness, and self-reported persistence when working on programming tasks.We conducted a pilot study in which we used this questionnaire to measure self-concept, motivational beliefs, and attitudes towards programming. The study was set in the context of an extracurricular course on computational thinking (CT) for elementary school students between the ages of seven and ten years. Before the start of the course, we assessed all 31 participating students' self-concept, motivational beliefs, and attitudes towards programming using the developed questionnaire and their CT skills using the Computational Thinking test (CTt).Our results confirmed the expected associations between the aspects assessed by our questionnaire. However, we did not find significant associations of questionnaire results and CT skills. Consequently, future research involving a larger sample is needed to better understand the association between children's actual performance and their self-concept, motivational beliefs, and attitudes towards programming.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3361721.3361730
Computing Indicators of Creativity	Proceedings of the 8th ACM Conference on Creativity and Cognition	Koh, Kyu Han; Bennett, Vicki; Repenning, Alexander	Divergent thinking has been linked to creative processes leading to innovative artifacts. Measuring creative divergence can be difficult. Across the USA, the Scalable Game Design (SGD) Project includes thousands of student participants building their own games through learning computational thinking (CT). To evaluate these games, a technique, the Computational Thinking Pattern Analysis (CTPA) [1], was developed, refined and used successfully. Under three different learning conditions, divergence was computed through CTPA, and then analyzed and explored as an indication of creativity.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2069618.2069694
Phogo: A Low Cost, Engaging and Modern Proposal to Learn How to Program	Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality	Gonzalez-Sacristan, Carlos; Garcia-Saura, Carlos; Molins-Ruano, Pablo	Basic computational thinking, so necessary in today's society, can be learned in an engaging way with the use of educational robots. In order to reach very diverse groups of people, educational robots need to be simple, scalable and low cost.Inspired by the success of the LOGO project, we have developed the Phogo pedagogical platform, built around a low cost robot (less than $80) capable of tracing its path with a marker pen. We also present a high-level Python-based control library that allows for transparent and easy wireless communication with the robots. The approach was tested in an informal workshop with a group of teenagers without any previous self-conscious computational knowledge. As the students were attracted by the robot and the simple approach, they were able to gain some insight about abstract programming concepts such as variables, functions, and flow control structures. The majority of the students were people with physical, cognitive or intellectual disabilities and they were able to follow, enjoy and learn as any other student making this an accessible activity to everyone.Finally, we summarize our efforts documenting and publishing the Phogo system as open-source in order to promote its use in future workshops.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3012430.3012498
Comparing Outcomes Across Different Contexts in CS1	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Maxwell, Bruce A.; Taylor, Stephanie R.	Context-based CS1 courses focusing on Media Computation, Robotics, Games, or Art have been shown to improve outcomes such as retention and gender balance, both important factors in CS education. Colby College has offered a Visual Media focused CS1 course since 2008, and in response to faculty and student feedback, we expanded our curriculum to include a second context-based CS1 course focused on Science applications. Our goal was to have completely different projects but teach the same fundamental concepts. In order to measure whether students in each version were learning the same concepts, and to reduce confounding factors, the same professors co-taught both versions of CS1 and students completed the same homework, quizzes, and final exam. Our analysis of the quiz, final exam, and final overall performance showed no statistically significant difference by context or by gender. There was also no difference by context or gender in whether students took additional CS courses in the following two semesters. Furthermore, as a percentage of the students eligible to take the next offering of CS2, Data Structures and Algorithms, 48% of the students in these two offerings of CS1 registered for CS2, with no significant difference between contexts. Our conclusion is that we were successful in achieving similar outcomes, and the benefits of context-based CS1 courses, in both the Visual Media and Science versions of the course.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3017680.3017757
An Analysis of Use-Modify-Create Pedagogical Approach's Success in Balancing Structure and Student Agency	Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research	Franklin, Diana; Coenraad, Merijke; Palmer, Jennifer; Eatinger, Donna; Zipp, Anna; Anaya, Marco; White, Max; Pham, Hoang; Gökdemir, Ozan; Weintrop, David	As computer science instruction gets offered to more young learners, transitioning from elective to requirement, it is important to explore the relationship between pedagogical approach and student behavior. While different pedagogical approaches have particular motivations and intended goals, little is known about to what degree they satisfy those goals.In this paper, we present analysis of 536 students' (age 9-14, grades 4-8) work within a Scratch-based, Use-Modify-Create (UMC) curriculum, Scratch Encore. We investigate to what degree the UMC progression encourages students to engage with the content of the lesson while providing the flexibility for creativity and exploration.Our findings show that this approach does balance structure with flexibility and creativity, allowing teachers wide variation in the degree to which they adhere to the structured tasks. Many students utilized recently-learned blocks in open-ended activities, yet they also explored blocks not formally taught. In addition, they took advantage of open-ended projects to change sprites, backgrounds, and integrate narratives into their projects.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3372782.3406256
Punch Cards to Python: A Case Study of a CS0 Core Course	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Babbitt, Thomas; Schooler, Charles; King, Kyle	There is an immense interest in teaching computer science concepts- and programming specifically - to everyone. The United States Military Academy at West Point has required every student, regardless of major, to pass a computer science zero (CS0) course for the last 50 years: From punch cards to Python. We present a history of our CS0 course and the lessons learned from the most recent redesign of the course. We review the last decade of student assessments and how they influenced the latest iteration. We contrast the expectations of students in a CS0 course with those in a CS1 course. We discuss the national efforts to make CS accessible to all and explore the challenges unique to a CS0 course. We demonstrate similarities between our course and the Advance Placement CS Principles and show where differences are justified. We review the relevant pedagogical research for CS0 and present lessons learned over multiple iterations of the course. Based on our current course review and implementation, we believe that Computer Science for everyone is attainable and relevant to the needs of every student.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287491
The Design of Sweden's First 5-Year Computer Science and Software Engineering Program	Proceedings of the 45th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Heintz, Fredrik; Erlander Klein, Inger	In 2013 Linköping University started the first 5-year engineering program in Computer Science and Software Engineering in Sweden. The goals of the program are to provide a holistic perspective on modern large scale software development, to provide a deep and broad understanding of computer science and computational thinking, and encourage innovation and entrepreneurship. The student response has been very good with more than 600 applicants to the 30 slots, of which more than 130 had this program as their first choice among all programs in Sweden. In this paper we present the goals, the design principles, and the resulting program. The ACM/IEEE CS Curricula has been used to make sure that the program provides a solid foundation in Computer Science. Three pedagogical ideas that we have used are (1) project courses to integrate theory and practice as well as provide experience with the most common form of working in industry; (2) courses that cover multiple programming paradigms and languages as well as multiple software development methodologies so that the students are prepared to take on the continual changes we know will come; and (3) a special course in engineering professionalism with groups of students from the first three years together reflecting on topics related to being a professional engineer. The paper concludes with a discussion about some important aspects such as computational thinking and the relation to the ACM/IEEE CS Curricula.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2538862.2538925
Developing Middle School Students' AI Literacy	Proceedings of the 52nd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Lee, Irene; Ali, Safinah; Zhang, Helen; DiPaola, Daniella; Breazeal, Cynthia	In this experience report, we describe an AI summer workshop designed to prepare middle school students to become informed citizens and critical consumers of AI technology and to develop their foundational knowledge and skills to support future endeavors as AI-empowered workers. The workshop featured the 30-hour "Developing AI Literacy" or DAILy curriculum that is grounded in literature on child development, ethics education, and career development. The participants in the workshop were students between the ages of 10 and 14; 87% were from underrepresented groups in STEM and Computing. In this paper we describe the online curriculum, its implementation during synchronous online workshop sessions in summer of 2020, and preliminary findings on student outcomes. We reflect on the successes and lessons we learned in terms of supporting students' engagement and conceptual learning of AI, shifting attitudes toward AI, and fostering conceptions of future selves as AI-enabled workers. We conclude with discussions of the affordances and barriers to bringing AI education to students from underrepresented groups in STEM and Computing.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3408877.3432513
When Practice Doesn’t Make Perfect: Effects of Task Goals on Learning Computing Concepts	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Miller, Craig S.; Settle, Amber	Specifying file references for hypertext links is an elementary competence that nevertheless draws upon core computational thinking concepts such as tree traversal and the distinction between relative and absolute references. In this article we explore the learning effects of different instructional strategies in the context of an introductory computing course. Results suggest that asking students to do targeted tasks, albeit supported with working examples, is not the best preparation. Instead, unstructured study of examples produces superior learning. Answering targeted conceptual questions can also yield comparably positive learning but only in qualified contexts. While perhaps unintuitive, these results are consistent with a long line of research on human cognition and learning. We discuss our results in the context of this previous research and recommend effective instructional strategies, which may apply to a broad range of computational concepts.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2048931.2048933
Efficient Egg Drop Contests: How Middle School Girls Think about Algorithmic Efficiency	Proceedings of the Ninth Annual International ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research	Friend, Michelle; Cutler, Robert	In this basic interpretative qualitative study, middle school girls with no formal experience in algorithmic reasoning, abstraction, or algebra were interviewed individually in order to help understand and explain how they think about algorithmic efficiency. A contextually relevant problem (determining the maximum height an "egg-drop contraption" could be dropped without breaking) was described to the students who were then asked 1) to come up with the most efficient solution they could to the problem while describing their thinking for the interviewer; and 2) to determine, from a choice of three solutions proposed by the interviewer, which is the most efficient.Students were found to have varying degrees of success in solving the problem or picking the most efficient solution. The most successful recognized the salient features of the problem and used them to generate possible solutions. The least successful were unable to understand the abstractions inherent in the problem. Students recognized that the most efficient of three proposed solutions may depend on the instance of the problem (where the contraption actually failed). They also understood that there was a "best" solution in general, and chose the solution that had the best worst-case scenario.Compared to college students studied previously using similar algorithmic reasoning problems, middle school girls appeared to perform similarly. They were able to demonstrate sophisticated computational thinking skills while suffering from some of the same algorithmic thinking limitations as older students.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2493394.2493413
Moving to Learn: Exploring the Impact of Physical Embodiment in Educational Programming Games	Proceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems	Melcer, Edward	There has been increasing attention paid to the necessity of Computational Thinking (CT) and CS education in recent years. To address this need, a broad spectrum of animation programming environments and games have been created to engage learners. However, most of these tools are designed for the touchpad/mouse and keyboard, and few have been evaluated to assess their efficacy in developing CT/programming skills. This is problematic when trying to understand the validity of such designs for CS education, and whether there are alternative approaches that may prove more effective. My dissertation work helps address this problem. After creating a framework based on a meta-review that carefully dissects embodiment strategies in learning games, I am building and evaluating tangible and augmented reality versions of a CT game. I plan to examine how these different forms of physical interaction help to facilitate and enhance meaning-making during the learning process, and whether/how they improve related learning factors such as self-belief and enjoyment.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3027063.3027129
An Analysis through an Equity Lens of the Implementation of Computer Science in K-8 Classrooms in a Large, Urban School District	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Salac, Jean; White, Max; Wang, Ashley; Franklin, Diana	Major metropolitan school districts around the United States are implementing computer science in elementary school classrooms as part of the CS for All (CS4All) initiative. Little is known, however, about the success of such a large-scale rollout, especially in terms of equity. In this study we analyze the performance of 4th grade classrooms completing three modules of an introductory computational thinking curriculum, looking at not only overall results but also the variance in performance between high-, mid-, and low-performing schools (as identified by their school report cards). We find that all classrooms are benefiting from the computational thinking (CT) curriculum, making great strides in providing equitable access to CT education. However, statistically-significant differences in performance are present, especially between the high- and low-performing schools, showing that there is still room for improvement in developing strategies and curricula for struggling learners.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287353
Field Experiences in Teaching Computer Science: Course Organization and Reflections	Proceedings of the 46th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Pollock, Lori; Mouza, Chrystalla; Atlas, James; Harvey, Terry	A major challenge for broadening participation in computing within K-12 settings is the lack of trained teachers. While professional development programs provide opportunities for the development of knowledge, skills, and pedagogy in teaching computing, teachers need ongoing support throughout the academic year. In this paper, we describe a course-based model for partnering undergraduates with teachers and students in a field experience model. We describe the model focusing on learning objectives, curriculum, field component and partnership building. We subsequently report on the products that undergraduates were able to create with their partner teachers. Finally, we investigate the impact of the field experience model on undergraduates' content knowledge, pedagogical skills and career development.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2676723.2677286
Interdisciplinary Computing, Successes and Challenges (Abstract Only)	Proceeding of the 44th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Cassel, Lillian N.; Wolz, Ursula	We summarize the results of our NSF funded exploration of interdisciplinary computing, including the following points: Interdisciplinary computing spans fields as diverse as visual art, music, the humanities and social sciences, health sciences, pure science, engineering, and mathematics. No field of inquiry in the 21st century extends its knowledge without the influence of computing.[1-4]; A bifurcation is occurring: at some institutions this climate of interdisciplinary work is nurtured, while at others it is thwarted by lack of motivation, resource limitations or simple inaccessibility.; Interdisciplinary computing is inherently collaborative between computing specialists and specialists in other fields. It is not merely pair-wise: computational-X or Y-informatics, but often the collaboration draws from a number of fields.; An important question is what is the breadth and depth of knowledge and skill required to engage in this work. Who needs to know what? What is the language of discourse? How is a methodology established and accepted, and how is subsequent work evaluated?; The mundane concerns of intellectual ownership, boundaries on the discipline (e.g. silos), professional advancement, financial support, and institutional buy-in can diminish the pure intellectual joy that is evident in existing interdisciplinary work.; Impediments are encountered in making the effective collaborations that are essential for the advancement of all the disciplines. The computing disciplines are essential to and also dependent on nearly all other branches of intellectual discovery. [5-6]	https://doi.org/10.1145/2445196.2445438
Educational Magic Tricks Based on Error-Detection Schemes	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Greenberg, Ronald I.	Magic tricks based on computer science concepts help grab student attention and can motivate them to delve more deeply. Error detection ideas long used by computer scientists provide a rich basis for working magic; probably the most well known trick of this type is one included in the CS Unplugged activities. This paper shows that much more powerful variations of the trick can be performed, some in an unplugged environment and some with computer assistance. Some of the tricks also show off additional concepts in computer science and discrete mathematics.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3059009.3059034
Demystifying Computing with Magic, Continued	Proceeding of the 44th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Garcia, Daniel D.; Ginat, David	One man's "magic" is another man's engineering. Robert A. HeinleinSome beginning students have fuzzy mental models of how the computer works, or worse, sincerely believe that the computer works unpredictably, "by magic". We seek to demystify computing for these students using analogy, by showing them something that even magic itself isn't really mystical, it is just computation. This is a continuation of our standing-room only SIGCSE 2012 special session.Magic is one of the most colorful examples of "unplugged" (i.e., without-computer, active learning) activities. It adds a unique facet in that it holds a hidden secret that the audience can be challenged to unfold. Once solved, students are often enthusiastic to perform the magic in front of others. In this session, we will share a variety of new magic tricks whose answer is grounded in computer science: modulo arithmetic, human-computer interfaces, algorithms, binary encoding, invariants, etc. For each trick, we will have an interactive discussion of its underlying computing fundamentals, and tips for successful showmanship. Audience participation will be critical, for helping us perform the magic, discussing the solution, and contributing other magic tricks.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2445196.2445262
Kodu, Alice and Lego Robotics: A Three-Step Model of Effective Introducing Middle School Students to Computer Programming and Robotics (Abstract Only)	Proceeding of the 44th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Marghitu, Daniela; Ben Brahim, Taha; Weaver, John; Rawajfih, Yasmeen	This poster describes a three-step ladder model of K 12 computing and robotics instruction beginning with a simpler programming environment (Kodu) and progressing to more challenging frameworks (Alice and Lego NXT). While moving between the three steps, students explore the similarities and differences in how concepts such as variables, conditionals, and looping are realized. Computer Science Unplugged activities are integrated and then implemented using Kodu, Alice and robots. This innovative model helps maintaining high levels of motivation, concentration, and fun during the entire six weeks of the camp. Feedback obtained from instructors, participants and participants' parents, reinforced by the results of the pre and post program evaluations, clearly indicated the program as a success.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2445196.2445440
Staging Reflections on Ethical Dilemmas in Machine Learning: A Card-Based Design Workshop for High School Students	Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference	Bilstrup, Karl-Emil Kjær; Kaspersen, Magnus H.; Petersen, Marianne Graves	The increased use of machine learning (ML) in society raises questions of how ethical dilemmas inherent in computational artefacts can be made understandable and explorable for students. To investigate this, we developed a card-based design workshop that allows students to reflect on ethical dilemmas by designing their own ML applications. The workshop was developed in an iterative process engaging four high school classrooms with students aged 16-20. We found that scaffolding students in designing meaningful ML systems served to qualify their ethical reflections. Further students' design processes allowed them to engage with the ethical dilemmas and to tie these to the properties of the technology and to their design decisions. We suggest seeing technology-close discussions about ethics as a goal in design processes, and prototyping as a means to ground these discussions in students' own design decisions, and we contribute a workshop format and design artefacts that allow for this.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3357236.3395558
An Examination of the Correlation of Exploring Computer Science Course Performance and the Development of Programming Expertise	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	McGee, Steven; Greenberg, Ronald I.; McGee-Tekula, Randi; Duck, Jennifer; Rasmussen, Andrew M.; Dettori, Lucia; Reed, Dale F.	This study investigated patterns in the development of computational thinking and programming expertise in the context of the Exploring Computer Science (ECS) program, a high school introductory CS course and professional development program designed to foster deep engagement through equitable inquiry around CS concepts. Prior research on programming expertise has identified three general areas of development — program comprehension, program planning, and program generation. The pedagogical practices in ECS are consistent with problem solving approaches that support the development of programming expertise. The study took place in a large urban district during the 2016–17 school year with 28 ECS teachers and 1,931 students. A validated external assessment was used to measure the development of programming expertise. The results indicate that there were medium-sized, statistically significant increases from pretest to posttest, and there were no statistically significant differences by gender or race/ethnicity. After controlling for prior academic achievement, performance in the ECS course correlated with performance on the posttest. With respect to specific programming concepts, the results also provide evidence on the progression of the development of programming expertise. Students seem to develop comprehension and planning expertise prior to expertise in program generation. In addition, students seem to develop expertise with concrete tasks prior to abstract tasks.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287415
Educating the Educator through Computation: What GIS Can Do for Computer Science	Proceedings of the 43rd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Barr, John; Erkan, Ali	We designed a system where non-computational faculty members (along with undergraduates) enroll in an introductory, multidisciplinary, open source Geographic Information System (GIS) course to experience integrative learning as students. The faculty participants are subsequently required to integrate their newly acquired expertise with their own disciplinary teaching and research; the necessary time commitment is compensated by a three-credit teaching load reallocation. Our hypothesis is that increasing the general faculty's appreciation of computation (in the context of integrative learning) is an indirect yet effective and scalable way to reach a wider group of students to convey our fundamental disciplinary message: computing is more than programming and computing empowers people.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2157136.2157242
A Live, Multiple-Representation Probabilistic Programming Environment for Novices	Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems	Gorinova, Maria I.; Sarkar, Advait; Blackwell, Alan F.; Syme, Don	We present a live, multiple-representation novice environment for probabilistic programming based on the Infer.NET language. When compared to a text-only editor in a controlled experiment on 16 participants, our system showed a significant reduction in keystrokes during introductory probabilistic programming exercises, and subsequently, a significant improvement in program description and debugging tasks as measured by task time, keystrokes and deletions.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2858036.2858221
Creating an Environment in Which Elementary Educators Can Teach Coding	Proceedings of the The 15th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Love, Betty; Winter, Victor; Corritore, Cindy; Faimon, Davina	Across the globe, there is an increasing push to incorporate coding into the entire K-12 curriculum – a shift which entails enormous challenges. This paper presents preliminary findings of an approach we are developing which addresses a key challenge associated with teaching coding, namely how to enable teachers with minimal coding backgrounds to effectively teach coding. The model we are developing provides online real-time tech support to teachers, thereby lowering the technical barriers to coding instruction. The genesis of this approach emerged from a year-long after school coding club run by the authors for elementary school students. This was followed by a pilot study involving gifted students in multiple elementary schools.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2930674.2936008
Musiplectics: Computational Assessment of the Complexity of Music Scores	2015 ACM International Symposium on New Ideas, New Paradigms, and Reflections on Programming and Software (Onward!)	Holder, Ethan; Tilevich, Eli; Gillick, Amy	In the Western classical tradition, musicians play music from notated sheet music, called a score. When playing music from a score, a musician translates its visual symbols into sequences of instrument-specific physical motions. Hence, a music score's overall complexity represents a sum of the cognitive and mechanical acuity required for its performance. For a given instrument, different notes, intervals, articulations, dynamics, key signatures, and tempo represent dissimilar levels of difficulty, which vary depending on the performer's proficiency. Individual musicians embrace this tenet, but may disagree about the degrees of difficulty. This paper introduces musiplectics (musiplectics = music + plectics, Greek for the study of complexity), a systematic and objective approach to computational assessment of the complexity of a music score for any instrument. Musiplectics defines computing paradigms for automatically and accurately calculating the complexity of playing a music score on a given instrument. The core concept codifies a two-phase process. First, music experts rank the relative difficulty of individual musical components (e.g., notes, intervals, dynamics, etc.) for different playing proficiencies and instruments. Second, a computing engine automatically applies this ranking to music scores and calculates their respective complexity. As a proof of concept of musiplectics, we present an automated, Web-based application called Musical Complexity Scoring (MCS) for music educators and performers. Musiplectics can engender the creation of practical computing tools for objective and expeditious assessment of a music score's suitability for the abilities of intended performers.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2814228.2814243
Alice in the Middle East: An Experience Report from the Formative Phase	Proceedings of the 47th ACM Technical Symposium on Computing Science Education	Razak, Saquib; Gedawy, Huda; Dann, Wanda P.; Slater, Donald J.	In this paper, we describe the initial results of the formative phase of a project that crosses international borders. Alice in the Middle East (Alice ME) is a project designed to adapt the Alice software, develop new curricular materials, and provide professional development for teachers and students in the Middle East. For those who may be considering a collaborative project that would be conducted across international borders, we share lessons learned.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2839509.2844593
Influence of the Programming Environment on Programming Education	Proceedings of the 2016 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Saito, Daisuke; Washizaki, Hironori; Fukazawa, Yoshiaki	Although both visual and text environments have been used to teach programming, the most appropriate method for beginners is unknown. Herein we research the most suitable programming environment to introduce programming to beginners using Minecraft to provide different programming learning environments (Visual or Text) via ComputerCraftEdu as an extended function. The learning effects between these two environments are compared using a lecture course. The results show that a visual environment is more suitable to introduce programming to beginners.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2899415.2925477
On Human Language and Terminology Used for Teaching and Learning CS/Informatics	Proceedings of the 9th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Diethelm, Ira; Goschler, Juliana	Competent use of language and specifically classroom language are key factors for successful learning. Thus, being 'fluent with information technology', 'CS fluency and competency', 'computer literacy' or 'computational literacy' are terms for learning objectives of ICT, computer science or Informatics courses that refer to skills in CS as well as to competences in reading, writing, and speaking. However, up to now, the aspect of linguistic competence as one prerequisite as well as a teaching goal in Computer Science has been largely neglected. In this paper we would like to lay the ground for the problem area of language competence, including a precise terminology, for teaching and learning CS. Therefore we will evaluate the existing research on academic language in other areas in order start a meta-discourse on a 'CS classroom language'. Furthermore, we will identify possible research questions that should be investigated in the future.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2670757.2670765
On Signifying the Complexity of Inter-Agent Relations in Agentsheets Games and Simulations	Proceedings of the 31st ACM International Conference on Design of Communication	Mota, Marcelle P.; Monteiro, Ingrid T.; Ferreira, Juliana J.; Slaviero, Cleyton; de Souza, Clarisse Sieckenius	This paper reports the results of an empirical study about the semiotic engineering of signs of complexity for live documentation of games and simulations built with a visual programming learning environment. The study highlights the essence of the semiotic engineering process and shows how its outcome has been received by a group of users who can speak for a large portion of the live documentation system's user population. It also shows how the communication of complexity is, in and of itself, a major design challenge, especially when mastering complexity is one of the prime purposes of the documented object. Because the study was carried out in the context of a live documentation system, its conclusions can also illustrate how to conduct semiotically-inspired interaction design.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2507065.2507070
Connecting Space and Narrative in Culturally Responsive Making in ARIS with Indigenous Youth	Proceedings of the 7th Annual Conference on Creativity and Fabrication in Education	Searle, Kristin A.; Casort, Teresa; Litts, Breanne K.; Benson, Stephanie R.	Attending to issues of equity in making1 demands that we work closely with communities, focusing on what it is made, how it is made, for whom, and in what contexts. Rather than exploring making exclusively as a pathway to STEM learning, we examine how Indigenous youth learned about and documented community-based making using the Augmented Reality and Interactive Storytelling (ARIS) platform. Drawing on a range of qualitative data, we asked: (1) What did youth learn about makers, materials, and cultural meanings in their community? (2) What were the making processes of small groups of Native American youth tasked with developing games located in their community? Findings highlight how Indigenous youth learned about and incorporated cultural knowledge into their ARIS games. In the discussion, we address how beginning and ending with community-based making contributes to ongoing discussions about culturally responsive making and what others might learn from our experiences.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3141798.3141818
Using Rubrics Integrating Design and Coding to Assess Middle School Students' Open-Ended Block-Based Programming Projects	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Basu, Satabdi	Free-choice, open-ended projects are commonly used to assess student learning in introductory block-based programming (BBP) environments. They are generally assessed in school based on criteria such as the social impact conveyed, whether the projects work without errors, and whether they are creative and engaging. Additionally, researchers have assessed such projects based on the frequency of use of various coding constructs like variables, conditionals, and iterations. This paper presents a novel multi-dimensional rubric for analyzing open-ended BBP projects that integrates assessment of front-end project design and back-end sophistication of use of coding constructs. Further, the novelty of the rubric lies in the fact that instead of relying solely on frequencies, it uses scaled scores based on sophistication of rubric components. Using this rubric, 160 Scratch and App Inventor projects were scored and analyzed. The paper establishes external validity of the rubric and examines what we can learn about student learning from this analysis. Our findings will help K-12 CS educators and curriculum developers recognize what aspects of CS middle school students need most support on, and how to leverage programming environments to provide this support.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287412
An Assessment of Oral Exams in Introductory CS	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Ohmann, Peter	Assessment of student knowledge is a crucial and challenging part of course design. Especially in computer science courses in the United States, written examinations are very common. While written exams offer a number of advantages in convenience and familiarity, they are also inflexible and prone to question misinterpretation. In contrast to written tests, oral exams offer the prospect of an interactive conversation where students can express their knowledge in a variety of ways while asking clarifying questions. In this paper, we present and assess our implementation of oral exams in an introductory computer science course. We describe the motivation for and resulting features of our design, including a simplified rubric style for equitable, on-the-fly grading. We also perform an assessment relative to more traditional written exams. We find the time commitment for instructors to be manageable and comparable to traditional exams. Through post-semester surveys, students self-report spending slightly more time studying for oral exams, but rate the difficulty as similar to written exams. Both qualitative and quantitative student feedback indicates that oral exams can be effective and well-received.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287489
Effects of Human vs. Automatic Feedback on Students' Understanding of AI Concepts and Programming Style	Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Leite, Abe; Blanco, Saúl A.	The use of automatic grading tools has become nearly ubiquitous in large undergraduate programming courses, and recent work has focused on improving the quality of automatically generated feedback. However, there is a relative lack of data directly comparing student outcomes when receiving computer-generated feedback and human-written feedback. This paper addresses this gap by splitting one 90-student class into two feedback groups and analyzing differences in the two cohorts' performance. The class is an intro to AI with programming HW assignments. One group of students received detailed computer-generated feedback on their programming assignments describing which parts of the algorithms' logic was missing; the other group additionally received human-written feedback describing how their programs' syntax relates to issues with their logic, and qualitative (style) recommendations for improving their code. Results on quizzes and exam questions suggest that human feedback helps students obtain a better conceptual understanding, but analyses found no difference between the groups' ability to collaborate on the final project. The course grade distribution revealed that students who received human-written feedback performed better overall; this effect was the most pronounced in the middle two quartiles of each group. These results suggest that feedback about the syntax-logic relation may be a primary mechanism by which human feedback improves student outcomes.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3328778.3366921
Helping K–12 Teachers Get Unstuck with Scratch: The Design of an Online Professional Learning Experience	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Haduong, Paulina; Brennan, Karen	K–12 introductory programming experiences are often highly scaffolded, and it can be challenging for teachers and learners to transition from these scaffolded experiences to experiences of learner-directed creative work, where learners are solving problems and fluently expressing ideas through code. Learners can often "get stuck" in this creative process due to a number of different factors: (1) imagination, (2) concepts, (3) bugs, (4) doubt, and (5) pedagogy. Teachers can support learners in overcoming these factors, but K–12 computing teachers often have minimal preparation and lack computer science backgrounds. However, effective professional development can support teachers in developing the computing skills and pedagogical frameworks for facilitating powerful learning experiences for young people. In this paper, we describe the design and implementation of Getting Unstuck, a 21-day, email-based learning experience for K–12 teachers interested in developing greater familiarity and fluency with Scratch. More than 1,900 people subscribed to the mailing list, with 400 people completing at least one day and 73 people completing all 21 days of activities. Participants received a daily email that invited them to: (1) create a Scratch project in response to a creative prompt that focused on a particular programming concept or Scratch feature, (2) share their work in the online community, and (3) reflect on their learning. We discuss our design decisions and how participants responded to them. We hope that this rich description of the course design will offer insights and inspiration for other CS educators who are designing similar K–12 professional development experiences.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287479
Challenges with Learning to Program and Problem Solve: An Analysis of Student Online Discussions	Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Piwek, Paul; Savage, Simon	Students who study problem solving and programming (in a language such as Python) at University level encounter a range of challenges, from low-level issues with code that won't compile to misconceptions about the threshold concepts and skills. The current study complements existing findings on errors, misconceptions, difficulties and challenges obtained from students after-the-fact through instruments such as questionnaires and interviews. In our study, we analysed the posts from students of a large cohort (textasciitilde1500) of first-year University distance learning students to an online 'Python help forum' - recording issues and discussions as the students encountered specific challenges. Posts were coded in terms of topics, and subsequently thematically grouped into Python-related, problem solving/generic programming related, and module specific. We discuss the set of topics and rank these in terms of the number of forum discussions in which they occur (as a proxy for their prevalence). The top challenges we identified concern student understanding and use of a mix of programming environments (in particular, Python IDLE for offline programming and CodeRunner for programming quizzes) and code fragment problems. Apart from these, Python-specific topics include, among others, collections, functions, error messages, iteration, outputting results, indentation, variables and imports. We believe that the results provide a good insight into the challenges that students encounter em as they learn to program. In future work we intend to study the discussions in further detail in terms of theories of conceptual change.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3328778.3366838
Testudinata: A Tangible Interface for Exploring Functional Programming	Proceedings of the 17th ACM Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Mongkhonvanit, Kritphong; Zau, Claire Jia Yi; Proctor, Chris; Blikstein, Paulo	Learning to program is difficult for most children. Most of the interfaces designed to help children experience and understand programming are based on imperative programming. However, early exposure to functional programming have been found to have many benefits over imperative programming. We describe a tangible interface, Testudinata, that helps to make a fundamental concept of functional programming - function composition - more approachable to younger learners in elementary and middle school. Using Testudinata, learners can design, implement, and test various compositions of pre-made functions on a tangible user interface (TUI), while observing and comparing results on a graphical user interface (GUI). Through the combination of a TUI and GUI, the learners will be able to gain basic understanding of of function composition in a fun and engaging way.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3202185.3210762
Computational Science as a Twenty-First Century Discipline in the Liberal Arts	J. Comput. Sci. Coll.	Adams, Joseph Brian	Computer science as a liberal arts discipline has a presence in most college curriculums. But as the field matures, more practitioners are recognizing a need for a more diverse approach to computational thinking. This paper presents a proposal for creating an interdisciplinary computational science major within the liberal arts.
A Database is Like a Dresser With Lots of Sorted Drawers: Secondary School Learners' Conceptions of Relational Databases	Proceedings of the 12th Workshop on Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Brinda, Torsten; Terjung, Thorsten	Latent pre-instructional conceptions on a certain topic, which learners bring into the classroom, can have a significant influence on the learning success to be achieved there. In science, therefore, the model of educational reconstruction was developed, which regards the comparison between technical domain concepts and existing learner conceptions as an essential and iterative element within instructional design. In order to support this process, the conceptions of learners and teachers on different topics of science were investigated in thousands of works so far. In the area of computer science, however, comparable research has so far only been conducted to very little extend – concerning e.g. conceptions of the Internet, the computer and the way programs work. Within the paper at hand, the authors intend to add to this research by contributing learner conceptions of (relational) databases. A semi-structured online questionnaire was used to collect the perspectives of 193 German learners. It contained open questions on the conceptions of databases and their everyday applications as well as on the explanation of computing-related phenomena with an indirect relation to databases. The data analysis was carried out using the method of qualitative content analysis according to Mayring and provided three different category systems for various aspects of the subject. As a major result it was found that the conceptions of learners regarding relational databases can be structured according to the ANSI/SPARC acrchitecture model for DBMS, however, completed by an everyday perspective on its three layers (external, conceptual, and internal). Finally, the identified learners' perspectives were compared with the associated scientific concepts for similarities and differences with the method of reciprocal comparison and guidelines for structuring database teaching were derived.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3137065.3137074
Computability and Algorithmic Complexity Questions in Secondary Education	Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Global Computing Education	del Vado Vírseda, Rafael	Theoretical computing is a difficult area to teach in university courses due to different causes. Many students who begin computing subjects have little mathematical or theoretical background. It is important that students acquire an intuitive knowledge of these theoretical concepts before they finish their secondary education. In this work we describe how to bring computability and complexity questions in secondary education to address classic issues raised in the curriculum about the limits of mathematics and its formal systems, and subsequently, their algorithmic and algebraic complexity. We report a complete educational experience for enhancing the algorithmic curriculum of pre-university computing and mathematics courses to know what computability and algorithmic complexity questions may be introduced into secondary education, how to teach these concepts, and train teachers to do it. The good experimental results obtained are compared with the results in standard high school courses in which these questions about theoretical computing are not addressed. The conclusions obtained are exposed, as well as the pros and cons of the educational experience carried out, so that they can be taken into account in the future design for the curriculum of an official subject in computing on a global scale, or be included in the curriculum of pre-university courses.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3300115.3309507
Syntax Exercises in CS1	Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research	Edwards, John; Ditton, Joseph; Trninic, Dragan; Swanson, Hillary; Sullivan, Shelsey; Mano, Chad	This paper investigates the idea of teaching programming language syntax before problem solving in Introductory Computer Programming (CS1). Theories of procedural skill acquisition imply that syntax should be taught with a pedagogy and curriculum quite different from that used in teaching problem solving. We draw from this literature to propose a practice-based pedagogy and curriculum to teach students syntax before they learn its application, something we call a "syntax-first" pedagogy, which uses skilled performance in syntax to scaffold learning of problem solving. We report results of a controlled study investigating whether learning syntax using pedagogy suitable for procedural skill acquisition (e.g. repetitive practice) prior to learning problem solving influences student performance. A syntax-first pedagogy is complementary to almost any other teaching approach: in our study, simply adding carefully designed syntax exercises to an existing CS1 course resulted in higher exam scores, lower student attrition, and evidence that plagiarism rates may be lower.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3372782.3406259
Empowering Deep Thinking to Support Critical Thinking in Teaching and Learning	Proceedings of the 2016 ACM SIGMIS Conference on Computers and People Research	Al-Mubaid, Hisham; Abukmail, Ahmed; Bettayeb, Said	This research describes learning activities and techniques that improve deep and critical thinking among students. Critical thinking is considered an ultimate goal in MIS education; and learners who reach critical thinking level can achieve the highest learning goals and outcomes. Critical thinking and English communication are considered the two most essential competencies in the 21st century. Therefore, universities have invested significantly in understanding, promoting, and delivering critical thinking in education. Moreover, the learning and education research has invested extensively in critical thinking. In this research, we present and discuss seven learning activities and techniques that initiate deep thinking and promote critical thinking in teaching and learning in order to achieve high level of quality learning. The main focus of this work is in the higher education setting at the level of colleges and universities. We discuss and explain seven learning activities, with examples and tools that will help increase the level of thinking and improve higher order thinking and critical analysis. The presented techniques and examples can be easily applied and adapted into any discipline to help increase and improve higher order thinking among the learners. The preliminary evaluation results are very encouraging.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2890602.2890606
The Evolving Design of Tangibles for Graph Algorithmic Thinking	Proceedings of the Twelfth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction	Bonani, Andrea; Del Fatto, Vincenzo; Gennari, Rosella	Algorithmic thinking is at the core of computational thinking. Tangible interactive solutions can help children develop algorithmic thinking skills. This paper focusses on exploratory research concerning tangibles for graph algorithmic thinking for primary and middle schools. By following an action-research process, tangibles evolved through prototyping and actions-studies. The paper overviews their evolution and delves into its most recent action: an ecological study with 8 middle school children, and 5 primary school children, using tangibles for graph algorithmic thinking. It ends by reflecting on results and future work.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3173225.3173270
On Computer Science Major Students' Motivation in a Practically Oriented Robotics Course	Proceedings of the 18th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research	Jormanainen, Ilkka	Educational robotics is considered to motivate students to learn principles of computing and computational thinking in many contexts. In this paper, we present the first experiences from our recent multimodal robotics course, that was given to more than 100 computer science major students at the University of Eastern Finland. Preliminary results show, aligned with suggestions from the literature, that hands-on robotics exercises and the course project work motivated students. Furthermore, results indicate that robotics would have a stronger role in our computer science curriculum.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3279720.3279749
BeadED Adventures: Crafting STEM Learning	Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction	Sullivan, Anne; Johnson, Emily K.	With the move towards digital interventions for educational purposes, there has been a loss of tangible and material interfaces, the consequences of which are still being understood. Meanwhile, there is an ongoing lack of gender diversity within STEM-facing majors and careers. In response to this, we have created a physical prototype of BeadED Adventures, a system that uses a physical controller made up of jars of colorful beads to control modified Twine games that follows constructivist philosophies of learning and emphasizes player autonomy. By controlling the experience, the player creates a beaded bracelet that is personalized based on their choices within the game. In addition to the controller, we are creating an educational Twine game in which the player explores an abandoned castle, solving computational thinking puzzles to escape.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3294109.3300997
Ada's Legacy: Cultures of Computing from the Victorian to the Digital Age		Hammerman, Robin; Russell, Andrew L.	From the Preface Ada's Legacy illustrates the depth and diversity of writers, thinkers, and makers who have been inspired by Ada Lovelace, the English mathematician and writer. The volume, which commemorates the bicentennial of Ada's birth in December 1815, celebrates Lovelace's many achievements as well as the impact of her life and work, which reverberated widely since the late 19th century. In the 21st century we have seen a resurgence in Lovelace scholarship, thanks to the growth of interdisciplinary thinking and the expanding influence of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Ada's Legacy is a unique contribution to this scholarship. Here, the editors present work on topics previously unknown to coexist in print: Ada's collaboration with Charles Babbage, the development of the Ada programming language, Ada's position in the Victorian and Steampunk literary genres, Ada's representation in and inspiration of contemporary art and comics, and Ada's continued relevance in discussions around gender and technology in the digital age. With the 200th anniversary of Ada Lovelace's birth on December 10, 2015, we believe that the timing is perfect to publish this collection. Because of its broad focus on subjects that reach far beyond the life and work of Ada herself, Ada's Legacy will appeal to readers who are curious about Ada's enduring importance in computing and the wider world. The idea for this book originated from the first academic conference of its kind, Ada Lovelace: An Interdisciplinary Conference Celebrating her Achievements and Legacy, which took place at Stevens Institute of Technology (Hoboken, New Jersey) on October 18, 2013, under the auspices of the Institute's College of Arts and Letters. The time was definitely right to bring this conference to Stevens, which was until 1971 a male-only school. By 1982, Stevens became the first major institute in the United States to implement a personal computer requirement for its students. Around this time, a pioneering technology project resulted in the networking of the entire Stevens campus, creating one of the nation's first intranets. Additionally, the recent development of undergraduate programs in the College of Arts and Letters, including Gender Studies as well as Science and Technology Studies, which strongly anchors women in STEM, clearly made Stevens well positioned to host a conference celebrating Lovelace's achievements and legacy. The conference brought together international scholars from across the disciplines to coincide with the week celebrating Ada Lovelace Day. Tremendous interest circulated in advance of the conference, particularly among computing history specialists and 19th-century literary scholars, and it escalated immediately following the proceedings. Tom Misa, director of the Charles Babbage Institute and a featured speaker at the conference, numbered chiefly among those who caught this interest. He envisioned the possibility for a book project to develop concrete examination of ideas inspired by the proceedings. The conference organizer, Robin Hammerman, and Andrew Russell, director of the College of Arts and Letters Science and Technology Studies program, enthusiastically agreed to collaborate as editors for this interdisciplinary collection. Many of the papers published in this volume first were presented at the conference in October 2013. We are pleased to acknowledge the supporters of that conference: Dr. Lisa Dolling, former Dean of the College of Arts & Letters at Stevens Institute of Technology, and Dr. George Korfiatis, Provost of Stevens Institute of Technology. The editors are grateful to Thomas J. Misa, Series Editor for ACM's History of Computing, for skillfully overseeing the development of this project from its inception to completion. We also are happy to thank Diane Cerra, Executive Editor at Morgan & Claypool Publishers, for her kind and capable attention to the production of this volume. And we are delighted that Sydney Padua graciously agreed to create original illustrations for Ada's Legacy.
What Does It Take to Do Computer Programming? Surveying the K-12 Students' Conceptions	Proceedings of the 46th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Lakanen, Antti-Jussi; Isomöttönen, Ville	Phenomenographic studies in computing education research have previously focused on learning "programming thinking" [3], the act of learning to program [2], and conceptions of learning generally in an engineering context [10]. In the present study we analyze and discuss "what it takes to do computer programming" using phenomenography as research approach. This study is based on a large survey dataset gathered in summer outreach courses for K-12 students. The analysis resulted in 12 qualitatively different categories belonging to five separate, emergent themes: Syntax and language features, nature of programming work generally, computational thinking and problem solving, prerequisites, and auxiliary skills. We additionally reviewed whether the students' previous experience explains the categories, and observed that a mechanistic view of programming was prevailing among the inexperienced users, while experienced students more often stressed algorithmic thinking and logical reasoning.This study resembles work done by Eckerdal et al. [3], but gives a K-12 perspective to the question, "what does it takes to do programming?"	https://doi.org/10.1145/2676723.2677229
If They Build It, Will They Understand It? Exploring the Relationship between Student Code and Performance	Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Salac, Jean; Franklin, Diana	The computer science community has struggled to assess student learning via Scratch programming at the primary school level (ages 7-12). Prior work has relied most heavily on artifact (student code/projects) analysis, with some attempts at one-on-one interviews and written assessments. In this paper, we explore the relationship between artifact analysis and written assessments. Through this study of a large-scale introductory computing implementation, we found that for students who had code in their projects, student performance on specific questions on the written assessments is only very weakly correlated to specific attributes of final projects typically used in artifact analysis as well as attributes we use to define candidate code (r < 0.2, p < 0.05). In particular, the correlation is not nearly strong enough to serve as a proxy for understanding.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3341525.3387379
Interfaces for Thinkers: Computer Input Capabilities That Support Inferential Reasoning	Proceedings of the 15th ACM on International Conference on Multimodal Interaction	Oviatt, Sharon	Recent research has revealed that basic computer input capabilities can substantially facilitate or impede people's ability to produce ideas and solve problems correctly. This research asks: What type of interface provides best support for inferential reasoning in both low- and high-performing students' Students' ability to make accurate inferences about science and everyday reasoning tasks was compared while they used: (1) non digital pen and paper, (2) a digital pen and paper interface, (3) pen tablet interface, and (4) graphical tablet interface. Correct inferences averaged 10.5% higher when using a digital pen interface, compared with the tablet interfaces. Further analyses revealed that overgeneralization and redundancy errors were more common when using the tablet interfaces and among low performers. Implications are discussed for designing more effective computational thinking tools.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2522848.2522849
Addressing 21st Century Skills by Embedding Computer Science in K-12 Classes	Proceeding of the 44th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Goldberg, Debra; Grunwald, Dirk; Lewis, Clayton; Feld, Jessica; Donley, Kristin; Edbrooke, Odette	School districts across the country are embracing 21st century skills, and grappling with how to teach these to their K-12 students. At the same time, computer science educators are grappling with how to broaden participation. These two dilemmas are related, in that computer science can be used to teach many of the 21st century skills, and bringing computer science to all K-12 students can help broaden participation.For computer scientists, key 21st century skills [4] include creativity & innovation, critical thinking and problem solving, communication & collaboration, information literacy, media literacy and information, communications and technology (ICT) literacy – these skills go beyond traditional "computational thinking" skills because they include reflections on how computation affects social processes (such as the role of computational media in society).Since 2009, K-12 educators and computer science graduate students in the Engaging Computer Science in Traditional Education (ECSITE, pronounced "excite") project have developed curricular units that are embedded into non-computing K-12 classes [3]. These units collectively address many 21st century skills, and have been introduced into arts, geography, government, health, music, and science classes. In this special session, we will interactively share some of our successful curricular units that address different 21st century skills, initiate a broader discussion on embedding computer science into K-12 curriculum and discuss methods we are exploring to enhance the sustainability of such efforts.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2445196.2445384
One Size Fits All: Designing for Socialization in Physical Computing	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Anton, Gabriella; Wilensky, Uri	National and state educational initiatives are increasingly prioritizing computer science and computational thinking as valued sets of skills and practices. However, despite ongoing efforts to broaden participation in computing, the field faces increasing underrepresentation of women and other racial and ethnic groups. In this paper, we argue that physical computing can provide rich, varied entryways into computing practices, and that kits that support social or collaborative use may be more compelling for underrepresented groups. We present the design of a scaled-up physical computing kit, called StegaCircuits, which we created to foster more social, exploratory introductions to computing. We present preliminary data collected during user tests at a Maker Faire that suggest StegaCircuits supports social introductions to physical computing through multi-user interaction. Finally, we highlight promising facets of the design that may positively impact cognitive and emotional responses to computing fields.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287423
AI for K-12: Making Room for AI in K-12 CS Curricula	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Gardner-McCune, Christina; Touretzky, David; Martin, Fred; Seehorn, Deborah	As CS expands into more K-12 classrooms and children become familiar with computational thinking, advances in AI pose new challenges for CS educators. Children now enjoy conversing with AI-powered agents such as Alexa and Siri, while their parents worry about the imminent arrival of autonomous robots and self-driving cars. As AI technologies become more prominent in our lives, we need to consider what every child should know about AI. This BOF provides a timely opportunity to introduce CS educators and researchers to several AI for K-12 efforts, including available curricula, tools, and resources. Attendees will discuss how AI can best be incorporated into the K-12 CS curriculum, the tools/resources that will be needed to support students and teachers learning about AI, and how AI education might impact their own work. This BOF is complementary to the SIGCSE 2019 Special Session: AI for K-12 Guidelines Initiative that introduces the current draft of our 'Big Ideas in AI." Further information about the initiative and resources is available at http://ai4k12.org.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3293729
Making Music with Computers: Creative Programming in Python (Abstract Only)	Proceedings of the 47th ACM Technical Symposium on Computing Science Education	Manaris, Bill; Kohn, Tobias	This is an introduction to creative software development and music making in Python. This material is intended for CS0/CS1 courses and for courses at the intersection of computing and the arts. The workshop will introduce music making activities for teaching traditional CS1 topics, GUIs, event-driven programming, and connecting to external devices (e.g., smartphones, digital pianos) via MIDI and OSC (Open Sound Control). Participants will be introduced to Jython Music (http://jythonMusic.org), a library of Python modules for creative programming and music making, and will be making their own music artifacts a few minutes later. Intended audience: Computer science educators interested in teaching creative programming and computational thinking for CS0, CS1, introductory courses in the intersection of computing and the arts, and courses intended to attract and retain new CS majors. Some familiarity with Python expected. Each participant will receive a copy of (1) handouts to be used during the workshop, (2) sample student assignments and projects, (3) API documentation, (4) all required software, and (5) numerous sample programs. Laptop required (with Java JDK 7 or higher). All other software will be provided. Headphones are recommended.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2839509.2844707
Arts/Tech Collaboration with Embedded Systems and Kinetic Art	ACM SIGGRAPH 2013 Talks	Brunvand, Erik	The definition of "computer graphics" as used by artists in new media and kinetic areas of the arts is much more expansive than simply rendering to a screen. A visit to the SIGGRAPH art gallery, for example, will showcase a wide variety of uses of computing, embedded control, sensors, and actuators in the service of art. Kinetic art using embedded control is a marriage of art and technology. Artistic sensibility and creativity are required for concept and planning, and computer science and engineering skills are required to realize the artistic vision [Candy and Edmonds 2002]. However, these different skills are often taught in extremely different parts of a university campus.As an attempt to bridge this gap, we describe a cross-disciplinary collaborative course that pairs computer science students with art students to engage in joint engineering design and creative studio projects. These projects combine embedded system design with sculpture to create kinetic art. We believe that this is a natural pairing of two disparate disciplines, and one that provides distinct educational benefits to both groups of students [Brunvand and Stout 2011].Kinetic art contains moving parts or depends on motion, sound, or light for its effect. The kinetic aspect is often regulated using micro-controllers connected to motors, actuators, transducers, and sensors that enable the sculpture to move and react to its environment [Malina 1974]. But, distinct from other types of computer art, the computer itself is usually not visible in the artwork. It is a behind the scenes controller. An embedded system is a special-purpose computer system (microcontroller) designed to perform one or a few dedicated functions, often reacting to environmental sensors. It is embedded into a complete device including hardware and mechanical parts rather than being a separate computer system.In the project-based semester-length class we describe in this talk computer science students work together with art students to build collaborative kinetic art pieces. Students explore interfacing of embedded systems with sensors and actuators of all sorts, along with real-time/interactive programming techniques and interrupt driven system design. By requiring that the project groups include both engineers and artists, the students contribute to their own learning and creative growth through peer teaching. Learning to communicate across disciplines, and perhaps just as importantly respect each other's skills and contributions, is vitally important for successful collaboration. The students also explore physical and conceptual aspects of machine-making as a fine-art sculpture process. The resulting artworks often make marks (produce physical "computer graphics") as a part of their artistic function.Our collaborative course builds on the powerful connection between embedded control and kinetic art. This pairing seems like a natural fit, and one with high potential for intriguing results. Engineers are rarely taught to think about artistic, conceptual, and aesthetic outcomes, and artists are not usually taught to think about engineering issues in creating an artistic artifact. The studio model is an intriguing model for more general CS education [Barker et al. 2005], but it is perhaps best experienced in a true studio course. A focus on design thinking also seems to us to be a natural complement to computational thinking.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2504459.2504488
Creating New Languages in Blockly: Two Case Studies in Media Computation and Robotics (Abstract Only)	Proceedings of the 46th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Trower, Jake; Gray, Jeff	Introducing programming concepts to children early in their education can be beneficial because the type of problem solving that encompasses computational thinking is becoming increasingly relevant in our daily lives. A relatively new breed of programming environments has emerged to address this need. Visual programming languages (VPLs) allow programming logic to be represented with diagrams that illustrate its execution flow. Popular VPLs (e.g., Scratch, Snap, Alice, App Inventor) exist as full-featured, stand-alone programming environments with diagrammatic representations of the program instructions. This representation removes the syntactical barrier to entry that may exist with textual languages.Blockly, developed by Google, is a type of block language development kit that allows the rapid construction of new block-based visual programming languages to address a specific pedagogical or content focus. This poster provides a brief tutorial on the steps used to create a new Blockly environment, along with two case studies demonstrating the power of Blockly. The two environments introduced are focused on the manipulation of images via operations on pixels (Pixly), and programmatic control of a Sphero robot (Spherly). The construction and specific details of these two environments are described and illustrated with html, xml, and Javascript code examples and some of their potential applications. More information about Pixly and Spherly can be found at: http://outreach.cs.ua.edu/pixly and http://outreach.cs.ua.edu/spherly	https://doi.org/10.1145/2676723.2691916
Massively Multiplayer Online Games & Education: An Outline of Research	Proceedings of the 8th Iternational Conference on Computer Supported Collaborative Learning	Steinkuehler, Constance	For those with a vested interest in online technologies for learning, the knowledge and skills that constitute successful participation in massively multiplayer online games (MMOs) places them squarely among the most promising new digital technologies to date. In this paper, I broadly outline the qualitative results of a two and a half year cognitive ethnography of the MMO Lineage and describe the current trajectory of research we are now pursuing, based on those findings: (a) the empirical investigation of focused research questions in order to document and analyze those core practices that constitute gameplay in virtual worlds, and (b) the development of educational activities for after school clubs that capitalize on those capacities found throughout our research. This essay concludes with a reflection on the multiple relationships between games and education, highlighting the potential for such technologies to transform not only the means of education but also perhaps the goals.
The Northwest Distributed Computer Science Department	J. Comput. Sci. Coll.	Wallace, Scott A.; Bryant, Robert; Orr, Genevieve	In this paper, we describe the Northwest Distributed Computer Science Department, a project intended to bring together faculty from across the region to share resources and skills and thereby improve computing education. This position paper presents the motivation, goals, and current direction of the project.
Defining a Discipline or Shaping a Community: Constraints on Broadening Participation in Computing	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Weidler-Lewis, Joanna; DuBow, Wendy; Kaminsky, Alexis	Understanding how to increase participation and continued persistence of women in computing is a perennial problem. This paper explores the ways in which participation in computing can be defined either by a narrow disciplinary practice framework or a more expansive social practice framework. How participation in computing is defined is consequential regarding our understanding of women's persistence in computing. The data for this paper come from 64 in-depth, qualitative interviews with young women who in high school expressed interest in computing by looking into NCWIT's Aspirations in Computing Award. Analyses of the interviews show that defining participation in computing from a disciplinary perspective unduly prohibits some women from full membership in computing communities. Findings show that some women who self-identify with the computing community are not fully recognized by other members of the computing community.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3017680.3017776
Ubiquity Symposium: What Have We Said about Computation? Closing Statement	Ubiquity	Denning, Peter J.	The "computation" symposium presents the reflections of thinkers from many sectors of computing on the fundamental question in the background of everything we do as computing professionals. While many of us have too many immediate tasks to allow us time for our own deep reflection, we do appreciate when others have done this for us. Peter Freeman points out, by analogy, that as citizens of democracies we do not spend a lot of time reflecting on the question, "What is a democracy," but from time to time we find it helpful to see what philosophers and political scientists are saying about the context in which we act as citizens.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1967045.1967046
Broadening Artificial Intelligence Education in K-12: Where to Start?	ACM Inroads	Wong, Gary K. W.; Ma, Xiaojuan; Dillenbourg, Pierre; Huan, John		https://doi.org/10.1145/3381884
Student Perspectives on Mathematics in Computer Science	Proceedings of the 17th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research	Sigurdson, Nikki; Petersen, Andrew	Mathematical competence is an important attribute for computer scientists, and mathematical courses are a core component of computing curricula. However, aspects of the role of mathematics, such as the importance of mathematical maturity and the relevance of calculus, have been debated for several decades. In addition, this discussion has focused on faculty and professional viewpoints. Student perceptions are noticeably absent. This paper describes an interview study conducted at a North American university that explores the perspectives of students on the role and importance of mathematics as well as the relationship between mathematics and computer science. Like the faculty, students voiced a range of viewpoints, and they selected courses based on their evolving beliefs. We found evidence that these course selections - and hence, the flexibility of the curriculum - helped to reinforce previously held beliefs about mathematics. The interviews also provided insight on the importance of career inclination on attitude toward the program and the curriculum's role in identity formation.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3141880.3141888
Resources and Support for the Implementation of Digital Technologies in New Zealand Schools	Proceedings of the Twenty-First Australasian Computing Education Conference	Crow, Tyne; Luxton-Reilly, Andrew; Wünsche, Burkhard C.; Denny, Paul	In 2017, the curriculum areas of Digital Technologies and Hangarau Matihiko were added to the New Zealand school curricula covering content related to the fundamental principles of computer science and developing digital technologies. This poses the challenge of up-skilling teachers nationwide to understand the concepts in the curricula so teachers and schools can develop their own unique implementations of the curriculum. In this paper we outline the resources and support being made available to teachers and discuss how this relates to the broader ideas behind the curriculum.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3286960.3286969
Computer Science Principles at Newbury Park High School	ACM Inroads	Kick, Richard	Newbury Park high School in Southern California is one of 10 high schools participating in the 2011-12 pilot of Computer Science Principles. Teacher Richard Kick describes student activities from his course, shares some examples of student work, and reflects on student engagement with the material and the inspiration they draw from it.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2189835.2189859
A Longitudinal Analysis of K-12 Computing Education Research in the United States: Implications and Recommendations for Change	Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Upadhyaya, Bishakha; McGill, Monica M.; Decker, Adrienne	The availability of computer science education in primary and secondary schools in the United States has grown rapidly over the last decade. Computing education research in K-12 has been increasing as well. In this study, we conducted a longitudinal analysis of seven years of data (2012-2018), curated from over 500 articles across 10 publication venues to identify trends in K-12 computing education research such as geographic location and curriculum and concepts taught. The data shows a decrease in the number of studies covering K-12 students receiving computing education even while there is an increase in the number of states adopting and implementing standards. The number of different concepts being researched is increasing, potentially reflecting the growth in what is being taught in the classroom. Demographic data is underreported (e.g., socio-economic status (SES) and disabilities of participants) which could directly limit generalizability of the studies to different learners as well as the ability to replicate and compare studies. We conclude with recommendations for how to better position this work for others trying to use the results to guide their efforts in creating standards or adopting techniques into their classrooms.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3328778.3366809
Is Living With Others A Barrier To Technical Literacy?	Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Supporting Group Work	Poole, Erika S.	Prior research describes how households coordinate to resolve technology complexity in residential settings. In this paper, we examine how social roles and routines of use can potentially hinder the development of technological literacy. Through this short paper, we aim to open a discussion about ways to increase technological literacy of the public.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2660398.2660412
Children as Webmakers: Designing a Web Editor for Beginners	Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Park, Thomas H.; Magee, Rachel M.; Wiedenbeck, Susan; Forte, Andrea	In this short paper, we describe the design of a new web editor for beginners called openHTML and our initial evaluation with children aged 10 and 11 in an after-school web-building workshop. Drawing on data from verbally administered surveys and participant observation, we identified three kinds of engagement with the workshop tasks: a homework orientation, an artistic orientation, and a social orientation. We describe the kinds of scaffolding that the children needed to complete their web pages, the places where they struggled, and translate these observations into implications for the design of a web editor for children.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2485760.2485845
CHAMSA: Five Languages Citizens of an Increasingly Technological World Should Acquire	ACM Inroads	Cohen, Avi; Haberman, Bruria	The increasingly dynamic technological world, which recently has encouraged globalization in many domains, poses new educational challenges regarding preparing individuals to become well-educated and beneficial citizens who are capable of simultaneously functioning on personal, national, and global levels. One main goal of an educational system is to promote an environment in which youngsters can acquire and develop their ability to communicate meaningfully with others. We suggest that youngsters acquire five basic languages as tools for communication: a mother tongue, an elective international foreign language, a language of science, a language of art and body, and a language of technology, each of which is used to express themes and ideas or feelings associated with specific domains and contexts. We believe that long-term study of these languages, along with intelligent practice and utilizing communication skills, is highly useful for citizens to function successfully on personal, national, and global levels.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1869746.1869763
Predicting Student Failure in an Introductory Programming Course with Multiple Back-Propagation	Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality	Figueiredo, José; Lopes, Noel; García-Peñalvo, Francisco José	One of the most challenging tasks in computer science and similar courses consists of both teaching and learning computer programming. Usually this requires a great deal of work, dedication, and motivation from both teachers and students. Accordingly, ever since the first programming languages emerged, the problems inherent to programming teaching and learning have been studied and investigated. The theme is very serious, not only for the important concepts underlying computer science courses but also for reducing the lack of motivation, failure, and abandonment that result from students frustration. Therefore, early identification of potential problems and immediate response is a fundamental aspect to avoid student's failure and reduce dropout rates. In this paper, we propose a machine-learning (neural network) predictive model of student failure based on the student profile, which is built throughout programming classes by continuously monitoring and evaluating student activities. The resulting model allows teachers to early identify students that are more likely to fail, allowing them to devote more time to those students and try novel strategies to improve their programming skills.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3362789.3362925
The Teacher Accessibility, Equity, and Content (TEC) Rubric for Evaluating Computing Curricula	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Weintrop, David; Coenraad, Merijke; Palmer, Jen; Franklin, Diana	In response to the growing call to bring the powerful ideas of computer science to all learners, education decision makers, including teachers and administrators, are tasked with making consequential decisions on what curricula to use. Often, these decision makers have not been trained in computer science and are unfamiliar with the concepts taught and tools used. This is especially true in K–12 contexts where computer science expertise is less prevalent. To aid in the decision-making process around computing curricula, this article introduces the TEC Rubric. The TEC Rubric is composed of three main categories: Teacher Accessibility, Equity, and Content designed to support educational decision makers and designers when it comes to computing instruction. Along with presenting the full rubric and the process used in its creation, this article describes two examples of the rubric in action. First, the TEC Rubric is used to evaluate two widespread computer science curricula to demonstrate its evaluative capacity highlighting differences between the two curricula. Second, we show how the TEC Rubric can be used to help inform the design of new K–12 computing curricula. Overall, the TEC Rubric is designed to serve as a useful resource in the ongoing quest to bring effective, equitable, and engaging computing instruction into schools around the world.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3371155
Code Notes: Designing a Low-Cost Tangible Coding Tool for/with Children	Proceedings of the 17th ACM Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Sabuncuoğlu, Alpay; Erkaya, Merve; Buruk, Oğuz Turan; Göksun, Tilbe	Programming has become an essential subject for today's education curriculum and as a result, the importance of creating the right environments to teach is increasing. For such environments, featuring tangible tools enhances creativity and collaboration. However, due to their high prices, current tangible tools are not reachable by most of the students. We developed Code Notes as a low-cost, attainable and tangible tool aimed to motivate children to support programming education. Code Notes is comprised of an Android app and code-cardboards to teach the basic concepts in programming. We continue to develop the platform with insights gained from children. This paper shares the design phases of Code Notes and observations from our two-month programming project. We also presented some future concepts of Code Notes that offer an active and embodied interaction with the teaching material.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3202185.3210791
Informatics as a Fundamental Discipline for the 21st$ Century	Commun. ACM	Caspersen, Michael E.; Gal-Ezer, Judith; McGettrick, Andrew; Nardelli, Enrico		https://doi.org/10.1145/3310330
Using Detailed Access Trajectories for Learning Behavior Analysis	Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Learning Analytics & Knowledge	Wang, Yanbang; Law, Nancy; Hemberg, Erik; O'Reilly, Una-May	Student learning activity in MOOCs can be viewed from multiple perspectives. We present a new organization of MOOC learner activity data at a resolution that is in between the fine granularity of the clickstream and coarse organizations that count activities, aggregate students or use long duration time units. A detailed access trajectory (DAT) consists of binary values and is two dimensional with one axis that is a time series, and the other that is a chronologically ordered list of a MOOC component type's instances, videos in instructional order, for example. Most popular MOOC platforms generate data that can be organized as detailed access trajectories (DATs). We explore the value of DATs by conducting four empirical mini-studies. Our studies suggest DATs contain rich information about students' learning behaviors and facilitate MOOC learning analyses.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3303772.3303781
Introduction to AccessCS10K and Accessible Tools for Teaching Programming	Proceedings of the 46th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Stefik, Andreas; Ladner, Richard E.	This special session is for SIGCSE attendees who are interested in K-12 computing education, especially those who have or are planning to have a NSF CS 10K project. A major goal of CS 10K is broadening participation, which includes providing computing education to students with disabilities. This interactive session will introduce attendees to AccessCS10K, a project to help teachers include students with disabilities in their K-12 computing classes. Furthermore, attendees will have a hands-on experience with the Quorum language, a language designed for youth regardless of disability. It is expected that attendees to the special session will be better prepared to include a student with a disability in their computing classes or to help other teachers do the same.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2676723.2677321
Positioning Computer Science in Flemish K-12 Education: A Reflection	Proceedings of the 8th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Martens, Bern; Hofkens, Tom	The current state of computing and computer science in Flemish K-12 education is discussed, compared to recent developments abroad, and found to leave much to be desired. Next, i22n is presented: a recently founded "Forum for Computer Science" aiming at remedying this situation.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2532748.2532769
Towards Social Gaming Methods for Improving Game-Based Computer Science Education	Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games	Hicks, Andrew	Participation, retention, and overall performance in introductory CS students could be improved by removing or reducing some of the pitfalls along these students' paths. In introductory coursework, there is little or no need for collaboration, which may discourage socially-oriented students. Furthermore, the dual challenge of learning a programming language and covering more abstract, conceptual concepts may discourage students with little prior experience, and frustrate those who are already capable programmers. To remedy this, we will investigate social mechanics for learning games. We hypothesize that students will develop the skills necessary to succeed in the game more readily if friends are present to motivate and challenge them. We plan to explore effective social mechanics, and create efficient methodologies for their implementation and development. We believe that social gaming has the potential to revolutionize the way students learn, and that through our research, we will discover the most effective ways to bring students together and motivate creativity, innovation, and learning using social gaming.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1822348.1822386
Look What I Can Do: Acquisition of Programming Skills in the Context of Living Labs	Proceedings of the 41st International Conference on Software Engineering: Software Engineering Education and Training	Seraj, Mazyar; Große, Cornelia S.; Autexier, Serge; Drechsler, Rolf	There is scientific knowledge about how to teach software programming, and the necessity to foster young learners' interest in computer science is broadly addressed. However, there is a lack of research on how to teach programming skills in a way that increases the learners' interest in the topic. We present a training session for young students, in order to support the acquisition of programming skills and, at the same time, a positive view towards computer science. The programming environment is based on a visual block-based application within a living lab. Thus, the abstract concept of software programming is presented within a real context and tightly connected to real experiences. In this training, the learners were introduced to a living lab and to programming concepts in order to acquire basics of programming. Two user studies with 44 7th and 8th grade students were conducted, specifically, the students' interest in computer science and their acquisition of programming skills were assessed. Two instructional interventions to support knowledge acquisition, namely worked examples and instructional procedures, were compared. The results did not strongly support one of these instructional interventions, thus, both seem to be appropriate in order to help learners to acquire basic programming skills. In sum, the results show that the tight connection of the training session to a real-world scenario can foster programming skills. This paper contributes by showing the potential of using visual block-based programming in the context of living labs in order to enable students to begin with programming activities.	https://doi.org/10.1109/ICSE-SEET.2019.00029
A Comparison of Two Pair Programming Configurations for Upper Elementary Students	Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Tsan, Jennifer; Vandenberg, Jessica; Zakaria, Zarifa; Wiggins, Joseph B.; Webber, Alexander R.; Bradbury, Amanda; Lynch, Collin; Wiebe, Eric; Boyer, Kristy Elizabeth	As computer science education opportunities for elementary students (grades K-5) are expanding, there is growing interest in using pair programming with these students. However, previous research findings do not fully support its use with younger learners, and some researchers have begun to examine whether introducing a second computer with a shared coding workspace can provide important benefits. This experience report describes a series of classroom activities in the 4th and 5th grades (ages 9-11 years old) with two different pair programming configurations: one-computer pair programming, in which both students share a keyboard, mouse, and monitor; and two-computer pair programming, in which each student has a separate computer but coding workspaces are synchronized over the web. In both cases the students sat next to each other and engaged in face-to-face conversation. We found that students largely preferred two-computer pair programming over one-computer pair programming. We conducted focus groups and transcribed collaborative dialogues to gain more insight into this preference. We learned that students felt more independence in two-computer pair programming, although they struggled with coordinating their edits with their partner. In one-computer pair programming, students reported not wanting to wait for their turn to drive, but feeling as though they communicated more with their partner. Both configurations can be productive for students, but the tradeoffs described in this experience report are important for CS educators and researchers to consider when determining which collaborative configuration to use in each K-5 classroom context.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3328778.3366941
Supporting CS10K: A New Computer Science Methods Course for Mathematics Education Students	Proceedings of the 46th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Flatland, Robin; Lim, Darren; Matthews, James; Vandenberg, Scott	We describe a new methods of teaching computer science (CS) course tailored for mathematics education majors but also applicable to others interested in teaching CS. Goals of the course are enhancing their ability and confidence in developing and offering CS courses at high schools and starting CS courses at high schools that do not offer them. The course involves a combination of reading, programming, lesson/unit plan development, code reviews, and discussion of the various paradigms for introducing CS at the secondary level. Results indicate the course enhances the students' confidence, ability, and preparation for teaching CS in high schools.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2676723.2677274
Learning Game Design and Software Engineering through a Game Prototyping Experience: A Case Study	Proceedings of the 5th International Workshop on Games and Software Engineering	Yampolsky, Mark; Scacchi, Walt	This report describes a case study of small-scale effort in employing game playtesting as a starting point for learning about mainstream issues and challenges found in modern software engineering projects and practices. The goal is to be descriptive and informing through a qualitative rendering, rather than prescriptive and quantitative analysis. This study draws attention to the case of where a student with no prior experience in software development or programming must take on the task of learning how to make a game, and along the way learn about many common challenges in modern SE practice through personal discovery and experience. The game itself also imposes challenges in that we have chosen a new, unfamiliar game genre and domain that emphasizes science learning as its purpose for play. Along the way, we discuss issues in requirements, design, prototyping, testing, user experience assessment, and evolutionary software extension, all prior to a formal education in coding or introductory level Computer Science or SE. Though our efforts may seem unusual or anomalous, we believe our methods are open for adoption and reuse by those interested in lowering the barriers to entry into game software development in specific, and into SE more generally.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2896958.2896965
Tools, Languages, and Environments Used in Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	McGill, Monica M.; Decker, Adrienne	With the advent of teaching primary and secondary computing education, tools, languages, and environments (TLEs) are important pedagogical support systems for students and teachers. While there are a number of resources available for teaching K-12 students and teachers, there is little synthesis of the data with respect to usage and adoption rates for various TLEs. Using data extracted from 510 articles related to K-12 education, we conducted an analysis using descriptive statistics to determine what TLEs in K-12 are most frequently studied by researchers. We found 193 TLEs being used in research studies and experience reports, then differentiate between these two types of data and between students and teacher professional development. This preliminary research provides a first descriptive analysis of TLEs being used in K-12 space and simultaneously sets the stage for creating a classification system for TLEs based on the literature, including how they are used and what topics (in or outside of computing education) they are used to teach.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3341525.3387365
Is Drawing Video Game Characters in an Hour of Code Activity a Waste of Time?	Proceedings of the 23rd Annual ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Basawapatna, Ashok; Repenning, Alexander; Savignano, Mark; Manera, Josiane; Escherle, Nora; Repenning, Lorenzo	Broadening participation in computer science necessitates balancing motivational and educational concerns. Without fully understanding potential trade-offs, Hour of Code-like tutorials may actually backfire by initially attracting students to participate, but gradually reinforcing the notion that programming is hard and boring. Previously, we analyzed and compared two Hour of Code tutorials: a tutorial that walks students through the creation and programming of a 3D-Frogger game, including the drawing of their own 3D characters, to a programming puzzle where students solve discrete coding challenges. Using an analysis based on retention, the comparison indicated higher levels of perseverance in the game creation activity. However, does the ability to draw characters really motivate students to program? Conflicting theories of positive and negative effects of drawing onto perseverance include that drawing might increase levels of participant ownership or that drawing may just be wasting time better spent programming, especially in the time constrained Hour of Code context. To gain insight, this study uses draw times of over 8,000 projects from a game creation Hour of Code activity in 2016. Initial results indicate that higher average draw time per character corresponds to increased program lengths and students with the highest average draw times per character continued to program beyond the end of the activity	https://doi.org/10.1145/3197091.3197136
Developing Verification-Driven Learning Cases	Proceedings of the Fifteenth Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Tu, Shengru; Oh, Sehun James; Kale, Rushikesh; Kallem, Aditya; Tankashala, Shireesha	We have proposed a verification-driven learning model that facilitates students' involvement in real-world computing tasks starting from their early computing courses and continuing throughout their entire computing studies. The initial purpose of the verification-driven learning model is to enrich the context of lessons, courses, and the CS programs, especially in the early stage of students' learning. Verification-driven learning cases can serve to supplement other teaching approaches such as process-oriented learning model. Students' independent practice of verification will encourage them to consider the real-world applications throughout the simulation.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1822090.1822108
Using Unique Assignments for Reducing the Bimodal Grade Distribution	ACM Inroads	Yadin, Aharon	This article describes a study that was intended to reduce the bimodal grade distribution of students of the Management Information Systems department. Unlike the normal distribution that represents many natural groups, a bimodal distribution represents two, sometimes unique, sub-populations within one group. There are many studies of the causes of this phenomenon; however, this study is mainly concerned with finding ways to reduce it. The significance of a bimodal distribution lies in its ability to predict future failures, especially in the lower sub-population. Dealing with these future failures is important due to the sharp reduction in the number of enrolled students and the increase in the dropout rate that has stemmed from various reasons. This eight-year study focused on strengthening students' learning habits, which played a significant role in increasing students' overall motivation and levels of self-accountability and produced a more homogeneous group, as represented by the normal grade distribution.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2432596.2432612
Scaling up: Introducing Undergraduates to Data Science Early in Their College Careers	J. Comput. Sci. Coll.	Johnson, Jeremiah W.	It has historically been the case that most data science and analytics programs are offered at the Master of Science level. What few undergraduate offerings exist are frequently limited to either a standalone course or a small number of courses targeted to upper level undergraduates. Literature on how best to teach data science to undergraduate students is practically nonexistent. We review recent work on establishing standards and learning objectives for undergraduate data science education, and we make the case that undergraduate students should be exposed to data science early in their college career. We describe the strategy used to teach an introductory course in data science aimed not at upper-level students, but at undergraduate students in their first or second year of study. This course assumes no prerequisite knowledge in computing, mathematics, or statistics, aligns well with recently outlined objectives for undergraduate data science education, and has a track record of success for five consecutive semesters.
Blocks-Based Programming Languages: Simplifying Programming for Different Audiences with Different Goals	Proceedings of the 45th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Medlock-Walton, Paul; Harms, Kyle J.; Kraemer, Eileen T.; Brennan, Karen; Wendel, Daniel		https://doi.org/10.1145/2538862.2538873
Some Thoughts on Teaching Programming and Programming Languages	SIGPLAN Not.	Reynolds, John C.	It is argued that the teaching of programming is central to the education of skilled computer professionals, that the teaching of programming languages is central to the teaching of programming. that these topics must include the specification, structuring, and verification of software, and that they should be taught with the same regard to rigor and precision as in traditional mathematics.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1480828.1480852
Code4Brownies: An Active Learning Solution for Teaching Programming and Problem Solving in the Classroom	Proceedings of the 23rd Annual ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Phan, Vinhthuy; Hicks, Eric	Code4Brownies is a software solution designed to foster active learning, coding, and problem solving in the classroom. Through this active learning style and platform, teachers can instantly provide guided instruction that gradually assists and leads students through various steps of solving a problem before reaching a correct solution. Teachers can even provide individualized instruction that addresses different needs of students with different levels of preparation. Two different delivery modes of guided instruction (teacher controlled and on-demand at student request) support various classroom scenarios and teaching pedagogies. Our experience of using Code4Brownies over a period of several semesters suggests that this tool helped students become more engaged, perform better, and ultimately be more successful.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3197091.3197128
Understanding Differences among Coding Club Students	Proceedings of the 2014 Conference on Innovation & Technology in Computer Science Education	Lakanen, Antti-Jussi; Isomöttönen, Ville; Lappalainen, Vesa	Scholars and instructors have been carrying out a multitude of actions to increase students' interest in computer science during the past years. Still, there is a need for knowledge on how these attempts develop student interest. In this qualitative study, we construct illustrative categories out of students who have attended our K-12 coding club and game programming summer course activities. We found four categories: Inactivity, Lack of self-direction, Experimenting, and Professionalism. We also briefly project this abstraction onto a four-phase model of interest development.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2591708.2591716
IS EDUCATION\textlessbr\textgreater\textlessbr\textgreaterUsing Competency-Based Approach as Foundation for Information Systems Curricula: Benefits and Challenges	ACM Inroads	Topi, Heikki		https://doi.org/10.1145/2955099
A Comparative Analysis of Online and Face-to-Face Professional Development Models for CS Education	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Webb, David C.; Nickerson, Hilarie; Bush, Jeffrey B.	This paper compares student outcomes from 75 K-12 teachers who participated in either online, blended, or face-to-face professional development design to support teacher implementation of a programming curriculum during the regular school day. The results are based on survey responses collected over two years from 4,832 students. With only one exception, the results showed no negative student outcomes when comparing student survey results from teachers who participated in online professional development compared to students of teachers who participated in face-to-face professional development. Students who had teachers who participated in face-to-face professional development, however, expressed stronger interest in designing their own games at home. These results suggest that online professional development that is designed to support K-12 teacher classroom implementation of CS education curricula is a viable model with respect to student outcomes. Recommendations for the design of online curricula for CS education are discussed.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3017680.3017784
The Challenges of Using a MOOC to Introduce "Absolute Beginners" to Programming on Specialized Hardware	Proceedings of the First ACM Conference on Learning @ Scale Conference	Kay, Jennifer S.; McKlin, Tom	Educational Robotics for Absolute Beginners is a MOOC designed to introduce K-12 teachers with no prior computer science or robotics experience to the basics of LEGO NXT Robot programming. The course was developed following several successful in-person workshops on the same topic. This paper introduces some of the issues that arose as we transitioned the material to a MOOC, describes some of the unique challenges we faced by incorporating specialized hardware into a MOOC, and presents some preliminary data evaluating the success of our approach.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2556325.2567886
EarSketch: Engaging Broad Populations in Computing through Music	Commun. ACM	Freeman, Jason; Magerko, Brian; Edwards, Doug; Mcklin, Tom; Lee, Taneisha; Moore, Roxanne	EarSketch leverages the appeal of music to create a learning environment that allows students to be expressive with code.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3333613
Introducing a Paper-Based Programming Language for Computing Education in Classrooms	Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Mehrotra, Aditya; Giang, Christian; Duruz, Noé; Dedelley, Julien; Mussati, Andrea; Skweres, Melissa; Mondada, Francesco	Past research has shown that the use of tangible programming platforms in computing education can enhance students' interest, engagement, and collaboration within workgroups. However, to this day, the adoption of such interfaces in classrooms has remained relatively scarce. This is possibly due to the expenses and efforts necessary to acquire, set up and maintain such platforms. In this context, the use of paper as a principal means of interaction represents an inexpensive and versatile solution, that additionally harnesses the prevalence of paper in classrooms. This work, therefore, introduces PaPL, an easily reproducible platform for paper-based programming languages. The platform was evaluated in two exploratory user studies. The first study aimed at investigating the interaction of over 100 senior year high school students with the platform under varying conditions of group size and usage constraints. In the second study, the platform was tested with 32 sixth-graders and 2 teachers to evaluate its usage in an authentic context. The results indicate that group size may affect active discussion and error count, while usage constraints may affect active discussion of students interacting with the platform. Moreover, the classroom study shows promising results with regard to the use of PaPL in formal education.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3341525.3387402
Bridging the Diversity Gap in STEM	Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality	García-Holgado, Alicia; González, Carina; Peixoto, Aruquia	This special track about diversity and inclusion in STEM celebrated in Leon, Spain, includes seven accepted papers presented at the in the framework of the 7th edition of the Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality (TEEM) 2019 held in León, Spain, from October 16th to October 18th, 2019. These papers discuss the diversity gap in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), with special emphasis in the gender gap. In particular, a set of initiatives, experiences and research projects proposing tools, strategies and their main results.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3362789.3362948
A Multi-Level Analysis of the Relationship between Instructional Practices and Retention in Computer Science	Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Peteranetz, Markeya S.; Soh, Leen-Kiat	Increasing retention in computer science (CS) courses is a goal of many CS departments. A key step to increasing retention is to understand the factors that impact the likelihood students will continue to enroll in CS courses. Prior research on retention in CS has mostly examined factors such as prior exposure to programming and students' personality characteristics, which are outside the control of undergraduate instructors. This study focuses on factors within the control of instructors, namely, instructional practices that directly impact students' classroom experiences. Participants were recruited from 25 sections of 14 different courses over 4 semesters. A multi-level model tested the effects of individual and class-average perceptions of cooperative learning and teacher directedness on the probability of subsequent enrollment in a CS course, while controlling for students' mastery of CS concepts and status as a CS major. Results indicated that students' individual perceptions of instructional practices were not associated with retention, but the average rating of cooperative learning within a course section was negatively associated with retention. Consistent with prior research, greater mastery of CS concepts and considering or having declared a CS major were associated with a higher probability of taking a future CS courses. Implications for findings are discussed.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3328778.3366812
Guest Editors’ Introduction: Computer Science in the Liberal Arts	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Baldwin, Doug; Brady, Alyce	For many people, computer science is not closely associated with the liberal arts. Yet “liberal arts” can denote a philosophy of education that emphasizes broadly preparing students for all aspects of their future lives, and as computing becomes more central to the ways in which we think about the world, computer science becomes correspondingly more central in such an education. This, in turn, makes computer science more important in the programs of educational institutions that follow a liberal arts philosophy. This issue of Transactions on Computing Education presents three articles that examine the intersection of computer science and the liberal arts. Walker and Kelemen explore in detail how a liberal arts philosophy complements the needs of computer science education, and how computer science as a discipline fits the goals of a liberal arts philosophy. Bruce et al. present the history of a consortium of computer scientists from liberal arts colleges and the model computer science curricula they have developed for such colleges. Finally, Baldwin et al. describe the concrete computer science programs at five institutions, each with a distinct place in the liberal arts spectrum. We hope that these articles will advance understanding of computer science in the liberal arts, and inspire readers to incorporate liberal arts principles into their own computer science programs.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1731041.1731042
Training a Diverse Computer Science Teacher Population	ACM Inroads	Beth, Bradley; Lin, Calvin; Veletsianos, George		https://doi.org/10.1145/2829978
Tangible Sketching in 3D with Posey	CHI '09 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems	Weller, Michael Philetus; Gross, Mark D.; Do, Ellen Yi-Luen	Posey is a physical construction kit that is instrumented to capture assembly and configuration information and convey it to a host computer. We have used Posey to build applications that deploy a reconfigurable physical model as a tangible interface for various domains. We demonstrate these applications to support a case for computationally enhanced construction kits as a semi-general interaction modality.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1520340.1520455
Programming Should Not Be Part of a CS Course for Non-Majors	ACM Inroads	Goldweber, Michael		https://doi.org/10.1145/2727128
Semantic Code Clone Detection for Enterprise Applications	Proceedings of the 35th Annual ACM Symposium on Applied Computing	Svacina, Jan; Simmons, Jonathan; Cerny, Tomas	Enterprise systems are widely adopted across industries as methods of solving complex problems. As software complexity increases, the software's codebase becomes harder to manage and maintenance costs raise significantly. One such source of cost-raising complexity and code bloat is that of code clones. We proposed an approach to identify semantic code clones in enterprise frameworks by using control flow graphs (CFGs) and applying various proprietary similarity functions to compare enterprise targeted metadata for each pair of CFGs. This approach enables us to detect semantic code clones with high accuracy within a time complexity of O(n2) where n is equal to the number of CFGs composed in the enterprise application (usually around hundreds). We demonstrated our solution on a blind study utilizing a production enterprise application.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3341105.3374117
Suggesting a Log-Based Creativity Measurement for Online Programming Learning Environment	Proceedings of the Fourth (2017) ACM Conference on Learning @ Scale	Gal, Lilach; Hershkovitz, Arnon; Morán, Andoni Eguíluz; Guenaga, Mariluz; Garaizar, Pablo	Creativity has long been suggested as an important factor in learning. In this paper, we present a preliminary study of creativity in an online programming learning environment. We operationalize creativity using an existing scheme for scoring it, and then measure it automatically based on the system log files. We analyze the data in order to explore the associations between creativity and personal/contextual variables. Creativity is associated with contextual variables and is not associated with personal variables. Directions for continuing this research are discussed.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3051457.3054003
Autonomous Helicopters	Commun. ACM	Goth, Gregory	Researchers are improving unmanned helicopters' capabilities to address regulatory requirements and commercial uses.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1516046.1516053
Aiding the Transition from Novice to Traditional Programming Environments	Proceedings of the 2017 Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Moors, Luke; Sheehan, Robert	Novice programming environments are increasingly popular as introductory tools for teaching programming. Many of these tools differ significantly from traditional programming environments and are successful in motivating novices and making it simple to start programming. However, it has been reported that students still struggle when transitioning to general-purpose languages and have difficulties learning certain concepts. In this paper, we briefly describe some of the problems novices have when learning to program and identify drawbacks to existing novice programming environments. We then present two different works in progress with features designed to keep some of the advantages of current novice programming environments but in such a way that students are led to deeper concepts. Such features include immediate feedback, loop construction, and automated identifier updating. This report references the feasibility of these approaches.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3078072.3084317
MakerArcade: Using Gaming and Physical Computing for Playful Making, Learning, and Creativity	Extended Abstracts of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems	Seyed, Teddy; de Halleux, Peli; Moskal, Michal; Devine, James; Finney, Joe; Hodges, Steve; Ball, Thomas	The growing maker movement has created a number of hardware and construction toolkits that lower the barriers of entry into programming for youth and others, using a variety of approaches, such as gaming or robotics. For constructionist-like kits that use gaming, many are focused on designing and programming games that are single player, and few explore using physical and craft-like approaches that move beyond the screen and single player experiences. Moving beyond the screen to incorporate physical sensors into the creation of gaming experiences provides new opportunities for learning about concepts in a variety of areas in computer science and making. In this early work, we elucidate our design goals and prototype for a mini-arcade system that builds upon principles in constructionist gaming - making games to learn programming - as well as physical computing.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3290607.3312809
Transfer Learning Using Representation Learning in Massive Open Online Courses	Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Learning Analytics & Knowledge	Ding, Mucong; Wang, Yanbang; Hemberg, Erik; O'Reilly, Una-May	In a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), predictive models of student behavior can support multiple aspects of learning, including instructor feedback and timely intervention. Ongoing courses, when the student outcomes are yet unknown, must rely on models trained from the historical data of previously offered courses. It is possible to transfer models, but they often have poor prediction performance. One reason is features that inadequately represent predictive attributes common to both courses. We present an automated transductive transfer learning approach that addresses this issue. It relies on problem-agnostic, temporal organization of the MOOC clickstream data, where, for each student, for multiple courses, a set of specific MOOC event types is expressed for each time unit. It consists of two alternative transfer methods based on representation learning with auto-encoders: a passive approach using transductive principal component analysis and an active approach that uses a correlation alignment loss term. With these methods, we investigate the transferability of dropout prediction across similar and dissimilar MOOCs and compare with known methods. Results show improved model transferability and suggest that the methods are capable of automatically learning a feature representation that expresses common predictive characteristics of MOOCs.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3303772.3303794
Proposed Assessment Framework Based on Bloom Taxonomy Cognitive Competency: Introduction to Programming	Proceedings of the 2018 7th International Conference on Software and Computer Applications	Lajis, Adidah; Nasir, Haidawati Md; Aziz, Normaziah A.	Programming is a difficult course and often the result of its assessment is not encouraging. Programming skill is very important to graduate in order to get job and to success in the industry. A careful assessment is required to help the student learning. It is proved that the assessment itself will improve the learning. The review showed to-date that there are several automatic assessment for programming skills, however, there is no common grading being applied. This paper, is proposing an assessment framework based on Bloom Taxonomy cognitive domain to assess students programming skills. The focus is on basic programming course which introduce the programming concept to students.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3185089.3185149
Code Collage: Tangible Programming On Paper With Circuit Stickers	Proceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems	Qi, Jie; Demir, Asli; Paradiso, Joseph A.	We present Code Collage, a new tangible programming construction kit that blends the functionality of programming with the materiality of paper craft. The kit is made of circuit sticker electronic modules with inputs and outputs that are connected together with conductive tapes to create computational systems. On-sticker interfaces enable creators to play with the behavior of the sticker, and thus the program, through physical tinkering. This paper shares the preliminary set of code stickers, an example code collage using LED outputs and reflects on the interactive affordances of such a toolkit.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3027063.3053084
BacToMars: Creative Engagement with Bio-Design for Children	Proceedings of the 2017 Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Loparev, Anna; Sullivan, Amanda; Verish, Clarissa; Westendorf, Lauren; Davis, Jasmine; Flemings, Margaret; Bers, Marina; Shaer, Orit	We present BacToMars, an educational video game that engages elementary school children in a bio-design activity. We describe its design and implementation, and discuss design considerations for developing playful and developmentally-appropriate interactive activities, which enable children to grasp complex scientific concepts and apply bio-design to solve problems. We share results from preliminary evaluation, and describe next steps in our investigation.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3078072.3084334
Invasion of the Energy Monsters: A Family Board Game about Energy Consumption	Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems	Banerjee, Amartya; Horn, Michael S.; Davis, Pryce	We present Invasion of the Energy Monsters, a board game that attempts to highlight the role of family practices in household energy consumption. While household energy management activities – such as controlling heating and cooling systems – tend to be adult centric, we believe that children and adolescents have a meaningful role to play in helping their families move toward more sustainable ways of living. To that end, Energy Monsters has been designed to scaffold interactions between family members and encourage conversations about electricity consumption and waste. In this paper we provide an overview of our current design and a brief summary of results from our playtesting sessions with five families, and a description of versions that are under development.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2851581.2892507
Digital Girls Program: Disseminating Computer Science to Girls in Brazil	Proceedings of the 1st International Workshop on Gender Equality in Software Engineering	Maciel, Cristiano; Bim, Sílvia Amélia; da Silva Figueiredo, Karen	The decrease in the number of women working with Information Technology and Engineering is a worldwide concern. Several movements have emerged that aim to encourage the presence of women in these fields. This article presents the Digital Girls Program (Programa Meninas Digitals) developed by the Brazilian Computer Society, which aims to disseminate the many facets of computer science for high school and elementary school students in Brazil. The article presents the strategies adopted for implementing the program in the country and the actions of the program's sister projects. The idea is to publicize the program and to share the experiences gained and challenges met in the field.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3195570.3195574
Bebras Contest for Blind Pupils	Proceedings of the Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Jašková, undefinedudmila; Kováčová, Natália	The Bebras contest plays an important role in determining trends in the area of informatics education. In this article we propose special adaptations allowing blind pupils of lower secondary schools to participate in the contest. More specifically, we present several tasks developed and verified during the real contests running in 2013 and 2014. We analyze the results achieved by blind pupils and factors affecting these participants.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2818314.2818324
The Responsive Enterprise: Embracing the Hacker Way: Soon Every Company Will Be a Software Company.	Queue	Meijer, Erik; Kapoor, Vikram	As of July 2014, Facebook, founded in 2004, is in the top 20 of the most valuable companies in the S&P 500, putting the 10-year-old software company in the same league as IBM, Oracle, and Coca-Cola. Of the top five fastest-growing companies with regard to market capitalization in 2014 (table 1), three are software companies: Apple, Google, and Microsoft (in fact, one could argue that Intel is also driven by software, making it four out of five).	https://doi.org/10.1145/2685690.2685692
A Portable Graphics Library for Introductory CS	Proceedings of the 18th ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Roberts, Eric; Schwarz, Keith	For several decades, instructors who focus on introductory computer science courses have recognized the value of graphical examples. Supporting a graphics library that is appropriate for beginning students has become more difficult over time. This paper describes a new approach to building a graphics library that allows for multiple source languages and a wide range of target architectures and platforms. The key to this approach is using an interprocess pipe to communicate between a platform independent client library and a Java based process to perform the graphical operations specific to each platform.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2462476.2465590
Virtual Machines: Abstraction and Implementation	Proceedings of the 14th Annual ACM SIGCSE Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Schocken, Shimon	Various forms of virtualization play key roles in the construction and usage of diverse system artifacts ranging from modern compilers to hardware migration to mobile computing. Virtualization is also a powerful concept on cognitive grounds, requiring considerable abstraction skills and modeling abilities. We present a methodology, a software tool, and a set of instructional resources designed to expose students to virtual machines, focusing on both abstraction and implementation issues. An early version of our methodology appeared in a book form [4] in which we describe how to build a complete computer system - hardware and software - in one semester. Recently we've re-written our VM emulation software and consolidated all our VM materials into a web site that supports a stand-alone module on virtual machines [5]. This module can be plugged into many system-oriented CS courses. All the resources that we present are freely available in open source and are presently used successfully in several universities.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1562877.1562943
Virtual Machines: Abstraction and Implementation	SIGCSE Bull.	Schocken, Shimon	Various forms of virtualization play key roles in the construction and usage of diverse system artifacts ranging from modern compilers to hardware migration to mobile computing. Virtualization is also a powerful concept on cognitive grounds, requiring considerable abstraction skills and modeling abilities. We present a methodology, a software tool, and a set of instructional resources designed to expose students to virtual machines, focusing on both abstraction and implementation issues. An early version of our methodology appeared in a book form [4] in which we describe how to build a complete computer system - hardware and software - in one semester. Recently we've re-written our VM emulation software and consolidated all our VM materials into a web site that supports a stand-alone module on virtual machines [5]. This module can be plugged into many system-oriented CS courses. All the resources that we present are freely available in open source and are presently used successfully in several universities.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1595496.1562943
Encouraging Women to Become CS Teachers	Proceedings of the Third Conference on GenderIT	Sadik, Olgun	Previous research suggested a relationship between teachers' and students' attitudes towards a subject area. In order to increase female representation in Computer Science (CS), we need female teachers who have positive attitudes and can provide role models to encourage their female students to pursue CS careers. This study investigated factors that motivated female prospective teachers to pursue an add-on computer teacher certification program, their experiences in the program, and their perceptions regarding CS. Classroom observations and interviews conducted with female pre-service teachers suggested promising strategies for increasing female representation in CS and educational technology careers.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2807565.2807715
Updating Introductory Computer Science with Creative Computation	Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Xu, Dianna; Wolz, Ursula; Kumar, Deepak; Greenburg, Ira	This paper reports on the results of a multi-year project in which we identified essential pedagogy and curriculum for teaching introductory computing courses focused on Creative Computation using Processing. The curriculum aligns with a traditional 'CS1' approach as well as 'AP CS A', and goes well beyond "CS Principles" standards to teach foundations of computer science and programming. We addressed the bridge between high school and entry-level college curriculum in computer science (American freshman high school to freshman college) and demonstrated how algorithmic art provides a powerful vehicle for diverse student populations within a broad range of pedagogical frameworks ranging from traditional structured classrooms to inquiry-based student-driven project labs. A secondary result is that instructors require long-term engagement with mentors to extend their own knowledge of computing, visual arts and appropriate pedagogy.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3159450.3159539
More than the Code: Learning Rules of Rejection in Writing Programs	Commun. ACM	Tenenberg, Josh; Roth, Wolff-Michael; Chinn, Donald; Jornet, Alfredo; Socha, David; Walter, Skip	A teacher and students coding together make explicit the unwritten rules of programming.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3132699
A STEM Incubator to Engage Students in Hands-on, Relevant Learning: A Report from the Field	Proceedings of the 2016 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Burg, Jennifer; Pauca, V. Paul; Turkett, William; Santago, Pete	This paper describes the development of a STEM Incubator program to engage students in hand-on, relevant projects that draw student interest toward computer science and other STEM fields. The program is implemented via one-credit courses allowing students to collaborate on projects in various areas (such as digital sound and music, 3D design, robotics, digital image processing, bioinformatics, and mobile and pervasive computing) and around multiple application domains (e.g. internet of things and security, apps for college campus life, 3D printing and art, wearable sensors for disabilities, and sensors and unmanned vehicles for conservation). An apprentice/leader learning environment is created to sustain student involvement in ongoing projects. The evolution of the program is reviewed, including successes and challenges. We report on the demographics of students who have participated in the program so far, and on the success in attracting enthusiastic interest, notably among female students. The STEM Incubator program, like other similar programs described in this paper, attempts to put into practice the evidence-based teaching practices in active learning that have gained credence over the past decade. The paper is of interest to those considering a similar program or wishing to compare other programs to their own.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2899415.2899461
Active Learning Approaches to Teaching Information Assurance	2010 Information Security Curriculum Development Conference	Chatmon, Christy; Chi, Hongmei; Davis, Will	This paper presents several active learning strategies to engage students in Information Assurance (IA) concepts and to enhance their learning experience. Simply listening to a lecture or attending a physical computing laboratory to explore IA concepts for numerous reasons, may not be ideal. Passive involvement of students in their learning process generally leads to a limited retention of knowledge. Students today have excellent visuospatial reasoning skills and the instructional methods chosen should be visual and require active participation. We are exploring several active learning pedagogies in hopes of increasing IA awareness amongst undergraduate computer science majors and non-majors.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1940941.1940943
PythonSneks: An Open-Source, Instructionally-Designed Introductory Curriculum with Action-Design Research	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Bart, Austin Cory; Sarver, Allie; Friend, Michael; Cox II, Larry	Rising enrollments and limited instructor resources underscores the growing need for reusable, scalable curriculum. In this paper, we describe an open-source introductory Python course for non-Computer Science majors in STEM, designed following best practices of Instructional Design (a process similar to Software Engineering). The created resources include 234 learning objectives, 51 lesson videos, 45 lecture slides, 170 programming problems, 281 quiz questions, 6 unit tested projects, and 4 ethical prompts. A teaching field guide has also been produced as a result of this effort, documenting how to deploy this curriculum on a daily level. We describe our experiences deploying over two semesters. The course serviced over 500 students, with 100s in some sections. Along the way, two interventions were conducted in an Action Design Research style: one using Worked Examples, and another using Structured Small Groups. We report on the mixed results of these experiments, plus evaluations of the assignments from student surveys and statistical measures of item effectiveness. Finally, we describe lessons learned when following Instructional Design processes.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287428
Design of a Programming Course for Teachers Supporting Flexible Learning Trajectories	Proceedings of the 8th Computer Science Education Research Conference	Rouhani, Majid; Divitini, Monica; Vujosevic, Vojislav; Stai, Sondre; Olstad, Hege Anette	How to design an online flexible learning trajectory course where students are in-service teachers with varied level of programming knowledge, interests, and different application need? This paper presents the design of such a course for teachers on applied programming. The main learning objective of the course is to provide in-service teachers with insight into how programming can be used to create digital solutions. The course is practically directed and emphasizes programming as a constructive and creative tool. The course is aimed at teachers in secondary schools. The paper describes the main design choices of the course. Based on the experience with the course, the paper reflects on the challenges to design courses that do not support a single learning path for all the students, but rather aims at providing a context where students can identify and follow the learning path that is best fitting for their competencies, interests, and needs of the local practices.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3375258.3375263
A Scenario-Driven Design Method for Chinese Children Edutainment	Proceedings of the Fifth International Symposium of Chinese CHI	Lupetti, Maria Luce; Gao, Jing; Yao, Yuan; Mi, Haipeng	This paper1 presents the use of design scenarios as a valid method for helping designers to face the challenges they are presented with when designing edutainment technologies for children. This tool is proposed as effective for exploring emerging design spaces and enables work oriented discussions among practitioners. In order to obtain data for identifying design drivers and variables that are used in developing the construction of the scenarios, a preliminary survey was conducted. This was meant as an investigation of parents' expectations towards the act of play and their children's play habits.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3080631.3080636
Mediating Conflicts in Minecraft: Empowering Learning in Online Multiplayer Games	Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems	Slovak, Petr; Salen, Katie; Ta, Stephanie; Fitzpatrick, Geraldine	Multiplayer online games, such as Minecraft, have the potential to be powerful sites for youth learning, but can be plagued by inter-personal conflicts. This brings the need for online moderation. However, only very little is known about the practices through which such moderation happens, or how socio-technical systems could be designed to enable 'safe' learning spaces online. To start addressing this gap, our research examines the existing mediation practices within a moderated Minecraft server for children aged 8-13. As part of our 14 months long engagement, we triangulate data from participant observation, interviews, and analysis of server logs. We demonstrate how—in trying to 'keep peace'—the online moderators monopolised the conflict resolution process, essentially preventing the children from actively working with and learning from the experiences of conflict. In response to these findings, we present an alternative framework for online conflict mediation, suggesting ways in which existing conflict resolution techniques originating in Prevention Science could be re-interpreted for online multiplayer settings	https://doi.org/10.1145/3173574.3174169
Crescendo: Engaging Students to Self-Paced Programming Practices	Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Wang, Wengran; Zhi, Rui; Milliken, Alexandra; Lytle, Nicholas; Price, Thomas W.	This paper introduces Crescendo, a self-paced programming practice environment that combines the block-based and visual, interactive programming of Snap!, with the structured practices commonly found in Drill-and-Practice Environments. Crescendo supports students with Parsons problems to reduce problem complexity, Use-Modify-Create task progressions to gradually introduce new programming concepts, and automated feedback and assessment to support learning. In this work, we report on our experience deploying Crescendo in a programming camp for middle school students, as well as in an introductory university course for non-majors. Our initial results from field observations and log data suggest that the support features in Crescendo kept students engaged and allowed them to progress through programming concepts quickly. However, some students still struggled even with these highly-structured problems, requiring additional assistance, suggesting that even strong scaffolding may be insufficient to allow students to progress independently through the tasks.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3328778.3366919
Engaging High School Students in Modeling and Simulation through Educational Media	Proceedings of the 46th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Musicant, David; Guzey, S. Selcen	The new AP CS Principles curriculum has a significant component regarding modeling and simulation, and many teachers will need to figure out how to accomplish this in their classroom. We have developed a new publicly available media-enhanced approach for teaching modeling and simulation, designated as TrafficJam. The approach consists of two core activities, both of which involve students optimizing traffic signals (also known as traffic lights, or stoplights). TrafficJam is likely best distinguished from other classroom simulation exercises in that these activities are introduced, motivated, and demonstrated in a video created by Twin Cities Public Television (TPT). The video uses an inquiry-driven format to feature four high school students who take on the task of improving signal timing in their own neighborhood. A pilot study of TrafficJam in four schools indicates that students find the video engaging, the activities relevant and interesting, and that they gain understanding of modeling and simulation from the experience.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2676723.2677237
Three-Dimensional Digital Enviroments and Computer Graphics Influencing K-12 Individuals' Digital Literacy Development and Interdisciplinary Lifelong Learning	ACM SIGGRAPH ASIA 2009 Educators Program	Franco, Jorge Ferreira; de Deus Lopes, Roseli	Three-dimensional digital environments and computer graphics technology accessibility and influence on individuals' life have increased in the last few years. For instance, game technology has influenced children's lifestyle. Due to that we have attempted to use 3D digital technology related to Web-based Virtual Reality to support learning and teaching actions in the context of K-12 Education.In this paper, we present educational actions that we have carried out for improving K-12 children and educators' digital literacy with focus on ongoing work developments and results.We have achieved qualitative results, showing an enormous potential for stimulating individuals' motivation/will and development in places under social and economic disadvantage. The results have been reached through computer supported collaborative and interdisciplinary learning experiences; young children's cognitive and technical skills development for using Web-based Virtual Reality tools and techniques with autonomy; including basic and higher education collaborative work.We have observed an increase on individuals' engagement with technology, which has supported ones' sustainable knowledge based interactions and technical skills improvements in diverse contexts. Citizens' technical knowledge domain has brought about ones' awareness and cultural transformation related to use information and communication resources better as lifelong learning companion as well as approximating individuals from arts, culture, science and contemporary technology.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1666611.1666626
MNFL: The Monitoring and Notification Flow Language for Assistive Monitoring	Proceedings of the 2nd ACM SIGHIT International Health Informatics Symposium	Edgcomb, Alex D.; Vahid, Frank	Assistive monitoring analyzes data from sensors and cameras to detect situations of interest, and notifies appropriate persons in response. Customization of assistive technology by end-users is necessary for technology adoption and retention. We introduce MNFL, the Monitoring and Notification Flow Language, developed over the past several years to allow lay people without programming experience, but with some technical acumen, to effectively program customized monitoring and notification systems. MNFL is a graphical flow language having intuitive yet sufficiently powerful execution semantics and built-in constructs for assistive monitoring. We describe the language's semantics and built-in constructs, demonstrate the language's use for customizing several common assistive monitoring tasks, and provide results of initial usability trials showing that lay people with almost no training on MNFL can more than 50% of the time and in just a few minutes select and connect the right 1-2 blocks to complete basic applications that have 4-5 blocks total.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2110363.2110387
Complexity of Approximating CSP with Balance / Hard Constraints	Proceedings of the 5th Conference on Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science	Guruswami, Venkatesan; Lee, Euiwoong	We study two natural extensions of Constraint Satisfaction Problems (CSPs). Balance-Max-CSP requires that in any feasible assignment each element in the domain is used an equal number of times. An instance of Hard-Max-CSP consists of soft constraints and hard constraints, and the goal is to maximize the weight of satisfied soft constraints while satisfying all the hard constraints. These two extensions contain many fundamental problems not captured by CSPs, and challenge traditional theories about CSPs in a more general framework.Max-2-SAT and Max-Horn-SAT are the only two nontrivial classes of Boolean CSPs that admit a robust satisfibiality algorithm, i.e., an algorithm that finds an assignment satisfying at least (1 - g(ε)) fraction of constraints given a (1-ε)-satisfiable instance, where g(ε) → 0 as ε → 0, and g(0) = 0. We prove the inapproximability of these problems with balance or hard constraints, showing that each variant changes the nature of the problems significantly (in different ways). For instance, deciding whether an instance of 2-SAT admits a balanced assignment is NP-hard, and for Max-2-SAT with hard constraints, it is hard to find a constant-factor approximation even on (1-ε)-satisfiable instances (in particular, the version with hard constraints does not admit a robust satisfiability algorithm).	https://doi.org/10.1145/2554797.2554837
Hypercontractive Inequalities via SOS, and the Frankl-RöDl Graph	Proceedings of the Twenty-Fifth Annual ACM-SIAM Symposium on Discrete Algorithms	Kauers, Manuel; O'Donnell, Ryan; Tan, Li-Yang; Zhou, Yuan	Our main result is a formulation and proof of the reverse hypercontractive inequality in the sum-of-squares (SOS) proof system. As a consequence we show that for any constant 0 < γ ≤ 1/4, the SOS/Lasserre SDP hierarchy at degree ⌈1/4γ⌉ certifies the statement "the maximum independent set in the Frankl–Rödl graph FRnγ has fractional size o(1)". Here FRnγ = (V, E) is the graph with V = 0, 1n and (x, y) ε E whenever Δ(x, y) = (1 – γ)n (an even integer). In particular, we show the degree-4 SOS algorithm certifies the chromatic number lower bound "χ(FRn1/4) = ω(1)", even though FRn1/4 is the canonical integrality gap instance for which standard SDP relaxations cannot even certify "χ(FRn1/4) > 3". Finally, we also give an SOS proof of (a generalization of) the sharp (2, q)-hypercontractive inequality for any even integer q.
Cultivating Code Literacy: Course Redesign through Advisory Board Engagement	Commun. Des. Q. Rev	Duin, Ann Hill; Tham, Jason Chew Kit	This experience report shares the story of course redesign for cultivating technological and code literacy. This redesign came about as a result of listening to advisory board members as well as responding to recent scholarship calling for more specifics on the teaching of component content management and content strategy. We begin with discussion of code literacy differentiation between code-as-language, code-as-tool, and code-as-structure. We then share detail about our advisory board engagement and the resulting advanced-level technical communication course in which, framed by technological literacy narratives, students produce a static HTML site for a client, develop a repository for this work (GitHub), use XML and the DITA standard for dynamic document delivery, and create a digital experience element to accompany the site. We document and analyze student narratives and online course discussions. We emphasize a more holistic approach to code literacy and that course redesign should be a collaborative endeavor with advisory board members and industry experts. Through these experiences, students gain requisite knowledge and practice so as to enter the technical communication community of practice.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3309578.3309583
Cinematic Scientific Visualization: The Art of Communicating Science	ACM SIGGRAPH 2019 Courses	Borkiewicz, Kalina; Christensen, AJ; Kostis, Helen-Nicole; Shirah, Greg; Wyatt, Ryan	The Advanced Visualization Lab (AVL) is part of the the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The AVL is led by Professor Donna Cox, who coined the term "Renaissance Team", with the belief that bringing together specialists of diverse backgrounds creates a team that is greater than the sum of its parts, and members of the AVL team reflect that in our interdisciplinarity. We specialize in creating high-quality cinematic scientific visualizations of supercomputer simulations for public outreach.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3305366.3328056
Elementary Students’ Understanding of CS Terms	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Vandenberg, Jessica; Tsan, Jennifer; Boulden, Danielle; Zakaria, Zarifa; Lynch, Collin; Boyer, Kristy Elizabeth; Wiebe, Eric	The language and concepts used by curriculum designers are not always interpreted by children as designers intended. This can be problematic when researchers use self-reported survey instruments in concert with curricula, which often rely on the implicit belief that students’ understanding aligns with their own. We report on our refinement of a validated survey to measure upper elementary students’ attitudes and perspectives about computer science (CS), using an iterative, design-based research approach informed by educational and psychological cognitive interview processes. We interviewed six groups of students over three iterations of the instrument on their understanding of CS concepts and attitudes toward coding. Our findings indicated that students could not explain the terms computer programs nor computer science as expected. Furthermore, they struggled to understand how coding may support their learning in other domains. These results may guide the development of appropriate CS-related survey instruments and curricular materials for K–6 students.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3386364
Decision Trees, Protocols and the Entropy-Influence Conjecture	Proceedings of the 5th Conference on Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science	Wan, Andrew; Wright, John; Wu, Chenggang	Given undefined : –1, 1n → – 1, 1, define the spectral distribution of undefined to be the distribution on subsets of [n] in which the set S is sampled with probability undefined(S)2. Then the Fourier Entropy-Influence (FEI) conjecture of Friedgut and Kalai [2] states that there is some absolute constant C such that H[undefined2] ≤ C ⋅ Inf[undefined]. Here, H[undefined2] denotes the Shannon entropy of undefined's spectral distribution, and Inf[undefined] is the total influence of undefined. This conjecture is one of the major open problems in the analysis of Boolean functions, and settling it would have several interesting consequences.Previous results on the FEI conjecture have been largely through direct calculation. In this paper we study a natural interpretation of the conjecture, which states that there exists a communication protocol which, given subset S of [n] distributed as undefined2, can communicate the value of S using at most C⋅Inf[undefined] bits in expectation. Using this interpretation, we are able show the following results: First, if undefined is computable by a read-k decision tree, then H[undefined2] ≤ 9k ⋅ Inf[undefined].Next, if undefined has Inf[undefined] ≥ 1 and is computable by a decision tree with expected depth d, then H[[undefined2] ≤ 12d⋅ Inf[undefined].Finally, we give a new proof of the main theorem of O'Donnell and Tan [8], i.e. that their FEI+ conjecture composes.In addition, we show that natural improvements to our decision tree results would be sufficient to prove the FEI conjecture in its entirety. We believe that our methods give more illuminating proofs than previous results about the FEI conjecture.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2554797.2554806
Resources for Computational Thinking: Co-Designing with Teachers	Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Mills, Kelly; Angevine, Colin; Weisgrau, Josh	Computational thinking (CT) has become a recent policy agenda in order for students to develop interest and foundational understanding in computing and preparation for an increasingly technological workforce. In order to integrate CT into K-12 education, teachers need professional support. The field has faced common challenges developing professional learning experiences and resources that facilitate the integration of computational thinking in authentic, equitable and sustainable ways. We have worked with a cohort of over eighty teachers from around the United States to co-design and pilot pedagogical resources for computational thinking. In this poster, we summarize our co-design process with teachers and share the resources we developed for computational thinking integration.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3328778.3372629
A Framework for Decomposition in Computational Thinking	Proceedings of the 2019 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Rich, Peter J.; Egan, Garrett; Ellsworth, Jordan	Computational Thinking has become an important cognitive skill to develop in all areas of education. Despite its increasing popularity, the construct itself is only partially understood. There are few measures currently in place that advance our understanding of computational thinking and its subconstructs. In this article, we analyze existing measures of computational thinking (CT), looking specifically at their measures of decomposition. Decomposition is defined as the process of breaking down a problem into its sub-components. Even though most definitions of computational thinking include decomposition, fewbreak down the decompositional process beyond a basic definition. As one of the first steps in the computational thinking process, it is important to better understand the various manners in which decomposition occurs, which methods are most effective, and under what conditions. To better understand the decompositional process, we analyze evidence of decompositional process in a variety of disciplines. We then present a framework for decomposition in computational thinking. We demonstrate how this framework may help educators to better prepare students to break down complex problems, as well as provide guidance for how decompositional ability might be measured.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3304221.3319793
Cognitive Correlates of Computational Thinking: Evaluation of a Blended Unplugged/Plugged-In Course	Proceedings of the 14th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Tsarava, Katerina; Leifheit, Luzia; Ninaus, Manuel; Román-González, Marcos; Butz, Martin V.; Golle, Jessika; Trautwein, Ulrich; Moeller, Korbinian	Coding as a practical skill and computational thinking (CT) as a cognitive ability have become an important topic in education and research. It has been suggested that CT, as an early predictor of academic success, should be introduced and fostered early in education. However, there is no consensus on the underlying cognitive correlates of CT in young elementary school children. Therefore, the present work aimed at (i) assessing CT and investigating its associations to established cognitive abilities, and (ii) evaluating a newly developed CT course for elementary school children.As such, 31 7-10-year-old children took part in 10 lessons of a structured CT course. The course aimed at introducing and fostering CT concepts in both unplugged and plugged-in ways, incorporating life-size board games, Scratch, Scratch for Arduino, and Open Roberta programming environments. In a pre-/post-test design, we assessed several cognitive abilities using standardized tests on nonverbal-visuospatial and verbal reasoning abilities, numeracy, as well as short-term memory, and measured CT using an adapted version of the only existing validated test CTt, to accommodate it to the younger sample.We identified significant associations between CT and nonverbal-visuospatial reasoning, as well as different aspects of numeracy (e.g., fact retrieval and problem completion). In line with recent theoretical accounts and empirical investigations for other age groups, these findings specify the underlying cognitive mechanism of CT in elementary school. Moreover, our results indicated that students were able to specifically improve their CT abilities through the course, as assessed by the adapted version of the CTt.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3361721.3361729
Fostering Computational Thinking through Problem-Solving at School	Proceedings of the 2018 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research	Labusch, Amelie	Computational thinking has recently gained more and more relevance as problem-solving competence of the 21st century. Taking Wing's [1] grand vision into account, each student should have certain skills in computational thinking in order to be able to participate adequately in social life and in his/her future profession. Thus, the International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS 2018) does in addition to other student competences also measure their achievement in computational thinking [2]. In this internationally comparative large-scale assessment with a representative sample, a sound body of information is gathered that is used, among others, to explain variation in students' achievement in computational thinking. One field that represents a national extension in Germany is problem-solving. This paper presents a PhD project that focuses on this field and provides an analysis model that examines the relationship between students' self-perceived problem-solving skills and their computational thinking skills, taking into account further variables of influence and aims to explain variation in students' achievement of computational thinking.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3230977.3231019
Gender and Computational Thinking: Review of the Literature and Applications	Proceedings of the XVII International Conference on Human Computer Interaction	Espino, Elisenda Eva Espino; González, Carina González	Technologies of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have contributed significantly to the emergence of the Knowledge Society. However, there is a strong gender gap in the field of science and technology due to the influence of the male-centered culture that persists today. Computational thinking is presented as a way to develop in children from an early age the ability to solve problems, designing systems and understanding human behavior while using the fundamental concepts of computing. This factor allows girls to be in touch with technology in a fun and meaningful way; so as to balance the male and female presence in science and technology, achieving a more egalitarian system. In this article is presented a systematic review of the literature which indicates that few studies about computational thinking are working from a gender perspective, although some countries have already opted for teaching computer in the classroom. In addition, the review shows some methodologies which are using languages and suitable tools in order to work the computational thinking. Notwithstanding, It can be the basis for a proposal to integrate the gender perspective. In turn, it is committed to the creation of a methodological guide that encourages this teaching in national and international schools.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2998626.2998665
Influence of Gender on Computational Thinking	Proceedings of the XVI International Conference on Human Computer Interaction	Espino, Elisenda Eva Espino; González, Carina Soledad González	This study aims to analyze the influence of computational thinking in relation to gender, as it is important to know the reasons why today the presence of women in careers in computer engineering is becoming increasingly scarce. This article presents an analysis of the skills and strategies that are related to computational thinking that took place in the national competition of educational robotics FLL (First Lego League). It was made a qualitative, selective and correlational study stratified random probability sampling. The results confirmed that there is a bigger presence of men than women and a clear gender differentiation. However, according to the information processing and learning, prevails the equality.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2829875.2829904
Introduction to Computational Thinking: A New High School Curriculum Using CodeWorld	Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Alegre, Fernando; Underwoood, John; Moreno, Juana; Alegre, Mario	The Louisiana Department of Education partnered with the Gordon A. Cain Center at LSU to pilot a Computing High School Graduation Pathway. The first course in the pathway, Introduction to Computational Thinking (ICT), is designed to teach programming and reinforce mathematical practice skills of nine-grade students, with an emphasis on promoting higher order thinking. In 2017-18, about 200 students and five teachers participated in the pilot, in 2018-2019 the participation increased to 400 students, and in the current 2019-2020 year about 800 students in 11 schools are involved. After describing the course content and the teacher training, we briefly discuss the data we have collected in the last two years. The overall student reception of the course has been positive, but the course was categorized by most students as hard. The pre-post test content assessments show that students have learned not only the language, but also general principles of programming. Lessons learned during the pilot phase have motivated changes, such as emphasizing during Professional Development the need to provide timely feedback to students, provide detailed rubrics for the projects and reorganize the lessons to increase the initial engagement with the material. After two years of running pilots, the course is becoming student-centered, where most of the code and image samples provided in the lessons are based on code created by previous students.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3328778.3366960
Computational Thinking for All: An Experience Report on Scaling up Teaching Computational Thinking to All Students in a Major City in Sweden	ACM Inroads	Heintz, Fredrik; Mannila, Linda	The Swedish government has recently introduced digital competence including programming in the Swedish K-9 curriculum starting no later than fall 2018. This means that 100 000 teachers need to learn programming and digital competence in less than a year. In this paper we report on our experience working with professional teacher training in Sweden's fifth largest city. The city has about 150 000 inhabitants and about 50 schools with about 14 000 students in primary education. The project has been carried out in close cooperation with the municipality.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3210553
Eye Tracking to Evaluate Comprehension of Computational Thinking	Proceedings of the 2019 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Arslanyilmaz, Abdurrahman; Corpier, Kendra	concepts (CTCs), specifically in block-based programming environments like Scratch, has been challenging, and assessment instruments developed and presented in prior studies either do not provide a complete picture about students' cognitive processes or they are not easy-to-administer, subjective, or requires lengthy analysis of qualitative data. Eye-tracking has become one of the most popular methods to study what individuals view, in what order, for how long, and how often, and it is a technology that could give us a window into students' cognitive processes and could be used as an assessment tool for comprehension of CTCs [1].This study presents eye-tracking technology as an objective, non-intrusive, and easy-to-administer assessment instrument to measure students' comprehension of core CTCs including sequences, loops, events, parallelism, conditionals, operators, data, motion, looks, sound, pen, and sensing. It explores gradual changes in students' comprehension of CTCs as reflected on three eye-gaze data as a proxy; FD (Fixation Duration), SA (Saccade Amplitudes), and RF (Regression Frequency).	https://doi.org/10.1145/3304221.3325555
Computational Thinking, Inferential Thinking and "Big Data"	Proceedings of the 34th ACM SIGMOD-SIGACT-SIGAI Symposium on Principles of Database Systems	Jordan, Michael I.	The phenomenon of "Big Data" is creating a need for research perspectives that blend computational thinking (with its focus on, e.g., abstractions, algorithms and scalability) with inferential thinking (with its focus on, e.g., underlying populations, sampling patterns, error bars and predictions). Database researchers and statistical machine learning researchers are centrally involved in the creation of this blend, and research that incorporates perspectives from both databases and machine learning will be of particular value in the bigger picture. This is true both for methodology and for theory. I present highlights of several research initiatives that draw jointly on database and statistical foundations, including work on concurrency control and distributed inference, subsampling, time/data tradeoffs and inference/privacy tradeoffs.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2745754.2745782
Labeling Implicit Computational Thinking in Pizza Pass Gameplay	Extended Abstracts of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems	Rowe, Elizabeth; Asbell-Clarke, Jodi; Baker, Ryan; Gasca, Santiago; Bardar, Erin; Scruggs, Richard	Players can build implicit understanding of challenging scientific concepts when playing digital science learning games [7]. In this study, we examine implicit computational thinking (CT) skills of 72 upper elementary and middle school students and 10 computer scientists playing a game called Pizza Pass. We report on the process of creating automated detectors to identify four CT skills from gameplay: problem decomposition, pattern recognition, algorithmic thinking, and abstraction. This paper reports on hand-labeled playback data obtaining acceptable inter-rater reliability and 100 gameplay features distilled from digital log data. In future work, we will mine these features to automatically identify the CT skills previously labeled by humans. These automated detectors of CT will be used to analyze gameplay data at scale and provide actionable feedback to teachers in real-time.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3170427.3188541
Assessing Computational Thinking Skills at First Stages of Schooling	Proceedings of the 2019 3rd International Conference on Education and E-Learning	Kalliopi, Kanaki; Michail, Kalogiannakis	Computational thinking has already been acknowledged as an important learning objective for all students in compulsory education. Our research interests focus on the assessment of fundamental computational thinking competencies, such as collection, organisation and analysis of data, algorithmic thinking and abstraction. For the needs of our research, we implemented the digital platform PhysGramming, which constitutes the backbone of a relevant assessment tool we have built. PhysGramming is developmentally appropriate for first and second grade primary school students and provides the opportunity to create their own digital games, transforming them from passive consumers to active creators of digital technology. The assessment tool has been applied to 450 students in the first and second grade of primary schools on Crete, Greece from February to June 2019. The research was conducted attuned to the ethical guidelines of educational research, within the framework of the physical and natural science courses and evolved around three axes: (a) Checking the validity and the reliability of the results that come out when applying the proposed assessment tool. (b) Designating the levels of computational thinking skills of students at first stages of schooling. (c) Checking the correlation between the levels of computational thinking skills and the comprehension of the lesson's content. In other words, we check whether high learning performance is a necessary and sufficient condition for diagnosing high levels of basic computational thinking skills. In this paper, we shortly describe the assessment tool we propose.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3371647.3371651
Integrating Computational Thinking into the Process of Learning Artificial Intelligence	Proceedings of the 2019 3rd International Conference on Education and Multimedia Technology	Shih, Wen-Chung	In recent years, computational thinking has once again received attention widely. Computational thinking is generally considered to be the ability to be acquired. However, this study is to use computational thinking as part of the learning method. In order to explore the application of computational thinking in teaching, this study first collected the main review papers, as well as the literature on the assessment of computational thinking, and examined their views. Then, this study proposes a learning method that integrates computational thinking into experiential learning theory and applies it to learning artificial intelligence techniques.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3345120.3345134
Increase of Confidence for the Solution of Problems in Preuniversity Students through Computational Thinking	Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality	Rojas-López, Arturo; García-Peñalvo, Francisco José	The paper describes the initial research on the integration of Computational Thinking, through the dissemination of skills and practice of exercises in a context of Gamification, within the framework of a pilot program called Apadrinamiento, aimed to students of high school who visit the facilities of the Universidad Tecnológica de Puebla, and that are considering studying in the Division of Information and Communication Technologies. The main objective is to increase the confidence of students in the solution of problems through the skills that exercise Computational Thinking. This report details the planning of the activities, the indicators to be measured and the scenarios where the interventions will be carried out that allow, in a second stage, the creation of strategies to avoid desertion. The main conclusion of the paper is to have created an academic strategy to benefit the understanding of pre-university students in the current computer world through the exercise of Computational Thinking.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3284179.3284187
Incorporating Computational Thinking in the Classrooms of Puerto Rico: How a MOOC Served as an Outreach and Recruitment Tool for Computer Science Education	Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Ordóñez Franco, Patricia; Carroll-Miranda, Joseph; López Delgado, María; Gerena López, Eliud; Rodríguez Gómez, Grace	This paper intends to share both the experience of teachers and document the research of the design, implementation, and evaluation of a massive open online course (MOOC). The primary purpose of the MOOC was to do outreach and build community to interest teachers from any discipline in Puerto Rico to incorporate Computational Thinking (CT) into their curriculum and peak their interest in Computer Science Education (CSE). Additional objectives were to use CT as a way to build self-efficacy in high school teachers as integrators of this newly gained knowledge while investigators learned the state of CSE and technology integration in schools of Puerto Rico. The MOOC titled Integrating Computational Thinking into the Curriculum was the first free online Professional Development offered to educators in Puerto Rico and has served as the launching board for the Computer Science Teachers' Association (CSTA) in Puerto Rico. This paper will describe the course's development, content and pertinent activities as they relate to the established goals of the project. Finally, it will share some vignettes of the educators' experiences as well as the results of a survey that was administered to 164 participants of the MOOC in its second rendition and had a 32% response rate.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3159450.3159544
CS1 Students' Understanding of Computational Thinking Concepts	J. Comput. Sci. Coll.	Qualls, Jake A.; Grant, Michael M.; Sherrell, Linda B.	This paper presents a small, multi-method case study conducted throughout the spring 2010 semester of CS1: Introduction to Computer Science at the University of Memphis. This study explored students' comprehension of three Computational Thinking concepts: algorithms, abstraction and efficiency. Results indicate that students understand and value the concept of the algorithm but are only beginning to understanding abstraction. In addition, student observations about efficiency represent the true focus of Computational Thinking, i.e., applying computer science concepts to other fields of study. Implications for teaching CS1 and for future research are also considered.
Training Teachers to Integrate Computational Thinking into K-12 Teaching	Proceedings of the 47th ACM Technical Symposium on Computing Science Education	Hodhod, Rania; Khan, Shamim; Kurt-Peker, Yesem; Ray, Lydia	Computational thinking (CT), which encompasses strategies for problem analysis and solution design, is highly applicable in all STEM disciplines, including computer science, for learning concepts as well as solving problems. Yet, the exposure of K-12 students to CT in many schools is practically non-existent. For students to acquire this important skill, teachers require in-depth knowledge of the problem solving strategies that define CT, and strategies for integrating CT into their lesson plans. The proposed special session will be both a tutorial on CT and an interactive session for sharing the experience and results from a CT workshop held at Columbus State University for middle and high school STEM subject teachers. This workshop, offered as a part of the ACT4STEM (Applying Computational Thinking for STEM Disciplines) project, took place in the summer of 2015. It brought together teachers from the metropolitan Columbus area in Georgia with priority given to teachers from high-need schools (as determined by the GA Department of Education [1]). The workshop introduced the participants to CT concepts and demonstrated how CT strategies of pattern recognition, generalization, problem decomposition and algorithmic thinking can be used to improve student learning of STEM concepts. The proposed special session will present sample CT modules developed for the ACT4STEM workshop in the form of a tutorial and projects and lesson plans designed by participants during the workshop. It will include interactive, hands-on activities and discussions in addition to results from the teachers' actual experiences on applying these lesson plans in their classes. This special session will benefit K12 teachers of STEM subjects interested in improving their students' comprehension of discipline related concepts and their application. Moreover, computer science faculty interested in helping K-12 teachers by organizing training sessions will gain valuable insights from the first-hand accounts of the presenters of their own experience with such an effort.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2839509.2844675
CodyColor: Design of a Massively Multiplayer Online Game to Develop Computational Thinking Skills	Extended Abstracts of the Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play Companion Extended Abstracts	Klopfenstein, Lorenz Cuno; Delpriori, Saverio; Maldini, Riccardo; Bogliolo, Alessandro	Computational thinking and coding-based problem solving are increasingly seen as crucial cross-disciplinary skills and an important part of a well-rounded education. Coding games and problem solving exercises have been growing in popularity. Many large-scale initiatives have been launched in order to bring these initiatives into classrooms, from preschool to secondary education. CodyColor is a simplified coding game, which takes basic programming instructions representing movements ("turn left" and "turn right") and represents them with color blocks. In contrast to most other coding games, color-coded programming relies on no symbolic interpretation on part of the player in order to be approachable by very young players as well. We present a massively multiplayer online version of CodyColor, discuss design and implementation specifics, and enumerate some of the possible game modes.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3341215.3356315
TACTOPI: A Playful Approach to Promote Computational Thinking for Visually Impaired Children	The 22nd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility	Abreu, Lúcia; Pires, Ana Cristina; Guerreiro, Tiago	The usage of playful activities is common in introductory programming settings. There is normally a virtual character or a physical robot that has to collect items or reach a goal within a map. Visually, these activities tend to be exciting enough to maintain children engaged: there is constant feedback about the actions being performed, and the virtual environments tend to be stimulating and aesthetically pleasant. Conversely, in adaptations for visually impaired children, these environments tend to become poorer, damaging the story at the cost of the programming actions and its dull mechanics (e.g., place a arrow block to move the character forward). In this paper, we present TACTOPI, a playful environment designed from the ground up to be rich in both its story (a nautical game) and its mechanics (e.g., a physical robot-boat controlled with a 3D printed wheel), tailored to promote computational thinking at different levels (4 to 8 years old). This poster intends to provoke discussion and motivate accessibility researchers that are interested in computational thinking to make playfulness a priority.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3373625.3418003
Computational Thinking Curriculum Development for Upper Elementary School Classes	Proceedings of the Tenth Annual Conference on International Computing Education Research	Hill, Charlotte	As computer science plays an increasingly large role in our lives, it is important to also move it into our classrooms. Computer science careers are among the fastest growing jobs, yet large groups of the population are severely underrepresented in computer science. Elementary school is a key time to introduce computer science or computational thinking because students are capable of programming and they will soon be deciding whether they see a future in the sciences. Including computational thinking as a part of the elementary school general education would give all children an introduction to the subject. In addition, elementary schools are looking for computational thinking material. We need appropriate, research-based tools and curricula for them to use.Unlike the natural sciences, computer science's domain is pliable. Through language and programming environments, developers can create new ways to represent computational thinking concepts. My research seeks 1) to understand how 4th through 6th grade students learn computational thinking, 2) to develop computational thinking learning progressions and curricula, and 3) to create a language and programming environment suitable for elementary school classes and teachers who do not have a computer science background.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2632320.2632327
Attractive Educational Robotics Motivates Younger Students to Learn Programming and Computational Thinking	Eighth International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality	Jormanainen, Ilkka; Tukiainen, Markku	Educational robotics and physical computing have proved to be good sources of motivation for students of all ages and school levels. We conducted a series of workshops in the primary schools of city of Joensuu in eastern Finland, focusing on training the fundamental computational thinking (CT) skills by using a programmable and interactive Teddy Bear toy. Educational robotics and physical computing devices have proved to be an efficient way to teach these skills regardless the students’ age group or previous background. To assess the students’ intrinsic motivation towards Teddy Bear programming, we devised a survey for workshop participants and conducted a statistical analysis to compare differences between the genders and age groups. The results of the large-scale empirical study (n=1440) show that the students at the age of 9-10 years (Grades 3-4) are significantly more motivated towards such a learning tool than the students of age 11-12 years (Grades 5-6). Furthermore, we show that especially young girls find the Teddy Bear programming motivating and they are eager to learn more. This indicates that appealing tools play a key role when teaching programming and CT concepts to young school children.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3434780.3436676
Evaluating Scratch Programs to Assess Computational Thinking in a Science Lesson (Abstract Only)	Proceedings of the 46th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Albert, Jennifer; Peddycord III, Barry; Barnes, Tiffany	In this poster, we describe efforts to assess computational thinking activities that can be easily implemented in any science classroom. Studies have shown that a set of conditions must be met for computational thinking tools to be used in K-12 education and that when they are used, there is a wide spectrum in the level of computational thinking that the tool enables. This study extends this work by examining how middle school students translated their science fair projects into Scratch and what evidence of computational thinking is present. Scrape, a tool designed to analyze Scratch projects was used. Overall, it was found that most students simply created a presentation of their project without much complexity. Eight students created interactive projects that required user participation and used more advanced computational concepts. Finally, recommendations are given for next steps in the creation of a series of activities that would scaffold student learning as they apply to computational thinking concepts of a science concept.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2676723.2691928
Exploring the Effect of a Robotics Laboratory on Computational Thinking Skills in Primary School Children Using the Bebras Tasks	Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality	Chiazzese, Giuseppe; Arrigo, Marco; Chifari, Antonella; Lonati, Violetta; Tosto, Crispino	This paper presents preliminary findings from a project-based learning laboratory of robotics aimed at stimulating computational thinking processes in primary school students. The laboratory was carried out within the context of an ongoing project funded by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research. The aim of the project is to activate a national network for the enhancement of students' technological and scientific skills in school and extra-school settings. A group of 51 students, engaged in the robotics laboratory, were compared to a comparison group of 32 students in order to evaluate the impact of programming WeDo robotics artefacts on the development of computational thinking skills. Overall, the results showed that programming robotics artefacts may exert positive effects on children's acquisition of computational thinking skills.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3284179.3284186
Crafting a National Cyberdefense, and Preparing to Support Computational Literacy	Commun. ACM	Arquilla, John; Guzdial, Mark	The Communications Web site, http://cacm.acm.org, features more than a dozen bloggers in the BLOG@CACM community. In each issue of Communications, we'll publish selected posts or excerpts.twitterFollow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/blogCACMhttp://cacm.acm.org/blogs/blog-cacmJohn Arquilla considers how we should interpret the alleged Russian cyberattack on the U.S. Presidential election; Mark Guzdial describes the potential benefits of a 'computing lab.'	https://doi.org/10.1145/3048379
Parallel Programming Course Development Based on Parallel Computational Thinking	Proceedings of ACM Turing Celebration Conference - China	Chen, Juan; Shen, Li; Yin, Jianping; Zhang, Chunyuan	Teaching and training for high-performance computing in our college could not catch up with HPC research level. Thus, it is imperative to promote teaching reform on parallel computing course in our college. Our first parallel programming course is mainly for the first-grade graduate students majoring in CS and related branches with no previous HPC training. The goal is to teach them basic parallel programming methods, parallel thinking and parallel problem solving methodology by coding on a real supercomputer; let the students learn some representative parallel application development issues and some big challenges in HPC by project practice. In this article, we will present our course design objective, principles, practical method and outcome. Particularly, programming practice methodology, project organization, incentive mechanism and assessment methods in project practice will be illustrated. Finally, we present some quantitative findings. According to the feedback, our first parallel programming course achieves the effectiveness on inspiring students' enthusiasm for programming and improving students' abilities for problem solving.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3210713.3210736
Let's Play! Music Improvisation as a Medium to Facilitate Computational Thinking	Proceedings of the 17th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research	Montero, Calkin Suero; Pihlainen, Kaisa	The current curricular changes across Europe towards the inclusion of computational thinking through coding in comprehensive schools have prompted new challenges for teachers that may not be confident nor have a scripted pedagogy to teach the core concepts, as well as for students that may have a negative bias towards such subjects. In this poster, we present our exploratory experiences using music improvisation as facilitation medium for presenting computational concepts to students, through a relaxed and anxiety-free atmosphere. We show the results of preliminary experiments in the wild, indicating that the emotional state of the participants is positively enhanced after a short section of music improvisation. Furthermore, we pose open questions to the CSE research community on the value of including short improvisation activities prior teaching programming concepts such as data, sequence, loops and conditionals, which are, oftentimes, perceived as difficult.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3141880.3141910
The Role of Evidence Centered Design and Participatory Design in a Playful Assessment for Computational Thinking About Data	Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Basu, Satabdi; Disalvo, Betsy; Rutstein, Daisy; Xu, Yuning; Roschelle, Jeremy; Holbert, Nathan	The K-12 CS Framework provides guidance on what concepts and practices students are expected to know and demonstrate within different grade bands. For these guidelines to be useful in CS education, a critical next step is to translate the guidelines to explicit learning targets and design aligned instructional tools and assessments. Our research and development goal in this paper is to design a playful, curriculum-neutral assessment aligned with the 'Data and Analysis' concept (grades 6-8) from the CS framework. Using Evidence Centered Design and Participatory Design, we present a set of assessment guidelines for assessing data and analysis, as well as a set of design considerations for integrating data and analysis across middle school curricula in CS and non-CS contexts. We outline these contributions, describe how they were applied to the development of a game-based formative assessment for data and analysis, and present preliminary findings on student understanding and challenges inferred from student gameplay.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3328778.3366881
ENGAGE: A Game-Based Learning Environment for Middle School Computational Thinking	Proceedings of the 46th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Boyer, Kristy; Buffum, Philip Sheridan; Culbertson, Kirby; Frankosky, Megan; Lester, James; Martinez-Arocho, Allison; Min, Wookhee; Mott, Bradford; Rodriguez, Fernando; Wiebe, Eric	We present ENGAGE, a game-based learning environment for teaching computational thinking to middle school students. This project has dual aims: introducing computational thinking practices to students at a young age, and improving computational thinking attitudes among underrepresented students. In pursuit of these two goals, the ENGAGE team has mapped the learning objectives of the AP CS Principles course to the middle school level, and then built an immersive game experience upon that foundation. Students choose computer scientist avatars to represent themselves, and then play in pairs as they investigate a data-related mystery in an underwater research station, solving computational thinking challenges along the way. ENGAGE is currently being implemented as part of a quarterly elective in four middle schools in North Carolina. During the elective, students spend a total of ten classroom sessions playing the game, supplemented by "unplugged" activities that reinforce concepts learned in the game environment. We plan to expand to more middle schools in the 2015-2016 school year. In this demo, members of the SIGCSE community will be able to experience the ENGAGE game for themselves and learn more about its development and future directions. We will also discuss our success in recruiting and teaching the ENGAGE curriculum to middle school teachers who had no prior computer science experience, and the success of those middle school teachers in implementing ENGAGE within their classrooms.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2676723.2691876
Digital Capital: A Platform for Developing Computational Thinking	Proceedings of the 17th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research	Vrieler, Tina	The introduction of computational thinking (CT) and computer science (CS) in the K-12 curricula highlights the need to understand young learners' various perceptions and attitudes towards CT and CS. To address this challenge we draw on the work of Bourdieu's capital and Archer et al.'s science capital to propose a new capital "digital capital" as a theoretical framework. We believe that a study on young people's development of digital capital is long overdue and can give a good indication of pupils' potential for developing CT skills, as well as CS aspirations in the future.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3141880.3143782
Beyond the Lab: Using Technology Toys to Engage South African Youth in Computational Thinking	Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems	Lin, Veronica; Shaer, Orit	We present a two-part case study to explore how technology toys can promote computational thinking for young children. First, we conducted a formal study using littleBits, a commercially available technology toy, to explore its potential as a learning tool for computational thinking in three different educational settings. Our findings revealed differences in learning indicators across settings. We applied these insights during a teaching project in Cape Town, South Africa, where we partnered with an educational NGO, ORT SA CAPE, to offer enriching learning opportunities for both privileged and impoverished children. We describe our methods, observations, and lessons learned using littleBits to teach computational thinking to children in early elementary school, and discuss how our lab study informed practical work in the developing world.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2851581.2851589
The Computational Puzzle Design Framework: A Design Guide for Games Teaching Computational Thinking	Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games	Jiang, Xina; Harteveld, Casper; Huang, Xinyuan; Fung, Anthony Y. H.	Games have been designed to foster children's computational thinking (CT) skills, which is widely recognized as a key ability that should be mastered in this computing-driven era. Because learning coding skills is cognitively difficult and uninvolving for novices and it is recommended to learn CT concepts first, many educational games have been developed to teach CT in a non-coding environment. However, despite the breadth of such games and the demand for it, little is known about how to design such games or why such games are designed in a particular way. To address this gap, this paper presents a design framework that describes the building blocks for developing (non-coding) gameplay elements in games teaching CT. The framework focuses specifically on computational problem-solving because this is where games can specifically aid with. We illustrate the design framework through LittleWorld, a mobile game that teaches CT concepts through insects.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3337722.3337768
CodeAttach: Engaging Children in Computational Thinking Through Physical Play Activities	Proceedings of the Fourteenth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction	Yu, Junnan; Zheng, Clement; Tamashiro, Mariana Aki; Gonzalez-millan, Christopher; Roque, Ricarose	Many toys and kits have been developed to help cultivate computational thinking in young children in the past decade. However, a majority of these kits ask children to move a robot/character around a limited space, constraining what could otherwise be generative and creative learning experiences into pre-defined activities and challenges with uniform outcomes. How can we expand what children can program and how they can create code? In this work, we present CodeAttach, a learning kit designed to engage young children in computational thinking through physical play activities. CodeAttach consists of three parts: (1) an interactive hardware device, (2) a mobile application to program the device, and (3) supporting materials for different play activities. With CodeAttach, children can attach the device to the supporting materials or other everyday objects to create their own props for physical play. The device offers different inputs and outputs and supports children to change the rules of existing physical activities or create new activities by programming this device. We outline the principles guiding the design of CodeAttach, its initial development process, and insights from early playtest with young kids and expert researchers.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3374920.3374972
Model-Based Thinking and Practice: A Top-down Approach to Computational Thinking	Proceedings of the 14th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research	Nowack, Palle; Caspersen, Michael E.	In this paper, we discuss using models and modeling in a new way to teach basic computing to pupils within the K-12 segment. We argue why we believe understanding and creating models are fundamental skills for all pupils as it can be characterized as the skill that enable us to analyze and understand phenomena as well as design and construct artifacts. We also try to characterize the essence of model-based thinking and practice. We propose that a strong focus on the relation between mental models (of real or imaginary systems) and computerized models (embedded in computer-based systems) could provide a new approach to teaching computing. This approach should clarify and make explicit the role of models in computing in connection with other subject areas. We believe that such an approach would strongly broaden the participation in computing, as it will allow more pupils to become active creators with computing.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2674683.2674686
Building Computational Creativity in an Online Course for Non-Majors	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Peteranetz, Markeya S.; Soh, Leen-Kiat; Ingraham, Elizabeth	In recent years, a growing number of universities have begun to offer specialized courses as a way to make computer science (CS) more accessible to students with little or no prior CS or programming experience, especially non-CS majors. One of the ways courses have been modified for these students is by supplementing the core problem solving and coding aspects of the curriculum with explicit instruction on computational thinking principles. These "computational thinking" courses are promising in that they ground computational thinking in discipline-specific contexts and emphasize application of computational principles. However, there is little empirical research evaluating the extent to which students learn computational thinking from these courses. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of an online Computational Creativity course on students' computational thinking skills, creative competencies, and self-efficacy. Students in the Computational Creativity course were predominantly non-CS majors, and they completed four Computational Creativity Exercises (CCEs) that have previously been shown to improve learning and achievement. Results indicate that the Computational Creativity course was effective in increasing students' computational thinking knowledge and self-efficacy for applying computational thinking in their fields, but it did not have an impact on students' creative competencies. Additionally, students' reactions to the course and the CCEs were mostly positive. Thus, this study provides initial evidence that non-CS majors can learn computational thinking through the online Computational Creativity course.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287346
Programming Embodied Interactions with a Remotely Controlled Educational Robot	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Merkouris, Alexandros; Chorianopoulos, Konstantinos	Contemporary research has explored educational robotics, but it has not examined the development of computational thinking in the context of programming embodied interactions. Apart from the goal of the robot and how the robot will interact with its environment, another important aspect that should be taken into consideration is whether and how the user will physically interact with the robot. We recruited 36 middle school students to participate in a six-session robotics curriculum in an attempt to expand their learning in computational thinking. Participants were asked to develop interfaces for the remote control of a robot using diverse interaction styles from low-level to high-level embodiment, such as touch, speech, and hand and full-body gestures. We measured students’ perception of computing, examined their computational practices, and assessed the development of their computational thinking skills by analyzing the sophistication of the projects they created during a problem-solving task. We found that students who programmed combinations of low embodiment interfaces or interfaces with no embodiment produced more sophisticated projects and adopted more sophisticated computational practices compared to those who programmed full-body interfaces. These findings suggest that there might be a tradeoff between the appeal and the cognitive benefit of rich embodied interaction with a remotely controlled robot. In further work, educational robotics research and competitions might be complemented with a hybrid approach that blends the traditional autonomous robot movement with student enactment.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3336126
Flipped Learning of Scratch Programming with Code.Org	Proceedings of the 2017 9th International Conference on Education Technology and Computers	Kim, Jeong Ah; Kim, Hee Jin	In this paper, we describe the effect of code.org as pre-class resources for flipped learning of Scratch programming education. Pre-class resources are very important for increase the outcome of the flipped learning. These days, there are so many open courseware about coding available for pre-class. The objectives of programming might be to increase the computational thinking for problem solving. In this research, we suggest that flipped learning is very good way to increase the computational thinking for problem solving and code.org is good resource for pre-class.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3175536.3175542
Using Children's Literature to Introduce Computing Principles and Concepts in Primary Schools: Work in Progress	Proceedings of the 14th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Twigg, Sarah; Blair, Lynne; Winter, Emily	With the recent paradigm shift in the teaching of computing and computational thinking skills, schools are engaging pupils as young as five in learning principles and concepts of programming. However, there are still many challenges within primary computing education, including the cost and availability of resources, and teachers' familiarity and/or confidence with these resources. In this paper, we offer an approach that develops a creative story-based pedagogy to address constraints such as these and facilitate the development of lesson plans supporting scaffolding and differentiation. Children's literature is used to introduce concepts such as pattern matching, abstraction and algorithms, along with the three main programming constructs of sequencing, repetition and selection. Through four stages of Read-Act-Model-Program (RAMP), we present a set of unplugged and Scratch-based activities and reflect on the potential impact of this educational opportunity to inspire an early interest in computing.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3361721.3362116
Graph Tasks in Bebras Contest: What Does It Have to Do with Gender?	Proceedings of the 6th Computer Science Education Research Conference	Budinská, Lucia; Mayerová, Karolína	Bebras contest has been part of Slovak informatics in schools for 10 years, making contestants familiar with information technologies, computer science concepts and improving their digital skills and computational thinking. In this article we take a look at task group which connects computer science concepts with computational thinking - graph tasks (for example trees, graphs, square grids, graph algorithms...). We focused on the three lowest categories of the Slovak contest, which include pupils of the whole primary school (aged 8 to 15) and analysed the tasks of the last four years. We used both qualitative and quantitative data analysis research methods. Task were divided into subcategories which were further analysed, focusing on identification of the specifics of the tasks in which there were significant differences between boys and girls. Using comparative analysis, it was found that boys are better in tasks with simple (relatively abstract) representation of the structure which is described by a larger amount of text, but the main point of the task is to identify the problem and create or uncover a strategy for finding a solution. Girls' performance is better in tasks that have less text, relatively more complicated representation of the structure and are focused on simple operations at graphs or reading them.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3162087.3162102
Can Majoring in Computer Science Improve General Problem-Solving Skills?	Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Salehi, Shima; Wang, Karen D.; Toorawa, Ruqayya; Wieman, Carl	Teaching students to become skillful problem solvers is a goal of university education, but it has been difficult to measure such skill or demonstrate the benefits of particular educational experiences. This paper presents a study of college students solving a problem unrelated to their academic majors. The analysis suggests that the educational experiences of Computer Science (CS) students may better train them in problem-solving than the experiences of other majors. In this study, students from a variety of undergraduate majors and grade levels were given a 15-minute problem-solving task embedded in an interactive science simulation. The complex task calls upon many problem-solving practices needed by scientists and engineers in their professions. Although this task has little resemblance to the problems encountered in a computer science course, CS students performed significantly better than students in any other major. In addition, only for CS students was there an indication of improvement in problem-solving from lower to upper grade levels. We propose that general problem-solving and computational thinking share some common practices, such as problem decomposition and comprehensive data collection. Furthermore, we present preliminary evidence that training in computational thinking is transferable to problem-solving tasks across domains and discuss how the unique features of CS programming assignments could be generalized to other science and engineering courses to foster students' general problem-solving skills.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3328778.3366808
Comprehending Code: Understanding the Relationship between Reading and Math Proficiency, and 4th-Grade CS Learning Outcomes	Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Salac, Jean; Thomas, Cathy; Twarek, Bryan; Marsland, William; Franklin, Diana	As many school districts nationwide continue to incorporate Computer Science (CS) and Computational Thinking (CT) instruction at the K-8 level, it is crucial that we understand the factors and skills, such as reading and math proficiency, that contribute to the success of younger learners in a computing curriculum and are typically developed at this age. Yet, little is known about the relationship between reading and math proficiency, and the learning of key CS concepts at the elementary level. This study focused on 4th-grade students (ages 9-10) who were taught events, sequence, and repetition through an adaptation of the Creative Computing Curriculum. While all students benefited from access to such a curriculum, there were statistically-significant differences in learning outcomes, especially between students whose reading and math proficiency are below grade-level, and students whose proficiency are at or above grade-level. This performance gap suggests the need for curricular improvement and learning strategies that are CS specific for students who struggle with reading and math.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3328778.3366822
Exploring Student Behavior Using the TIPP&SEE Learning Strategy	Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research	Franklin, Diana; Salac, Jean; Crenshaw, Zachary; Turimella, Saranya; Klain, Zipporah; Anaya, Marco; Thomas, Cathy	With the rise of Computational Thinking (CT) instruction at the elementary level, it is imperative for elementary computing instruction to support a variety of learners. TIPP&SEE is a meta-cognitive learning strategy that scaffolds student learning when learning from example code. Results from a previous study show statistically-significant performance differences favoring students using the TIPP&SEE strategy on a written assessment. In this work, our goal is gain insight as to it why such dramatic learning differences may have occurred. We analyze the students' computational artifacts and TIPP&SEE worksheets. Artifact analysis reveals that students in the TIPP&SEE group are more thorough in their work, completing more elements of the required tasks. In addition, they build open-ended projects with longer scripts that utilize more learned blocks. Worksheet analysis shows that students were highly accurate on some types of questions but largely skipped others. Despite these positive behaviors, there was little statistical correlation between student worksheet correctness, project completion, and written assessment performance. Therefore, while students in the TIPP&SEE group performed actions we believe lead to more success, no individual actions directly explain the results. Like other meta-cognitive strategies, the value of TIPP&SEE may lie in cognitive processes not directly observable, and may vary based upon individual student differences.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3372782.3406257
Developing Implementation Measures for K-12 Computer Science Curriculum Materials	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Rutstein, Daisy W.; Xu, Yuning; McElhaney, Kevin; Bienkowski, Marie	As K-12 computer science (CS) education initiatives scale throughout the U.S., researchers seek to understand the context-specific relationships between CS instruction and student learning. Evaluation of instruction requires valid measures of curriculum implementation. We have developed measures for identifying conditions for successful implementation of an introductory high school computer science curriculum along two-dimensions: teaching quality and curriculum enactment. Additionally, we have defined three types of instructional strategies for teaching quality. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected from 53 teachers through surveys and interviews. Data were aggregated and integrated to derive scaled measures for the instructional strategies and curriculum adaptation, and implementation measures were correlated with student end-of-unit assessment data. We found potential factors that can enhance or impede the successful implementation of CS curriculum materials, and we have identified several broad issues associated with scaling up CS curricular implementation.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287424
Teaching Computer Science in the Victorian Certificate of Education: A Pilot Study	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Cox, Richard; Bird, Steven; Meyer, Bernd	A new computer science curriculum has been developed for the Victorian Certificate of Education. It gives students direct entry into second year University computer science. The curriculum focuses on data structures and algorithms, with an emphasis on the graph abstract data type and graph algorithms. We taught a pilot course during 2014 involving students from seven schools, and administered an algorithmic thinking quiz on entry and exit, and also tested a first year university reference group. In this paper we present the curriculum and report on the evaluation. We discuss the effectiveness of our approach and make recommendations for improving future versions of the course. Pedagogical issues are discussed in relation to the cognitive education literature on the teaching of algorithmic thinking.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3017680.3017735
Kniwwelino: A Lightweight and WiFi Enabled Prototyping Platform for Children	Proceedings of the Twelfth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction	Maquil, Valérie; Moll, Christian; Schwartz, Lou; Hermen, Johannes	Nowadays, computational thinking skills are considered as fundamental for our future daily life and many initiatives and tools are created to foster these skills. In this paper, we present the Kniwwelino, a new platform for prototyping physical computing projects based on WiFi. The novelty of our solution lies in the use of a WiFi chip on a small, extendable board, programmable via a block based visual programming language, making the platform compact, low-cost, WiFi enabled, and accessible to children. This paper presents the design rationale and implementation of the platform as well as two simple, example projects making use of the new WiFi-based functionalities.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3173225.3173275
P12 Computing in Italy, England and Alabama, USA	Proceedings of the 21st Annual Conference on Information Technology Education	Maiorana, Francesco; Csizmadia, Andrew P.; Richards, Gretchen M.	It is recognized that Computing requires many competencies covering a wide range of domains exhibiting an impressive changing rate. This paper examines three primary competencies, which are: 1) Algorithms, Programming, Data, and Computational Thinking (CT); 2) Networks, Internet and Security; and 3) Ethics. Due to the standards and relationship of competences, the authors categorized, algorithms, programming, data and CT together. Thus, we leveraged national guidelines in Italy, mandatory national computing curriculum in England, and state guidelines in Alabama, USA in conjunction with ACM computing frameworks. The primary lessons learned from comparing computing curricula, and implications for implementing computing education curriculum are discussed.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3368308.3415376
Historical High School Computer Science Curriculum and Current K-12 Initiatives	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Floyd, Steven Paul	It's an exciting time in computer science education on the K-12 landscape. Educational jurisdictions around the world are incorporating computer science concepts, as well as related computational thinking components, into their mandatory, K-12 curriculum. As we develop and implement curriculum initiatives with an eye on the future and the 21st century learner and citizen, what wisdom can we gleam from the past? In Ontario, Canada computer science education dates back to 1966 with the release of the Ministry of Education's Data Processing course that included a number of computer science and computer programming concepts and ideas. The document also frames computer education within the context of an emerging field and highlights the importance of students developing appropriate computer skills in order to thrive in the labor market and society. While we often consider computer science curriculum initiatives in K-12 education nascent, are important historical policy and initiatives being overlooked? This lightning talk shares preliminary findings from an analysis of five historical computer science curriculum documents. Grounded theory was used to discover emergent themes and concepts apparent in historical documents including ethical computing, the role of technology in society, and the cross-curricular nature of computer science skills. These preliminary findings inform the discussion surrounding the use of historical curriculum to establish best practice in existing curriculum and policy development.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3293772
Practical Thinking in Programming Education	Proceedings of the 17th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research	von Hausswolff, Kristina	Students are nowadays being introduced to the digital age as part of their formal education. This includes practical programming skills as well as more conceptual thinking tools developed in the discipline of computer science, sometimes denoted Computational Thinking (CT). The connection between CT and doing programming is sometimes thought of as the connection between theory and practice. The pragmatic thinker Dewey embraced practice in learning and argued that learning and knowing always come from experiencing the world. According to this view, there are no epistemological differences between theory and practice. In computer programming the student's active learning in the form of physical motor movement is important. Using the pragmatic way of analyzing learning to program puts a focus on the situated thinking during the practical programming, which relates to theories about CT. This research is focusing on the practical hands-on part of novice programming and in this aims at getting insights about factors important when learning to program that could inform teachers in the Computer Science classroom.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3141880.3143780
What If Your Project's Timeline is a 100 Years? Reflections on Computational Literacies	Proceedings of the 2017 Conference on Interaction Design and Children	diSessa, Andrea A.	What could it mean to have a project with goals that take decades or even a century to realize? In this talk, I reflect on my own intention to work toward a genuinely new and deep literacy-computational literacy–which I would place in eventual impact about halfway between algebra/calculus (as a literacy) and the root prototype, mass literacy centered on written text.I start by explaining what I mean by computational literacy and what experiences have concretized it for me and made it an attractive and plausible goal. Because of its nature as a cultural phenomenon, a literacy can only be achieved by a long and meandering path of social genesis. I illustrate the nature of such development with phenomena-cultural memes, movements, sensitivities, and values (MMSVs)–as they influence development. Example MMSVs include "computational thinking" as construed by the computer science community, and the widespread current popularity of "coding academies." Finally, I position some of the best modern allies in the quest for computational literacy–such as constructionism and computer modeling–in what I take to be the larger frame: the development of a true computational literacy.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3078072.3078075
LP Based Integration of Computing and Science Education in Middle Schools	Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Global Computing Education	Zhang, Yuanlin; Wang, Jianlan; Bolduc, Fox; Murray, William G.	There is a consensus on integrating computing with STEM teaching in K-12. However, very little is known about the integration. In this paper, we propose a novel framework for integrating science and computational thinking teaching using Logic Programming. We then develop and implement two 8-session integration modules on chemistry and physics for 6th and 7th graders. Pre- and post- tests, class observations and interviews show the feasibility of the framework in terms of 1) development and implementation of the modules, and 2) the students' learning outcomes on science content and Computational Thinking, and their acceptance of the integration.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3300115.3309512
Computing in the Arts: Curricular Innovations and Results	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	McCauley, Renée; Manaris, Bill; Heise, David; Sheller, Cate; Jolley, Jennifer; Zaring, Alan	Computing in the Arts (CITA) is an innovative, interdisciplinary curriculum model which integrates computer science and information technology with traditional art theory and practice. At the College of Charleston, implementation of an undergraduate CITA degree program resulted in an increase in the number of female and minority students pursuing computing-related degrees. [14] With the support of the National Science Foundation (DUE 1323605) and two partner institutions, we are building a community of educators who are creating innovative instructional materials that synthesize computing and the arts. Three faculty summer workshops (Wake Forest University in 2014, College of Charleston in 2015, and University of North Carolina at Asheville in 2016) involved over 70 computer science and arts faculty from across the U.S. What has emerged are various ways of synthesizing computer science and arts, including creation of new synthesis courses, modifications to traditional computing courses, development of new CITA-like curricula, design of CITA-like project experiences for undergrads, and other creative endeavors combining computer science techniques and traditional art practices and theory. During the session, we will discuss steps involved in moving forward and keeping this community growing. The session will involve audience participation, including exchanges between the session presenters and other audience members. The goal is to share our results, hear about results from other non-presenting colleagues, and to continue to grow the teaching of computer science and computational thinking to the arts and humanities masses, as well as to further enrich traditional computer science courses with creative applications, assignments, and projects.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3017680.3017807
Designing Block-Based Programming Language Features to Support Upper Elementary Students in Creating Interactive Science Narratives	Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Smith, Andy; Mott, Bradford; Taylor, Sandra; Hubbard Cheuoua, Aleata; Minogue, James; Oliver, Kevin; Ringstaff, Cathy	Recent years have seen a growing recognition of the importance of enabling K-12 students to engage in computational thinking, particularly in elementary grades where students' dispositions toward STEM are developing. Block-based programming has emerged as an effective tool for engaging these novice learners in computational thinking. At the same time, digital storytelling has emerged as a promising avenue for creating motivating problem-solving scenarios that engage students in science investigations. Although block-based programming and digital storytelling are in many ways synergistic, there is a lingering question of how to design block-based languages at an age-appropriate level to enable effective and engaging storytelling. In this work, we review design principles from prior block-based and digital storytelling systems as well as propose the design of block-based programming language features to enable the creation of rich, interactive science narratives by upper elementary students.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3328778.3372653
Playfully Coding: Embedding Computer Science Outreach in Schools	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Dee, Hannah; Cufi, Xefi; Milani, Alfredo; Marian, Marius; Poggioni, Valentina; Aubreton, Olivier; Rabionet, Anna Roura; Rowlands, Tomi	This paper describes a framework for successful interaction between universities and schools. It is common for computing academics interested in outreach (computer science evangelism) to work with local schools, particularly in countries where the computing curriculum in K-12 is new or underdeveloped. However it is rare for these collaborations to be ongoing, and for resources created through these school-university links to be shared beyond the immediate neighborhood. We have achieved this, through shared resources, careful evaluation, and cross-country collaboration. The activities themselves are inspired by ideas from the Lifelong Kindergarten group at MIT, emphasizing playful exploration of computational concepts and interdisciplinary working.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3059009.3059038
DIVAS: Outreach to the Natural Sciences through Image Processing	Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Meysenburg, Mark; Durham Brooks, Tessa; Burks, Raychelle; Doyle, Erin; Frey, Timothy	The DIVAS (Digital Imaging and Vision Applications in Science) project addresses workforce challenges in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics by creating a pedagogical and programmatic "on-ramp" that empowers natural science majors to engage in authentic computational problems as members of skilled, professional teams. We are developing and testing institutional practices and curricular innovations that engage and train STEM undergraduate students to use Python programming, and image processing in particular, in their undergraduate research projects. Students are recruited into the DIVAS program in the first semester of their first year. DIVAS scholars and other participating students can experience a variety of interventions including: 1) a one-credit DIVAS seminar exploring several imaging and computing topics; 2) image capture and analysis modules in introductory- or upper-level biology and chemistry courses; 3) a week-long, intensive coding bootcamp that introduces bash, git, Python programming, and the OpenCV image processing library; 4) pair programming exercises to solve genuine morphometric and colorimetric problems; 5) an extended summer research project involving image processing; and 6) weekly code reviews to check on progress and provide guidance. The DIVAS projects measures the impact of these interventions on students' self-reported efficacy in using computation to solve problems, their attitudes towards computation, and their computational thinking skills, using both established and newly developed instruments. Our first year results show that multiple interventions have had significant positive impact on students' self-efficacy and interest in using computing in their future careers, and certain computational thinking skills.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3159450.3159537
Demystifying Computing with Magic, Part III	Proceedings of the 47th ACM Technical Symposium on Computing Science Education	Garcia, Daniel D.; Ginat, David	One man's "magic" is another man's engineering. – Robert A. HeinleinSome beginning students have fuzzy mental models of how the computer works, or worse, sincerely believe that the computer works unpredictably, "by magic". We seek to demystify computing for these students using analogy, by showing them something that even magic itself isn't really mystical, it is just computation. This is a continuation of our standing-room only SIGCSE 2012 and SIGCSE 2013 special sessions.Magic is one of the most colorful examples of "unplugged" (i.e., without-computer, active learning) activities. It adds a unique facet in that it holds a hidden secret that the audience can be challenged to unfold. Once solved, students are often enthusiastic to perform the magic in front of others. In this session, we will share a variety of new magic tricks whose answer is grounded in computer science: modulo arithmetic, human-computer interfaces, algorithms, binary encoding, invariants, etc. For each trick, we will have an interactive discussion of its underlying computing fundamentals, and tips for successful showmanship. Audience participation will be critical, for helping us perform the magic, discussing the solution, and contributing other magic tricks.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2839509.2844679
Instructional Design + Knowledge Components: A Systematic Method for Refining Instruction	Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Gusukuma, Luke; Bart, Austin Cory; Kafura, Dennis; Ernst, Jeremy; Cennamo, Katherine	This paper reports on a systematic method used to improve an existing unit of instruction. The method is distinctive in combining steps of instructional design with "knowledge components" from a cognitively-based framework of learning. Instructional design is used to develop assessment instruments that incorporate information about student misconceptions. The method uses the assessment instruments to evaluate student performance and learning gains, while statistical analysis evaluates the quality of the instruments themselves using measures of difficulty and discrimination. Fine-grain insight into possible improvements is enabled by the knowledge components implicated by the assessment. The method is illustrated and evaluated by applying it to a unit of instruction on collection-based iteration in a computational thinking class. Data gathered during this evaluation highlights a number of opportunities within the unit to refine the instruction.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3159450.3159478
ARCat: A Tangible Programming Tool for DFS Algorithm Teaching	Proceedings of the 18th ACM International Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Deng, Xiaozhou; Wang, Danli; Jin, Qiao; Sun, Fang	In this paper we present ARCat, a tangible programming tool designed to help children learn Depth First Search (DFS) algorithm with augmented reality (AR) technology. With this tool, children could use tangible programming cards to control a search process, rather than control virtual characters directly. With the special design of card semantics and real-time feedback, the cognitive load of the learning process had been proved to be affordable to children (ages 8-9) with the result of our preliminary evaluation, which shows the possibility of basic algorithm education for young children with tangible interface.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3311927.3325308
Statistical Evidence of the Correlation between Mental Ability to Compute and Student Performance in Undergraduate Courses	Proceedings of the 17th ACM Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Oliveira, Osvaldo Luiz	In recent years, many studies have suggested the hypothesis that mental ability to compute is essential for many activities and is as fundamental as reading, writing and arithmetic. This work provides mathematical arguments to verification of this hypothesis. Assuming a precise statement of what is to compute, based on the model of computation "Turing Machine", we found experimentally the existence of a correlation, statistically significant, between mental ability to compute and student performance in four different university courses.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2325296.2325326
Creation and Validation of Low-Stakes Rubrics for K-12 Computer Science	Proceedings of the 23rd Annual ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Cateté, Veronica; Lytle, Nicholas; Barnes, Tiffany	With increased numbers of K-12 computing courses, we also see an increase in teachers new to the subject, making it difficult for them to properly assess student programming assignments. Many of these teachers require project-specific rubrics to help assess student learning. Researchers have attempted to create systematic, validated, and reliable rubrics for these courses with only minor success. In this research, we make an argument for the validity of our low-stakes computing rubrics. In doing so, we establish a validated method for creating a full-suite of project-based rubrics for K-12 computing courses, helping teachers, researchers, and practitioners make much-needed course materials. Evaluating these rubrics, we see grader consistency as well as heatmaps of where teachers are looking for computational thinking concepts in code.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3197091.3197134
Adaption of RoboSTEAM Project to the Pandemic Situation	Eighth International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality	Conde, Miguel Ángel; Rodríguez-Sedano, Francisco; Fernández, Camino; Ramos, Maria-João; Alves, Jonny; Celis-Tena, Susana; Gonçalves, José; Lima, Jose; Reimann, Daniela; Jormanainen, Ilkka; García-Peñalvo, Francisco José	COVID pandemic has changed the way in which we carry out our daily life and also have affected educational processes. Teaching and learning have changed from a most common face to face context to a blended or online context. This implies changes in the way to carry out the activates and have an impact in research projects such as RoboSTEAM. Such project, that applies Challenge Based Learning methodologies with application of Robotics and Mechatronics, requires to change its approach to show how it is possible to succeed in the new situation. This paper describes how the project has evolved, how it has been affected by COVID and the possible changes to carry out. Regarding this last issue remote labs and online tools are presented as solutions to support changes in the application of challenge-based learning methodology.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3434780.3436620
Diverse Learners, Diverse Courses, Diverse Projects: Learning from Challenges in New Directions	Proceedings of the 45th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Astrachan, Owen; Osborne, Rebecca Brook; Lee, Irene; Beth, Bradley; Gray, Jeff		https://doi.org/10.1145/2538862.2538991
Computer Science Principles: Impacting Student Motivation & Learning Within and Beyond the Classroom	Proceedings of the 2016 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research	Behnke, Kara Alexandra; Kos, Brittany Ann; Bennett, John K.	The Computer Science (CS) Principles framework seeks to broaden student participation and diversity in the field by focusing on the creative and social aspects of computing. As the pilot effort undergoes its early execution phases, this research contributes to the theoretical and practical application of CS Principles. We investigated the impact of CS Principles on student motivation and learning outcomes and sought to determine if the pedagogy created any lasting change on student perceptions of CS as a field of practice.We report a case study of how CS Principles created an effective framework for introducing undergraduate students to the fundamentals of computer science. We discuss how Self-Determination Theory instantiates Self-Directed Learning, Constructionist, and Connectivist learning theories, which can be used to inform the pedagogical framework. Quantitative and qualitative measures were used to assess the impact of CS Principles on student motivation and learning outcomes, followed by an additional surveying of students one year after the completion of the course.Results indicate that CS Principles facilitated positive programming experiences for students, helped increase learning interest and improve attitudes of CS as a field of study, positively changed perceptions of CS as a creative practice, and also encouraged students to continue learning CS after the course had finished. In particular, many non-majority students in the course self-reported to having positive changes and attitudes about CS explicitly because of the course. These finding suggest that CS Principles is a step in the right direction for creating more engaging and compelling curricula to diverse groups of students, especially those with minimal experience and exposure in the field. We discuss opportunities for future work using the selected theoretical framework for CS Principles.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2960310.2960336
Code Crafters Curriculum: A Textile Crafts Approach To Computer Science (Abstract Only)	Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Wolz, Ursula; Charles, Gwen; Feire, Laura; Nicolson, Elanor	Broadening participation in computing invites a diverse constituency into a traditional computing culture. This workshop provides a novel perspective: skills that are often labeled 'women's work' are the foundational principles of computer science developed from textile crafts. The 'Code Crafters' curriculum, which expands Andrea Mayer's Snap-based TurtleStitch embroidery programming project, is being successfully taught in 3 ways: as a full semester undergraduate course, as a weeklong summer workshop for middle and high school students, and as a half day event. The SIGCSE workshop will introduce participants to potential adaptations of this curriculum, report on its use as both a CS 0, and CS 1 course, and give participants hands-on experience in designing and rendering a machine embroidery pattern in TurtleStitch and Processing Stitch (Java). Key concepts from the full semester curriculum will be demonstrated: (1) crocheting is a vehicle for learning about primitive operations instruction codes for process control, and reading and writing patterns (algorithms); (2) programing machine embroidery provides exposure to agile design; (3) contrasting embroidery with quilting provides experience in abstraction and reuse; (4) weaving and tapestry provide concrete illustrations of manipulating two dimensional data structures; (5) studying embroidery machine file formats demonstrates how language translation takes place; (6) sharing a limited resource (a $500 programmable, single thread embroidery machine) provides concrete experience in scheduling, and product testing; (7) collaborative crochet and quilted projects provide experience in team dynamics. Participants should bring a laptop, and will be invited to join an online community of mutual support.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3159450.3162360
Discovering Logic through Comics	Proceedings of the 16th Annual Joint Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Cervesato, Iliano	This paper describes a new experimental course introduced in the Spring of 2010 at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar. Discovering Logic is an introduction to logic for Computer Science majors in their freshman year. It targets students who have had little or no exposure to logic and has the primary objective of 1) preparing them for sophomore classes which require proficiency with understanding formal statements expressed in English, elementary reasoning skills, and a sense of mathematical rigor. The course is structured as to achieve two additional objectives: 2) develop the students' communication skills, and 3) give them some historical depth into Computer Science and logic. This led to a somewhat unconventional approach that used a comic book, Logicomix, as the course textbook and that empowered the students to be active agents in the learning process through presentations and numerous open discussions. Preliminary analysis hints at an improved performance in follow-up courses, indicating that it may be achieving its primary objective.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1999747.1999778
AP CS Principles and The Beauty and Joy of Computing Curriculum (Abstract Only)	Proceedings of the 47th ACM Technical Symposium on Computing Science Education	Garcia, Daniel D.; Barnes, Tiffany; Ball, Michael; Biga, Emil; Paley, Josh; Hill, Marnie; Mattix, Nathan; Safa, Parisa; Morris, Sean; Kenner, Shawn	The Beauty and Joy of Computing (BJC) is a CS Principles (CSP) course developed at UC Berkeley, intended for high school juniors through university non-majors. It was twice chosen as a CSP pilot, and both the College Board and code.org have endorsed it. Since 2011, we have offered professional development to over 240 high school teachers. Our guiding philosophy is to meet students where they are, but not to leave them there. It covers the big ideas and computational thinking practices required in the AP CSP curriculum framework using an easy-to-learn blocks-based programming language called Snap! (based on Scratch), and powerful computer science ideas like recursion, higher-order functions and computability. Through the course, students learn to create beautiful images, and realize that code itself can be beautiful. Having fun is an explicit course goal. We take a "lab-centric" approach, and much of the learning occurs through guided programming labs that ask students to explore and play. In this workshop, we will provide an overview of BJC, share our experiences as instructors of the course at the university and high school level, provide a glimpse into a typical week of the course, and share details of potential crowd-funded summer professional development opportunities. This is a hands-on workshop. Laptops are required, and all "handouts" will be digital.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2839509.2844714
Competencies of High School Teachers and Training Needs for Computer Science Education	Proceedings of the 6th Computer Science Education Research Conference	Gülbahar, Yasemin; Kalelioğlu, Filiz	The computer science discipline is evolving with problems in both technological and pedagogical aspects almost worldwide. With the advent of new technologies and approaches for teaching programming at all ages, many countries including Turkey have revised their computer science curriculum. These revisions have resulted in serious training needs being highlighted for teachers with inadequate competencies to meet the expected learning outcomes. Hence, the purpose of this study was to explore; (a) the self-perceived competencies of teachers about the topics in the curriculum, (b) perceptions about programming, programming tools and approaches, and (c) contribution of university education to their teaching profession. The findings revealed that most teachers believe they are not sufficiently competent to be an effective computer science teacher. Related to this finding, most of them especially mentioned their training needs for programming, emerging tools and technologies. Plus more than half of the participants think that the higher education curriculum is inadequate to meet teacher expectations and to create competent teachers.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3162087.3162092
Cyberspace Meets Brick and Mortar: An Investigation into How Students Engage in Peer to Peer Feedback Using Both Cyberlearning and Physical Infrastructures	Proceedings of the Fifteenth Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Basawapatna, Ashok R.; Repenning, Alexander	Cyberlearning infrastructures are increasingly being integrated into physical classrooms and are often used by online classes as an outright replacement for the physical classroom. In Spring 2009, The Educational Game Design Class, taught at the University of Colorado Boulder, employed a cyberlearning infrastructure enabling students to run and even download classmate assignment submissions before the homework deadline. This cyberlearning infrastructure, called the Scalable Game Design Arcade, also allowed students to give feedback on other students' assignments. Analysis of data from the Scalable Game Design Arcade indicates that students used the online infrastructure to play and appraise fellow students' games. Interestingly however, data suggests that most students preferred to give feedback verbally in-person during class; data also indicates that in-class feedback was the most effective in terms of getting students to improve and resubmit their assignments.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1822090.1822143
Blended Making: Multi-Interface Designs and e-Crafting with Elementary and Middle School Youth	Proceedings of the 17th ACM Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Richard, Gabriela T.; Giri, Sagun; McKinley, Zachary; Ashley, Robert William	Past efforts have demonstrated efficacy in broadening maker learning and participation by leveraging the material affordances and implicit presumptions associated with content creation tools. Past work has found that the purposeful integration of activities that blend multiple toolkits to create integrated designs [17;19;20] can both broaden the understanding of these affordances and demonstrate equitable and inclusive outcomes for adolescent youth. We illustrate early stage findings from an interaction analysis of the micro- and meso-level learning and collaborative processes that children and early adolescent learners engaged in throughout purposefully arranged multi-interface design projects to understand their agency and engagement over time and across activities.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3202185.3210798
The Role of Researcher-Practitioner Partnerships in CS4All: Lessons from the Field	Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Dettori, Lucia; Yanek, Don; Hu, Helen; Brylow, Dennis		https://doi.org/10.1145/3159450.3159626
Computational Design	Ubiquity	Denning, Peter J.	Computational thinking refers to a deliberative process that finds a computational solution for a concern. Computational doing refers to use of computation and computational tools to address concerns. Computational design refers to creating new computational tools and methods that are adopted by the members of a community to address their concerns. Unfortunately, the definitions of both "thinking" and "doing" are fuzzy and have allowed misconceptions about the nature of algorithms. Fortunately, it is possible to eliminate the fuzziness in the definitions by focusing on computational design, which is at the intersection between thinking and doing. Computational design is what we are really after and would be a good substitute for computational thinking and doing.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3132087
Programming Driven 3D Modeling on the Web	Proceedings of the 22nd International Conference on 3D Web Technology	Yeh, Andy	This paper introduces an online 3D modeling environment named VRMath2 and discusses its applications. VRMath2 utilises a Logo programming language with a set of extended 3D primitives, to create 3D contents (in HTML5 format) in most modern web browsers. The 3D contents are rendered by X3DOM and VRMath2 can then export and publish the 3D contents in X3D format onto web pages. VRMath2 is an educational application and was originally designed for learning about 3D geometry. After the development in the last four years, its applications have now included science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education, largely due to its nature of programming driven 3D modeling.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3055624.3075953
Unplugged Computing and Semantic Waves: Analysing Crazy Characters	Proceedings of the 1st UK & Ireland Computing Education Research Conference	Waite, Jane; Maton, Karl; Curzon, Paul; Tuttiett, Lucinda	We explore how Legitimation Code Theory, and, in particular, semantic waves, provides a useful way to understand what makes unplugged computing activities effective (or not) in the classroom. We overview the theory, discuss how it applies to unplugged activities, and describe a case study where we apply it to a specific, widely used, unplugged activity. In particular, we show that the published lesson plan follows a semantic wave. We suggest that semantic waves are useful both in developing and reviewing lesson plans around unplugged (and other) computing activities. They also have great potential in teacher training and continuous professional development of computing teachers.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3351287.3351291
How Pupils Classify Digital Artifacts	Proceedings of the 12th Workshop on Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Diethelm, Ira; Brinda, Torsten; Schneider, Nina	The perception and previous knowledge of pupils are an essential but rarely explored part of the arrangement of computer science education. Most pupils use computers, smartphones and the Internet on a daily basis and develop their own understandings of them, but these conceptions are hardly integrated in their education. According to the idea of educational reconstruction, the pupils' processes of learning will be supported and made easier and their cognitive representations of the subject matter will get more interconnected and applicable, if their understandings are included in the educational processes. Therefore, we adopted an early study from biology education and investigated how 386 German pupils of different school types arranged, categorized and distinguished 23 terms related to the digital world (eg. "computer", "mobile phone", "Facebook"). We also asked, if any of the terms does not belong to the other terms in the opinion of each respondent, and found that robots and 3D were the most frequent terms not to belong to any of the others.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3137065.3137079
The Baffling CS Notions of "as-If" and "Don't-Care"	Proceedings of the 41st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Ginat, David	The notions of "as if" and "don't care" are essential notions in computational thinking. The former appears in the reformulation of tasks, reduction between tasks, auxiliary variables, and more. The latter is the core of non-determinism, asynchronous execution, and arbitrary choices in deterministic algorithms. The two notions are not intuitive, and require abstraction. We expect computer science (CS) graduates, who developed computational thinking during their studies, to demonstrate comprehension of these notions. Unfortunately, this may not be the case. In this paper we present a study of CS graduates, which reveals difficulties of limited comprehension and acceptance of these notions. We characterize the difficulties, relate them to cognitive aspects of abstraction, and offer some didactic suggestions.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1734263.1734393
Story Programming: Explaining Computer Science Before Coding	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Parham-Mocello, Jennifer; Ernst, Shannon; Erwig, Martin; Shellhammer, Lily; Dominguez, Emily	Story Programming is an approach for teaching complex computational and algorithmic thinking skills using simple stories anyone can relate to. One could learn these skills independent of a computer or with the use of a computer as a tool to interact with the computation in the tale. This research study examines the use of Story Programming before teaching coding in a computer science orientation course to determine if it is a viable alternative to the code-focused way of teaching the class in the past. We measure the viability of the Story Programming approach by evaluating student-success and learning outcomes, as well as student reactions to post-survey questions.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287397
Tuk Tuk: A Block-Based Programming Game	Proceedings of the 2017 Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Koracharkornradt, Chonnuttida	Studying computer programming helps children develop computational thinking, a problem-solving methodology that can be transferred to solve everyday problems. Additionally, exposing children to an advanced computational concept of search algorithm allows them to see how different problem-solving techniques are designed to tackle more challenging tasks, and improve their ability to solve problems. We present a block-based programming game called Tuk Tuk for children in kindergarten level (junior version), and elementary and middle school level (standard version). With Tuk Tuk, learners create a computer program in a block-based language to control a car to complete a given task, earn money, reach the next level, and unlock new coding blocks. By completing each task, learners will learn important computational concepts and algorithms, a basis of computational thinking, such as conditionals, iterations, depth-first search (DFS) and breadth-first search (BFS).	https://doi.org/10.1145/3078072.3091990
Bringing Algorithms to Flemish Classrooms: Teaching the Teachers, and Some Students	Proceedings of the 12th Workshop on Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Martens, Bern; Demoen, Bart; Karpez, Febe; Vandenhove, Dorien; Van Loon, Kristien	Computer science (CS) is currently not yet part of the official curriculum imposed by the Flemish government for secondary education. However, an increasing number of schools offer the topic, or elements of it, in a "free" course, especially in grades 7 and 8, and also in scientific and/or technical profiles in grades 9 to 12. The teachers who develop and teach these courses usually do so with great effort and enthusiasm, but a limited background in CS. The universities of Leuven, Gent and Hasselt, are organising several series of workshops in which teachers' skills and knowledge on Physical Computing and Algorithms are enhanced during in-service training. The approach taken is presented, as well as the results of a small scale teaching experiment on algorithmics in grade 12, and plans for future activities and research in this area.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3137065.3137070
Which Computing-Related Conceptions Do Learners Have About the Design and Operation of Smartphones? Results of an Interview Study	Proceedings of the 12th Workshop on Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Brinda, Torsten; Braun, Friederike	Smartphones have had a rapid rise. From the first affordable mobile phones to modern high-tech devices, they have become ever more complex and increasingly popular. In 2016, almost 100% of the 12 to 19 years-old youths in Germany owned a smartphone and used it regularly. Considering their large impact on adolescents' lives, smartphones are uniquely suited to be analyzed as examples of socio-technical computing systems in secondary computing education. Moreover, they play an increasing role in digital media education in all school subjects. There is however, among other things, a lack of scientific work covering learners' conceptions of smartphones needed for learner-centered computing education with and about smartphones. This article describes an explorative study that investigated secondary school learners' conceptions in the context of smartphones. A first overview of existing conceptions regarding selected aspects of smartphones was derived from eight semi-structured interviews.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3137065.3137075
Sonification Blocks: A Block-Based Programming Environment For Embodied Data Sonification	Proceedings of the 2017 Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Atherton, Jack; Blikstein, Paulo	High school students often struggle to find the motivation to learn to program. Music can be a powerful motivator for these students, but existing tools that combine music production with programming often fail to meaningfully engage students with core computer science concepts. Sonification Blocks was created to shift the focus back toward big ideas in programming. Sonification Blocks is a programming language for data sonification, the process of creating audio algorithms and controlling them with streams of data. Its implementation as a block-based language with clear, interactive data visualizers allows high-school-aged learners to develop computational literacy. Furthermore, the act of manipulating sound parameters with data streams that are controlled through body motion may help connect learners with powerful ideas in programming and data science.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3078072.3091992
The Effect of Reading Code Aloud on Comprehension: An Empirical Study with School Students	Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Global Computing Education	Swidan, Alaaeddin; Hermans, Felienne	In recent times, programming is increasingly taught to younger students in schools. While learning programming is known to be difficult, we can lighten the learning experience of this age group by adopting pedagogies that are common to them, but not as common in CS education. One of these pedagogies is Reading Aloud (RA), a familiar strategy when young children and beginners start learning how to read in their natural language. RA is linked with a better comprehension of text for beginner readers. We hypothesize that reading code aloud during introductory lessons will lead to better code comprehension. To this end, we design and execute a controlled experiment with the experimental group participants reading the code aloud during the lessons. The participants are 49 primary school students between 9 and 13 years old, who follow three lessons in programming in Python. The lessons are followed by a comprehension assessment based on Bloom's taxonomy. The results show that the students of the experimental group scored significantly higher in the Remembering-level questions compared to the ones in the control group. There is no significant difference between the two groups in their answers to the Understanding-level questions. Furthermore, the participants in both groups followed some of the instructed vocalizations more frequently such as the variable's assignment (is). Vocalizing the indentation spaces in a for -loop was among the least followed. Our paper suggests that using RA for teaching programming in schools will contribute to improving code comprehension with its effect on syntax remembering.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3300115.3309504
Problem Solving to Teach Advanced Algorithms in Heterogeneous Groups	Proceedings of the 23rd Annual ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Bouchez-Tichadou, Florent	It is notoriously difficult to teach heterogeneous groups. In this article I describe my experience in teaching high-level algorithms to a class of international master students coming from very different backgrounds, how the course evolved in a period spanning five years from a very classical course to a course that focuses highly on solving algorithmic problems in groups, and how that helped in better choosing the themes covered in the course, structuring it using a more definite direction, and better engaging almost all students by making them work on problems they can relate to. This article presents the various axes I chose to follow as well as what was discarded from the initial course. It shows that students are more engaged in learning and more motivated to work, as there is the possibility for everyone to contribute and students can help one another; The course has then become a favorite amongst the other courses of the curriculum. Moreover, the teachers themselves are also more engaged, feel closer to the students, but are also under more pressure as the position changes dramatically from that of a lecturer. This article shows that it takes a lot of time to stabilize to satisfaction and presents recommendations for teachers interested in modifying their courses.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3197091.3197147
Characterizing Cybersecurity Jobs: Applying the Cyber Aptitude and Talent Assessment Framework	Proceedings of the Symposium and Bootcamp on the Science of Security	Campbell, Susan G.; Saner, Lelyn D.; Bunting, Michael F.	Characterizing what makes cybersecurity professions difficult involves several components, including specifying the cognitive and functional requirements for performing job-related tasks. Many frameworks that have been proposed are focused on functional requirements of cyber work roles, including the knowledge, skills, and abilities associated with them. In contrast, we have proposed a framework for classifying cybersecurity jobs according to the cognitive demands of each job and for matching applicants to jobs based on their aptitudes for key cognitive skills (e.g., responding to network activity in real-time). In this phase of research, we are investigating several cybersecurity jobs (such as operators vs. analysts), converting the high-level functional tasks of each job into elementary tasks, in order to determine what cognitive requirements distinguish the jobs. We will then examine how the models of cognitive demands by job can be used to inform the designs of aptitude tests for different kinds of jobs. In this poster, we will describe our framework in more detail and how it can be applied toward matching people with the jobs that fit them best.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2898375.2898394
Middle School Learners' Conceptions of Social Networks: Results of an Interview Study	Proceedings of the 18th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research	Brinda, Torsten; Kramer, Matthias; Beeck, Yannick	Social networks are widely and increasingly used by youths. Thereby, they experience various computing-related phenomena (such as recommendations for new contacts or interesting content), which might require further explanation. From conception research in science education it is known that such everyday experiences can lead to the formation of individual explanations and conceptions, which do not necessarily have to be in line with underlying scientific concepts. Incomplete or wrong conceptions can lead to difficulties in future learning processes. Therefore, the description and analysis of such conceptions is relevant for computing education, because they can be used by teachers for the development of student-centered classroom activities. Since social network systems are complex computing systems, the investigation of student conceptions had to be limited to selected aspects to keep the study manageable. Therefore, in the study described in this paper, middle school learners' perspectives of personal data processing, data storage and algorithmic processes in social networks were investigated based on the model of educational reconstruction. A total of eight semi-structured interviews with 12 to 14 years-old learners from two grammar schools in North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany, were conducted using an interview guide that focused on the abovementioned computing-related aspects of social networks. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed using the method of qualitative content analysis according to Mayring. As a result, a number of conceptions could be identified, which were anchored in the technical concepts, but of ten superficial and quite general.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3279720.3279723
A Parallel, Conjoined Approach to Interdisciplinary Computer Science Education	Proceedings of the 2016 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Way, Thomas; Whidden, Seth	This poster presents the results of two full cycles of a novel approach to Computer Science education that simplifies many of the pedagogical, organizational and administrative challenges in reaching across disciplines. We introduce a parallel, conjoined approach to constructing interdisciplinary offerings between Computer Science and a wide variety of other disciplines in a loosely-coupled fashion. Cooperating courses run simultaneously in nearby classrooms and meet together to collaborate numerous times during a semester. We describe our approach, lessons learned, results of evaluations of the effectiveness of the approach, and ideas for replicating the approach in other disciplines and institutions.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2899415.2925486
Ubiquity Symposium: Evolutionary Computation and the Processes of Life: Evolutionary Computation as a Direction in Nature-Inspired Computing	Ubiquity	Mo, Hongwei	In this article evolutionary computation (EC) is considered as a kind of nature-inspired computing (NIC) paradigm. EC not only has great effect on the development of computing methods from structure to process, but also has great effect on many aspects of our society as a ubiquitous or general computational thinking. EC is still one of the best choices for problem solving among all methods when people face more and more complex problems.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2390009.2390011
Experience Report: Thinkathon – Countering an "I Got It Working" Mentality with Pencil-and-Paper Exercises	Proceedings of the 2019 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Cutts, Quintin; Barr, Matthew; Bikanga Ada, Mireilla; Donaldson, Peter; Draper, Steve; Parkinson, Jack; Singer, Jeremy; Sundin, Lovisa	Goal-directed problem-solving labs can lead a student to believe that the most important achievement in a first programming course is to get programs working. This is counter to research indicating that code comprehension is an important developmental step for novice programmers. We observed this in our own CS-0 introductory programming course, and furthermore, that students weren't making the connection between code comprehension in labs and a final examination that required solutions to pencil-and-paper comprehension and writing exercises, where sound understanding of programming concepts is essential. Realising these deficiencies late in our course, we put on three 3-hour optional revision evenings just days before the exam. Based on a mastery learning philosophy, students were expected to work through a bank of around 200 pencil-and-paper exercises. By comparison with a machine-based hackathon, we called this a Thinkathon. Students completed a pre and post questionnaire about their experience of the Thinkathon. While we find that Thinkathon attendance positively influences final grades, we believe our reflection on the overall experience is of greater value. We report that: respected methods for developing code comprehension may not be enough on their own; novices must exercise their developing skills away from machines; and there are social learning outcomes in programming courses, currently implicit, that we should make explicit.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3304221.3319785
A CS Course for Non-Majors Based on the Arduino Platform	Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Russell, Ingrid; Rosiene, Carolyn Pe; Gold, Aaron	We present a model for enhancing an introductory computer science course for non-majors through the use of the Arduino platform. We have developed and tested curricular modules and associated hands-on laboratories for this model. The use of the highly visual and interactive Arduino system has improved students' learning experiences, enabling them to apply and relate fundamental computational thinking concepts of algorithmic reasoning, data representation, and computational efficiency to real-world problems. Assessment results show that the approach has been effective. We present the curricular modules, our experiences using them, as well as assessment results.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3328778.3372595
"It Broadens My Mind": Empowering People with Cognitive Disabilities through Computing Education	Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems	Koushik, Varsha; Kane, Shaun K.	Computer science education is widely viewed as a path to empowerment for young people, potentially leading to higher education, careers, and development of computational thinking skills. However, few resources exist for people with cognitive disabilities to learn computer science. In this paper, we document our observations of a successful program in which young adults with cognitive disabilities are trained in computing concepts. Through field observations and interviews, we identify instructional strategies used by this group, accessibility challenges encountered by this group, and how instructors and students leverage peer learning to support technical education. Our findings lead to guidelines for developing tools and curricula to support young adults with cognitive disabilities in learning computer science.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3290605.3300744
Infusing Data Science Across Disciplines	Proceedings of the 2019 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Deb, Debzani; Smith, Russell M.; Fuad, Muztaba	In this poster, we describe our effort to develop, pilot, and evaluate a model for infusing data literacy into undergraduate curricula across a variety of disciplines using a modular approach. Our pilot implementation achieved reasonable success in attaining student learning outcomes, enhanced engagement, and interests.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3304221.3325579
Blasted: Integrating Biology and Computation	J. Comput. Sci. Coll.	Adams, Joel; Matheson, Stephen; Pruim, Randall	Reports such as Bio 2010: Transforming Undergraduate Education for Future Biology Researchers [8] detail the necessity of equipping today's science students with interdisciplinary skills, especially with regard to computing. But as 2010 approaches, the science education at many institutions remains far from the computational goals of Bio 2010.BlastEd is an educational website taking aim at this problem. The site explores BLAST (Basic Local Alignment Search Tool), a computational tool for comparing genetic sequences. By providing (1) the relevant background information on genetics and algorithms, and (2) a Java applet that illustrates key elements of the BLAST algorithm, biology students are introduced to important issues in computational thinking and computer science students are introduced to a real-world biological application. Finally, BlastEd provides a model for how to teach natural scientists about computing and how to teach computer scientists about science.
Addressing Teaching Practices Regarding Software Quality: Testing and Debugging in the Classroom	Proceedings of the 12th Workshop on Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Michaeli, Tilman; Romeike, Ralf	Software quality is seen as an integral part of CS education. Two of the key concepts concerning software quality are testing and debugging. Testing is considered important to verify the students' underlying model or algorithm. Debugging is an approach related to computational thinking which is distinct from general programming skills and fosters abilities like logical reasoning and independent problem solving. However, approaches, teaching materials, and studies on how to teach and integrate those concepts effectively into K12 classrooms are lacking. Therefore, both debugging and testing are often neglected in teaching practice, despite them being represented in many (but not all) curricula. In the following, we present a research project with the intention of providing adequate and evaluated strategies for addressing software quality in the classroom and its rationale. For this purpose, the model of Beizer's testing levels has been utilized and didactically transposed, thereby making it applicable to CS education in K12. The resulting categories may provide a basis for teaching and research.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3137065.3137087
Designing and Comparing Two Scratch-Based Teaching Approaches for Students Aged 10–12 Years	Proceedings of the 17th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research	van Es, Nienke; Jeuring, Johan	Programming and computational thinking are becoming more important in primary education. This raises the question of how different approaches to teaching programming in primary schools compare with each other. We designed two approaches to teach programming to primary school students. One approach uses the instructionistic 4C/ID model, the other approach uses constructionism. The learning gains of these two approaches were compared using a pre- and post test. In total, 129 students from two different schools participated. A significant difference (p = .020, d = .66) between the two approaches was found on one of the schools, favoring the 4C/ID approach. On the other school and for the total group no significant difference was found.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3141880.3141883
AI + Art = Human	Proceedings of the 2019 AAAI/ACM Conference on AI, Ethics, and Society	Daniele, Antonio; Song, Yi-Zhe	Over the past few years, specialised online and offline press blossomed with articles about art made "with" Artificial Intelligence (AI) but the narrative is rapidly changing. In fact, in October 2018, the auction house Christie's sold an art piece allegedly made "by" an AI. We draw from philosophy of art and science arguing that AI as a technical object is always intertwined with human nature despite its level of autonomy. However, the use of creative autonomous agents has cultural and social implications in the way we experience art as creators as well as audience. Therefore, we highlight the importance of an interdisciplinary dialogue by promoting a culture of transparency of the technology used, awareness of the meaning of technology in our society and the value of creativity in our lives.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3306618.3314233
Computing Education Research Landscape through an Analysis of Keywords	Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research	Papamitsiou, Zacharoula; Giannakos, Michail; Simon, -; Luxton-Reilly, Andrew	Authors of academic papers are generally required to nominate several keywords that characterize the paper, but are rarely offered guidance on how to select those keywords. We analyzed the keywords in the past 15 years of selected computing education publications: the 1274 papers published in the proceedings of ICER and ITiCSE, including the ITiCSE working group reports. As well as the keywords assigned by the authors, we mined the abstracts of these papers to extract a separate list of keywords. Our work has two goals: to frame the thematic landscape of the field, using keywords that communicate the work conducted; and to detect differences between the human judgement and interpretation of keywords and the machine 'intelligence' on handling those keywords, with respect to the clusters of thematic topics identified in each case. The analysis shows that the field is dominated by learning approaches (e.g., active learning, collaborative learning), aspects of programming (e.g., debugging, misconceptions), computational thinking, feedback, and assessment, while other areas that have attracted attention include academic integrity (e.g., plagiarism) and diversity (e.g., female students, underrepresented groups). It was observed that the keywords chosen by authors are often too general to provide information about the paper (e.g., 'concerns', 'course', 'fun', 'justice'). We elaborate on the findings and begin a discussion on how authors can improve the communication of their research and make access to it more transparent.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3372782.3406276
Introducing Theoretical Computer Concepts in Secondary Education	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	del Vado Vírseda, Rafael	The purpose of this poster is to provide practical arguments to stimulate debate and discussion on whether or not to introduce concepts of theoretical computer science in the pre-university education system, conveniently adapted within students' capability. Theoretical computer science is a hard subject to teach at the university level. Many students who enter the computer sciences courses have very little mathematical or theoretical background. For this reason, it is important that students acquire an appreciation of these concepts before they leave the secondary education. In anticipation that these contents would not be included or addressed in the context of a subject of Computer Science, a work in progress educational experience is presented during the 2018-2019 academic year for enhancing the algorithmic curriculum of pre-university computing and mathematical courses. We describe a collection of selected problems, puzzles and riddles from high school mathematics and introductory logic, to be added to the current secondary curriculum. We want to show attendees the use of our educational activities, offering practical aspects that could not be shown through the reading of a paper, so that they can learn to use them in their own classes. The preliminary experimental results show that the students who have undergone this educational experience have obtained a higher motivation that those who have followed the course in its traditional form. We believe that introducing these theoretical computer concepts can help students to perform better in some areas of computer science and be increasingly prepared and motivated for their university studies.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3293784
Sequential Relational Decomposition	Proceedings of the 33rd Annual ACM/IEEE Symposium on Logic in Computer Science	Fried, Dror; Legay, Axel; Ouaknine, Joël; Vardi, Moshe Y.	The concept of decomposition in computer science and engineering is considered a fundamental component of computational thinking and is prevalent in design of algorithms, software construction, hardware design, and more. We propose a simple and natural formalization of sequential decomposition, in which a task is decomposed into two sequential sub-tasks, with the first sub-task to be executed out before the second sub-task is executed. These tasks are specified by means of input/output relations. We define and study decomposition problems, which is to decide whether a given specification can be sequentially decomposed. Our main result is that decomposition itself is a difficult computational problem. More specifically, we study decomposition problems in three settings: where the input task is specified explicitly, by means of Boolean circuits, and by means of automatic relations. We show that in the first setting decomposition is NP-complete, in the second setting it is NEXPTIME-complete, and in the third setting there is evidence to suggest that it is undecidable. Our results indicate that the intuitive idea of decomposition as a system-design approach requires further investigation. In particular, we show that adding human to the loop by asking for a decomposition hint lowers the complexity of decomposition problems considerably.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3209108.3209203
Can Undergraduate Computing Research Be Student-Driven? (Abstract Only)	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Patek, Chelsea; Chattopadhyay, Ankur	This poster presents a potential way of promoting student driven computing educational research that may provide an alternate path or option to the traditional faculty-driven computing education research. We propose a unique model of inter-class student collaboration that motivates creativity, expands the scope of collaborative research and enables handling of conceptual gaps through inter-class peer mentoring. The proposed model engages students from an upper level class with students of a lower level class so that they can connect with each other in a peer mentor-mentee relationship to overcome conceptual gaps in learning. It provides upper level students with an exclusive opportunity to reinforce their conceptual grasps and engage in research for addressing the problems faced by lower level students. This proposed model of improvised peer collaboration promotes a new kind of service-oriented learning project in computing that inspires innovation and leads to research on finding ways to handle common conceptual limitations, thereby helping student retention by assisting lower level peer mentees. It also assists upper level peer mentors in self-driving towards research oriented thinking for inventing methods to solve authentic conceptual issues. The proposed model has been currently implemented in the UWGB computing curriculum, where CS2 students have been collaborating with CS1 students and have been participating in computing educational research as part of the process. These ongoing research experiments have analyzed the performance of the proposed model through data obtained by conducting student surveys. The collected survey data represent insightful evidences from preliminary evaluations of the proposed model.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3017680.3022445
Identifying Pathways to Computer Science: The Long-Term Impact of Short-Term Game Programming Outreach Interventions	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Lakanen, Antti-Jussi; Kärkkäinen, Tommi	Short-term outreach interventions are conducted to raise young students’ awareness of the computer science (CS) field. Typically, these interventions are targeted at K–12 students, attempting to encourage them to study CS in higher education. This study is based on a series of extra-curricular outreach events that introduced students to the discipline of computing, nurturing creative computational thinking through problem solving and game programming. To assess the long-term impact of this campaign, the participants were contacted and interviewed two to five years after they had attended an outreach event. We studied how participating in the outreach program affected the students’ perceptions of CS as a field and, more importantly, how it affected their educational choices. We found that the outreach program generally had a positive effect on the students’ educational choices. The most prominent finding was that students who already possessed a “maintained situational interest” in CS found that the event strengthened their confidence in studying CS. However, many students were not affected by attending the program, but their perceptions of CS did change. Our results emphasize the need to provide continuing possibilities for interested students to experiment with computing-related activities and hence maintain their emerging individual interests.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3283070
Teaching Responsive Web Design to Novice Learners	Proceedings of the 18th Annual Conference on Information Technology Education	Jin, Karen H.	Although responsive web design has become a standard industrial requirement in recent years, it is rarely emphasized in introductory courses on web front-end development. This paper presents an integration of responsive web design topics with the traditional HTML/CSS content in an introductory course designed for non-CS major students. By working with technologies appropriate for novice learners, students with no programming experience are able to create modern-looking, user-friendly responsive websites as well as to improve their abstract thinking skills. Students' experience in software development principles and tools within the context of web development also has a positive impact on their overall confidence in computing related fields.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3125659.3125684
A Web-Based Environment for Introductory Programming Based on a Bi-Directional Layered Notional Machine	Proceedings of the 2016 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Sui, Li; Dietrich, Jens; Heinrich, Eva; Meyer, Manfred		https://doi.org/10.1145/2899415.2925487
Teaching Elementary Computer Science through Universal Design for Learning	Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Israel, Maya; Jeong, Gakyung; Ray, Meg; Lash, Todd	Given the academic diversity of today's classrooms, elementary teachers engaged in computer science (CS) and computational thinking (CT) instruction must create CS/CT experiences that are accessible and engaging to a broad range of learners, including those with disabilities. One method of developing inclusive instructional experiences is through the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework, wherein teachers proactively design instruction for the broadest range of learners. Doing so may be challenging as elementary teachers may not be familiar with the UDL framework or may not have experience with applying UDL within CS/CT instruction. The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate how four elementary teachers provided UDL-based instruction to academically diverse learners during CS/CT instruction. Teachers received professional development and instructional coaching related to UDL within CS/CT education. Data included teachers' lesson plans, coaching logs, and teacher interviews which were qualitatively analyzed and triangulated. Data revealed that teachers generally addressed all three UDL principles, with an emphasis on two of the principles (multiple means of engagement and multiple means of representing content) above the third principle (multiple means of action and expression). They focused on breaking tasks into steps, emphasizing student choice, and presenting information in multiple ways. Findings revealed nuanced implementation differences among the teachers as well.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3328778.3366823
Developing a Game-Based Learning Curriculum for "Big Data" in Middle School (Abstract Only)	Proceedings of the 45th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Martínez-Arocho, Allison G.; Buffum, Philip Sheridan; Boyer, Kristy Elizabeth	Exposing students early to computer science may influence their choice of career, and there is increasing recognition that even for students who do not pursue computer science careers, computational literacy is important. This poster reports on a project targeting the development of a new middle school computer science curriculum. This research aims to highlight the role of computation in Big Data in the context of middle school computer science education, which serves as a catalyst to keep students engaged in computer science through middle school via the ENGAGE narrative game-based learning environment. This poster discusses steps taken to validate one activity meant to highlight the role of computation in the context of Big Data: skip list manipulation. While we found that most of the middle school students performed poorly in assessments after the skip list activities, several students showed they were capable of completing the activity successfully, implying that a repetition of the revised skip list study and additional pilot studies for other Big Data activities are needed to pave the way for the development of this Big Data curriculum. This activity will be just one part of a broader curriculum designed to showcase the social relevance and power of Big Data.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2538862.2544296
Making Music with Computers: Creative Programming in Python (Abstract Only)	Proceedings of the 46th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Manaris, Bill; Brown, Andrew R.; Kohn, Tobias	This is an introduction to creative software development and music making in Python. This material is intended for CS0/CS1 courses and for courses at the intersection of computing and the arts. The workshop will introduce music making activities for teaching traditional CS1 topics, GUIs, event-driven programming, and connecting to external devices (e.g., smartphones, digital pianos) via MIDI and OSC (Open Sound Control). Participants will be introduced to Jython Music (http://jythonMusic.org), a library of Python modules for creative programming and music making, and will be making their own music artifacts a few minutes later. Intended audience: Computer science educators interested in teaching creative programming and computational thinking for CS0, CS1, introductory courses in the intersection of computing and the arts, and courses intended to attract and retain new CS majors. Each participant will receive a copy of (1) handouts to be used during the workshop, (2) sample student assignments and projects, (3) API documentation, (4) all required software, and (5) numerous sample programs. Laptop required (with Java JDK 7 or higher). All other software will be provided. Headphones are recommended.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2676723.2678295
Studying Implementation of Secondary Introductory Computer Science: Pilot Results (Abstract Only)	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Bienkowski, Marie; Snow, Eric	Education researchers have extensively studied how secondary teachers adopt and adapt new curriculum and new teaching practices, especially in science and mathematics. Their goals are often to learn ways to help teachers enact new pedagogical approaches, so the results inform teacher professional development, as well as building knowledge in the field. Changing teaching practice often involves changes across a number of fronts: for example, inquiry-based teaching of science involves skills in developing questions, supporting student whole-class discussion and sense-making, and allowing students time to investigate authentic problems. Research is now underway to discover ways to similarly help teachers in K-12 computer science (CS). K-12 CS curricula have emphasized inquiry- and equity-focused teaching practices as ways to engage and include students while simultaneously deepening students? understanding of CS concepts and practices. While researchers have focused on measuring student attitudes to discern engagement and feelings of inclusivity, less work has been done on how implementation affects student learning. To study this, CS education researchers need frameworks and instruments to measure implementation, attitudes, and learning. We are developing and validating instruments that support mixed-methods study of curriculum enactment and teaching quality, with a focus on inquiry, equity, and computational thinking practices. This poster will present preliminary results from a large-scale study of implementation in secondary CS classrooms to build a more systematic understanding of evolving practices in measuring curriculum enactment and teaching quality.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3017680.3022432
Teacher Beliefs in Student Capabilities as a Mediating Factor in a Novel Understanding of Enactment of CT Curriculum	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Prescott, Paige; Lee, Irene A.; Tyson, Kersti	The integration of computer science (CS) and computational thinking (CT) in STEM classes has been promoted as one strategy to engage all students in CS education. This approach aims to reduce inequities in access to computing education by placing CS within compulsory science classes. The Project GUTS CS in Science curriculum supports the integration of CT-rich computer modeling and simulation activities and has been promoted to serve the dual goals of exposing students to CS in a powerful context while simultaneously promoting students' understanding of modern scientific practices. This case study follows two middle school science teachers as they implement the curriculum that integrates CS within science classrooms through the use, modification, and creation of computer models of scientific phenomena. Their implementation stories represent the range of enactments from "use-only" in which computer models are used to demonstrate the behavior of a system, to "modify/create" in which teachers support students in the using, decoding and modifying computer models that are used as experimental test beds. These cases illuminate teacher characteristics and pedagogical decisions that impact enactment of the curriculum. Evidence is provided that teacher's belief in student capabilities is a factor correlated with enactment, and that has the potential to impact students' opportunities to learn. This finding suggests that addressing CS/CT skill building, content knowledge, and pedagogy within teacher professional development (PD) programs may be necessary but not sufficient to lead to enactment of CT-rich curricula and may inform others seeking to integrate CS in K-12 education.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3293841
Teaching and Learning Strategies of Programming for University Courses	Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality	Figueiredo, José; García-Peñalvo, Francisco José	It is consensual to consider teaching and learning programming difficult. A lot of work, dedication, and motivation are required for teachers and students. Since the first programming languages have emerged, the problem of teaching and learning programming is studied and investigated. The theme is very serious, not only for the important concepts underlying the course but also for the lack of motivation, failure, and abandonment that such frustration may imply in the student. Immediate response and constant monitoring of students' activities and problems are important. With this work, it is our goal to improve student achievement in courses where programming is essential. We want each student to be able to improve and deepen their programming skills, performing a set of exercises appropriate and worked for each student and situation. We intend to build a dynamic learning model of constant evaluation, build the profile of the student. The student profile will be analyzed by our predictive model, which in case of prediction of failure, the student will have more careful attention. Predict the student's failure with anticipation and act with specific activities, giving the student the possibility of training and practicing the activities with difficulties. With this model, we try to improve the skills of each student in programming.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3362789.3362926
MazeStar: A Platform for Studying Virtual Identity and Computer Science Education	Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games	Kao, Dominic; Harrell, D. Fox	This paper presents an overview of the MazeStar platform for Computer Science education. MazeStar is both a game (Mazzy) that teaches programming concepts like loops and conditionals, and a game editor which allows players to create and share their own game levels. By playing and creating, players are using computing concepts (e.g., block structuring, parallelism, etc.) and computing practices (e.g., debugging, iterative prototyping, etc.). To date the MazeStar platform has been used in controlled user studies involving > 10,000 participants. Here, our goal is to detail the different components of the MazeStar platform, and how we have/are leveraging these components to study the interplay of education, games/game-making, and virtual identity.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3102071.3116221
Keeping the Machinery in Computing Education	Commun. ACM	Connor, Richard; Cutts, Quintin; Robertson, Judy	Incorporating intellectual and developmental frameworks into a Scottish school curriculum.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3144174
What Will They Know? Standards in the High School Computer Science Curriculum	J. Comput. Sci. Coll.	Pokorny, Kian L.	The ACM's Computer Science Teacher Association (CSTA) published a Computer Science curriculum recommendation for K-12 in 2003 and delivered its most recent revision in 2011. The International Society of Technology in Education (ISTE) produces the National Educational Technology Standards for Computer Science Educators (NETS-CSE) for secondary school educators. In 2010, an initiative to standardized K-12 curriculum, called the Common Core, developed standards for several core K-12 subjects. Common core in this context pertains to the core topics that every student should obtain to be successful in college or a career. These are broadly divided into "English Language arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and technical Subjects" and "Mathematics." Computing is left out of this common core. An examination of the CSTA, NETS-CSE and Common Core Mathematics (CCM) at the secondary level is made in this paper. The purpose is to highlight commonalities and disparities, providing some insight into related high school curriculum for computer science educators at the undergraduate level.
Examining Faculty Perceptions and Approaches to Problem Solving, Reflective Learning and Social Learning in a Computing Education Program: An Exploratory Case Study	Proceedings of the 20th Annual SIG Conference on Information Technology Education	Mason, Sharon	This exploratory case study examined problem solving approaches across three computing education programs: computer science, information sciences and technologies and software engineering. Using an Experiential Learning Theory framework, faculty perceptions and approaches to problem solving and reflection and the nature of social learning in both classroom enactment and laboratory sessions for second-year undergraduate students were examined. Classroom and laboratory observations, in-depth interviews and course artifacts served as the main sources of data. Qualitative data analysis revealed three key findings: a) faculty perceptions and approaches to problem solving centered on modeling problem decomposition to break down larger problems into smaller steps or sub-problems, b) reflection was informally modeled by faculty during instruction, but primarily occurred internally for students and c) faculty noted the importance of collaboration in the workforce, yet perceived collaborative student work to be at odds with developing individual skillsets, leading to the predominance of informal rather than structured social learning. These findings have implications for faculty understanding of computing instruction related to problem solving, intentional strategies that promote student reflections of their learning processes and importantly, how social learning is conceptualized and enacted in computing. In addition, the study also had implications for how computing faculty are currently preparing students for transition to workforce demands.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3349266.3351415
Learning by Making for STEM Success	Proceedings of the 2017 Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Cominsky, Lynn; Peruta, Carolyn; Wandling, Susan; McCarthy, Betsy; Li, Linlin	Sonoma State University's Learning by Making program, funded by the US Department of Education's Investing in Innovation program, has created a one-year course that is now approved as a college preparatory Science Laboratory course (Area D) by the UC/CSU Doorways process. An innovative hardware platform has been developed that has been optimized for use by students in high needs rural communities with low Internet bandwidth. All programming is done in the Logo language that supports experimental design, use of a variety of environmental and physical sensors, and analysis of the resulting data.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3078072.3081315
Effective Delivery of Computing Curriculum in Middle School: Challenges and Solutions	Proceedings of the 41st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Ouyang, Youwen; Wolz, Ursula; Rodger, Susan H.		https://doi.org/10.1145/1734263.1734375
Bringing Grades K-5 to the Mainstream of Computer Science Education	Proceedings of the 46th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Apone, Katie; Bers, Marina; Brennan, Karen; Franklin, Diana; Israel, Maya; Yongpradit, Pat	As awareness of computer science education grows in the general public, it is important to showcase computer science education as accessible for all grades K-12 and beyond. As panelists present the projects and research they've been conducting, we will highlight three overarching topics: The importance of K-5 computer science education to educators of all grade levels,Thoughts on why K-5 has traditionally been less prominent in the computer science education landscape, andStrategies on how we, the computer science education community, can promote K-5 computer science education as worthwhile as 6-12+ computer science education.Barriers to why K-5 computer science education is not as prominent as that in grades 6-12, such as scarcity of wide-spread curriculum or scarcity of research, will lead to panelists presenting how their work is rectifying this imbalance.This session's panelists are pioneers and important thought leaders in the K-5 computer science education field. Panelists in this session are either producing research in the K-5 computer science education field or working at a large scale to promote or increase participation of K-5 students in computer science.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2676723.2677332
Forest Friends Demo: A Game-Exhibit to Promote Computer Science Concepts in Informal Spaces	Proceedings of the 2017 Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Sung, Isaac; Berland, Matthew	Forest Friends is a strategic video game designed to introduce elements of computer science in an engaging and accessible way. The game includes artificial intelligence coding components that encourage participants to work with conditional statements. The research goal is to place the game in an informal learning environment to study the impact that it can have on young learners from diverse backgrounds.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3078072.3091984
Technocamps: Advancing Computer Science Education in Wales	Proceedings of the Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Crick, Tom; Moller, Faron	Computer science education in the UK has undergone substantial scrutiny over the past five years. In particular, from September 2014, we have seen the implementation and delivery of a new computing curriculum in England. However, in Wales – one of the four devolved nation in the UK – numerous political, geographical and socio-technical issues have hindered any substantive educational policy or curriculum reform for computer science. This is despite the widespread efforts to address the failings of computer science education in schools since at least 2003 through Technocamps, a pan-Wales university-based schools outreach programme.In this paper we outline the history (and pre-history) of Technocamps, contextualised by the devolved nature of education in the UK, positioning Wales with its specific issues and challenges. Furthermore, we present evidence both in support of this university engagement and intervention model as well as its wider positive effect on promoting and supporting computer science education in Wales, a nation about to take its first steps on the path of a large-scale national curriculum review and significant educational reform.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2818314.2818341
Ubiquity Symposium 'What is Computation?': Editor's Introduction	Ubiquity	Denning, Peter J.	The first Ubiquity symposium seeks to discuss the question, "What is computation?"	https://doi.org/10.1145/1865907.1870596
Sharing What We Know about Software Engineering	Proceedings of the FSE/SDP Workshop on Future of Software Engineering Research	Young, Michal; Faulk, Stuart	Software engineering research has long borrowed and adapted ideas from other disciplines to adapt to the peculiar context of building software. That context is less and less peculiar, as automation and communication transform other fields, and it is time for us to consider how approaches developed in software engineering can be transferred and generalized to other fields. Considering generalization of software engineering to domains outside computer science has implications for both software engineering research and education.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1882362.1882451
Unlocking the Potential of Learning Analytics in Computing Education	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Grover, Shuchi; Korhonen, Ari		https://doi.org/10.1145/3122773
The Programmable Battery: A Tool to Make Computational Making More Simple, Playful, and Meaningful	Proceedings of the 2017 Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Mori, Hideki	The Programmable Battery is a tiny computer that can control motors, lights, and any devices that use dry batteries. By pressing buttons on the Programmable Battery, the pattern of on and off for the devices is recorded and played back repeatedly. Since it has limited functions but can be programmed easily without a computer, anyone can make their own computational devices anytime and anywhere. In this paper, I introduce the concept of the Programmable Battery and its workshops for elementary school students.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3078072.3084318
Multidisciplinary Computer Science through Conducting Robots	Proceedings of the 42nd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Salgian, Andrea; Ault, Christopher; Nakra, Teresa M.; Wang, Yunfeng; Stone, Meredith K.	In this paper, we describe an ongoing multidisciplinary undergraduate seminar that we have developed, in which student teams build non-human systems that conduct our college orchestra. Students and faculty in the course come from four disciplines: computer science, interactive multimedia, music, and mechanical engineering. This paper describes the course structure, computer science components, final projects, team dynamics, and assessments. We evaluate the results to-date and discuss ongoing revisions and expectations for the future.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1953163.1953229
A Case against Mission-Critical Applications of Machine Learning	Commun. ACM	Staff, CACM		https://doi.org/10.1145/3332409
XSEDE Training: Achieving Access and Inclusion	Proceedings of the XSEDE16 Conference on Diversity, Big Data, and Science at Scale	Akli, Linda; Alameda, Jay; Gordon, Steven I.; Madrid, Marcela; Rivera, Lorna	An XSEDE strategic goal is to extend use of high-end digital services to new communities by preparing the current and next generation of scholars, researchers, and engineers in the use of advanced digital technologies via training, education, and outreach. The mission of XSEDE's Under-Represented Community Engagement (URCE) program is to raise awareness of the value of advanced digital research services and recruit users from new communities. In collaboration with XSEDE training and education programs, the URCE program works with faculty and students that are non-traditional users of XSEDE resources and helps them utilize XSEDE's advanced digital research services and ecosystem.Over the past five years, the URCE program organized and facilitated training across the country at a variety of institutions ranging from small private Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) such as Philander Smith to the University of Texas at El Paso, a large public Hispanic Serving Institution. Every URCE-led training workshop included extensive formative and summative evaluation, including longitudinal tracking of participant progress in engaging with XSEDE services in order to identify growth and persistence as well as barriers and opportunities.85% (209/245) of URCE-led training event participants were first time XSEDE training registrants. After attending, 14% of attendees obtained access to XSEDE resources and more than 18% registered for additional training activities. This paper presents the strategies used to achieve these results.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2949550.2949586
Coding as a Social and Tangible Activity	Interactions	Tabel, Olivia L.; Jensen, Jonathan; Dybdal, Martin; Bjørn, Pernille	HCI education reflects the continual evolution of HCI, embracing the changing landscapes of technology, infrastructure, and technology use. This forum aims to provide a platform for HCI educators, practitioners, researchers, and students to share their perspectives, reflections, and experiences related to HCI education. — Sukeshini Grandhi, Editor	https://doi.org/10.1145/3137099
HCI and the Educational Technology Revolution	Proceedings of the International Working Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces	Dix, Alan; Malizia, Alessio; Gabrielli, Silvia	While educational technology has a long pedigree, the last few years have seen dramatic changes. These have included the rise and institutionalisation of MOOCs, and other web-based initiatives such as Kahn Academy and Peer-to-Peer University (P2PU). Classrooms have also been transformed with growing use of mobile devices and forms of flipped classroom; and educational progress and engagement has been increasingly measured leading to institutional and individual learning analytics. This workshop seeks to understand the interaction of these issues with human–computer interaction in a number of ways. First to ask what HCI has to contribute to these in terms of the design of authoring and learning platforms, and the wider socio-political implications of increasingly metric-driven governance? Second to discuss how will these changes affect HCI education? Together practice-based and theoretical approaches will help us build a clear understanding of the current state and future challenges for educational technology and HCI.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2909132.2927472
Creating a New Generation of Computational Thinkers	Commun. ACM	Scott, Jeremy; Bundy, Alan	Experiences with a successful school program in Scotland.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2791290
It's Deeper than Rap, toward Culturally Responsive CS	XRDS	Miller, Omoju	Using hip-hop lyrics and artificial intelligence to engage more students in computer science based on their cultural background.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2604994
Curricular Innovations on the Subject of Computing in the Czech Republic in the Context of Global Changes: Analysis of Teachers' Opinions	Proceedings of the 2018 2nd International Conference on Education and E-Learning	Bučková, Hana; Dostál, Jirí; Wang, Xiaojun	In this paper we discuss implementation of the curricular reform on the subject of Computing at the primary school level. The reason for this is the fact that there is a trend of implementation of programming and algorithmization in education in more and more countries of the world. First, we analyse the form of the informatics curriculum in four selected countries - in the UK, Austria, Germany and Poland. Then we focus on examining the views of teachers on the form of the curriculum, i.e. what they think should be taught in schools, regardless of the prescribed curriculum. The q-methodology was used to carry out the research that allowed us, thanks to working with a smaller sample of respondents, to have a deeper insight into the researched area. The research activities show that there are two groups of teachers - "opposers to programming" and "supporters of the thematically balanced development of informatics competencies and digital literacy". The teachers involved in the first of these groups prefer to teach topics related to the general use of computers in everyday life. They put great emphasis on teaching topics such as network security, working with text and spreadsheet editors, creating presentations. However the least preferred topics, i.e. those that should not be taught in the schools according to these teachers, definitely include programming and algorithmization. The teachers in the second group prefer topics that can generally be included under the term "digital literacy", i.e. work with text and spreadsheet editors, network security, computer graphics, creating presentations, basic computer skills etc. as well as topics related to programming and algorithmization.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3291078.3291107
HCI and Education in a Changing World: From School to Public Engagement	Proceedings of the 12th Biannual Conference on Italian SIGCHI Chapter	Pittarello, Fabio; Volpe, Gualtiero; Zancanaro, Massimo	This workshop follows the educational workshops held at the latest editions of the ACM CHItaly [1] and AVI [3] Conferences, for a further elaboration on the issues related to the relationships between HCI and education. The goal of the workshop is twofold: on one side, the purpose is investigating the methods of HCI in educational contexts where the discipline is the primary subject; on the other side, the purpose is investigating the role that the discipline can have for supporting education in a variety of contexts, starting from schools and moving to other traditional contexts such as museums and exhibitions, but also in novel situations where the focus is on public engagement.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3125571.3125576
Kart-ON: Affordable Early Programming Education with Shared Smartphones and Easy-to-Find Materials	Proceedings of the 25th International Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces Companion	Sabuncuoğlu, Alpay; Sezgin, Metin	Programming education has become an integral part of the primary school curriculum. However, most programming practices rely heavily on computers and electronics which causes inequalities across contexts with different socioeconomic levels. This demo introduces a new and convenient way of using tangibles for coding in classrooms. Our programming environment, Kart-ON, is designed as an affordable means to increase collaboration among students and decrease dependency on screen-based interfaces. Kart-ON is a tangible programming language that uses everyday objects such as paper, pen, fabrics as programming objects and employs a mobile phone as the compiler. Our preliminary studies with children (n=16, mage=12) show that Kart-ON boosts active and collaborative student participation in the tangible programming task, which is especially valuable in crowded classrooms with limited access to computational devices.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3379336.3381472
Review and Use of Learning Theories within Computer Science Education Research: Primer for Researchers and Practitioners	Proceedings of the Working Group Reports on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Szabo, Claudia; Falkner, Nickolas; Petersen, Andrew; Bort, Heather; Cunningham, Kathryn; Donaldson, Peter; Hellas, Arto; Robinson, James; Sheard, Judy	Computing education research is built on the use of suitable methods within appropriate theoretical frameworks to provide guidance and solutions for our discipline, in a way that is rigorous and repeatable. However, the scale of theory covered extends well beyond the computing discipline and includes educational theory, behavioural psychology, statistics, economics, and game theory, among others. The use of appropriate and discipline relevant theories can be challenging, and it can be easy to return to reuse familiar theory rather than investigate a new, more appropriate, area. To assist researchers in understanding how computing theory is currently used in the discipline and what theories might become of interest, we present in this paper a quantitative analysis of how learning theories are adapted in the computing education research communities. We search computing education venues for specific theory related keywords as well as for the citation of the influential paper describing each individual theory to identify popular theories and highlight gaps in use. We propose a template categorization of theories based on three main perspectives, namely, individual, group, and artefact, with several modifiers, and use this template to visualize general and computing education learning theories. To better understand theory connections we visualize the co-occurrence of learning theories in computing education research papers. Our analysis identifies three main theory communities focused respectively on social theories, experiential theories, and theories of mind. We also identify the strongest links within these communities, highlighting several avenues for further research.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3344429.3372504
CSinc: An Inclusive K-12 Outreach Model	Proceedings of the 19th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research	Nolan, Karen; Faherty, Roisin; Quille, Keith; Becker, Brett A.; Bergin, Susan	This poster describes the early development of a K-12 outreach model, named CSinc, to promote CS in Ireland. It has already been piloted with over 4500 K-12 students in its first year. At the heart of the model is a two-hour camp that incorporates an on-site school delivery. Schools from all over Ireland self-selected to participate, including male only, female only and mixed schools. The no-cost nature of the model meant a range of schools participated from officially designated "disadvantaged" to private fee-paying. During the initial deployment over 2500 pre- and post- surveys have been collected. This data will allow for further model improvement and validation. A positive initial outcome was the balance of male and female participants, 46:54 respectively. This poster describes the model structure in detail and outlines early findings.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3364510.3366156
Evaluating a Makerspace Visiting Program for Schools at a University of Teacher Education	Proceedings of the FabLearn Europe 2019 Conference	Assaf, Dorit; Buchner, Josef; Jud, Andreas	In this paper, we describe a preliminary study that has been conducted to evaluate a makerspace visiting program for regional schools of compulsory education at the University of Teacher Education St. Gallen in Switzerland. We describe the program setup as well as the challenges since its launch in 2015. A survey among the teachers that visited the program with their students collected data about the teachers' personal information, their experiences during the visit, the impact on their teaching as well as their wishes for a further development of the program. Findings include that the makerspace activities were regarded as highly curriculum-relevant. Many teachers introduced similar activities in their own classrooms. The study shows, that the highly instructional activities, which are unlike a typical makerspace environment, were a successful approach to increase acceptance of both faculty members and teachers. Lastly, we discuss how the program could be further developed.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3335055.3335057
Learning Programming Online: A Racket-Course for Elementary School Teachers in Finland	Proceedings of the 16th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research	Partanen, Tiina; Mannila, Linda; Poranen, Timo	Many countries all over the world are in the process of introducing programming in their K-9 curricula. Due to recent changes in the Finnish curriculum there is a large need to train teachers in teaching programming at primary school level. In this paper, we describe how an online course was organized for elementary school teachers in Finland to learn how to teach programming using the Racket language. We introduce the content and design decisions behind the course and describe how the given feedback was used to develop the course further. Finally, we discuss some ideas for further investigations.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2999541.2999567
Task-Specific Programming Languages for Promoting Computing Integration: A Precalculus Example	Proceedings of the 19th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research	Guzdial, Mark; Naimipour, Bahare	A task-specific programming language (TSPL) is a domain-specific programming language (in programming languages terms) designed for a particular user task (in human-computer interaction terms). Users of task-specific programming are able to use the tool to complete useful tasks, without prior training, in a short enough period that one can imagine fitting it into a normal class (e.g., around 10 minutes). We are designing a set of task-specific programming languages for use in social studies and precalculus courses. Our goal is offer an alternative to more general purpose programming languages (such as Scratch or Python) for integrating computing into other disciplines. An example task-specific programming language for precalculus offers a concrete context: An image filter builder for learning basic matrix arithmetic (addition and subtraction) and matrix multiplication by a scalar. TSPLs allow us to imagine a research question which we couldn't ask previously: How much computing might students learn if they used a multiple TSPLs in each subject in each primary and secondary school grade?	https://doi.org/10.1145/3364510.3364532
Task-Specific Programming Languages for Promoting Computing Integration: A Precalculus Example	Proceedings of the 19th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research	Guzdial, Mark; Naimipour, Bahare	A task-specific programming language (TSPL) is a domain-specific programming language (in programming languages terms) designed for a particular user task (in human-computer interaction terms). Users of task-specific programming are able to use the tool to complete useful tasks, without prior training, in a short enough period that one can imagine fitting it into a normal class (e.g., around 10 minutes). We are designing a set of task-specific programming languages for use in social studies and precalculus courses. Our goal is offer an alternative to more general purpose programming languages (such as Scratch or Python) for integrating computing into other disciplines. An example task-specific programming language for precalculus offers a concrete context: An image filter builder for learning basic matrix arithmetic (addition and subtraction) and matrix multiplication by a scalar. TSPLs allow us to imagine a research question which we couldn't ask previously: How much computing might students learn if they used a multiple TSPLs in each subject in each primary and secondary school grade?	https://doi.org/10.1145/3364510.3364532
When Schools Meet Artificial Intelligence in Hong Kong	ACM Inroads	Wong, Gary K. W.; Ma, Xiaojuan; Huen, John		https://doi.org/10.1145/3369739
SUFFER – SimUlation Framework for Education in Robotics	Eighth International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality	Conde, Miguel Ángel; Rodríguez Lera, Francisco J; Fernández-González, David; J. Rodríguez-Sedano, Francisco; Guerrero-Higueras, Ángel Manuel; Fernández, Camino	The digital society in which we are involved is demanding better prepared professionals which requires of learning about technology and also use technology to learn. Information and Communication Technologies have been applied in educational processes in the last 20 years as a new way to support teaching and learning. In fact, these technologies make possible facilitating even disciplines that have a very important face to face and tangible component as is lab work. However, this require moving the lab technologies into simulators and emulators to any kind of student environment, arising different problems of compatibility and performance associated to final user computer specs. In order to overcome these problems, SUFFER is defined. It allows a flexible and easy definition of different labs, in what could be understood as a lab as a service approach based on cloud computing technologies. Moreover, making possible the collaboration between students and with the teachers during the lab activities. In order to do so SUFFER The simulator is being applied successfully in several courses and also in other contexts such as RoboSTEAM project.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3434780.3436702
Assessment of Modeling and Simulation in Secondary Computing Science Education	Proceedings of the 13th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Grgurina, Natasa; Barendsen, Erik; Suhre, Cor; Zwaneveld, Bert; van Veen, Klaas	The introduction of the new computing science curriculum in the Netherlands in 2019 raises the need for new evidence-based teaching materials that include practical assignments and guidelines for their assessment. As a part of our research project on teaching Computational Science (modeling and simulation), we participate in these efforts and developed a curriculum intervention including a practical assignment and an accompanying assessment instrument consisting of grading rubrics based on the SOLO taxonomy. In this research paper we focus on the assessment instrument. We describe its development and report on a pilot study carried out in the secondary computing science course implementing the curriculum intervention. The instrument proved to be reliable and effective in tracing high and low levels of the students' achievements in modeling and simulation projects and exposed the expected differences in performance levels of various groups of students, which renders it useful for both formative and summative assessment. Furthermore, our application of the instrument has provided new insights into the needs of specific groups of students to receive instruction prior to and during the work on the assignments.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3265757.3265764
Introduction to Computer Science for Urban African American Students Using Sphero Robotics Workshop	Proceedings of the SouthEast Conference	Gosha, Kinnis; Ridley, Trey; Holmes, Ernest; Womack, Kevin; Scott, Jordan	This paper introduces the use of an all-day coding workshop as an intervention to introduce and expose African American high school students from a southeastern urban school district to coding and computing careers. The workshop is held at a local HBCU and led by African American undergraduates computer science majors who attend that HBCU. The workshop is focused on a robotic ball called an Sphero that allows users to control its motion and color by writing lines of code. Results from workshop showed an increase of interest in pursuing a career in computing after graduation compared to interest before the start of the workshop.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3077286.3077323
Evaluation and Assessment Needs of Computing Education in Primary Grades	Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Vivian, Rebecca; Franklin, Diana; Frye, Dave; Peterfreund, Alan; Ravitz, Jason; Sullivan, Florence; Zeitz, Melissa; McGill, Monica M.	Until recently, computer science (CS) has been predominantly taught at upper-secondary or tertiary levels. Lately, however, CS curricula have been introduced into school systems from the very first year of school. In this paper, we undertake a participatory research approach, using focus group discussions between a group of experts in the field of evaluation and assessment at the primary level (K-5). The group considered the evaluation and assessment measures they have used, what their current needs are and how the CS education community can move towards meeting those needs. We present the discussion results as a position paper, situated in the context of broader education research. The experts identified three key priorities for the education research community: creating a universal taxonomy of assessment in the primary grades (K-5), creating measurements of student progression and growth over time, and creating culturally relevant evaluations and assessments. Through identifying key priorities, this work provides direction for urgently needed resource development and research directions for K-5 evaluation and assessment.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3341525.3387371
Reflections on an Introductory CS Course, CS15, at Brown University	ACM Inroads	van Dam, Andries		https://doi.org/10.1145/3284639
Teaching True Computer Science Principles to the General Student	J. Comput. Sci. Coll.	Lu, Baochuan; Conley, Meilani; Klein, Angie	The authors designed a general computer science course ("computer science in a nutshell") required as general education for math and science majors, and which can be taught as a CS0 or Advanced Placement (AP) CS principles course. The course exhibited an original design because the authors did not find a model course or a textbook that fully met the requirements. The course presents a unique combination of theories and practices for this type of course and addresses some of the course content likely to be used in the new AP CS course. Analogies and examples were used extensively to help make abstract ideas concrete and understandable.
Merging Physical and Digital White Canvas to Unleash Children's Creativity	Proceedings of the 2014 Workshops on Advances in Computer Entertainment Conference	Sylla, Cristina; Figueiredo, Ana Carina; Pinto, Ana Lúcia; Branco, Pedro; Zagalo, Nelson	This paper describes the activities and results of a workshop designed for children to understand the use of a novel interface, a hybrid physical-digital book, and at the same time to assess the kind of content that children would create. In this interface a physical book is synchronized together with a tablet computer so that flipping the page changes the content on the screen. We challenged children to create and draw a story for both the physical page and the screen. The task involved imagining a story, thinking and reflecting about it, discussing it with a peer, take decisions, develop a storyboard, and finally bring it to life on the physical book as well as on the tablet device. After the presentation of the task by the workshop organizers, children were given all the material they needed to concretize the proposed task and developed the content all by themselves. In the whole thirteen children participated in the workshop authoring five hybrid digital-physical books. In the scope of the activity children took over multiple roles, becoming authors, directors, scripters, performers and narrators, thus creating multiple layers of interaction, confirming that involving in the creation of graphic-narratives is a powerful task.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2693787.2693807
An International Pilot Study of K-12 Teachers' Computer Science Self-Esteem	Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Vivian, Rebecca; Quille, Keith; McGill, Monica M.; Falkner, Katrina; Sentance, Sue; Barksdale, Sarah; Busuttil, Leonard; Cole, Elizabeth; Liebe, Christine; Maiorana, Francesco	Computer Science (CS) is a new subject area for many K-12 teachers around the world, requiring new disciplinary knowledge and skills. Teacher social-behavioral factors (e.g. self-esteem) have been found to impact learning and teaching, and a key part of CS curriculum implementation will need to ensure teachers feel confident to deliver CS. However, studies about CS teacher self-esteem are lacking. This paper presents an analysis of publicly available data (n=219) from a pilot study using a Teacher CS Self-Esteem scale. Analysis revealed significant differences, including 1) females reported significantly lower CS self-esteem than males, 2) primary teachers reported lower levels of CS self-esteem than secondary teachers, 3) those with no CS teaching experience reported significantly lower CS self-esteem, 4) teachers with 0-3 years experience had a negative CS self-esteem, but after four years, teachers had a positive CS self-esteem, and 5) teachers who lived further from metropolitan areas and in some countries reported lower CS self-esteem. These initial findings suggest a pressing need for future research to look further into teacher CS self-esteem to inform teacher CS professional development.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3341525.3387418
Methodological Guide for the Successful Use of Digital Technologies in Education: Improvement of Learning through European Educational Projects	Eighth International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality	Alonso de Castro, María Goretti; García-Peñalvo, Francisco José	The purpose of this article is to set out the research plan for the doctoral thesis, which deals with the definition of a methodological guide for the successful use of digital technologies in education, especially in eLearning, taking as a reference European educational projects that have been successful in achieving an improvement in the teaching and learning process. We live in an increasingly digital society that requires citizens to be prepared to adapt to the needs of the moment and to solve the problems that arise. For this to be possible, the education system must be prepared to adequately train future citizens who will join a changing labor market. To this end, teachers must be trained and know how to carry out efficient educational projects that allow them to make the most of the potential of ICT in the classroom or in distance education. The situation experienced during the 2019-2020 school year with the COVID-19 pandemic has tested the education system and its ability to adapt to a situation where the use of distance education was required and where ICT was very much needed in most of the cases to bring education to the homes. These factors make it very necessary to work for a better teaching professionalization. Therefore, the main objective of this PhD work is to enable teachers to design their projects, involving electronic learning, in a more effective way. To achieve this, what better than to use the educational projects compiled in the Erasmus+ results platform, which allow the analysis of project typology, outcomes, topics and to see those that have been catalogued as a good practice or success story. This database will be a key tool to gather information together with the collaboration of the main actors of those projects that have been successful. A methodological guide would allow teachers and teacher trainers to know the key factors that help to achieve a good design of educational projects and allow an optimal use of ICT resources and the greatest impact on the teaching-learning process.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3434780.3436549
The Effect of a Spatial Skills Training Course in Introductory Computing	Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Parkinson, Jack; Cytts, Quintin	Spatial skills have been associated with STEM success for decades. Research has shown that training spatial skills can have a positive impact on outcomes in STEM domains such as engineering, mathematics and physics; however – despite some promising leads – evidence for the same relationship with computing is limited. This research describes a spatial skills intervention delivered to around 60 students in introductory computing courses who tested with relatively low spatial skills, mirroring a well established intervention developed and used by Sorby in engineering for over 20 years. This study has shown correlation between spatial skills and computing assessment marks which was observed both before and after training took place, suggesting that as the students' spatial skills are improved via training, so too is their computing assessment. Students who took part in the intervention also showed a significant increase in class rankings over their peers. The authors consider this to be a good indication that spatial skills training for low spatial skills scorers starting a computing degree is of value.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3341525.3387413
Dual-Modality Instruction and Learning: A Case Study in CS1	Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Blanchard, Jeremiah; Gardner-McCune, Christina; Anthony, Lisa	In college-level introductory computer science courses, students traditionally learn to program using text-based languages which are common in industry and research. This approach means that learners must concurrently master both syntax and semantics. Blocks-based programming environments have become commonplace in introductory computing courses in K-12 schools and some colleges in part to simplify syntax challenges. However, there is evidence that students may face difficulty moving to text-based programming environments when starting with blocks-based environments. Bi-directional dual-modality programming environments provide multiple representations of programming language constructs (in both blocks and text) and allow students to transition between them freely. Prior work has shown that some students who use dual-modality environments to transition from blocks to text have more positive views of text programming compared to students who move directly from blocks to text languages, but it is not yet known if there is any impact on learning. To investigate the impact on learning, we conducted a study at a large public university across two semesters in a CS1 course (N=673). We found that students performed better on typical course exams when they were taught using dual-modality representations in lecture and were provided dual-modality tools. The results of our work support the conclusion that dual-modality instruction can help students learn computational concepts in early college computer science coursework.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3328778.3366865
Changing What's Happening in HS and Introductory College CS: Keynote Address	J. Comput. Sci. Coll.	Cuny, Jan	Computing has become ubiquitous. IT innovation drives our economy, underlies many of the advances we are making in science and engineering, and ensures our national security. IT has the highest projected job growth of any STEM field and its careers consistently rank near the top of "best job" lists. Yet student interest in computing has plummeted: the proportion of incoming college students who intend to major in computing has fallen by 70% this decade, 80% for women. College enrollments and degree production has also dropped dramatically and although some schools are reporting the beginnings of a turn around, we are still significantly under-producing the computing and IT degrees we will need to have for a competitive 21st workforce in global economy.
Democracy in the Classroom: An Exercise for the First Days of CS1	Proceedings of the 14th Annual ACM SIGCSE Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Blaheta, Don	Selecting a first-day activity for CS1 is an important way to set the scene for an introduction to computer science. This paper presents the task of counting votes as an accessible vehicle for lessons on algorithms, data management, parallel processing, and other key computational ideas.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1562877.1562895
Democracy in the Classroom: An Exercise for the First Days of CS1	SIGCSE Bull.	Blaheta, Don	Selecting a first-day activity for CS1 is an important way to set the scene for an introduction to computer science. This paper presents the task of counting votes as an accessible vehicle for lessons on algorithms, data management, parallel processing, and other key computational ideas.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1595496.1562895
Functional Geometry and the Traité de Lutherie: Functional Pearl	SIGPLAN Not.	Mairson, Harry George	We describe a functional programming approach to the design of outlines of eighteenth-century string instruments. The approach is based on the research described in François Denis's book, Traité de lutherie. The programming vernacular for Denis's instructions, which we call functional geometry, is meant to reiterate the historically justified language and techniques of this musical instrument design. The programming metaphor is entirely Euclidean, involving straightedge and compass constructions, with few (if any) numbers, and no Cartesian equations or grid. As such, it is also an interesting approach to teaching programming and mathematics without numerical calculation or equational reasoning.The advantage of this language-based, functional approach to lutherie is founded in the abstract characterization of common patterns in instrument design. These patterns include not only the abstraction of common straightedge and compass constructions, but of higher-order conceptualization of the instrument design process. We also discuss the role of arithmetic, geometric, harmonic, and subharmonic proportions, and the use of their rational approximants.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2544174.2500617
Priming the Pump: Reflections on Training K-5 Teachers in Computer Science	Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Roberts, Michele; Prottsman, Kiki; Gray, Jeff	Much well-deserved attention in K-12 Computer Science (CS) education has focused recently on the successful launch of the College Board's new AP CS Principles course, which is breaking participation records and broadening CS participation. To further leverage the national investment in a successful high school CS program, however, it is important to create, sustain and study a continuous CS pipeline that begins early and spans all grade levels. This experience report articulates the characteristics of Code.org's K-5 CS Fundamentals (CSF) program and summarizes the experiences of adopting the CSF curriculum to support large-scale, university-driven K-5 Professional Development (PD) programs across two states in different geographical regions of the USA. An overview of Code.org's CSF curriculum and PD survey data is provided, followed by a summary of each state's experience. A set of lessons learned offers recommendations for those considering implementation of statewide PD programs in K-5 CS; future plans are discussed to investigate observations from this experience report within a formal research setting.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3159450.3159560
Technical Perspective: The Chemistry of Software-Defined Batteries	Commun. ACM	Keshav, Srinivasan		https://doi.org/10.1145/3007177
Context-Based Teaching and Learning of Fundamental Computer Science Concepts: Exploring Teachers' Ideas	Proceedings of the 13th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Nijenhuis-Voogt, Jacqueline; Meijer, Paulien C.; Barendsen, Erik	In context-based education, authentic situations ('contexts') are used as starting points for learning content matter ('concepts'). In this way, contexts provide significance and meaning to the concepts taught. The context-based approach has been investigated extensively in the field of science education.Context-based education has the potential to be a useful strategy in computer science (CS), in particular for teaching and learning of fundamental concepts. Initiatives like Informatik im Kontext confirm that context-based teaching and learning is a promising approach. So far, however, little research has been done on particular aspects of context-based learning in CS, such as the effective selection of contexts, principles for connecting concepts and contexts, and mechanisms for fostering knowledge transfer.This work-in-progress paper reports on an ongoing qualitative study on context-based teaching of fundamental CS concepts connected to algorithmic thinking. The study focuses on experiences and ideas of teachers, as they play a key role in the adaptation of contexts stemming from a rapidly changing field.We conducted semi-structured interviews with CS teachers on the above aspects of context-based teaching. The results reveal various ideas that teachers have on the use and effects of context-based learning and raises questions about the selection of contexts.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3265757.3265772
CS0: Why, What, and How?: Panel Discussion	J. Comput. Sci. Coll.	Brown, Matt; Hu, Chenyi; Burch, Carl; Nooner, Michael	CS1 has been commonly offered as the first introductory course in Computer Science. For various reasons, the panelists have developed and offered a CS0 course at different institutions during the last several years. The panelists will share their experience in designing and implementing a CS0 course at their institutions. Discussions will follow on the following questions:1. Why do we need a CS0 course? Whom should this course be for?2. What should be the expected objectives and appropriate contents of the course?3. How do we design, implement, and assess such a course?
Interdisciplinary Teaching and Learning in Computing Science: Three Years of Experience in the MoCSSy Program	Proceedings of the Seventeenth Western Canadian Conference on Computing Education	Giabbanelli, Philippe J.; Reid, Andrew A.; Dabbaghian, Vahid	Simon Fraser University introduced the Modelling of Complex Social Systems Program (MoCSSy) as an interdisciplinary research program aimed at complex societal issues. Since its inception, the MoCSSy program has engaged a number of students from computing science, who worked on problems brought by their peers in fields such as obesity and criminology. In this paper, we introduce the organization and structure of MoCSSy, pointing to the importance of computing science in meeting the specific goals and objectives of the Program. Through an analysis of surveys completed with MoCSSy students, we conducted a preliminary assessment on the impact of the program for computing science majors and non majors. We found that the program successfully achieved many of its goals, as computing science majors and non-majors appreciated working with each other and made academic contributions that would not have been possible without this synergy. Finally, we analyze current challenges and identify a strategy for the way forward.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2247569.2247586
Lessons Learned from Teaching App Inventor	J. Comput. Sci. Coll.	Abelson, Hal; Mustafaraj, Eni; Turbak, Franklyn; Morelli, Ralph; Uche, Chinma	App Inventor is a visual programming environment developed at Google and now freely available from MIT's Center for Mobile Learning that enables students with no previous programming background to build apps for Android mobile devices. The panelists will describe their experiences with using App Inventor in a variety of computer science courses.
Booming Undergraduate Enrollments: A Wave or a Sea Change?	ACM Inroads	Kurose, James		https://doi.org/10.1145/2834124
SQL2X: Learning SQL, NoSQL, and MapReduce via Translation	Proceedings of the 52nd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Wu, Wensheng	A key challenge in designing a database course is how to introduce students to the great variety of data models, query languages, databases, and data processing systems available now. To address this challenge, we propose SQL2X, a novel SQL-centric learning model that teaches students SQL, NoSQL, and MapReduce via translation. For example, translating SQL queries into MapReduce programs to gain insights on how aggregation and join are performed in parallel in MapReduce, and translating SQL queries into REST requests to Firebase to help understand the differences between the query capability of SQL and NoSQL databases. We have applied the model to a graduate database course in our applied data science program. The evaluation and feedback from the students with diverse background indicate the effectiveness of the model in developing students' modeling, querying, and analytical skills over diverse data systems.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3408877.3432541
Helping High-Needs Schools Prioritize CS Education through Teacher Advocacy & Experiences	ACM Inroads	Wilson, Joseph P.; Moritz, Melissa		https://doi.org/10.1145/2800790
The Teacher's Role in Educational Robotics Competitions	Proceedings of the 18th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research	Pöhner, Nicolai; Hennecke, Martin	Educational robotics competitions are a popular informal learning environment in Computer Science (CS) education and numbers of participating students and teachers increase every year. Well known examples of such competitions are the First Lego League (FLL) or the World Robot Olympiad (WRO).In our research project on learning problem solving through educational robotics competitions, we are also concerned with the teaching pedagogy in these competitions. We want to identify the role of the teacher and the way the teachers support their teams. This article presents results from a questionnaire study (N = 57) which was conducted with teachers (i.e. team coaches) of the regular category of the World Robot Olympiad after the German national final in 2018.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3279720.3279753
Introduction to Business Informatics with Greenfoot Using the Example of Airport Baggage Handling	Proceedings of the 10th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research	Rick, Detlef; Ludwig, Julia; Meyer, Sebastian; Rehder, Carsten; Schirmer, Ingrid	Complexity being an essential part of our everyday and occupational life, the following question arises: Which fundamental skills do pupils need to develop, in order to be well prepared for handling future complex technological, and social, systems? We believe that general education should address this issue by cultivating computational—or rather "informatical"— thinking, i. e. an informatical view on the world.The educational programming environment Greenfoot consolidates the strengths of traditional microworlds with Java's scalability [1], thus enabling the provision of rather complex systems, most notably simulations of material or traffic streams. In Greenfoot, these systems can be interactively explored and manipulated. Thus Greenfoot is not only an excellent learning environment for introductory programming courses but it is also particularly well suited to address more application-oriented issues in computer science.In a one week school project pupils in their eighth year were presented with a Greenfoot simulation of a highly simplified airport baggage handling system. Using the example of baggage handling, they got involved not only with programming but also with applied computing, namely with issues related to the field of Business Informatics (BI, German Wirtschaftsinformatik). Our aim in including applied computing issues in the school project was to present a broad image of computer science.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1930464.1930474
Understanding High School Students' Reading, Remixing, and Writing Codeable Circuits for Electronic Textiles	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Litts, Breanne K.; Kafai, Yasmin; Lui, Debora; Walker, Justice; Widman, Sari	In this paper, we examine students? learning about computing by designing, coding, and remixing electronic textiles with sensor inputs and light outputs. We conducted a workshop with 23 high school students ages 16-17 years who learned how to craft and code circuits with the LilyPad Arduino, an electronic textile construction kit. Our analyses not only confirm significant increases in students' understanding of functional circuits but also showcase students' ability in reading, remixing and writing program code for controlling circuits. In our discussion, we address opportunities and challenges of introducing codeable circuit design for integrating maker activities that include engineering and computing into K-12 classrooms.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3017680.3017740
GoDonnie: A Robot Programming Language to Improve Orientation and Mobility Skills in People Who Are Visually Impaired	The 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility	Oliveira, Juliana Damasio; Campos, Márcia de Borba; Amory, Alexandre; Bordini, Rafael H.	This work presents GoDonnie a programming language to command a robot to improve orientation and mobility(O&M) skills in people who are visually impaired (PVI). The GoDonnie programming language is based on the Logo language. GoDonnie runs in a programming environment called Donnie. This environment has a 2D graphic simulator with a virtual robot, in which one can visualise and receive sound feedback from the execution of the language commands for moving the virtual robot in the environment. GoDonnie has been evaluated with PVI to verify its usability and support to O&M. The results indicate that GoDonnie has good usability, supports the development of O&M in PVI and meets the expectations regarding the programming environment. A video of GoDonnie execution is available in https://youtu.be/HE__sAgfNBo	https://doi.org/10.1145/3308561.3354599
Repositories You Shouldn't Be Living Without	Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Decker, Adrienne; McGill, Monica M.; DeLyser, Leigh Ann; Quinn, Beth; Berry, Miles; Haynie, Kathy; McKlin, Tom	Over the last few years, a number of repositories of information relevant to the computing education community have come online, each with different content and purpose. In this special session, we present an overview of these repositories and the content that each provides. Demonstrations of the functionality of the repositories will be shown and attendees are encouraged to come with their questions and suggestions for improvement if they are currently users of the repositories.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3159450.3159643
Teacher Perspectives on Web Design Instruction	Proceedings of the 2015 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Muibi, Hauwa; Dorn, Brian; Park, Thomas	Web development is an inherently interdisciplinary field that offers a unique introductory path to computing prior to more traditional programming courses. While significant earlier work has investigated the challenges that novice web developers encounter, little research is available about teaching while coping with the field's considerable breadth. This paper reports findings from interviews with practicing web design instructors in secondary and post-secondary teaching environments. We present emergent themes related to recruitment strategies, student expectations, teaching techniques, and common challenges. We find significant effort is needed to cope with mismatches between students' expectations of what web design is and the HTML/CSS syntax-oriented view of the discipline often emphasized by teachers. We conclude with implications for new teaching tools that would help better sustain student motivation while equipping them with fundamental skills in web development.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2729094.2742606
Meeting Student and Teacher Needs in Computing Education	Commun. ACM	Guzdial, Mark	The Communications Web site, http://cacm.acm.org, features more than a dozen bloggers in the BLOG@CACM community. In each issue of Communications, we'll publish selected posts or excerpts.twitterFollow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/blogCACMhttp://cacm.acm.org/blogs/blog-cacmMark Guzdial reports on the 2014 meeting of the ACM Education Council, where updates from its global representatives led to action plans.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2682922
Can Everybody Learn to Code? Computer Science Community Perceptions about Learning the Fundamentals of Programming	Proceedings of the 14th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research	Vivian, Rebecca; Falkner, Katrina; Szabo, Claudia	Recently, we have seen a wave of initiatives that encourage everybody (from children to adults) to learn to code and many countries implement new K-12 computing curricula. However, research has identified the numerous challenges experienced by students learning to code. With much of the literature focused on student perceptions and capabilities, what insight might the computer science (CS) community offer about learning to code that may guide future directions in K-12 practice and research?We invited the CS community to respond to an online survey about learning to code. This survey forms a pilot to determine whether the topic warrants further exploration. We explore the responses in light of the introductory programming literature and Mindset Theories to identify perceived capabilities required, the challenges and potential barriers to learning to code.Our results were based on a small sample, mostly from Australian academics and IT professionals. A majority perceived that anybody could learn to code, with effort and motivation, however, that more advanced levels of programming require mathematical logic, a desire and ability for problem-solving and abstract thinking. A variety of challenges were identified, which may have implications for CS education and research. The findings warrant further exploration into the area of CS community perceptions, particularly with educators of introductory programming courses.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2674683.2674695
Including Embedded Systems in CS: Why? When? And How?	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Siever, Bill; Chamberlain, Roger D.; Forbes, Elliott; Russell, Ingrid	Embedded systems pervade nearly every aspect of modern life. Moreover, the emergence of both mobile platforms and Internet of Things (IoT) is furthering their reach. Although embedded systems are one of the bodies of knowledge in the ACM/IEEE-CS Com- puter Engineering Curricula, they have only passing mention in the ACM/IEEE-CS Computer Science Curricula. Inclusion of embedded systems concepts in undergraduate computer science can facilitate many objectives: a) they are an example of Platform-Based Devel- opment, a prominent theme in the ACM 2013 CS Curricula, b) they are often a more suitable level of complexity for educational needs than other "real world" platforms (e.g., Arduinos may be used to introduce many AP CS Principles in a single course), c) they offer a novel form of engagement, which may enhance diversity, and d) emerging areas, like IoT, are increasing demand for professionals that understand the full span of systems, from low-level firmware, to middleware and cloud computing. This panel represents three methods of including embedded systems concepts in undergraduate computer science: 1) use of em- bedded systems to improve engagement in a non-major computing course, 2) a required course covering core content for both com- puter science and computer engineering majors, and 3) a degree program offering a formal emphasis in embedded systems via a complementary set of courses. The panelists will share their motiva- tions for including embedded systems concepts in their programs, their approaches to integrating the content into their curricula, the teaching methods they use, the challenges they faced, and chal- lenges that remain.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287327
Holistic Development of Underrepresented Students through Academic: Industry Partnerships	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Burge, Legand; Mejias, Marlon; Galloway, KaMar; Gosha, Kinnis; Muhammad, Jean	Underrepresented students and the institutions that serve these students need to recognize and address the unique challenges that impact their career pathways and successes. This special session will discuss challenges facing Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) and how industry-academia partnerships can be a force in mitigating some of these challenges. We will explore how we as a community can work together to develop holistic programs to support student development and excellence. We will highlight the shortcomings, strengths and future of the Googler In Residence (GIR) program from the perspective of select participating colleges, as well as other successful initiatives in motion. It is also essential that promising interventions be shared and scaled across institutions that play an essential role in educating and preparing these students. We are still learning as we go, but this is an opportune time to come together as a community to share our challenges and solutions, to determine how we can move together and how we can all be involved as change advocates. It is meant to be interactive, create shared knowledge and help identify ways of moving forward serving MSIs.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3017680.3017808
8th International Workshop on Software Engineering for E-Learning (ISELEAR'17)	Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality	Conde, Miguel Á.; Sarasa-Cabezuelo, Antonio; Sierra, José-Luis	1 This paper introduces the TEEM 17 track for the 8th International Workshop on Software Engineering for E-Learning (ISELEAR'17). The ISELEAR workshop focuses on the systematic construction of E-Learning ecosystems by using appropriate methods, techniques and tools. Thus, and contrarily to other venues in E-Learning, which highlight the pedagogical dimension of the E-Learning ecosystems, ISELEAR highlights the development aspects of the software that supports these ecosystems. This introduction describes the workshop's mission, history, and review and selection process, and summarizes the papers accepted for the 2017 edition of the workshop.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3144826.3145434
Get Paid to Program: Evaluating an Employment-Aware After-School Program for High School Women of Color	Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	McFarlane, Dana; Redmiles, Elissa M.	After-school programs are one of the primary mechanisms used to introduce students to computing. Yet, such programs may leave behind students who need to work after-school jobs and earn an income. In this work we implement and evaluate a 10-week-long after-school program we call "Get Paid to Program", which uses research-based curriculum and pedagogical practices to introduce majority-minority, low-income high school women to computing. We evaluate the impact of this program on students' self-confidence around computing and their interest in STEM and computing careers. We evaluate the program with 30 high school women over two program implementations. Our evaluation shows a significant change in participants' computing self-efficacy. Additionally, we observe a refinement of career interests in computer science, programming, and engineering: participants become more certain of their interest, or lack thereof, after program completion. Interestingly, we find relatively little impact on career interest in other STEM fields, suggesting that computing-specific programs are critical for raising student awareness and interest.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3341525.3387357
Children's Beliefs and Understanding of Smart Objects: An Exploratory Study	Proceedings of the International Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces	Melonio, Alessandra; Rizvi, Mehdi; Roumelioti, Eftychia; De Angeli, Antonella; Gennari, Rosella; Matera, Maristella	Children's role in the design of new technology has been widely investigated. Recently, the research focus has shifted, from the technology they help create, towards what children gain by participating in design workshops. This paper intercepts this line of research. It reports on a design workshop with 27 children, aged from 11 to 14 years old, ideating, programming and prototyping smart objects for their town park. Data were gathered in relation to children's beliefs, before and after the workshop, and in relation to their understanding of design, after the workshop. The analysis of the gathered data suggests that the workshop positively affected children's beliefs and understanding of design, giving indications for future work concerning design as means of empowerment.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3399715.3399828
Pseudo Abstract Composition: The Case of Language Concatenation	Proceedings of the 17th ACM Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Ginat, David; Alankry, Ronnie	Composition is a fundamental problem solving heuristic. In computer science, it primarily appears in program design with concrete objects such as language constructs. It also appears in more abstract forms in higher-level courses. One such form is that of language concatenation in the Computational Models course. This concatenation involves the composition of two specifications of infinite sets (source languages) into a third one, and requires both abstraction and non-deterministic conception. In this paper, we illuminate behaviors of advanced high school students, with such composition. Students who encountered difficulties offered pseudo solutions, which enclosed only "surface" features and observations. We orderly display their solutions, discuss them, and offer suggestions for educators to cope with this phenomenon.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2325296.2325307
The Need to Balance Innovation and Implementation in Broadening Participation	Commun. ACM	Ladner, Richard E.; Litzler, Elizabeth	Seeking to improve the process for writing and reviewing proposals for new educational programs.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2330667.2330679
Broadening Participation in Computing: Putting Our Work in Context	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Blaney, Jennifer M.; Sax, Linda J.; Feldon, David; Gates, Ann	Broadening the participation of women in computing has increasingly become a focus of computing education research over the past several years. To be sure, the field of computing has unique challenges that merit close examination. At the same time, social scientists have built large bodies of literature related to gender equity across disciplines that span several decades, much of it critical to how we understand (in)equity in computing. This panel will provide perspectives from scholars with expertise in a variety of disciplines, including computer science, higher education, and educational psychology. Panelists will share relevant research from their home disciplines and initiate a discussion on the future of computing education research.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287330
Digital Assessment and Promotion of Children's Curiosity	Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Gordon, Goren; Jirout, Jamie; Engel, Susan; Chang, Alicia	This half-day IDC 2015 workshop focuses on children's curiosity and how novel digital technologies can help assess and promote it. Our goal is to explore the design, development, use and evaluation of new technologies for this purpose, in terms of: i) challenges in assessing children's curiosity; ii) different evaluation methodologies; iii) design approaches to promotion of curiosity; iv) cognitive and social aspects of curiosity and their interaction with these technologies.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2771839.2771955
Going Beyond the Platitudes of Equity: Developing a Shared Vision for Equity in Computer Science Education	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Ryoo, Jean; Chapman, Gail; Flapan, Julie; Goode, Joanna; Margolis, Jane; Ong, Christine; Estrada, Cynthia; Skorodinsky, Max; Tanksley, Tiera; Burge, Jamika D.; Yamaguchi, Ryoko; McAlear, Frieda; Scott, Allison; Martin, Alexis; Koshy, Sonia; Bobb, Kamau; Diaz, Lien	Efforts to broaden participation in computing address how systemic school structures, educator preparation, and curriculum can provide inclusive learning spaces for all students. The emerging multiplicity of scholarship in computer science (CS) education forwards diverse voices, perspectives, and positionalities, and together, provide a rich set of evidence-based narratives that can transform K-12 policies and practices. The four projects featured in this panel bring together CS education efforts with varying methodologies focused on equity-oriented pedagogies and learning for all youth across the US. This panel will focus not only on sharing the multi-pronged efforts of the featured projects, but also on developing a shared vision among participants and panelists for what equity" can and should be in the future of both SIGCSE and CS education as we celebrate SIGCSE's 50th anniversary. By highlighting the work of projects rather than individuals in this panel, audience members will have the opportunity to learn about how collaborative efforts create and examine contexts for equity in CS education across diverse stakeholders, while also providing a richer base for constructing visions of equity that go beyond mere platitudes, toward action items for broadening participation in computing.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287331
Bring the Page to Life: Engaging Rural Students in Computer Science Using Alice	Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Fasy, Brittany Terese; Hancock, Stacey A.; Komlos, Barbara Z.; Kristiansen, Brendan; Micka, Samuel; Theobold, Allison S.	Exposure to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) at a young age is key to inspiring students to pursue careers in these fields. Thus, many institutions of higher education offer events to engage youth in STEM activities. These events are most effective when they are adapted to the specific audience. In Montana, a large percentage of the K-12 student population is from rural communities, where the ability to participate in such events is limited due to travel logistics and a shortage of relatable materials. We have developed a computer science outreach module that targets these populations through the use of storytelling and the Alice programming environment, thus drawing a parallel between storytelling and building algorithms. We describe the module's implementation, report and analyze feedback, and provide lessons learned from the module's implementation at outreach events.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3341525.3387367
Indirect Interaction: A Computing Lecture for Five to Seven Year-Olds	Proceedings of the 2016 ACM Conference Companion Publication on Designing Interactive Systems	Billingsley, William; Kwan, Paul	Most papers on introducing children to computing assume the children will interact directly with the technology or task. In this paper, we reflect on a case of designing for indirect interaction – where it is not the children's hands but a facilitator's on the device. The context is a computing lecture we gave for twenty-six children aged between five and seven years old. This was specifically designed to give a stylized experience of being a university student – it is self-consciously a lecture emphasising student-teacher interaction around code. We found a technique from undergraduate engineering education – a partially exposed simulation in a text-based programming language – allowed imaginative interaction from the children as they discovered they could model the impossible.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2908805.2909410
CS in Schools: Developing a Sustainable Coding Programme in Australian Schools	Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Williams, Hugh E.; Williams, Selina; Kendall, Kristy	Digital technology is compulsory in schools in most states at most year levels in Australia. However, a recent survey of over 400 Australian schools in 2019 found that 96% have had difficulty hiring qualified technology teachers and 39% of schools have reduced the amount of technology education they offer. We have observed that there is a shortage of teachers who feel qualified to teach coding. To address this problem, we launched CS in Schools (see https://csinschools.com), a successful in-class professional development programme for teachers that helps schools build a robust digital technology capability in their students. Our programme matches pedagogy with content expertise, by matching a volunteer computing professional with a secondary school teacher, and helping that teacher develop their coding skills in the classroom over a six month period. This experience paper describes the approach we took in piloting our programme with 10 teachers in 8 schools who taught over 1,100 students in 2019. We also describe our current scale-up in 2020 to work with around 60 teachers, around 40 volunteers, over 25 schools, and more than 6,000 students. Our goal is to work with hundreds of schools in 2021.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3341525.3387422
Virtual Reality in Computer Science Education: A Systematic Review	26th ACM Symposium on Virtual Reality Software and Technology	Pirker, Johanna; Dengel, Andreas; Holly, Michael; Safikhani, Saeed	Virtual reality (VR) technologies have become more affordable and accessible in recent years. This is opening up new methods and opportunities in the field of digital learning. VR can offer new forms of interactive learning and working, especially for subjects from the STEM (Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) area. In this context we investigate the potential and application of VR for computer science education with a systematic review in this paper. We present a formal literature review on the use of VR technologies in computer science education. We focus on the identification of factors such as learning objectives, technologies used, interaction characteristics, and challenges and advantages of using fully immersive VR for computer science education.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3385956.3418947
Pricing and Queueing	SIGMETRICS Perform. Eval. Rev.	Borgs, Christian; Chayes, Jennifer T.; Doroudi, Sherwin; Harchol-Balter, Mor; Xu, Kuang	We consider a pricing in a single observable queue, where customers all have the same valuation, V , and the same waiting cost, v. It is known that earning rate is maximized in such a model when state-dependent pricing is used and an admissions threshold is deployed whereby arriving customers may not join the queue if the total number of customers exceeds this threshold. This paper is the first to explicitly derive the optimal threshold. We use our explicit formulation to obtain asymptotic results on how the threshold grows with V.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2425248.2425266
Ubiquity Symposium 'What is Computation?': The Evolution of Computation	Ubiquity	Wegner, Peter	In this second article in the ACM Ubiquity symposium on 'What is computation?' Peter Wegner provides a history of the evolution of comptuation. –Editor	https://doi.org/10.1145/1880066.1883611
Learning More about Active Learning	Commun. ACM	Stemp-Morlock, Graeme	Active learning algorithms are producing substantial savings in label complexity over passive learning approaches.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1498765.1498771
Sorting through Photos	Commun. ACM	Savage, Neil	Teaching computers to understand pictures could lead to search engines capable of identifying and organizing large datasets of visual information.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1941487.1941493
Prerequisites: Shaping the Computing Curriculum	ACM Inroads	Walker, Henry M.	A computing program is usually more than a collection of disjoint courses. Rather, students typically move from an introductory level to intermediate level to advanced, and each level usually builds upon background and experience obtained at earlier levels. Prerequisites often provide the structure for a curriculum, so prerequisites shape the way students progress through these courses. This column examines possible rationales for prerequisites and some consequences of prerequisite chains. The column then examines more carefully the prerequisites for two specific areas of the computing curriculum: mathematics and introductory courses.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1869746.1869751
The Future of Tangible User Interfaces	Extended Abstracts of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems	Holmquist, Lars Erik; Zuckerman, Oren; Ballagas, Rafael; Ishii, Hiroshi; Ryokai, Kimiko; Zhang, Haiyan	Tangible user interfaces have a rich history in HCI research ever since their introduction two decades ago. But what are the practical implications, the commercial potential, and the future of this influential paradigm? This panel starts by looking into the importance of tangible interaction and its current role. It will then draw on the expertise of both the panelists and the audience to speculate about its future and new opportunities for the field. The panelists represent a variety of perspectives from both industry and academia, and includes some of the most well-known innovators in the field. The format builds on the CHI 2006 panel The state of tangible interfaces: projects, studies, and open issues, which shared some of the same organizers.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3290607.3311741
Creating Opportunities for Children's Critical Reflections on AI, Robotics and Other Intelligent Technologies	Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Interaction Design and Children Conference: Extended Abstracts	Charisi, Vicky; Malinverni, Laura; Schaper, Marie-Monique; Rubegni, Elisa	The increasing presence of robotics, automated systems, and AI in everyday life is carrying important ethical and social implications for both those who design and develop them as well as for the users. Addressing these complex issues requires active collaboration between multiple stakeholders, including children. Nonetheless, even if emergent technologies are becoming increasingly present in education, most technology-mediated educational projects for children tend to focus on the development of technical skills, leaving little room for critical reflection. This tendency runs the risk of missing opportunities to truly empower children as critical users, (future) responsible designers and skilled stakeholders in the dialogue around ethical concerns on technology. Starting from this perspective, the workshop aims at tracing research lines and opening questions around strategies, methods, tools, and perspectives to support children in developing an ethical and critical sensitivity in the use, design, and development of emergent technologies	https://doi.org/10.1145/3397617.3398063
STEAM Learning in Formal and Informal Settings via Craft and Maker Projects	Proceedings of the 17th ACM Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Kahn, Ken; Montero, Calkin Suero; Voigt, Christian	Teams of students creating digital artefacts using crafts, 3D printing, electronics, microcontrollers, and computer programming can result in significant science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics (STEAM) learning. An ecosystem of carefully selected tools, diverse project ideas, and a well-designed pedagogic structure can greatly facilitate this.The workshop will begin with a presentation by the eCraft2Learn project funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 Framework. This includes a unified user interface to a large set of tools for ideation, planning, creating, programming, and sharing. Support has been developed to enable children to create AI programs that rely upon cloud services [1]. Learning analytics provides guidance to teachers and coaches [2] [3]. An augmented reality application has been developed to aid team 3D design. Results from pilot studies will be presented.Following the eCraft2Learn presentations researchers from the world over that are working on incorporating the maker movement into education and learning will present and demonstrate their work. Participants will determine topics for panel discussions.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3202185.3205869
Cracking The Code: The Impact of Computer Coding on the Interactions of a Child with Autism	Proceedings of the 2017 Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Gribble, Jim; Hansen, Alexandria; Harlow, Danielle; Franklin, Diana	This paper reports on the communication patterns of two students in two settings: the elementary school classroom and the computer lab. One child was diagnosed with autism and the other was neurotypical. These students participated in a computer science curriculum designed for upper elementary school children (grades 4-5; ages 9-10), featuring block-based coding. The computer science instruction occurred in an inclusive general education setting. Analysis of video data revealed the child with autism communicated more (in terms of both total time speaking and interactions initiated) in the computer lab than was observed in the traditional classroom setting. Opposite trends were observed for the neurotypical child.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3078072.3084307
Learning to Program: From Problems to Code	Proceedings of the 3rd Conference on Computing Education Practice	Piwek, Paul; Wermelinger, Michel; Laney, Robin; Walker, Richard	This paper introduces the approach to teaching problem-solving and text-based programming that has been adopted in a large, post-18, undergraduate, key introductory module (L4 FHEQ) on Computing and Information Technology at the Open University (UK). We describe how students are equipped with programming, but foremost problem-solving skills. Key ingredients of the approach are interleaving of skills, explicit worked examples of decomposition, formulation of algorithms (with the help of patterns for recurring problems) and translation to code. Preliminary results are encouraging: students' average course work scores increase as they progress through the course.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3294016.3294024
Planning the World's Most Inclusive PD Project	Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Interaction Design and Children Conference: Extended Abstracts	Constantin, Aurora; Korte, Jessica; Wilson, Cara; Alexandru, Cristina Adriana; Good, Judith; Sim, Gavin; Read, Janet; Fails, Jerry Alan; Eriksson, Eva	Inclusivity is central to Participatory Design (PD) practice, but despite significant efforts in IDC and beyond, it is still hard to achieve during PD, because of a series of barriers (e.g. access to users, language). Such barriers increase especially when it comes to ensuring and supporting the participation of children with varying or complex needs, or when prospective participants are geographically distributed. This workshop aims to create the basis of a distributed PD (DPD) protocol to provide practical advice in overcoming the challenges of ensuring inclusivity for children with varying or complex needs around the world. The protocol will build on the participants' prior experience and on a live PD design session with children and adults, and be guided by discussions around approaches to address a specific design problem while maximising inclusivity across geographical boundaries and research contexts. It is intended to become a springboard for the world's most inclusive Distributed PD project.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3397617.3398066
Brief Announcement: Low Depth Cache-Oblivious Sorting	Proceedings of the Twenty-First Annual Symposium on Parallelism in Algorithms and Architectures	Blelloch, Guy E.; Gibbons, Phillip B.; Simhadri, Harsha Vardhan	Cache-oblivious algorithms have the advantage of achieving good sequential cache complexity across all levels of a multi-level cache hierarchy, regardless of the specifics (cache size and cache line size) of each level. In this paper, we describe cache-oblivious sorting algorithms with optimal work, optimal cache complexity and polylogarithmic depth. Using known mappings, these lead to low cache complexities on shared-memory multiprocessors with a single level of private caches or a single shared cache. Moreover, the low cache complexities extend to shared-memory multiprocessors with common configurations of multi-level caches. The key factor in the low cache complexity on multiprocessors is the low depth of the algorithms we propose.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1583991.1584024
Five Big Open Questions in Computing Education	ACM Inroads	Bruce, Kim B.		https://doi.org/10.1145/3230697
The near Future of Children's Robotics	Proceedings of the 17th ACM Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Charisi, Vicky; Alcorn, Alyssa M.; Kennedy, James; Johal, Wafa; Baxter, Paul; Kynigos, Chronis	Robotics is a multidisciplinary and highly innovative field. Recently, multiple and often minimally connected sub-communities of child-robot interaction have started to emerge, variously focusing on the design issues, engineering, and applications of robotic platforms and toolkits. Despite increasing public interest in robots, including robots for children, child-robot interaction research remains highly fragmented and lacks regular cross-disciplinary venues for discussion and dissemination. This workshop will bring together researchers with diverse scientific backgrounds. It will serve as a venue in which to reflect on the current circumstances in which child-robot research is conducted, articulate emerging and "near future" challenges, and discuss actions and tools with which to meet those challenges and consolidate the field.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3202185.3205868
A Freshman Seminar on Problem Solving and Algorithmic Thinking	J. Comput. Sci. Coll.	Lamagna, Edmund A.	Puzzles and games are the basis for a freshman seminar designed to develop mathematical and computational problem solving skills. Students spend class time in small groups actively engaged in solving challenging puzzles or playing a game with a mathematical theme. Topics include planning and sequential movement, probability, logic, positional number systems, elementary number theory, enumeration, proofs without words, algorithms, recursion, and graphs.
Living in a Computing World: A Step towards Making Knowledge of Computing Accessible to Every Student	ACM Inroads	Paul, Jody	The new CS Principles course provides an opportunity to advance the goal of making knowledge of computing and computer science accessible to every student. A pilot course used to inform the development of the CS Principles curriculum framework enabled its instructor to explore alternative pedagogical practices in pursuit of that goal. This article presents observations and reflections of the instructor with respect to these attempted practices.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2189835.2189860
Educational Robotics in the Service of CSE: A Study Based on the PanHellenic Competition	Proceedings of the 11th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Theodoropoulos, Anastasios; Antoniou, Angeliki; Lepouras, George	The present work is an observational study recording the participating teachers' attitudes from the PanHellenic Educational Robotics (ER) competition. The study investigates the benefits of students' involvement with robotics about skills, motivation and learning. Additionally, it is researched weather ER should be introduced in the Greek compulsory curricula. A qualitative methodology was used and although the sample was relatively small (N=18), the results were quite homogeneous showing a very high level of engagement and motivation of teachers and students. The results show that there are numerous benefits for students: they seem to increase their collaboration, problem solving and creativity skills; understand STEM concepts about computer science and engineering and especially gaining programming knowledge. Moreover, most of the teachers consider that ER should be part of the compulsory curriculum.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2978249.2978262
Physical Computing for Children: Shifting the Pendulum Back to Papertian Ideals	Interactions	Ananthanarayan, Swamy; Boll, Susanne		https://doi.org/10.1145/3386235
An Experience Report on Cross-Semester Student Critique and Action in an Integrated Software Engineering, Service Learning Course	Proceedings of the First International Workshop on Software Engineering Education Based on Real-World Experiences	Burns, Richard; Harvey, Terry; Pollock, Lori	This paper reports our experience developing a product for a real-world client using a software engineering process across multiple semesters with different students each semester. New student teams test, debug, deploy, and critique previous semesters' software and then continue its development. Students are motivated to think critically about and experience real-world software engineering practice. We describe how students in one semester collectively identified the software engineering problems that could be resolved in the current semester, how the students proceeded to tackle those problems, and the impacts of their actions for future semesters.
QuizPower: A Mobile App with App Inventor and XAMPP Service Integration	Proceedings of the 14th Annual ACM SIGITE Conference on Information Technology Education	Meehan, David; Sabin, Mihaela	This paper details the development of a mobile app for the Android operating system using MIT App Inventor language and development platform. The app, Quiz Power, provides students a way to study course material in an engaging and effective manner. At its current stage the app is intended strictly for use in a mobile app with App Inventor course, although it provides the facility to be adapted for other courses by simply changing the web data store. Development occurred during the spring semester of 2013. Students in the course played a vital role in providing feedback on course material, which would be the basis for the structure of the quiz as well as the questions. The significance of the project is the integration of the MIT App Inventor service with a web service implemented and managed by the department.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2512276.2512300
Increasing Minority Youths' Participation in Computing through near-Peer Mentorship	J. Comput. Sci. Coll.	Lee, Michael J.	It is critical to focus on diversity and increasing participation of underrepresented groups in computing. To address this need, we must better understand minorities' access to role models and mentors, especially at a young age, as research and practice shows that these relationships can affect students' self-efficacy and motivation in the educational fields and careers they choose to pursue. We provided a 9-Saturday programming camp to middle school students in Newark, New Jersey with near-peer mentors (first year, college student instructors) to learn more about the younger students' initial access to role-models and mentors, and how an intervention might change this. Our camp served a total of 28 minority students (17 males and 11 females; grades 5–7) from a low-income, urban area. We found that when asked at the beginning of the camp, our middle students largely reported that they did not have any role-models or mentors in computing. However, at the conclusion of the camp, these same students indicated that they developed strong connections with their near-peer mentors and even saw them as role-models. These findings highlight the need for more mentorship opportunities for students of all ages, and the importance of providing resources and support to help develop and nurture these connections.
Building a New Mythology: The Coding Boot-Camp Phenomenon	ACM Inroads	Wilson, Graham		https://doi.org/10.1145/3132706
Using Children's Drawings to Improve a Programming App	Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Sheehan, Robert; Haden, David; Metz, Sara	After being shown a prototype tablet programming environment, iFizz, children were asked to draw computer programs, either games or stories, that they would like to make with such an environment. The drawings in conjunction with the children's descriptions were then inspected to see what functions were missing from the programming environment in order to make it easier for children to produce their programs. A small number of programming functions were extracted from the drawings along with some changes to the programming environment's user interface and tools. These additions and changes are described and the most common requirements are now being added to the programming environment.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2771839.2771902
The Science of Computer Science: Closing Statement: The Science of Computer Science (Ubiquity Symposium)	Ubiquity	Snodgrass, Richard; Denning, Peter	Where does computer science as an intellectual discipline fit in human discourse? Over a dozen contributors have looked at this question of identity from as many viewpoints. In this closing statement, we emphasize six themes running through these 16 commentaries and draw some conclusions that seem to be supported by the symposium.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2633608
Cultivating Creative Coexistence(s): Towards a Critical Education for Creativity Praxis to Construct Fairer Human Coexistences	Proceedings of the 16th Participatory Design Conference 2020 - Participation(s) Otherwise - Volume 1	Schultz, Ermelindo; Garcia, Laura Sanchez; Fernandes, Laís Affornali; Paixão, Mateus Ribamar; Kawasaki, Fernanda; Pereira, Roberto	Creative education is a central theme in a world where the division between human and intelligent machines produces new work and social relationships. Many researchers and educators reproduce a controversial discourse where being creative is mandatory to ”succeed” professionally and personally in the Creative Society. Situated in a participatory action research project conducted with socioeconomically vulnerable young people and their social educators in Brazil, we draw on learned lessons from this project to challenge such a discourse by introducing the notion of Creative Coexistence(s). We introduce this notion and discuss four pillars that sustain it and give people a base to promote creativity as a means to produce fairer human coexistence(s). By developing a critical discussion on the literature, and by presenting five scenarios on creative coexistence(s) activities, we elaborate and discuss the four pillars to cultivate creative coexistence(s): 1.Questioning the Creative Society, 2.Freirean-Papertian praxis, 3.Young people as (re)makers, and 4.Coexistence-centered experiences.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3385010.3385019
Signature Verification Based on Inter-Stroke and Intra-Stroke Information	SIGAPP Appl. Comput. Rev.	Shin, Jungpil; Maruyama, Ken; Kim, Cheol Min	Signature verification is one of the most popular subjects in pattern recognition. Many kinds of verification methods for online handwritten signatures have basically used the individual features of signatures. However, how to reflect inter-stroke information extracted from handwritten multi-stroke signatures in the verification has not been well considered. This paper suggests a new verification method that uses inter-stroke information based on shape contexts. The shape context describes how points are distributed around a given point on the shape. We compare our Shape Context method with a basic method. The basic method performs signature verification using intra-stroke information such as pen position, pen pressure, pen inclination, pen altitude and elapsed time by DP matching. The Shape Context method treats inter-stroke information such as point distribution. In addition, we try to improve the accuracy of the method by incorporating a weighted evaluation of the average pressure value of each stroke. Comparing with the basic method, the Shape Context method reduces false rejection rate from 4.14% to 1.54%, and false acceptance rate from 4.06% to 2.01%. The experimental results show the effectiveness of inter-stroke information on signature verification.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3090058.3090062
Supercomputers in the Educational Process	Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality	Fernández, Álvaro; Fernández, Camino; Miguel-Dávila, José Ángel; Conde, Miguel Ángel; Matellán, Vicente	The present paper analyzes the question of how important is the implementation of a supercomputer in the educational process, mainly in universities, as an active actor in the training of future professionals in a great variety of fields, that allow them to improve their technological skills, very appreciated in the labor market and in the research activities in general. The report shows how is the implementation of supercomputing for training high-qualified specialists with the aim of using a tool for solving complex problems through numerical simulation.Supercomputers are considered an essential element in the higher formative levels, due to the great relevance that their use represents in the scientific development, being therefore necessary to know the fields and specialties that require this knowledge, in order to be able to analyze possible measures for improving the training plans related to this matter.The aim of the paper is to study the interaction between STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, & Mathematics) and non-STEM subjects and the development, in deep, of a study in thefield of Supercomputing training to review the performance of students, looking for new methodologies and tools to inspire and stimulate innovation at system level, long-term impact on education and training systems.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3362789.3362866
Where Are the Glass-Boxes?: Examining the Spectrum of Modularity in Physical Computing Hardware Tools	Proceedings of the 2017 Conference on Interaction Design and Children	DesPortes, Kayla; DiSalvo, Betsy	Teaching physical computing has become more prevalent in the past several decades as the maker movement has popularized microcontroller kits as a way to engage students in learning about and creating with technology. Depending on the design of the kit, students can be exposed to concepts in electronics, computer science and design of computational objects. We argue that the concepts students are exposed to depend on the modularity of the hardware and software tools. We define the level of modularity based on two interdependent characteristics: transparency and affordances for interaction. The transparency affects what is hidden or visible to the learner, while the affordances for interaction regulate how users manipulate and combine elements when constructing a computational artifact. Within this study, we examine the transparency and affordances for interaction of the physical computing hardware tools. Using our findings from this examination, we layout a framework that outlines spectrum of modularity that can be provided to facilitate learning with maker kits.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3078072.3079733
Reaching out to Aid in Retention: Empowering Undergraduate Women	Proceedings of the 42nd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Overdorf, Rebekah; Lang, Matthew	Creating programs that engage undergraduate women with the broader community and encourage them to take an active role in changing the underrepresentation of women in computer science can effectively address both retention and recruitment of women in the discipline.This paper is an experience report describing the creation and outcomes of an outreach program for K-12 girls run entirely by undergraduate women.The contributions of this paper are the description of the creation of a successful student-led outreach program and a set of active-learning modules for K-12 students that illustrate advanced topics.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1953163.1953325
Design and Assessment of the Impact of an E-Textbook in the Engagement towards the Learning of Discrete Mathematics	Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality	García-Hernández, Alién; González-Ramírez, Teresa	Mathematics is vital for the training of professionals from various branches. Current research shows that the number of students with lack of academic achievement in mathematics is significant. In the case of Discrete Mathematics, it learning increases its difficulty due to various motivational, attitudinal and ability variables. Hence, the need of promoting academic proposals that raises the levels of engagement of students towards the learning of the subject.The present research project aims to assess the effects of an e- textbook on the engagement towards the learning of Discrete Mathematics in university students. A quasi-experimental quantitative methodology is used. It will begin in a first phase with the application of a questionnaire to measure the levels of engagement of students with the learning of Discrete Mathematics. Likewise, the levels of satisfaction of students and teachers with the study materials of Discrete Mathematic will be measured.A second phase will propose the design of an e-textbook as educational material. The results of the research will show the impact of the e-textbook elaborated in the engagement towards the learning of Discrete Mathematics, by a questionnaire applied to students who used the developed material.The expected results will widely allow the design of educational materials to enhance the engagement of other issues in different teaching scenario, which will be useful to improve the academic performance of the students in those subjects where the results are not the desired ones and it affects, therefore, the university quality standards.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3144826.3145443
Opposites Attract: Computational and Quantitative Outreach through Artistic Expressions	Proceedings of the Conference on Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment: Gateway to Discovery	Szczepański, Amy F.; Yost, Christal; Magden, Norman; Meaney, Evan; Staples, Carolyn I.	Staff from the University of Tennessee's Joint institute for Computational Sciences, National Institute for Computational Sciences, and Remote Data Analysis and Visualization Center have teamed up with faculty from UT's School of Art to engage with students, the public, and the research community on a number of projects that connect the arts with the science and computing disciplines. These collaborations have led to coursework for students, videos about scientific discovery, and the production of novel, computer-mediated artwork. Both the arts and the sciences have gained from these collaborations.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2484762.2484772
Turning the Tables: Learning from Students about Teaching CS1	Proceedings of the 13th Annual Conference on Information Technology Education	Settle, Amber	Programming has a central role in the computing curriculum, and introductory programming classes have been extensively studied in the computer science education literature. However, most of the studies focus on the effectiveness of various pedagogical approaches on student learning and engagement, and relative little attention is paid to faculty development. The gap in the literature puts CS1 faculty interested in effectively implementing innovative pedagogical approaches in a difficult situation. This article argues that taking a behaviorist approach to the CS1 classroom can provide much-needed feedback. Students provide instructors with one of the best sources of information about effective programming instruction, both with respect to pedagogical approaches and with respect to less formal issues such as classroom management, student-faculty interactions, and course policies. Faculty who choose to listen and learn from the comments made by their CS1 students will find a wealth of information to guide them in their development as instructors.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2380552.2380594
The Images of Computing: Engaging Undergraduates in the Broad Issues of Computer Science	Proceedings of the 42nd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Frieze, Carol	In this paper we describe a new "research and action" based course designed to give undergraduate students the opportunity to think beyond the classroom, to reach out and examine some of the broader issues surrounding computing. "Understanding and Broadening the Images of Computing" researches the images, the realities and the (mis)perceptions of computing that influence public understanding and participation in the field. Along with research students are encouraged to see themselves as future professionals who can be actively involved in re-shaping and re-presenting the field. To this purpose, students build an action component working in teams to develop and implement a public presentation aimed at broadening understanding of computing.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1953163.1953322
Weaving Computing into All Middle School Disciplines	Proceedings of the 2014 Conference on Innovation & Technology in Computer Science Education	Rodger, Susan H.; Brown, Dwayne; Hoyle, Michael; MacDonald, Daniel; Marion, Michael; Onstwedder, Elizabeth; Onwumbiko, Bella; Ward, Edwin	In order to get students interested in computing, we teach middle school teachers of different disciplines programming with Alice and work with them on integrating computing into their discipline. Alice provides an interface for novices to create animations easily and quickly, which is attractive to and fun for students. We have been developing Alice curriculum materials for integrating computing into middle school disciplines for six years. Although our target audience is middle school, our materials are used by teachers from elementary school to introductory college level. This paper describes our newest curriculum materials for several disciplines developed by both us and our teachers. Our newest curriculum materials include tutorials, sample projects, and challenges, which are projects with missing pieces. We also discuss our recent outreach efforts with middle school students.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2591708.2591754
A Pre-Service Pathway for Preparing Future AP CS Principles Teachers	Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Gray, Jeff; Odom-Bartel, Rebecca; Zelkowski, Jeremy; Hamner, Karl; Rodgers-Farris, Sierra	The surge of interest in K-12 computer science (CS) over the past decade has led to a deep need for a corresponding expansion of trained teachers. The primary focus of most K-12 CS teacher professional development has been for current in-service teachers who have little background in CS. To raise the importance of CS within Colleges of Education, we believe that new pathways and experiences are needed for pre-service Education majors to learn more about authentic CS topics and pedagogy. This experience report summarizes our efforts over the past two years to prepare Secondary Math Education (SEMA) majors to teach AP CS Principles (AP CSP). Our approach consists of the following curricular activities: 1) a two-course sequence, with the first course mapping to the content topics of the AP CSP Curriculum Framework, and the second course consisting of a reflection of CS methods and pedagogy, including opportunities for SEMA students to develop and present their own AP CSP lesson plans; 2) opportunities for SEMA students to observe AP CSP classrooms in local high schools through our partnership with experienced AP CSP teachers; 3) summer participation in a College Board AP Summer Institute for AP CSP, and 4) a six-week ETS Praxis CS preparation modules-based course, offered to both pre-service SEMA students and in-service teachers. We summarize our lessons learned and present results that suggest our approach is preparing pre-service students with pedagogical and content knowledge that meets or exceeds current in-service training models (including an analysis of recent Praxis results for CS certification in our state).	https://doi.org/10.1145/3328778.3366945
Educational Approach to Cyber Foundations in an Undergraduate Core Program	Proceedings of the 18th Annual Conference on Information Technology Education	Hussey, Jason; Shaha, Jacob	Maximizing1 a student's learning in a general education information technology course is critical when teachers have only a little time to cover numerous topics within the discipline. It is therefore paramount that programs utilize the most effective pedagogical approach to educating students on these topics. This allows teachers to take full advantage of this limited time per topic. The principal contribution of this paper is a statistical analysis of student performance in an intermediate-level information technology course when exposed to two popular methods of teaching information technology concepts. This course is part of the larger cyber education model at the United States Military Academy. Our study implemented and analyzed the results from a control group educated with systematic, skills-based instruction versus a treatment group where a problem-centered learning approach was utilized. Our experimental results provide statistically significant reinforcement of the idea that problem-centered learning is superior to skills-based instruction for educating students in information technology topics as a part of their cyber education.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3125659.3125691
Teacher Perceptions of Feedback in High School Programming Education: A Thematic Analysis	Proceedings of the 15th Workshop on Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Crow, Tyne; Kirk, Diana; Luxton-Reilly, Andrew; Tempero, Ewan	Fundamental principles of programming are being added to many school curricula world-wide. In New Zealand, digital technologies progress outcomes and assessment standards have recently been added to the national school curriculum. Among other things, the curriculum and assessment standards relate to aspects of code quality and decomposition as well as producing the logic and syntax of functional programs. To understand how teachers provide feedback to support student learning in these areas we conducted a survey relating to feedback on programming in the classroom. The survey focused on subcategories of feedback relating to the syntax, style and semantics of the code. We present the results of the survey which showed several themes that relate to categories of feedback. The paper outlines implications for what further support and research could be valuable.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3421590.3421595
A More Formal Approach to "Computer Science: Principles"	Proceeding of the 44th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Page, Rex; Gamboa, Ruben	We report on a course, entitled "How Computers Work: Logic in Action", which we have offered the past few years at the University of Oklahoma, and which will be offered soon at the University of Wyoming. Intended for non-CS majors, this course is our answer to the question, What would you teach if you had only one course to help students grasp the essence of computation and perhaps inspire a few of them to make computing a subject of further study? Assuming no prior knowledge of computers or mathematics beyond high school algebra, the course is compatible with the "Computer Science: Principles" approach proposed by the College Board, although it is a significant departure from the pilot courses that are currently following this approach.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2445196.2445274
Achieving Gender Balance through Creative Expression	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Bares, William H.; Manaris, Bill; McCauley, Renée; Moore, Christine	Increasing gender balance in computing is widely recognized by academic institutions, industry, and government agencies as an imperative. This paper describes how providing opportunities for creative expression early on and throughout the four years of an undergraduate computing degree achieves this goal. Prior studies have demonstrated that opportunity for creative expression has a positive effect on recruitment and retention of women, while conversely, lack of opportunity for creative expression has a negative effect. We describe our approach, integrated into a four-course sequence combining computing and the arts, so that other institutions may consider adopting it. Results of a six-year longitudinal study show that these courses attract, retain, and graduate 46% female students, while the corresponding number in our ABET-accredited Computer Science curriculum is approximately 20%. The paper concludes with general observations and suggests directions for future action in CS curricula design.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287435
Design Principles behind Beauty and Joy of Computing	Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Goldenberg, Paul; Mark, June; Harvey, Brian; Cuoco, Al; Fries, Mary	This paper shares the design principles of one Advanced Placement Computer Science Principles (AP CSP) course, Beauty and Joy of Computing (BJC), both for schools considering curriculum, and for developers in this still-new field. BJC students not only learn about CS, but do some and analyze its social implications; we feel that the job of enticing students into the field isn't complete until students find programming, itself, something they enjoy and know they can do, and its key ideas accessible. Students must feel invited to use their own creativity and logic, and enjoy the power of their logic and the beauty and elegance of the code by which they express it. All kids need genuine challenge and sensible support so all can have the joy of making-seeing themselves as creators, not just consumers, and seeing that it is their own intellect, not just our instructions, that is the source of that making. Framework standards are woven into a consistent social and intellectual storyline to give the curriculum integrity. Principles guide even our choice of programming language. Learners should focus on the logic and structure of their thinking, not on misplaced semicolons; attention to such syntactic detail is antithetical to broadening participation. We feature recursion and higher-order functions because they beautifully exemplify abstraction, a key idea in CS and the CSP framework. BJC also places significant emphasis on the social implications of computing, balancing fundamental optimism about computing technology with a critical view of specific uses of technology.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3328778.3366794
Children in 2077: Designing Children's Technologies in the Age of Transhumanism	Extended Abstracts of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems	Buruk, Oğuz 'Oz'; Özcan, Oğuzhan; Baykal, Gökçe Elif; Göksun, Tilbe; Acar, Selçuk; Akduman, Güler; Baytaş, Mehmet Aydın; Beşevli, Ceylan; Best, Joe; Coşkun, Aykut; Genç, Hüseyin Uğur; Kocaballi, A. Baki; Laato, Samuli; Mota, Cássia; Papangelis, Konstantinos; Raftopoulos, Marigo; Ramchurn, Richard; Sádaba, Juan; Thibault, Mattia; Wolff, Annika; Yildiz, Mert	What for and how will we design children's technologies in the transhumanism age, and what stance will we take as designers? This paper aims to answer this question with 13 fictional abstracts from sixteen authors of different countries, institutions and disciplines. Transhumanist thinking envisions enhancing human body and mind by blending human biology with technological augmentations. Fundamentally, it seeks to improve the human species, yet the impacts of such movement are unknown and the implications on children's lives and technologies were not explored deeply. In an age, where technologies such as under-skin chips or brain-machine interfaces can clearly be defined as transhumanist, our aim is to reveal probable pitfalls and benefits of those technologies on children's lives by using the power of design fiction. Thus, main contribution of this paper is to create diverse presentation of provocative research ideas that will foster the discussion on the transhumanist technologies impacting the lives of children in the future.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3334480.3381821
Pedal: An Infrastructure for Automated Feedback Systems	Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Gusukuma, Luke; Bart, Austin Cory; Kafura, Dennis	This paper describes Pedal, an innovative approach to the automated creation of feedback given to students in programming classes. Pedal is so named because it supports the PEDAgogical goals of instructors and is an expandable Library of components motivated by these goals. Pedal currently comes with components for type inferencing, flow analysis, pattern matching, and unit testing to provide an instructor with a rich set of resources to use in authoring and prioritizing feedback. The larger vision is the loosely-coupled architecture whose components can be readily expanded or replaced. The Pedal library components are motivated by a study of contemporary automated feedback systems and our own experience. Pedal's components are described and examples are given of Pedal-based feedback from three different introductory classes at two different universities. The integration of Pedal into several programming and autograding environments is briefly described.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3328778.3366913
"I Impressed Myself With How Confident I Felt": Reflections on a Computer Science Assessment for K-8 Teachers	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Chipman, Hannah E.; Rodríguez, Fernando J.; Boyer, Kristy Elizabeth	The computer science education community has made great strides in promoting diversity and inclusion in computing fields and bringing K-12 CS learning opportunities to broader groups of learners. However, one area that has not been investigated fully is how assessments can influence a learner's confidence and attitudes towards CS. Stereotype threat and test modality have been shown to affect the performance of CS test takers. This experience report examines how novice CS learners respond to a CS assessment by investigating an increasingly important group of novice CS learners: K-8 classroom teachers. We conducted focus groups with elementary and middle school teachers as part of a week-long CS professional development workshop. The focus groups were held after teachers completed pre- and post-assessments. The assessment instrument featured multiple-choice and short-answer questions with block-based programming snippets. Many teachers reported a positive disposition towards learning CS after completing the pre-assessment, which they attributed to having a growth mindset. Themes related to their confidence involved the difficulty and format of the assessment, with comments about difficulty reducing after the post-assessment. When asked about their thoughts on the assessment from the perspective of their students, they provided suggestions with particular attention to its format. These findings provide insight for CS assessment design and implementation, as well as support further research on the impact of assessments on CS learners.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287478
Designing Tangible ABCs: FröBel's Sticks and Rings for the 21st Century	Proceedings of the 18th ACM International Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Maldonado, Heidy; Zekelman, Ariel	In this paper we discuss why and how we combined the advantages of digital technology with physical manipulatives to scaffold children's learning of letter shapes, names, and sounds. Tangible interactions have been shown to lead to greater learning gains than traditional instruction in several contexts and subject matter. Yet most children are learning their ABCs the same way as they were taught more than a hundred years ago. If there was an engaging, interactive, hands-on alternative to learn the ABCs, what would it look like? To answer that question, we embarked on a design-based research journey based on continued user evaluations and redesign cycles informed by quantitative and qualitative assessments. Inspired by Fröbel and Montessori manipulatives, we discuss the design tradeoffs faced as playful learning goals balanced against constraints including healthy screen time limitations, fine motor control, competing attention targets, and choking hazards.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3311927.3323123
The Blue Waters Student Internship Program: Promoting Competence and Confidence for next Generation Researchers in High-Performance Computing	Proceedings of the Workshop on Education for High-Performance Computing	Jacobs, Patricia; List, Phillip; Ludin, Mobeen; Weeden, Aaron; Panoff, Robert M.	The Blue Waters Student Internship Program (BWSIP), a year-long program funded for three years by the National Science Foundation, motivates and trains the next generation of supercomputing researchers. A community engagement partnership of the Blue Waters Petascale Computing Facility at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) and Shodor, the BWSIP has developed, demonstrated, and evaluated novel lessons involving hands-on, interactive, and collaborative methodologies to teach parallel and distributed computing (PDC) and high-performance computing (HPC) topics. Students participating in the program gain experience in the application of high-performance computing to real-world problems in science, mathematics, and engineering through a year-long internship. By engaging undergraduate and graduate students in Petascale computing research and development projects, students build confidence and competence in PDC and HPC.The BWSIP recruited a large and diverse applicant pool from across the US from which 21 research interns reflecting that diversity were selected and each matched with a mentor and a project for the year-long internship. Students, many having only introductory programming experience, began their internship by attending the two-week Petascale Institute –each day including 6.5 hours of directed, inquiry-based learning and 2 hours of open lab using the run-modify-write paradigm–during which they were trained in PDC and HPC tools, techniques, and technologies using Blue Waters at NCSA, and by analogy other XSEDE HPC resources. Students then continued working all summer on their home campuses, or were hosted by their mentor, with on-going work expected to be continued during both Fall and Spring semesters.The project engaged an external evaluator to conduct formative and summative assessments of the program. BWSIP Interns participated in pre- and post-surveys, daily reflections/evaluation questions, as well as in a focus group during their training. Even with significant differences in background, knowledge, and with varying projects, participants stated that the two-week institute was an essential element to help them learn conceptual thinking and how to program using parallel computing. It is proposed that the curriculum and approach for the Institute could be adapted for a semester course at the undergraduate or graduate level.	https://doi.org/10.1109/EduHPC.2014.6
Event-Driven Programming in Programming Education: A Mapping Review	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Lukkarinen, Aleksi; Malmi, Lauri; Haaranen, Lassi	During the past two decades, event-driven programming (EDP) has emerged as a central and almost ubiquitous concept in modern software development: Graphical user interfaces are self-evident in most mobile and web-based applications, as well as in many embedded systems, and they are most often based on reacting to events. To facilitate both teaching practice and research in programming education, this mapping review seeks to give an overview of the related knowledge that is already available in conference papers and journal articles. Starting from early works of the 1990s, we identified 105 papers that address teaching practices, present learning resources, software tools or libraries to support learning, and empirical studies related to EDP. We summarize the publications, their main content, and findings. While most studies focus on bachelor’s level education in universities, there has been substantial work in K-12 level, as well. Few courses address EDP as their main content—rather it is most often integrated with CS1, CS2, or computer graphics courses. The most common programming languages and environments addressed are Java, App Inventor, and Scratch. Moreover, very little of deliberate experimental scientific research has been carried out to explicitly address teaching and learning EDP. Consequently, while so-called experience reports, tool papers, and anecdotal evidence have been published, this theme offers a wide arena for empirical research in the future. At the end of the article, we suggest a number of directions for future research.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3423956
Experiments in Design Synthesis When Behavior is Determined by Shape	Personal Ubiquitous Comput.	Schweikardt, Eric; Gross, Mark D.	As we rapidly approach the day of transitive materials, made of individual elements that sense and actuate and can be programmed and reprogrammed, it is time to think about how to design things using these new materials. Our roBlocks construction kit toy teaching children about emergent behavior in complex systems serves as an example for investigating the challenges of designing things made of transitive materials. The roBlocks kit comprises heterogeneous modular robotics components that exhibit modularity, one-to-one mapping between form and behavior, and non-hierarchical control; and these features make it appropriate for experimenting with emergent behavior. However, as the numbers of robotic components scales to the orders of magnitude needed to consider them as material these same features also make it difficult to apply traditional methods to design constructions with desired behaviors. To understand this design space we built, the Erstwhile Agent that uses an evolutionary approach to automatically synthesize roBlocks constructions to meet specified desiderata.	https://doi.org/10.1007/s00779-010-0310-z
A Real-Time Distributed Toolkit to Ease Children’s Exploration of IoT	Proceedings of the 11th Nordic Conference on Human-Computer Interaction: Shaping Experiences, Shaping Society	Wallbaum, Torben; Ananthanarayan, Swamy; Matviienko, Andrii; Boll, Susanne	Children are increasingly exposed to everyday objects with embedded computing and wireless capabilities. However, understanding how these devices collect data, communicate information to other devices, and interpret program instructions is not typically taught to children. Moreover, programming these devices still requires considerable knowledge particularly for primary school children. In this paper, we showcase a distributed toolkit of various sensors and output modules, each with wireless capability, that can independently or in concert work together. This is enabled by a programming environment with a real-time interpreter that can connect and update the state of the modules on-the-fly. We tested the system with 32 primary school children in an after-school study and found that the majority of children knew how to couple sensors to different output modalities to solve various devised scenarios. For some children, the toolkit was also used to build IoT games or fulfill personal tasks.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3419249.3420179
Defining What Empirically Works Best: Dynamic Generation of Meta-Analysis for Computer Science Education	Proceedings of the 2019 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research	McGill, Monica M.; McKlin, Tom; Kaylor, Errol	In an effort to evaluate computer science education using more modern, automated data science techniques, we consider Hattie's work in Visible Learning then define a comprehensive framework to provide the capability to automatically generate a quantitative meta-analysis using predefined moderators (e.g., age, grade, etc.) with data derived from multiple individual research studies. To define the initial criteria, we developed a list of critical questions that the framework must address, including what moderators are most important to include, how to address homogeneity across various studies, how to define categories of influencing factors, and how to compute summary effect size. This initial framework describes how the meta-analysis is derived from effect sizes that are calculated based on each mean and standard deviation reported in experimental and quasi-experimental studies. Since the goal of this foundational research is to create an auto-generated meta-analysis tool, we define a basic user experience that would allow users to select moderators and predefined levels of heterogeneity (such as "include only random control group studies" or "include studies reported in journal articles") for inclusion in the meta-analysis. We conducted a feasibility study of the framework using data (number of participants, mean, standard deviation) collected from 21 data samples curated from eight computer science education articles with a primary and secondary focus across ten venues (2012-2018). We consider what we learned conducting the study, including the need for full system transparency, issues related to data integrity, and issues related to defining and selecting appropriate formulas for differing sets of data.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3291279.3339401
Investigating Children's Spontaneous Gestures When Programming Using TUIs and GUIs	Proceedings of the Interaction Design and Children Conference	Almjally, Abrar; Howland, Kate; Good, Judith	Spontaneous gestures produced during mathematics learning have been widely studied, however, research on the role of gesture in computing education is limited. This paper presents an investigation into children's use of spontaneous gestures when learning programming using either a tangible user interface (TUI) or a graphical user interface (GUI). The study explored the relationship between spontaneous gestures, interface type and learning outcomes in a programming lesson for primary school students aged 6-7. In the study, 34 participants engaged in a learning activity lasting approximately 37 minutes, using a TUI or a GUI. The study used a between-subjects design, and mixed methods. Pre-test and post-test data were collected, and sessions were video recorded and subsequently coded and analysed. A video analysis scheme, adapted from mathematics education research, was used to code the spontaneous gestures produced during the learning session. We found a statistically significant difference between the mean learning gains of high-frequency gesturers and low-frequency gesturers, with the top quartile showing significantly greater learning gains. There was no significant difference in the frequency of gestures between interface types. A qualitative analysis of representational gestures showed that some children use spontaneous hand gestures to demonstrate abstract computational concepts, providing evidence for the embodiment of children's offline thinking in the computing domain.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3392063.3394408
Reinforcing Gender Equality by Analysing Female Teenagers' Performances in Coding Activities: A Lesson Learned	Proceedings of the 4th Conference on Gender & IT	Spieler, Bernadette	The number of women in technical fields is far below the average number of males, especially in developed countries and across academic levels. Gender differences in STEM are already present in students aged 12 to 15 years. To address this gender bias at an early stage, a goal of the European project No One Left Behind included integrating the app Pocket Code, into different school lessons, thus making the study of STEM more accessible and attractive to young females. Data was collected over a period of two years through, e.g., submitted programs. The programs have been analysed to gauge the level of achievement of the learning goal defined by the teachers beforehand. With a focus on female teenagers, significant dependencies between whether or not the learning goal had been achieved could be seen based on the different ages of the students, the group constellation, and which teaching approach was used.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3196839.3196871
Coming to Your Senses: Promoting Critical Thinking about Sensors through Playful Interaction in Classrooms	Proceedings of the Interaction Design and Children Conference	Lechelt, Susan; Rogers, Yvonne; Marquardt, Nicolai	Learning through exploration is assumed to be a powerful way of introducing children to computer science concepts. However, it is uncertain how exploring physical computing toolkits can promote movement between conceptual knowledge and abstract reflection, and lead to critical thinking about technology. We investigated how children aged 9-11 years explored and reasoned about personal and environmental data sensors, using a playful exploration-based physical toolkit in their classroom. We report on the ways in which critical thinking about sensor accuracy and reliability developed through reflective dialogue and playful interaction, taking into account the support structures embedded in the classroom. Finally, we discuss strategies for designing exploration-based learning for classroom settings, to promote critical thinking about data sensing.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3392063.3394401
Exploring Differences in Minority Students' Attitudes towards Computing after a One-Day Coding Workshop	Proceedings of the 2019 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Lee, Michael J.	As programming continues to be an essential 21st century skill, it is critical to focus on diversity and increasing participation of underrepresented groups in computing. To address this need, we must better understand minorities' views and attitudes towards programming, especially in their youth, as literature shows that children form ideas about their interests and careers in middle school or earlier. To explore this, we provided middle school students in the U.S. with a full day (7 hours) of programming activities to learn about their initial attitudes towards computing and how a short intervention might change these attitudes. We ran two separate one-day events, serving a total of 34 minority students (21 males and 13 females; grades 6 and 7) from a low-income, urban area. We found that students' initial attitudes towards computing were high, and that one day of learning programming increased their reported attitudes in computing even more. We also found differences in attitudes by gender and ethnicity. These findings highlight the positive attitudes minority students have towards computing, and the importance of providing resources and support to help maintain their interests in computing while recognizing demographic differences.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3304221.3319736
An Empirical Approach to Understanding Data Science and Engineering Education	Proceedings of the Working Group Reports on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Raj, Rajendra K.; Parrish, Allen; Impagliazzo, John; Romanowski, Carol J.; Aly, Sherif G.; Bennett, Casey C.; Davis, Karen C.; McGettrick, Andrew; Pereira, Teresa Susana Mendes; Sundin, Lovisa	As data science is an evolving field, existing definitions reflect this uncertainty with overloaded terms and inconsistency. As a result of the field's fluidity, there is often a mismatch between what data-related programs teach, what employers expect, and the actual tasks data scientists are performing. In addition, the tools available to data scientists are not necessarily the tools being taught; textbooks do not seem to meet curricular needs; and empirical evidence does not seem to support existing program design. Currently, the field appears to be bifurcating into data science (DS) and data engineering (DE), with specific but overlapping roles in the combined data science and engineering (DSE) lifecycle. However, curriculum design has not yet caught up to this evolution. This working group report shows an empirical and data-driven view of the data-related education landscape, and includes several recommendations for both academia and industry that are based on this analysis.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3344429.3372503
“How Else Should It Work?” A Grounded Theory of Pre-College Students’ Understanding of Computing Devices	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Rücker, Michael T.; Pinkwart, Niels	In order to understand and evaluate computing technology in their environment, students first need to be able to identify it. This task becomes increasingly difficult, however, as computing systems become more and more ubiquitous and invisible. Based on the analysis of semi-structured focus interviews with 28 German pre-college students, we present a grounded theory of their conceptions and reasoning related to the identification of computing within technical devices. At its core is the finding that many students seemed to differentiate technical artifacts with respect to three conceived levels of capability. Many household appliances, for instance, were very well seen as electronic and programmed, but still as too limited in their capability to warrant the presence of a “real” computer or to be related to informatics. Given the increasing versatility, power, and associated risks of modern embedded systems as well as the advent of the internet of things, this issue should clearly be addressed. Based on our grounded theory, we propose some first ideas for how this might be done.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3226592
Computing and the National Science Foundation, 1950–2016: Building a Foundation for Modern Computing		Freeman, Peter A.; Adrion, W. Richards; Aspray, William	This organizational history relates the role of the National Science Foundation (NSF) in the development of modern computing. Drawing upon new and existing oral histories, extensive use of NSF documents, and the experience of two of the authors as senior managers, this book describes how NSF's programmatic activities originated and evolved to become the primary source of funding for fundamental research in computing and information technologies.The book traces how NSF's support has provided facilities and education for computing usage by all scientific disciplines, aided in institution and professional community building, supported fundamental research in computer science and allied disciplines, and led the efforts to broaden participation in computing by all segments of society.Today, the research and infrastructure facilitated by NSF computing programs are significant economic drivers of American society and industry. For example, NSF supported work that led to the first widelyused web browser, Netscape; sponsored the creation of algorithms at the core of the Google search engine; facilitated the growth of the public Internet; and funded research on the scientific basis for countless other applications and technologies. NSF has advanced the development of human capital and ideas for future advances in computing and its applications.This account is the first comprehensive coverage of NSF's role in the extraordinary growth and expansion of modern computing and its use. It will appeal to historians of computing, policy makers and leaders in government and academia, and individuals interested in the history and development of computing and the NSF.
Communities of Computing: Computer Science and Society in the ACM		Misa, Thomas J.	“Communities of Computing” is the first book-length history of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), founded in 1947 and with a membership today of 100,000 worldwide. It profiles ACM's notable SIGs, active chapters, and individual members, setting ACM's history into a rich social and political context. The book's 12 core chapters are organized into three thematic sections. “Defining the Discipline” examines the 1960s and 1970s when the field of computer science was taking form at the National Science Foundation, Stanford University, and through ACM's notable efforts in education and curriculum standards. “Broadening the Profession” looks outward into the wider society as ACM engaged with social and political issues-and as members struggled with balancing a focus on scientific issues and awareness of the wider world. Chapters examine the social turbulence surrounding the Vietnam War, debates about the women's movement, efforts for computing and community education, and international issues including professionalization and the Cold War. “Expanding Research Frontiers” profiles three areas of research activity where ACM members and ACM itself shaped notable advances in computing, including computer graphics, computer security, and hypertext. Featuring insightful profiles of notable ACM leaders, such as Edmund Berkeley, George Forsythe, Jean Sammet, Peter Denning, and Kelly Gotlieb, and honest assessments of controversial episodes, the volume deals with compelling and complex issues involving ACM and computing. It is not a narrow organizational history of ACM committees and SIGs, although much information about them is given. All chapters are original works of research. Many chapters draw on archival records of ACM's headquarters, ACM SIGs, and ACM leaders. This volume makes a permanent contribution to documenting the history of ACM and understanding its central role in the history of computing.
Computational Thinking Interventions in Higher Education: A Scoping Literature Review of Interventions Used to Teach Computational Thinking	Koli Calling '20: Proceedings of the 20th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research	de Jong, Imke; Jeuring, Johan	Computational Thinking is seen as a crucial skill in an increasingly digital society. Researchers and educators in higher education therefore aim to improve the Computational Thinking (CT) skills of students using appropriate interventions. However, there is currently no overview of interventions used to teach CT and how effective they are. With this scoping literature review, we provide such an overview by identifying articles that discuss interventions used to teach CT in higher education. We identify the teaching approaches used in these interventions, and discuss their effectiveness and how this is assessed. Furthermore, we look at the use of adaptive interventions. Our search of three academic databases (Scopus, ACM and ERIC) resulted in 1839 articles. After screening, 49 articles remained. A detailed examination of the interventions discussed in these articles showed that CT is still often taught through programming assignments. The interventions are evaluated in a myriad of ways, making it difficult to compare the effectiveness of interventions. We therefore suggest making use of more standardized instruments to evaluate the effectiveness. Finally, although scaffolding is applied, interventions are not often adapted to the actual proficiency level of a student.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3428029.3428055
Psychometric Computational Thinking Test	Proceedings of the 23rd Annual ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Santisteban, Julio; Santisteban-Muñoz, Jennifer	The recent widespread popularity of computational thinking (CT) has raised the need for a reliable method for assessing it. Recent CT tests focus on programming skills rather than the analytical ability and problem-solving processes in science, philosophy and other areas of knowledge. This poster presents the results (Test design) of an ongoing project that has developed a Psychometric Computational Thinking Test (PCTT) which has three phases: test design, test implementation and applying the test. In regards to the PCTT design, the reliability and validity of the test were based on content and construct validity which also includes its rating scales for its application. This work makes two contributions: (1) a standardized CT Test design incorporating psychometric techniques as well as computational techniques and (2) the inclusion of open-ended questions and their assessment with V of Aiken in order to validate responses.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3197091.3205823
Using Computational Thinking to Transform Elementary Mathematics Instruction	Proceedings of the 2018 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research	Rich, Kathryn M.	Computer science (CS) education advocates argue that integration of computational thinking (CT) into instruction in other subjects has promise for providing a strong foundation in computer science ideas for elementary school students. Less attention has been given to the role that CT may play in improving learning in subjects other than computer science. This document summarizes my plans to study how teaching elementary level mathematics through computational thinking practices can improve mathematics learning.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3230977.3231010
Teaching Computational Thinking to 8-Year-Olds through ScratchJr	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Faber, Hylke H.; van der Ven, Jan Salvador; Wierdsma, Menno D.M.	This synopsis presents the preliminary results of a larger study that aims to uncover design principles for teaching computational thinking to primary school children. This research focuses on teaching computational thinking to 8-year-olds through ScratchJr. By engaging in a cyclic process in which we create lesson materials and use evaluation data to improve them, we formulate design principles and provide teachers with sample course materials.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3059009.3072986
Tasks for Assessing Skills of Computational Thinking	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Palts, Tauno; Pedaste, Margus	Thinking computationally has become an important part of many disciplines. In creating lesson plans for teaching computational thinking (CT), an instrument can be used to assess the development of CT. This poster presents the Bebras Challenge tasks for assessing two skills of CT: exploring and developing algorithms, and finding patterns.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3059009.3072999
The Computational Thinking across the Curriculum Workshop	Proceedings of the 2011 Conference on Information Technology Education	Settle, Amber	We report on a workshop conducted as a part of an NSF-funded project focused on enhancing computational thinking in the general education curriculum. The workshop brought together project participants as well as other interested individuals to reflect on the first two years of the grant and begin planning for future work. We report on the results of a survey of workshop participants, providing insight into factors that contribute to the success of such events.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2047594.2047678
Rethinking Computational Thinking	Commun. ACM	Staff, CACM		https://doi.org/10.1145/2949401
An Embodied Interface for Teaching Computational Thinking	Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces	Good, Judith; Romero, Pablo; du Boulay, Benedict; Reid, Henry; Howland, Katherine; Robertson, Judy	We describe an innovative educational system designed to, firstly, motivate young people to engage with computational concepts and secondly, provide them with tools to do so in an embodied manner. The interface is designed as a "magic mirror" in which users can, through augmented reality technology, take on the role of a character and control the character's movements via their own movements. They are able to record movements, and using a Wii Remote as a mouse and pointing device, organise these movements into sequences. We are now working on ways in which the recorded movements can be manipulated in ways that foster computational thinking.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1378773.1378823
Computational Thinking through Children's Games: An Analysis of Interaction Elements	Proceedings of the 14th Brazilian Symposium on Human Factors in Computing Systems	Falcão, Taciana Pontual; Gomes, Tancicleide C. Simões; Albuquerque, Isabella Rocha	Digital games represent a ludic, attractive and pedagogically interesting possibility for teaching-learning processes. The appearance of several children's games based on creation of algorithmic sequences for controlling characters shows the growing importance given to the development of computational thinking at elementary level. However, the adoption of this kind of game in educational contexts is hindered by the lack of trustworthy design and evaluation methods to access the quality of the games and guide developers and educators. This paper reports the evaluation of a children's digital game for teaching computational thinking, and presents results that contribute to the generation of guidelines related to interface elements, interaction issues and key design choices for performing functions that are common to games of the kind.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3148456.3148485
Computational Thinking: What is It, How is It Relevant, Who's Doing What with It?	J. Comput. Sci. Coll.	Bryant, Robert; Chinn, Donald; Hauser, George; Folsom, Michele; Wallace, Scott	Since Jeannette Wing wrote her opinion paper on Computational Thinking in 2006 [1], there has been much discussion about the idea of making computational thinking a central component of the effort to expose the field of computing to all disciplines. This panel will cover national and local efforts taking place in universities to bring computational thinking to the forefront of all disciplines that use computing in their field.
Exploration of Outcome-Based Computational Thinking Education Programs for Teachers	Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on E-Society, E-Education and E-Technology	Xu, Yiyi; Liu, Pengfei; Tang, Peihe	It is widely accepted that computer foundation course will benefit from the research and application of Computational Thinking in China. It is in fact that most research work in Computation Thinking have served for students but much less for teachers. College teachers in China took less systematic training in order to adequately prepare them for increasingly higher teaching requirements. To address this issue, this paper first proposes an outcomes-based teacher education program distinguished from CT principles under teaching and learning perspective, decomposed an abstract computational thinking idea into a definite coursework content. This paper then describe an outcomes-based evaluative frame which supports teachers to ensure a successful application of CT theories and concepts into practical skill development. Results from practice showed that the current research work is effective and widely accepted for which evidence is also provided.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3268808.3268860
HyperCubes: A Playful Introduction to Computational Thinking in Augmented Reality	Extended Abstracts of the Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play Companion Extended Abstracts	Fuste, Anna; Schmandt, Chris	We present HyperCubes, an Augmented Reality (AR) platform to foster computational literacy. Using paper cubes as AR markers and spatial tracking, the user becomes familiar with sequences of instructions as coding blocks. We leverage spatial cognition as a means to improve understanding of procedural and sequential models. We have performed two pilot studies for an iterative and user centered design of the platform. With a final qualitative user study we address engagement levels and the educational potential of the platform. We argue that by using spatial cognition and the flexibility of the AR medium, a playful introduction to basic computational thinking concepts can be presented in late elementary school and middle school children.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3341215.3356264
Abstraction Through Multiple Representations in an Integrated Computational Thinking Environment	Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Gautam, Aakash; Bortz, Whitney; Tatar, Deborah	We present reflections based on qualitative analysis of data from the CHEM+C Project which promotes computational thinking (CT) in classrooms through integration with science classes. The curriculum utilizes multiple representations, requiring students to work with physical phenomena, chemical equations, digital simulations, and modifiable code-based representations. Much CT focus on abstraction naturally emphasizes (1) extraction of a set of features from an object or process, and (2) finding commonality between objects and processes. But Rosen encourages us to think about abstraction as also including the production of new concepts or actions. Integrating CT into science offers the possibility of enhancing this aspect of abstraction. Changing the representational affordances available to the students allows them to take their CT thinking beyond learning-to-abstract towards learning-through-abstraction. This perspective moves computation from an internally focused exercise into the expression of valued ideas in a computational medium.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3328778.3366892
Development and Validation of the Computational Thinking Concepts and Skills Test	Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Peteranetz, Markeya S.; Morrow, Patrick M.; Soh, Leen-Kiat	Calls for standardized and validated measures of computational thinking have been made repeatedly in recent years. Still, few such tests have been created and even fewer have undergone rigorous psychometric evaluation and been made available to researchers. The purpose of this study is to report our work in developing and validating a test of computational thinking concepts and skills and to compare different scoring methods for the test. This computational thinking exam is intended to be used in computing education research as a common measure of computational thinking so that the research community will be able to make more meaningful comparisons across samples and studies. The Computational Thinking Concepts and Skills Test (CTCAST) was administered to students in several courses, evaluated and revised, and then administered to another group of students. Part of the revision included changing half of the items to a multiple-select format. The test scores using the three scoring methods were compared to each other and to scores on a different test of core computer science knowledge. Results indicate the CTCAST and the test of core computer science knowledge measure similar, but not identical, aspects of students' knowledge and skills, and that item-level statistics vary according to the scoring method that is used. Recommendations for using and scoring the test are presented.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3328778.3366813
Teaching Computational Thinking with Interventions Adapted to Undergraduate Students' Proficiency Levels	Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	de Jong, Imke	Adapting a teaching intervention to the proficiency level of a student improves learning when teaching programming. The goal of this PhD-project is to discover to what extent this holds when teaching computational thinking (CT) skills. I will first determine how teaching interventions can be adapted to CT proficiency levels, and then examine their effectiveness through a series of longitudinal studies.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3341525.3394001
Computational Thinking Outreach: Reaching across the K-12 Curriculum	J. Comput. Sci. Coll.	Pokorny, Kian L.; White, Nathan	Recruiting a precollege audience into computing disciplines can be challenging. One approach is to engage those that have a strong influence with the precollege students, K-12 teachers [16]. To engage these teachers, we held a Google-sponsored Computer Science for High School (CS4HS) workshop at our small university. The workshop, scheduled over a two day period, included presentations on the Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) K-12 computer science curriculum standards, recruiting woman into computing disciplines, and careers in technology. Additionally, there were hands-on sessions with Scratch programming, FIRST robotics, computer hardware, programming in Excel, and CS Unplugged. A unique aspect of this workshop was that high school, middle school, and elementary school teachers, both in and out of technology-related disciplines, were invited to attend. Another unique aspect of our workshop was the inclusion of several sessions with activities for participants to create action plans for incorporating computational thinking components into the curriculum at their respective schools. This included a presentation from a former school superintendent on how to work with school districts in considering computer science as a component in the curriculum and several small-group working sessions to develop the action plans. Discussions with the attendees and subsequent surveys revealed some surprising information about perceptions that K-12 teachers had surrounding computer science and technology. This paper describes our experience with the workshop.
Supporting Diverse Learners in K-8 Computational Thinking with TIPP&SEE	Proceedings of the 52nd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Salac, Jean; Thomas, Cathy; Butler, Chloe; Franklin, Diana	With the growth of Computer Science (CS) and Computational Thinking (CT) instruction in the primary/elementary domain, it is important that such instruction supports diverse learners. Four categories of students – students in poverty, multi-lingual students, students with disabilities, and students who have below-grade-level proficiency in reading and math, may face academic challenges that can hinder their learning in CS/CT curricula. However, little is known about how to support these students in CS/CT instruction, especially at this young age. TIPP&SEE, a meta-cognitive strategy that scaffolds learning by proceduralizing engagement through example code, may offer some support. A quasi-experimental study revealed that the gaps between students with and without academic challenges narrowed when using the TIPP&SEE strategy, indicating its promise in providing equitable learning opportunities in CS/CT.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3408877.3432366
Teaching Evaluation for Computational-Thinking-Oriented Elementary Computer Courses	Proceedings of the ACM Turing 50th Celebration Conference - China	Bo, Li; Xiaobin, Zhang; Ning, Wu	With the prevalence1 of the computational thinking, Chinese colleges and universities adopt this concept into their elementary computer teaching for cultivating students' thinking and application ability, which strongly support the students' development. Therefore, it is very important to evaluate the effectiveness of computational thinking in the elementary computer courses. Through such an evaluation, we can obtain the objective data which reflects the teaching effect of elementary computer courses, establish scientific teaching evaluation matrices, and emphasize the importance of those courses. In this paper, we investigate the teaching effectiveness for achieve accurate data and decision support on the computational-thinking-oriented computer curriculum reform. Our research is based on recent evaluations and data acquisition. We analyze the test database, categories of questions, and scores of students. We find several problems, such as the over-emphasizing the programming, incomplete knowledge components, limited background, large deviation of evaluation results among universities. Finally, we give several improvement recommendations.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3063955.3063967
Progression Of Computational Thinking Skills In Swedish Compulsory Schools With Block-Based Programming	Proceedings of the Twenty-Second Australasian Computing Education Conference	Zhang, LeChen; Nouri, Jalal; Rolandsson, Lennart	Although Computational Thinking and Programming have become obligatory in many national curricula, the majority of teachers in practice are currently in dire need of support from both the research and teaching community. A national research and teacher development project was initiated in Sweden to address this issue. To develop their pedagogical competence in these new subjects, 31 in-service teachers from the project performed lesson studies at their schools. This study collected and analyzed the documentation of 12 lesson studies regarding how computational thinking skills are taught and assessed in K–9, with block-based programming. The study applies a validated CT framework to identify the involved computational thinking skills. The result presents a progression stage scheme for these skills in compulsory schools. The paper also discusses the problems and challenges in the assessment of computational thinking skills.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3373165.3373173
Establishing Computational Thinking as Just Another Tool in the Problem Solving Tool Box	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Fleenor, Hillary	Even though the computer science education community has not definitively established exactly what ?Computational Thinking" entails, most will agree that it is using a computing machine to solve problems. Like all tools for solving problems, this knowledge should be made available to everyone. Jeannette Wing sounded this call in 2006, writing that "computational methods and models give us the courage to solve problems and design systems that no one of us would be capable of tackling alone." These skills are not just for computer scientists, but for anyone and everyone who plans to solve problems. We already teach other forms of problem solving to all our students including: Mathematical Thinking, Critical Thinking, and Scientific Reasoning. Computational Thinking, as well as engineering and design's Design Thinking, should be equally exposed to all students. It is also important to illuminate that these tools are not used in isolation to solve problems. Perhaps the key to the acceptance of Computational Thinking (as well as Design Thinking) as essential educational tools is to highlight their overlap and interdependence with other problem solving skills. The next generation will need practice with every tool at their disposal to be prepared to solve tomorrow's problems. I propose embedding Computational Thinking in a problem solving framework that leverages teachers' (and students') existing knowledge of problem solving in mathematics, science, and language arts in order to encourage teachers in non CS disciplines to teach Computational Thinking in their classrooms.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3293792
Case for Integrating Computational Thinking and Science in a Low-Resource Setting	Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development	Gautam, Aakash; Bortz, Whitney Elaine Wall; Tatar, Deborah	There is a growing need to use computers to formulate problems and their solutions across domains. It has thus become imperative that students across the globe be able to work with computing to express themselves. However, teaching computer science in a traditional way may not be possible in all settings. We studied a method to integrate computational thinking, the ability to express problems and their solutions to a computing device, into an existing science classroom with the goal of deepening learning in both science and computational thinking in a low-resource setting in Nepal. In this note, we present findings from the study. The proposed curricular method acknowledges local differences and presents a way to adapt to those differences through adaptable multiple layers of activities and representational variability. We hope that interested educators and development practitioners would try our method in classrooms.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3136560.3136601
Alternate Realities for Computational Thinking	Proceedings of the Ninth Annual International ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research	Doore, Karen	Alternate Reality Games (ARGs) can be utilized as an educational platform to engage students in a collaborative exploration of the field of computing as a means to increase interest in computing. This paper will review the use of ARGs for educational purposes, the educational value of using ARGS, and how ARGs can be designed for re-use. My research is focused on exploring the use of ARGS as component of a computing education framework.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2493394.2493418
Teaching High School Students Computational Thinking with Hands-on Activities	Proceedings of the 2016 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Li, Wei-Lin; Hu, Chiu-Fan; Wu, Cheng-Chih	In this study we developed three hands-on activities to teach high school students computational thinking (CT) and, specifically, the decomposition skills. The activities were designed to enable students to solve problems by using application tools. The computer science concepts utilized in the activities included binary search, quick sort and iteration. We evaluated the effect of the activities utilizing a post-activity questionnaire, a post-test, students' worksheets, and semi-structured interviews with the participating students. The results indicated that the hands-on activities developed in this study improved students' CT ability.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2899415.2925496
Mobile Computational Thinking with App Inventor 2 (Abstract Only)	Proceedings of the 45th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Turbak, Franklyn; Martin, Fred; Pokress, Shaileen Crawford; Morelli, Ralph; Sherman, Mark; Wolber, David	Computational Thinking Through Mobile Computing is an NSF-funded project for introducing students to computational thinking through creating mobile apps. In this hands-on workshop, which is targeted at undergraduate and secondary school computer science teachers, participants will develop Android apps using MIT App Inventor 2. This is a new version of the visual blocks-based programming environment with additional language features (e.g., local variables) and browser-based blocks editing. The workshop will also present pedagogical materials (lessons, tutorials, assignments), evaluation materials (blocks-based quizzes, surveys, project rubrics), and student projects. All of the pedagogical materials presented in the workshop, as well as all of the materials used by the workshop presenters in their individual courses, are posted on the Web and are available to everyone under a Creative Commons license. A laptop is required for this workshop. Each participant will be provided with an Android mobile device to use during the workshop. Participants who have their own Android phones or tablets can use them if they choose. This workshop is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Numbers 1225680, 1225719, 1225745, 1225976, and 1226216.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2538862.2539023
Rainbow Agents: A Collaborative Game For Computational Literacy	Extended Abstracts of the Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play Companion Extended Abstracts	Pellicone, Anthony; Lyons, Leilah; Kumar, Vishesh; Zhang, Eda; Berland, Matthew	This paper describes the design of a collaborative game, called Rainbow Agents, that has been created to promote computational literacy through play. In Rainbow Agents, players engage directly with computational concepts by programming agents to plant and maintain a shared garden space. Rainbow Agents was designed to encourage collaborative play and shared sense-making from groups who are typically underrepresented in computer science. In this paper, we discuss how that design goal informed the mechanics of the game, and how each of those mechanics affords different goal alignments towards gameplay (e.g. competitive versus collaborative). We apply this framework using a case from an early implementation, describing how player goal alignments towards the game changed within the course of a single play session. We conclude by discussing avenues of future work as we begin data collection in two heavily diverse science museum locations.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3341215.3356312
Extending and Evaluating the Use-Modify-Create Progression for Engaging Youth in Computational Thinking	Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Martin, Fred; Lee, Irene; Lytle, Nicholas; Sentance, Sue; Lao, Natalie	The Use-Modify-Create progression (UMC) was conceptualized in 2011 after comparing the productive integration of computational thinking across National Science Foundation-funded Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (NSF ITEST) programs. Since that time, UMC has been widely promoted as a means to scaffold student learning of computational thinking (CT) while enabling personalization and allowing for creative adaptations of pre-existing computational artifacts. In addition to UMC's continued application, it has recently been utilized to scaffold student learning in topics as diverse as machine learning, e-textiles, and computer programming. UMC has also been applied to instructional goals other than "supporting students in becoming creators of computational artifacts." This panel will re-examine the UMC progression and refine our understanding of when its use is suitable, and when not, and share findings on evaluations and extensions to UMC that are productive in new and different contexts.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3328778.3366971
Analysis of the Relationship between Computational Thinking and Mathematical Abstraction in Primary Education	Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality	Chaabi, Hasnaa; Azmani, Amina; Dodero, Juan Manuel	The aim of this paper is to broaden our view on the relationship between Computational Thinking and the development of the abstraction skill applied to mathematics. It was aimed to reveal trends and new potential solutions to be explored in the teaching of mathematics. We carefully selected sixty-four papers related with the objective above cited. From which we inspected twenty-four discovering that abstraction is a key skill for mathematics and Computational Thinking. We also discovered that we need to define which type of abstraction are we going to work on together with choosing between the two ways of teaching CT: integrating it to the curricula or as an after-school program.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3362789.3362881
The Effect of Learning Analytics System towards Learner's Computational Thinking Capabilities	Proceedings of the 2019 11th International Conference on Computer and Automation Engineering	Jeon, Inseong; Song, Ki-Sang	The purpose of this paper is to show the effect of learning analytics system based teaching that instructor depends on a system which monitors learner's programming activities and grasps his/her achievement level in real-time under block-based programming environment. Based on the analyzed information, teachers might provide timely help and lead students to engage in coding education. Also, we found that there exits statistically significant difference in decomposition, abstraction, and algorithm components among several components of Computational thinking skills.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3313991.3314017
A New Way of Thinking about Computational Thinking	J. Comput. Sci. Coll.	Astrachan, Owen	Computational Thinking has emerged as an enduring metaphor in teaching and thinking about Computer Science since Jeanette Wing brought the term to our attention in a 2006 CACM article. Computational thinking involves abstraction, but a definition that is too abstract does not help in explaining computational thinking to someone who doesn't already have an intuitive idea of what it is:
Using Interface Design to Develop Computational Thinking Skills	Proceedings of the Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Calderon, Ana C.; Crick, Tom	Human-computer interaction is a long established sub-discipline of computer science. While there has been significant focus on the importance of developing computational thinking skills, there appears to be a gap in the literature in using HCI principles, analysis and design as a framework for doing so. We present the first step to identify methodologies for systematically introducing HCI to pupils from an early age, presenting a commentary for their prospective future application, comparing to similar approach as other foundational aspects of computer science in developing computational thinking skills that have been considered for the past decade.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2818314.2818333
Towards a Dialectic Relationship between the Implicit and Explicit Nature of Computational Thinking: A Computer Semiotics Perspective	Proceedings of the 17th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research	Spangsberg, Thomas Hvid; Brynskov, Martin	Computational Thinking (CT) has gained in popularity in recent years, both within educational and political discourses. It is more than ever important to discuss the term itself in order to determine to which extent it is helpful in solving the challenges it has been suggested to address. Recently, Denning (2017) proposed that CT can be viewed as either "traditional" or "new". Traditional CT is a skillset resulting from engaging in traditional computing activities, e.g. programming, whereas new CT forefronts certain skills as desired in problem solving. By looking at CT through the perspective of computer semiotics, specifically the algorithmic sign, it is possible to dissolve the hard distinction of traditional vs. new. Instead, a perception of CT having both an implicit and an explicit nature emerges, allowing for a dialectic relationship between CT's integrated implicit and explicit nature.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3141880.3144591
Computational Thinking is Not Necessarily Computational	Commun. ACM	Staff, CACM		https://doi.org/10.1145/3128899
Computational Thinking, Perception, and Confidence in Distance Learning	Proceedings of the 52nd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Bao, Yeting; Hosseini, Hadi	One of the key factors for measuring success in distance learning is student interaction with learning materials. Remote instruction has gained substantial traction with the advent of online education, and this attention has increased in the presence of global pandemics. The asynchronous nature of remote learning has deteriorated the quality of education for learners, which calls for the design of novel interactive techniques to promote student engagement. We study the impact of traditional learning tools such as textbooks and videos in contrast with interactive learning media in computational and algorithmic thinking, and investigate students' perception of learning and actual learning comprehension in higher education.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3408877.3439621
An Effective Microlearning Approach Using Living Book to Promote Vocational Students' Computational Thinking	Proceedings of the 2019 The 3rd International Conference on Digital Technology in Education	Leela, Soralak; Chookeaw, Sasithorn; Nilsook, Prachyanun	The purpose of this study was to describe the effectiveness of using living books (mobile leaning and augmented reality) within the context of microlearning approach to promote vocational students' computational thinking. The participants were 97 vocational students that included experimental group (n=52) and control group (n=45) vocational college who enrolled in the basic of mathematics career in 2nd semester of academic year 2018. The instruments of this research include learning materials: mobile learning and AR book, the lesson plan of surface area and volume topic in basic mathematics career subject, pre and post-tests, and the computational thinking assessment. The results showed that the students' learning achievement of experimental group employed microlearning approach using living books, the control group employed traditional learning was statistically significant at level of .01. In addition, the result of students' computational thinking in the experimental group using of microlearning living book have been the computational thinking at the high level.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3369199.3369200
Sports Analytics as a Context for Computational Thinking in K-12 Education	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Floyd, Steven Paul; Sorbara, Luigi	As educational jurisdictions around the world begin to integrate computational thinking (CT) into their K-12 mandatory curriculum, there is a need to ensure that classroom activities are engaging, relate to student interests, and effectively promote the development of CT skills. The analysis of sports performance data fulfills this criteria for some students and teachers and presents an exciting context in which students from all K-12 grades can access complex CT concepts. This lightning talk investigates sports analytic tasks within the context of the CT in mathematics and science taxonomy introduced by Weintrop et al. (2015). Specific classroom activities are presented including analyzing the distribution of soccer goals, baseball salaries, the location of successful basketball shots, and the placement of volleyball serves. Examples of data analytics projects will be shared and the four main components of the taxonomy (data practices, modelling and simulation practices, computational problem-solving practices and systems thinking practices) will be identified within each project.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3293773
A Study on the Assessment of Introductory Computational Thinking via Scratch Programming in Primary Schools	Proceedings of the 2018 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research	Fagerlund, Janne	Computational thinking (CT), a transversal intellectual foundation integral to computer science, is making its way into compulsory comprehensive education worldwide. Students are expected to attain skills and knowledge in such interdisciplinary CT principles as Algorithmic thinking, Data representation, and Debugging. Problem-solving by designing and manipulating interactive media with Scratch, a graphical programming tool, is popular especially at the primary school level. However, there has been confusion regarding how introductory CT can be operationalized for educational practice. Teachers and students need research-based knowledge for setting appropriate learning goals in addition to instruments for formative assessment that potentially improve the quality of learning. This study contributes to these issues by developing the assessment for learning of CT via Scratch in primary school settings. A review on prior studies involving the assessment of CT-related computational ideas in Scratch has led to the conceptualization of a revised assessment framework. Next steps in the study are analyzing fourth grade students' (N=58) Scratch projects and exploring complementary methods for analyzing CT in video recordings of the students' programming processes.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3230977.3231013
A Computational Thinking Course Accessible to Non-Stem Majors	J. Comput. Sci. Coll.	Kafura, Dennis; Bart, Austin Cory; Chowdhury, Bushra	We describe the content, pedagogy and technology of a computational thinking course. While open to students in all majors, in practice the course serves students in predominantly non-STEM majors. We have seen the positive impact on student motivation of the data science context used in the course and the pedagogical value of the "cohort" model of collaborative peer learning. The technology includes a scaffolded programming environment for accessing curated real-world data sets.
Reported Development of Computational Thinking, Through Computer Science and Programming, and Its Benefits for Primary School Students: (Abstract Only)	Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Duncan, Caitlin	Across the world there has been a paradigm shift in school education, as many countries are incorporating Computer Science (CS), programming, and Computational Thinking (CT), into their K-12 curriculums for the first time. In 2018 these subjects will be introduced to the New Zealand (NZ) Digital Technologies curriculum under the subject of "Computational Thinking". Like the majority of countries who have introduced these topics, NZ faces challenges in preparing teachers, and in successfully implementing a curriculum which achieves its educational goals. To support this curriculum, we have been conducting studies in primary schools across NZ, trialing resources with teachers and students. Building on a 2014 exploratory study on CS and programming in intermediate school, this project investigates the existing assumptions around CT education in K-12. It aims to address the specific questions: How do we teach CT concepts and approaches to primary aged students? If they learn CT, does it have the expected positive impacts on students learning? And, what other positive and negative impacts does this have?Throughout 2015 and 2016 a study was conducted with 18 primary school teachers from across NZ, who used CS Unplugged and educational programming languages in their classrooms. Teachers submitted feedback on these classes through an online form, and participated in semi-structured interviews. The feedback responses and interview transcripts were analysed using a thematic approach, which revealed many positive impacts on students general learning, minimal negative impacts, and observations of CT development.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3159450.3162325
On Computational Thinking, Inferential Thinking and Data Science	Proceedings of the 28th ACM Symposium on Parallelism in Algorithms and Architectures	Jordan, Michael I.	The rapid growth in the size and scope of datasets in science and technology has created a need for novel foundational perspectives on data analysis that blend the inferential and computational sciences. That classical perspectives from these fields are not adequate to address emerging problems in "Big Data" is apparent from their sharply divergent nature at an elementary level-in computer science, the growth of the number of data points is a source of "complexity" that must be tamed via algorithms or hardware, whereas in statistics, the growth of the number of data points is a source of "simplicity" in that inferences are generally stronger and asymptotic results can be invoked. On a formal level, the gap is made evident by the lack of a role for computational concepts such as "runtime" in core statistical theory and the lack of a role for statistical concepts such as "risk" in core computational theory. I present several research vignettes aimed at bridging computation and statistics, including the problem of inference under privacy and communication constraints, and ways to exploit parallelism so as to trade off the speed and accuracy of inference.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2935764.2935826
Support of Teacher's Work in the Field of Development of Computational Thinking Through E-Learning Resources	Proceedings of the 2019 3rd International Conference on Education and Multimedia Technology	Dragon, Tomáš	The paper describes some selected approaches related to the support of teacher's work, which focuses on the development of computational thinking and the use of modern e-learning on-line resources. The article also deals with the design related to the research, which will be implemented in connection with these activities and will thus commit to the current professional discussion on the possibilities of development of computational thinking in connection with the Digital Education Strategy until 2020 and the upcoming reform of ICT curriculum in the Czech Republic. Web and mobile applications appear to be suitable e-learning resources for algorithm and programming studies that can contribute positively to the development of computational thinking. So far, however, no relevant research has described whether teachers or future teachers are familiar with these resources, whether they can use them, and whether they also meet their needs. We want to respond to all these facts in our research.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3345120.3352738
A Designerly Approach as a Foundation for School Children's Computational Thinking Skills While Developing Digital Games	Proceedings of the Interaction Design and Children Conference	Brooks, Eva; Sjöberg, Jeanette	This paper contributes to the contemporary debate on the increasing use of computational thinking (CT) in primary schools. It is based on an empirical study in which 28 Swedish third-grade school children (9-10 years of age) participated in a creative workshop where they were challenged to design a digital game using stop-motion film technique, working in groups. The study applies a designerly approach to game design activities to investigate what aspects of computational skills can be identified when children employ stop motion filmmaking as a means to envision a digital game design idea and how a designerly approach can enable them to enact dimensions of their computational skills? The data included video observations, casual conversations, and stop-motion videos representing the children's game design ideas. The analysis identified three aspects of computational thinking strategies while children produced stop-motion films: step-by-step procedural skills; design and arrangement skills; and computational perspectives.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3392063.3394402
Using Educational Videos on The Internet as A Form of E-Learning to Support the Development of Computational Thinking	Proceedings of the 2018 2nd International Conference on Education and E-Learning	Dragon, Tomáš	This paper deals with using internet educational videos as a suitable form of e-learning to support the development of computational thinking. In the context of continuous technology development, the demand for IT specialists capable of solving a variety of problems using information technology is increasing. This should make everyday life easier and shorten the time needed to solve these problems. Before someone can become an IT specialist, or at least begin to think as one, they must start building their knowledge. One of the best ways to start can be their own inner motivation or an impulse from their school environment. The goal of this paper is to select appropriate channels for sharing YouTube videos on the server and to describe how they can participate in supporting the development of computational thinking. This article introduces freely available YouTube channels that can be used as a form of e-learning as well as an inspiration for computer science.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3291078.3291102
1st ACM SIGSPATIAL Workshop on Geo-Computational Thinking in Education (GeoEd 2019): Chicago, Illinois, USA - November 5, 2019	SIGSPATIAL Special	Magdy, Amr; Dony, Coline	The 1st International Workshop on Geo-computational Thinking in Education (GeoEd 2019) was held in conjunction with the 27th ACM SIGSPATIAL International Conference on Advances in Geographic Information Systems (ACM SIGSPATIAL 2019). The workshop is intended to bring together experts from both geography (or related) and computer science disciplines who have primary interest in geospatial data and technologies, either from academia or industry, to discuss the grand challenges towards improving existing learning pathways through integration of geo-computational thinking in higher education. This could impact a variety of disciplines that increasingly deal with geospatial data beyond geography, such as social sciences, environmental sciences, public policy, climatology, and other geo-related disciplines. The workshop speakers and attendants have discussed their vision on challenges and opportunities of various topics within the workshop scope.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3383653.3383657
CTWINS: Improving Computational Thinking Confidence in Educators through Paired Activities	Proceedings of the 11th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Millwood, Richard; Strong, Glenn; Bresnihan, Nina; Cowan, Pamela	The CTwins project is a cross-border initiative targeting teachers of subjects other than Computing in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland who want to use technology in the classroom but lack the confidence to do so. It aims to develop confidence in educators' capacity to use computational thinking through a playful and supportive introduction to computer programming. This will be done through paired learning exercises with an output intended to be aesthetically pleasing and fulfilling. Learning will be supported by an online community of practice.The project will be evaluated for its effect on building the confidence in participating educators and the design and resources will be created as a open educational resource.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2978249.2978269
The Scope of Autonomy Model: Development of Teaching Materials for Computational Thinking in Primary School	Proceedings of the Conference on Creativity and Making in Education	Carlborg, Niklas; Tyrén, Markus; Heath, Carl; Eriksson, Eva	During the 21st century there has been an increasing interest in the field of computational thinking as a consequence of the ever faster technical development. However, educating future generations in programming and computational thinking is not trivial. Many different platforms and teaching approaches can be used for this purpose. Inspired by the UK initiative with BBC micro:bit, this paper strives to identify what may be important to consider when designing teaching materials with the micro:bit for training Swedish primary school pupils' computational thinking skills relating to mathematical and technical school subjects. This has been investigated in an iterative process, by conducting 21 workshops with the goal to support primary school teachers in developing micro:bit teaching materials. The contribution of this paper is the Scope of autonomy model, which is based on the relation between pupils learning potential, their risk of feeling overwhelmed and the amount of choices provided in exercises. The model aim to support teachers in developing material for teaching programming and computational thinking in accordance with the new curriculum.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3213818.3213824
Teaching Software Design Engineering Across the K-12 Curriculum: Using Visual Thinking and Computational Thinking	Proceedings of the 17th Annual Conference on Information Technology Education	Fronza, Ilenia; El Ioini, Nabil; Corral, Luis	Over the years a number of methodologies have been proposed in Software Engineering to deal with systems design. High among them is visual thinking (VT). VT is a well known strategy to foster more ideas and generate consensus within a group. In this paper, we propose the application of VT in the design phase of computational thinking in the K-12 curriculum. The goal is to facilitate the interchange of ideas in a team of students, and assist on orchestrating an all-hands, brainstorming working strategy that ensures that all the participants speak and are listened, and that all the viewpoints are taken into account. We describe the results of an experience of visual thinking applied in the design phase across the K-12 curriculum.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2978192.2978220
CABECT: Collaborating across Boundaries to Engage Undergraduates in Computational Thinking (Abstract Only)	Proceedings of the 45th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Pulimood, Sarah Monisha; Pearson, Kim; Bates, Diane C.	Innovative solutions for complex problems entail diversity of perspectives, and students must learn to integrate concepts from multiple disciplinary areas. Yet, to provide collaborative experiences that cross disciplinary boundaries, educators must navigate numerous administrative and pedagogical challenges. In this hands-on workshop participants will learn how to leverage existing courses for students and faculty to collaborate across disciplines and with a community partner, to develop socially-relevant computational solutions for real-world problems. Participants will also brainstorm ideas on addressing specific challenges at their own institutions. The intended audience is educators interested in engaging their students in deep computational thinking through immersive multidisciplinary collaborative experiences. Registered participants will be reimbursed the workshop registration fee through NSF Award# 1141170. We will additionally offer a stipend to participants who adopt our model, administer assessments and provide us with their results for analysis and inclusion in reports. More information will be available at http://tardis.tcnj.edu/cabect/. Laptop Recommended.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2538862.2539016
DISSECT: Integrating Computational Thinking in the Traditional K-12 Curricula through Collaborative Teaching (Abstract Only)	Proceeding of the 44th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Hug, Sarah; Sandry, Josh; Vordermann, Ryan; Pontelli, Enrico; Wright, Ben	The goal of the DISSECT program is to integrate computational thinking lessons into general education K-12 classrooms via graduate student/teacher partnerships. The idea of combining the teaching of CT with other disciplines is not new and it has taken shape in a variety of recent efforts in the formal education of youth. What is promising and innovative is the approach as it is implemented in K12 DISSECT classrooms. Through a collaborative teaching partnership, teachers gain a new perspective regarding computer science, and in cooperation with graduate students well-versed in computer science concepts, develop lessons and course modules that serve two purposes: 1.) Address K-12 content standards in core disciplines (e.g., language arts, life science) and 2.) Introduce CT concepts, such as abstraction, algorithms, data analysis and modeling. This poster describes ways computational thinking (CT) is taught in general K-12 classrooms in New Mexico through cooperative teaching. Along with their potential to stimulate interest in computing, these pilot modules were viewed by K12 teachers as enhancing disciplinary course content that teachers are charged with teaching (e.g., middle school science, language arts), deemed vital for sustainability in K12 schools by participating teachers. Preliminary data indicate graduate student and teacher satisfaction with cooperative teaching of CT. Next steps for research will involve student level data collection and analysis.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2445196.2445452
Pythons and Martians and Finches, Oh My! Lessons Learned from a Mandatory 8th Grade Python Class	Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Nanavati, Amal; Owens, Aileen; Stehlik, Mark	As computing technologies continue to have a greater impact on daily life, it becomes increasingly important for the K-12 education system to prepare students for the computerized world. In this paper, we present the curriculum design, implementation, and results from a one-trimester introductory Python course that is mandatory for all 8th graders in our school district. This course is a crucial component of the K-12 computational thinking pathways we are developing at our school district, which take students from block-based programming and computational thinking (elementary school) to text-based programming and applications of computer science (high school). Our mandatory 8th grade course serves as a bridge between these two components. We present qualitative results that highlight the challenges that arose from teaching a course for all students – not just those with a prior interest in computing – and how the instructor overcame those challenges. We also present quantitative results that demonstrate the course's positive impact on students' attitudes towards computer science, their intent to re-engage with computer science in the future, and the gender gap with regards to confidence in computer science.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3328778.3366906
Development and Preliminary Validation of the Assessment of Computing for Elementary Students (ACES)	Proceedings of the 52nd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Parker, Miranda C.; Kao, Yvonne S.; Saito-Stehberger, Dana; Franklin, Diana; Krause, Susan; Richardson, Debra; Warschauer, Mark	As reliance on technology increases in practically every aspect of life, all students deserve the opportunity to learn to think computationally from early in their educational experience. To support the kinds of computer science curriculum and instruction that makes this possible, there is an urgent need to develop and validate computational thinking (CT) assessments for elementary-aged students. We developed the Assessment of Computing for Elementary Students (ACES) to measure the CT concepts of loops and sequences for students in grades 3-5. The ACES includes block-based coding questions as well as non-programming, Bebras-style questions. We conducted cognitive interviews to understand student perspectives while taking the ACES. We piloted the assessment with 57 4th grade students who had completed a CT curriculum. Preliminary analyses indicate acceptable reliability and appropriate difficulty and discrimination among assessment items. The significance of this paper is to present a new CT measure for upper elementary students and to share its intentional development process.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3408877.3432376
Didactic Methods of Integrating Programming in Mathematics in Primary School: Findings from a Swedish National Project	Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Ahmed, Gashawa; Nouri, Jalal; Zhang, LeChen; Norén, Eva	The association between mathematics and programming in an educational context is not new. Today, programming has been introduced into curricula worldwide for younger children. In the Swedish case, primary school teachers are expected to integrate programming in mathematics education from autumn 2018. However, Swedish teachers' knowledge of programming and programming didactics is limited. Meanwhile, there is little research on K-9 programming education. This has led to the dilemma that the mathematics teachers have limited support in didactic knowledge and good examples. This study reports on a teacher professional development project in programming. More specifically, teachers used Lesson Study to plan, execute, and evaluate lessons that integrated programming into various school subjects in elementary school. This study analyzed the didactic strategies developed in 10 lesson studies, as well as mapped the opportunities and challenges of pupils' learning in the mathematics subject. The result was the identification of three didactic strategies, which were analog programming, robot programming and block programming, as well as 11 didactic methods applied within these strategies. The paper contributes with examples of the didactic methods that teachers have developed and evaluated using lesson study. The paper further provides insights on how teachers can take progression into account by applying the three didactic strategies. At last but not least, the study shows a great need for teachers to develop computational thinking abilities.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3328778.3366839
Introducing Coding through Tabletop Board Games and Their Digital Instantiations across Elementary Classrooms and School Libraries	Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Lee, Victor R.; Poole, Frederick; Clarke-Midura, Jody; Recker, Mimi; Rasmussen, Melissa	This experience report describes an approach for helping elementary schools integrate computational thinking and coding by leveraging existing resources and infrastructure that do not rely on 1-1 computing. A particular focus is using the school library and media center as a site to complement and enhance classroom instruction on coding. Further, our approach builds upon "unplugged" knowledge and practices that are already familiar to and motivating for students, in this case tabletop board games. Through these games, students can use their prior knowledge and ease with tabletop gaming mechanics to cue relevant ideas for core computational concepts. We describe a model and an instructional unit spanning across classroom and school library settings that builds upon board game play as a source domain for computing knowledge. Building on expansive framing, the model emphasizes instructional linkages being made between one domain (the tabletop board game) and another (specially designed Scratch project shells with partially complete code blocks) such that the reasoning activities and different contexts are seen as instantiations of the same encompassing context. We present the experiences of three elementary school teachers as they implemented the unit in their classrooms and with their school librarian. We also show initial findings on the impact of the unit on student interest (N=87), as measured by pre- and post- surveys. We conclude with lessons learned about ways to improve the unit and future classroom implementations.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3328778.3366917
Domino: Mobile Phones as Accessible Microcontrollers	Proceedings of the 17th ACM Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Blikstein, Paulo; Han, Jenny; Jue, Kylie; Shroff, Aashna	As the importance of computational devices grows in today's technology-driven society, tools for teaching computational literacy are becoming more necessary. While microcontrollers have been shown to be an effective way to develop computational literacy in young learners, microcontrollers' accessibility is limited due to their cost. We present domino, a mobile platform that turns the phone into a microcontroller using its inbuilt sensors and actuators. Learners can create their own cause-and-effect apps with the phone's sensors as inputs and existing applications as outputs. In this paper, we reflect on the design aspects of domino that enable learners to use their phones to problem-solve in everyday life, as well as the app's implications for future work in the area of computational literacy.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3202185.3213524
FLAMES: A Socially Relevant Computing Experience for High School Students	Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Isvik, Amy	In this poster, I examine a two-pronged, female-oriented, high school computing outreach program, FLAMES, incorporating 1) workshops throughout the school year and 2) an 8-week high school summer intern program run within the Game2Learn lab at North Carolina State University. I focus on examining the effects of the program on students' skills and affect towards computing. Literature has shown that socially relevant themes in computing are engaging for women and underrepresented minorities. Students understanding how these themes connect to computer science helps broaden their view of computing and increases their interest in pursuing a computing career. This initiative uses socially relevant themes, specifically around the context of developing educational tools and block-based programming activities for use in K-12 classrooms. High school students were trained to assist North and South Carolina teachers with the development of Computational Thinking-infused curricula for their science, math, English, and social studies classrooms. Additionally, summer students assisted in research labs alongside undergraduate researchers, aiding in field study observations, software testing, and data classification. This poster presents the design of the program, an overview of the curriculum, and results including both student and teacher feedback. Results show that the outreach program has benefited each of the parties involved, including its student participants, researchers, and the teachers assisted by the participants. I share lessons learned from this experience in order to help other CS departments develop similar broadening participation in computing programs.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3328778.3372697
A Media-Reduced Approach towards Informatics at Primary Level	Proceedings of the 8th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Antonitsch, Peter K.; Gigacher, Cornelia; Hanisch, Liselotte; Sabitzer, Barbara	At the moment, informatics education stretches downward to reach primary education. This article emphasizes computational thinking, focuses upon goals of primary education and unveils how to connect to existing teaching and learning patterns when integrating computational thinking into primary education. Furthermore, a framework is sketched to combine computational thinking with computational doing in a media-reduced way.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2532748.2532763
The Teaching Reform of Integration of Theory and Practice with Interest Leading and Ability Training	Proceedings of the 2018 International Conference on Big Data and Education	Jin, Lan; Su, Ying	The fundamental of programming course is a professional basic course offered by institutions of higher learning, and C language is usually chosen as the programming language to help cultivate students' comprehensive quality and ability. Taking the fundamental of programming course as an example, aiming at the problems existing in traditional theory teaching and practice teaching, it proposes the theoretical teaching reform that stimulates students' interest in learning and develops the ability of computational thinking, constructs stage and hierarchical practice teaching system, improves continuously teaching methods and introduces the mobile cloud platform to assist teaching. The practice has proved that the students' comprehensive ability has been improved and the teaching effect has been achieved.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3206157.3206170
Opening the Black Box: Investigating Student Understanding of Data Displays Using Programmable Sensor Technology	Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research	Gendreau Chakarov, Alexandra; Biddy, Quentin; Jacobs, Jennifer; Recker, Mimi; Sumner, Tamara	This paper describes the design and classroom implementation of a week-long unit that aims to integrate computational thinking (CT) into middle school science classes using programmable sensor technology. The goals of this sensor immersion unit are to help students understand why and how to use sensor and visualization technology as a powerful data-driven tool for scientific inquiry in ways that align with modern scientific practice. The sensor immersion unit is anchored in the investigation of classroom data where students engage with the sensor technology to ask questions about and design displays of the collected data. Students first generate questions about how data data displays work and then proceed through a set of programming exercises to help them understand how to collect and display data collected from their classrooms by building their own mini data displays. Throughout the unit students draw and update their hand drawn models representing their current understanding of how the data displays work. The sensor immersion unit was implemented by ten middle school science teachers during the 2019/2020 school year. Student drawn models of the classroom data displays from four of these teachers were analyzed to examine students' understandings in four areas: function of sensor components, process models of data flow, design of data displays, and control of the display. Students showed the best understanding when describing sensor components. Students exhibited greater confusion when describing the process of how data streams moved through displays and how programming controlled the data displays.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3372782.3406268
A Conceptual Model for Cooperative Thinking	Proceedings of the 40th International Conference on Software Engineering: Companion Proceeedings	Russo, Daniel; Missiroli, Marcello; Ciancarini, Paolo	Training computer scientists to address wicked problems means to focus respectively on the individual capability to think in a computational-oriented way (i.e., Computational Thinking), and on the social dimension of coding (i.e., Agile Values). In this study we propose the conceptual model of Cooperative Thinking, a new education construct of team-based computational problem solving. Cooperative Thinking is not only the sum of Computational Thinking and Agile Values, rather it is a new overarching competence suitable to deal with complex software engineering problems. We suggest to tackle the Cooperative Thinking construct as an education goal, to train new generations of software developers to Pareto-optimize both their individual and teaming performances.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3183440.3195062
Alice Summer Camps: Evaluating Multiple Formats	Proceedings of Alice Symposium on Alice Symposium	Van Camp, Robert	During the summer of 2009, an Alice camp was taught to gifted students in our region. The following year our department secured an NSF CPATH Grant for Computational Thinking, grant number 0939106. In 2010 we hosted two weeks of our Adventures with Alice Programming and Computational Thinking camp, the first week with middle school students and the second with high school students. In both 2011 and 2012, we hosted one week of a combined middle school/high school camp. A general description of what we did in the camp will also be part of the poster presentation along with what we believe worked well and what could be improved.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2532333.2532345
Designing and Refining of Questions to Assess Students' Ability to Mentally Simulate Programs and Predict Program Behavior (Abstract Only)	Proceedings of the 47th ACM Technical Symposium on Computing Science Education	Aggarwal, Ashish; Gardner-McCune, Christina; Touretzky, David S.	Mental simulation is an important skill for program understanding and prediction of program behavior. Assessing students' ability to mentally simulate program execution can be challenging in graphical programming environments and on paper-based assessments. This poster presents the iterative design and refinement process for assessing students' ability to mentally simulate and predict code behavior using a novel introductory computational thinking curriculum for Microsoft's Kodu Game Lab. We present an analysis of question prompts and student responses from data collected from three rising 3rd - 6th graders where the curriculum was implemented. Analysis of student responses suggest that this type of question can be used to identify misconceptions and misinterpretation of instructions. Finally, we present recommendations for question prompt design to foster better student simulation of program execution.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2839509.2850563
Personalized Assessment Worksheets for Scratch (PAWS): Exploring a Bridge between Interviews, Written Assessments, and Artifact Analysis	Proceedings of the 2019 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research	Salac, Jean	The computer science community has struggled to assess student learning, especially at the early elementary level. Prior work has included one-on-one interviews, written assessments, and artifact analysis, each with their own benefits and drawbacks. Through our Personalized Assessment Worksheets for Scratch (PAWS) tool, we explore personalized assessments as an assessment technique that lies in between interviews, written assessments, and artifact analysis. PAWS creates personalized written assessments that integrates code from student Scratch projects. We hope that our PAWS tool, and more generally personalized assessments, will lead to an assessment technique that is both more accurate than written assessments and artifact analysis, and less time-consuming than interviews.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3291279.3339428
Computational Sophistication of Games Programmed by Children: A Model for Its Measurement	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Werner, Linda; Denner, Jill; Campe, Shannon; Torres, David M.	This article builds on prior work that aims to measure computational learning (CL) during middle school. Since game computational sophistication (GCS) has been used as a proxy for a student’s engagement in CL we build on their model to more completely describe the relationship between different types of building blocks of computer games and GCS. In doing so, we present a single quantitative measurement for GCS. Our model, called GCS 2.0, has face validity for 39 games, each programmed by a pair of middle school children. We choose four of these games, two with high GCS and two with low GCS, and discuss the computational building blocks found in each game. We do this to help the reader better understand our measurement of GCS and its relationship to CL.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3379351
The Community Garden Hack: Participatory Experiments in Facilitating Primary School Teacher's Appropriation of Technology	Proceedings of the 29th Australian Conference on Computer-Human Interaction	Karimi, Arafeh; Worthy, Peter; McInnes, Paul; Bodén, Marie; Matthews, Ben; Viller, Stephen	1As technology increasingly pervades the daily life of teachers and students, finding sustainable ways to successfully integrate innovative technologies in classrooms remains a challenge. This paper reports on our experiences designing and running workshops with (and for) teachers. Collectively, the aims of the workshops were geared ultimately at encouraging teachers to work with technologies in more `designerly' ways in the classroom, i.e. looking at technology as a working material, rather than as an off-the-shelf tool for certain activities, educational content or as an isolated part of the curriculum. We present a case study of one of the workshops, the Community Garden, designed in the format of a hackathon. We report on how teachers adopted the workshop concept, appropriated the technologies and, more interestingly, how six months later they appropriated the design process as a pedagogy to engage students in their learning.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3152771.3152787
Eliciting Student Scratch Script Understandings via Scratch Charades	Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Franklin, Diana; Salac, Jean; Thomas, Cathy; Sekou, Zene; Krause, Sue	With many school districts nationwide integrating Computer Science (CS) and Computational Thinking (CT) instruction at the K-8 level, it is crucial researchers closely inspect the relationship between program expression and student understandings. In this study, we propose and report on our use of Scratch Charades, a game in which students act out Scratch scripts while others build them. The purpose of Scratch Charades is to familiarize students with scripts and blocks without the cognitive overhead of the complex user interface. However, in this study, we also used it to elicit student understandings about Scratch blocks and scripts to design mnemonics to help students debug their code. We propose two building and/or debugging strategies based on our observations.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3328778.3366911
VWorld: An Immersive VR System for Learning Programming	Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Interaction Design and Children Conference: Extended Abstracts	Jin, Qiao; Liu, Yu; Yuan, Ye; Yarosh, Lana; Rosenberg, Evan Suma	The growing development and commercialization of Virtual Reality (VR) allow more children to get access to this technology. VR features a new, more emotional relevant experience with a sense of presence and high interactivity. In this paper, we present VWorld, an immersive VR system designed to boost children's creativity and computational thinking skill. VWorld enables children to create their own virtual world by putting 3D objects on a miniature map, then explore the world and control the chosen objects by constructing program sequences. We present the design and implementation of VWorld system, with the design considerations of children in our VR environment, and conduct the preliminary evaluation and the future plan of the study.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3397617.3397843
Introducing Artificial Intelligence Fundamentals with LearningML: Artificial Intelligence Made Easy	Eighth International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality	Rodríguez-García, Juan David; Moreno-León, Jesús; Román-González, Marcos; Robles, Gregorio	This paper is a summary of the webinar hold on October 22nd at the “Computational thinking and robotics in education” track in which the LearningML project was presented. The LearningML project aims to bring the fundamentals of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to children and people interested in acquiring knowledge on this subject in an easy way. AI has heavily irrupted in society and everyone is using, more or less consciously, application based on AI. Therefore, some kind of AI literacy is needed if we are to educate critically thinking citizens able to understand technologies that have a relevant impact on their lives. In this presentation we show how LearningML can help us to reach this goal trough programming applications based on Machine Learning (ML), the most prevalent subfield of AI today.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3434780.3436705
In Pursuit of CS-Based Educational Content Suitable for Broader Audiences	Proceedings of the 21st Annual Conference on Information Technology Education	Winter, Victor; Diaz-Kelsey, Judith Monarrez	The important role that technology will play in the future requires that IT literacy, IT fluency, and interest in IT careers, in particular, increase significantly in the near future. This study investigates relationships between a variety of student attributes (e.g., general educational interests, classroom behavior, and gender) and engagement with a set of introductory CS-based educational activities. The goal of the study is to gain a better understanding of how to design CS-based educational content that appeals to broader student populations. Among other findings, the study revealed (unsurprisingly) that interest in math played a significant role in the level of engagement for males having STEM-related interests, while interest in reading played a significant role in the level of engagement for females having non-STEM related interests. The most significant finding of the study was that females having non-STEM related interests engaged more extensively than all other student populations.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3368308.3415362
Air Pollution Data Analysis Platform for Computer Science Education Projects: (Abstract Only)	Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Angelvik, Nina	We have developed an applied computer science project to introduce students in upper secondary schools to computer science and engineering. In the project, students build and code their own air quality sensor kits before investigating a research question by analyzing their collected data. An important part of the analysis is to investigate the air quality data in context of other data sources, such as data from other sensor kits or climate data. The task of curating such datasets are too complex for such an introductory project and it therefore requires a specialized service. In this poster we present the design and implementation of an air pollution data analysis platform that stores air quality measurements collected by students, combines it with open environmental data, and provides students with an open interface to analyze their data. During spring 2018, ten school classes from Northern Norway are going to use the platform, online at airbit.uit.no, to study air quality patterns across Northern Norway. We also provide the source code for the platform at the same address.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3159450.3162334
Couplets: Helping Elementary School Students Recognize Structure in Code (Abstract Only)	Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Touretzky, David S.; Gardner-McCune, Christina; Isaac, Joseph; Tomokiyo, Laura M.	We believe teaching elementary school students to reason about programs is as important as teaching them to write programs. To facilitate development of this skill in young children one must choose a developmentally appropriate domain. Microsoft's Kodu Game Lab is a pattern-matching rule-based language whose semantics is significantly different than Scratch or Python. We chose Kodu because one can write non-trivial programs in two to four lines, and analyzing these programs is within the abilities of a typical 8 year old. Reasoning about programs requires students to understand the structure of code. The approach we're advocating is analogous to sentence diagramming, where one starts with a sequence of words and develops a representation of their syntactic and semantic relationships. One can similarly analyze Kodu programs by characterizing rules and recognizing relationships between rules. In this poster we describe "couplets", an analysis technique that reveals the presence within a program of an important Kodu design pattern called Pursue and Consume. Using this technique leads to accurate predictions about program behavior, and uncovers bugs if the pattern is not fully realized. As part of a study of 40 third graders who were learning Kodu, we provided brief instruction in the couplets technique. We found that they were able to apply couplets to 3-4 line programs and answer prediction questions with a roughly 85% success rate. Our results demonstrate that elementary school children can learn to reason abstractly about programs if given the right mental tools.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3159450.3162300
Graphics Programming in Elm Develops Math Knowledge & Social Cohesion	Proceedings of the 28th Annual International Conference on Computer Science and Software Engineering	Zhang, John; Verma, Anirudh; Sheth, Chinmay; Schankula, Christopher W.; Koehl, Stephanie; Kelly, Andrew; Irfan, Yumna; Anand, Christopher K.	At McMaster University, we have developed a framework for teaching computer science, including curricula and tools (iPad apps: Image 2 Bits and ElmJr; an open-source library GraphicSVG; and a web-based development environment). ElmJr is a projectional editor for Elm, with knowledge of our graphics library. Using ElmJr, children transform programs through contextual menus. As a result, they never see syntax or type errors. Children as young as 10 years old, who have just started learning about syntax in English, can be productive programmers. We will explain how ElmJr is designed to make programming simple for beginners, and how strong typing in Elm and our graphics library is key to making the list of program transformations manageable. We will explain the design and findings of a study of children in 14 classes (grade 4 and 5) in the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board, who received 12 hours of instruction over eight weeks in ElmJr with the aim of improving their mathematics knowledge. In parallel, another eight grade 6 to 8 classes received at least two hours of instruction in Elm using our web-IDE, culminating in a Wordathon. The Wordathon is designed to reconcile the power of social computing with the need to protect children's privacy. The intermediate classes were challenged to create animations in Elm of assigned words identified by teachers as K-4 core reading vocabulary. Joining the intermediate students in this activity, two high school classes were taught how to create interactive applications in Elm and were challenged to create a reading game using the word animations created by the intermediate children. In all, four games incorporating 408 animations were created, and some of the intermediate students presented the games to primary grades in their schools. Unlike typical network effects, we get a multiplier effect: more word animations make game development more attractive, and more games make animations more attractive. Having a critical mass then attracts the attention of other educators, including in this case the team implementing the board-wide reading strategy. All of this can be accomplished without any identifying information leaving the classroom.
Pivoting in a Pandemic: Transitioning from In-Person to Virtual K-8 Computing Professional Development	Proceedings of the 52nd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Burke, Quinn; Iwatani, Emi; Ruiz, Pati; Tackett, Traci; Owens, Aileen	This poster reports on year one of a three-year NSF-funded Research Practitioner Partnership (RPP) to develop a K-8 pipeline for computer science (CS) and computational thinking (CT) education within two rural school districts in Eastern Kentucky : Pikeville Independent School District and Floyd County Schools. Economically devastated by the departure of the coal industry, these communities are committed to developing high-quality computing curricula for all students, beginning in their earliest years. The poster has two components. First, through a mixture of qualitative measures, the poster reports on the genesis and development of the RPP. It focuses on the RPP's origin in leveraging the districts' existing relationship with Pennsylvania's South Fayette School District, which has developed one of the nation's leading programs for teacher professional development (PD) in K-12 computing. The second component of the poster focuses on the development of a series of summer workshops for Kentucky Appalachia K-8 instructors to learn the basics of CS and CT and how to integrate these skills and concepts into existing K-8 coursework. Of course, the RPP faced new challenges with COVID-19 most notably, the need to offer these summer workshops remotely, and adjusting the objectives and research questions accordingly. Through focus groups with the PD instructional team and survey responses from the KY teacher workshop participants, the poster will report on the pedagogical implications of offering teacher PD exclusively online and what the ramifications have been for Pikeville and Floyd County children with the return to school in the Fall of 2020.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3408877.3439665
Improving Computer Science Instruction and Computer Use for African American Secondary School Students: A Focus Group Exploration of Computer Science Identity of African American Teachers	Proceedings of the 2019 on Computers and People Research Conference	Hampton, Lelia; Cummings, Robert; Gosha, Kinnis	As the demand for computing careers increases, it is important to implement strategies to broaden the participation in computer science for African Americans. Computer science courses and academic pathways are not always offered in secondary schools. Many teachers are not trained in computer science, yet are pushed to incorporate more computing, computational thinking, and computer usage. A qualitative focus group study was implemented to assess the computer science identities of African American teachers and of their respective urban secondary schools serving African American students. Three major codes were identified: district administration of computer and computing implementation, teacher attitudes towards computer science instruction, and teachers' recommendations to improve computer science and computational thinking instruction and outreach for African American secondary school students. Findings can be used to improve computer science and technology rollout programs from county and district administrations, teacher instruction with digital tools, and computer science outreach for African American secondary school students.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3322385.3322399
Informal HCI: What May Students Learn from Playability Issues during a Game Design Workshop?	Proceedings of the 2013 Chilean Conference on Human - Computer Interaction	Barcelos, Thiago; Costa, Geiza; Muñoz, Roberto; Noël, René; Silveira, Ismar	Human-Computer Interaction topics have been previously used to motivate and attract students to the field of Computer Science. However, as students are growing up in contact with several interactive computational devices, one could suspect that they already possess an empirical, informal knowledge about the quality of some types of human-computer interfaces. In order to test this hypothesis, we developed a Game Design Workshop to be offered to high school students. Based on the results of its first offering, we identified that issues related to displaying the game status and score, response time of controls and graphical and sound features were quite relevant to students. Students added additional features to solve those issues in a spontaneous way. An analysis of the developed games indicates that students had to learn and apply new concepts related to programming in order to implement the additional features.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2535597.2535613
Future-Proofing Kiwi Kids Through the Use of Digital Technology	Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Liesaputra, Veronica; Ramirez-Prado, Guillermo; Barmada, Bashar; Song, Lei	The common approach for introducing middle school and high school students to computational thinking and engineering is through programming or robotics activities that were designed without much social context. Therefore, one of the challenges such outreach programs pose is further stereotyping of students who are interested in computer science, by presenting them as people who ought to be hyper-intelligent and very much focused on computers with no social skills. Realizing the above, and wanting to attract a diverse audience to study computer science, we developed a one-day workshop which showcases the interdisciplinary nature of computer science and the various ways computing can help students discover and solve societal problems. We chose multiculturalism, cyber security and air pollution as the context of our computational thinking activities. This paper describes our experiences in developing and teaching the workshops that runs three to five times a year, hosted either in our institute or at local schools. Regardless of students' previous STEM experiences and socioeconomic statuses, both students and teachers reported that the knowledge gained enabled them to either create a computer program or a robot and also led to a better understanding of how computers can be used in daily life. In other words, the workshop successfully opened the minds and perspectives of the middle school and high school students on computer science. Additionally, over time, we also observed an increased number of students and schools participating in such workshops.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3328778.3366902
SciGirls Code: Computational Participation for Middle School Girls	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Scharber, Cassandra; Chang, Yu-Hui; Barksdale, Sarah; Peterson, Lana; Constantine, Angelina; Sivaraj, Ramya; Englund, Jennifer	SciGirls Code is a project which used the principles of connected learning with 16 STEM outreach partners to provide 160+ middle school girls with computational thinking (CT) and coding skills within informal education spaces. Programs completed 3 curricular strands (Mobile Apps, Robotics, E-Textiles) between September 2017-May 2018. SciGirls Code integrates a computational participation framework with connected learning. The research study investigates the ways in which computational learning experiences impact girls' development of CT; interest and attitudes toward computer science; and their understanding of how participation in technology creation impacts themselves and the world around them. This study utilizes an interpretive multi-site case study design. There are multiple data sources with different data collected at focal and participating sites. The seven (7) focal cases represent an array of settings (rural, suburban, urban) as well as a variety of programming contexts (museums, community centers, after school). The remaining nine (9) sites comprise the participating cases. Notably, interviews (in-person) from focal sites and shorts (videos) from participating sites were collected at three moments in the programming (beginning, middle, end) to document changes in understandings and skills. Content analysis was conducted, and further triangulated in teams, to develop themes for each case and cross-case comparison. Thus far, the study has found that a connected learning approach boosted the development of middle school girls' CT skills, positively impacted attitudes towards computing pathways/careers, and increased understandings of computational participation.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3293800
Introduction to Data Science as a Pathway to Further Study in Computing	Proceedings of the 2019 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research	Guerzhoy, Michael	Several institutions have recently introduced Introduction to Data Science courses that involve a substantial programming component and do not require CS1 as a prerequisite. Programming and computational thinking are central to the emerging discipline of data science, and so there is overlap between traditional CS1 courses and Introduction to DS.Partly because of the evident societal significance of data science and because data science does not have the problematic reputation of computer science, Intro to DS can attract new and diverse audiences that may not have been interested in taking CS1.We explore Intro to DS as a possible alternative path into computing: what are the learning goals in Intro to DS that involve programming and/or computational thinking? How generalizable are the problems students solve in Intro to DS to what students would encounter in future studies? Is it feasible for students to pursue a data science sequence rather than CS1-CS2 and be prepared for a career that uses data science? To what extent can a pathway through a data science sequence diversify the population of students who graduate from degree programs in computer science and data science?We survey the Introduction to Data Science courses offered in North American post-secondary education, and focus on a data science sequence that uses the R programming language and does not require CS1 at an R1 institution as a case study.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3291279.3341203
What's the Big Idea with CS Education in K-12?	Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Bell, Tim	Computer Science is seen in many different ways in society; some may consider it to be an esoteric collection of jargon-laden skills, while others view it as an essential topic of study for all citizens. Many of us are very passionate about sharing our enthusiasm for the subject with others, and we are at a time in history where much of the hard work to get the public to understand that it is something special is starting to bear fruit, as we see Computer Science and Computational thinking appearing in K-12 curricula around the world. But what is it about Computer Science that makes it so important and exciting? Is it a subject in its own right that deserves space in the curriculum? We will explore the reasons that young students should become engaged with the subject, illustrated using an Unplugged perspective.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3159450.3166087
Looking Ahead: Professional Development Needs for Experienced CS Teachers	Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Kafai, Yasmin; Baskin, Jake; Fields, Deborah; Goode, Joanna; Twarek, Bryan; Yadav, Aman	As computer science is moving into K-12 education, most efforts have focused on getting new teachers into computer science or integrating computing within STEM topics. But one aspect that has received less attention, if any, is the continued professional development of experienced CS teachers. We know little about the particular learning needs of experienced CS teachers, knowledge that will be critical as the CS teaching force expands significantly in coming years. In this panel, we address this knowledge gap from the perspective of teacher education research and professional development-what we need to know about deepening teachers' pedagogical practices and content knowledge-an understanding that will be instrumental for retaining and enriching teachers in CS education.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3328778.3366977
From NoteCards to Notebooks: There and Back Again	Proceedings of the 30th ACM Conference on Hypertext and Social Media	Bouvin, Niels Olof	Fifty years since the beginning of the Internet, and three decades of the Dexter Hypertext Reference Model and the World Wide Web mark an opportune time to take stock and consider how hypermedia has developed, and in which direction it might be headed. The modern Web has on one hand turned into a place where very few, very large companies control all major platforms with some highly unfortunately consequences. On the other hand, it has also led to the creation of a highly flexible and nigh ubiquitous set of technologies and practices, which can be used as the basis for future hypermedia research with the rise of computational notebooks as a prime example of a new kind of collaborative and highly malleable applications.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3342220.3343666
Starting a Computational Science Program	Proceedings of the 42nd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Caristi, James; Barr, Valerie; Sloan, Joe; Stahlberg, Eric		https://doi.org/10.1145/1953163.1953167
DBugs: Large-Scale Artefacts for Collaborative Computer Programming	Proceedings of the 17th ACM Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Bodén, Marie; Pretorius, Bianca; Matthews, Ben; Viller, Stephen	In this article, we present DBugs, a large-scale physical tool designed for school children to learn computer programming. DBugs was designed to support the social aspects of classroom learning. In user two studies we found DBugs supported collaboration between students as the large-scale tangible cubes meant each student found a role in the group work. We also found that with the larger size of artefacts the individual students' actions became public and this promoted communication and collaboration between the group members for a successful outcome.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3202185.3210773
Does Studying CS Automatically Foster a Growth Mindset?	Proceedings of the 2019 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Lodi, Michael	Many arguments are used to advocate for the introduction of Computer Science (CS) / Computational Thinking / "coding" in K-12 education. Growth mindset theory (GM) is also becoming very popular among educators and researchers. Some claims stating that studying CS can foster a GM have emerged. However, educational research shows that transfer of competences is hard. Very little research has been conducted on the relationship between GM and CS learning, with conflicting results. We measured some indicators (e.g., mindset, computer science mindset) at the beginning and the end of a high school year in five different classes: three CS oriented, one Chemistry oriented, and one Transportation&Logistics oriented. In one of the CS oriented classes, we did a very brief GM intervention. At the end of the school year, none of the classes showed a statistically significant change in their mindset. Interestingly, non-CS oriented classes showed a significant decrease in their computer science growth mindset. In the intervention class, students suggested, to stimulate a GM, the need for activities that are more creative, engaging, and related to the real world and their interests.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3304221.3319750
Parallel Computing: Thoughts Following a Four-Year Tour of Academic Outreach	ACM Inroads	Wrinn, Michael		https://doi.org/10.1145/2339055.2339057
Social Justice and Equity in CS Education: Inaugural Launch of AP Computer Science Principles	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Diaz, Lien; Trees, Frances P.; Reed, Dale; Kick, Richard; Kuemmel, Andrew	The inaugural launch of the College Board's Advanced Placement Computer Science Principles (AP CSP) course coincided within the same year of the announcement of CS For All, a bold national initiative that seeks to support the expansion of computer science education in America, and to empower students to learn computer science and obtain the computational thinking skills needed to thrive in today's transforming digital world. The intent of the AP CSP course supports this initiative as it aims to promote social justice and equity in computer science education. The course is designed to be appealing to a broader audience, including females and minority students, who are underrepresented in computer science, thus providing increased access and opportunity for students to study computer science at the secondary level.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3017680.3017693
Integrating Drawing Tablet and Video Capturing/Sharing to Facilitate Student Learning	Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Global Computing Education	Wang, Chen-Wei	We report the experience of adopting an innovative technique for in-class instruction. The technique relies on: 1) replacing the black-board/whiteboard by a portable drawing tablet; 2) preparing starter pages consisting of code fragments or writings/figures on the drawing tablet for in-class illustrations on complex ideas; 3) recording the in-class illustrations on the drawing tablet for students to review the thinking process after class. This technique has been adopted in three Computer Science and Software Engineering courses, ranging from freshman to junior years, and the student evaluation results indicate that this technique is effective and helps students achieve the course learning outcomes. Comparison of student performance on complex ideas also indicates a positive impact of our approach.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3300115.3309530
Educating the next Generation of Spammers	Proceedings of the 41st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Sommers, Joel	Compelling experiences in introductory courses make a key difference in whether non-majors develop an interest in computer science, possibly even converting them into undergraduate majors or minors. In this paper we advocate integrated hands-on laboratory style activities to provide such pivotal experiences. In the lab activities we describe, students do not engage in programming, yet they learn to think computationally by engaging in computational activities. The course in which these labs are implemented is oriented around three aspects of the the internet's underside: its techno-scientific underpinnings, environmental and energy problems and promise brought on by its rapid growth, and security threats associated with its use. We describe the goals and content of the lab activities, as well as various challenges encountered through their implementation. We also discuss student responses and future directions.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1734263.1734302
Work in Progress Report: A STEM EcoSystem Approach to CS/CT for All in a Middle School	Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Cao, Lijuan; Rorrer, Audrey; Pugalee, David; Maher, Mary Lou; Dorodchi, Mohsen; Frye, David; Barnes, Tiffany; Wiebe, Eric	This project is a Research to Practice Partnership (RPP) between two middle schools and two universities. It focuses on investigating problems and on identifying solutions around increasing participation and interest in computer science (CS). We aim to do this by identifying, experimenting with, and fine-tuning methods to help students develop computational thinking (CT) skills. The research employs a STEM ecosystem model, which facilitates a support structure that aims to mitigate barriers and impact students as they progress in STEM areas. While this RPP is still a work in progress, we present data from the first year of our collaboration with one of the middle schools. While the research questions guiding this RPP are intended to be iterative and revised annually, year one data provides perspectives on (1) barriers to developing a STEM ecosystem that supports CS/CT for every student through integration into science, math, and language arts courses, (2) the factors or interventions needed for the development of a CS/CT focused ecosystem that supports everyone in the school, (3) the indicators of success for a CS/CT focused STEM ecosystem in a school, and (4) how the ecosystem prepares and engages all students for CS/CT work in high school. Year one data is discussed in terms of the STEM ecosystem framework and in how it will guide the next steps in this partnership. This project contributes to the understanding of how to prepare future generations for participation in a workforce where knowledge of the foundations of CS/CT is integral to success.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3328778.3366922
A Technique for Translation from Problem to Code	Proceedings of the 23rd Annual ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Hilton, Andrew D.; Lipp, Genevieve M.; Rodger, Susan H.	Students in introductory programming courses struggle with how to turn a problem statement into code. We introduce a technique, “The Seven Steps,” that provides structure and guidance on how to approach a problem. The first four steps focus on devising an algorithm in words, then the remaining steps are to translate that algorithm to code, test the algorithm, and debug failed test cases. This approach not only gives students a way to solve problems, but also ideas for what to do if they get stuck during the process. Furthermore, it provides a way for instructors to work examples in class that focus on the process of devising the code—instructors can show how to come up with the code, rather than just showing an example. We have used this technique in several introductory programming courses—both in the classroom and online. We describe this technique and results from its use in fall 2017 courses.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3197091.3205807
The Association of High School Computer Science Content and Pedagogy with Students’ Success in College Computer Science	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Burgiel, Heidi; Sadler, Philip M.; Sonnert, Gerhard	The number of computer science (CS) courses has been dramatically expanding in U.S. high schools (HS). In comparison with well-established courses in mathematics and science, little is known about how the decisions made by HS CS teachers regarding how and what to teach impact student performance later in introductory college CS courses. Drawing on a large sample of 2,871 introductory college CS students at 115 U.S. institutions who had taken a CS course in HS, we examined the topic coverage and prevailing instructional methods in the HS course and investigated how these experiences influenced student performance in college CS. Controlling for differences in student background, we find two predictors of higher grades in college CS: greater frequency of coding-related activities in HS (programming, debugging, studying algorithms) and lower frequency of “non-coding” computer use (e.g., data analysis, computer security). Interaction models revealed a more complex story. Coding-related activity more heavily benefited students who did not have coding help available at home. In the 28% of college CS courses in which instructors employed innovative pedagogies, students with higher ACT or SAT mathematics scores had a greater advantage than in traditionally taught courses. Finally, in the innovative college courses, students whose HS CS exams had typically included testing on vocabulary did worse than students whose exams had not included such tests.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3381995
On the Aesthetics of Children's Computational Modeling for Learning Science	Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Farris, Amy Voss; Sengupta, Pratim	We posit that in the context of learning science using generative computational media, the lens of aesthetic experiences can provide us with a framework to understand how learners begin to develop representational fluency by appropriating computational tools into personally meaningful, computational expressions. We report two cases to illustrate how students' experiences of computational modeling activities, using agent-based visual programming and musical composition environments, can represent Dewey's notion of aesthetic experience. We highlight two important aspects of the process through which children transform these computational tools into expressive media for modeling: engaging in personal excursions and leveraging multi-modality. The children's work was both personally meaningful and representative of the curricular goals.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2485760.2485847
SCAPA: Development of a Questionnaire Assessing Self-Concept and Attitudes Toward Programming	Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Leifheit, Luzia; Tsarava, Katerina; Ninaus, Manuel; Ostermann, Klaus; Golle, Jessika; Trautwein, Ulrich; Moeller, Korbinian	There is a constantly growing number of initiatives asserting the relevance of programming already in primary education and offering respective interventions with the goal to foster interest in and positive attitudes toward programming. To evaluate to what extent this goal is achieved, assessing students' attitudes toward programming reliably is indispensable. However, there still is a need for validated instruments for assessing this in elementary school students. This seems particularly relevant as self-concept and attitudes toward a school subject were repeatedly observed to be significant predictors of learning motivation and achievement. The newly developed Self-Concept and Attitude toward Programming Assessment (SCAPA) is based on existing instruments for assessing students' self-concept and attitude toward mathematics. SCAPA measures aspects of students' self-concept and attitudes toward programming on seven scales: i) self-reported previous programming experience and understanding, ii) self-concept, iii) intrinsic value belief, iv) attainment value belief, v) utility value belief, vi) cost belief, and vii) compliance and persistence. We administered SCAPA to 197 elementary school students between seven and ten years of age in the context of an evaluation of a computational thinking intervention. Data were analyzed for reliability (i.e., internal consistency on item and scale level) and construct validity (by means of confirmatory factor analysis). Results indicated good reliability for all scales except for the self-reported previous programming experience and understanding scale. Overall, these results reflect SCAPA's suitability for assessing different aspects of elementary school students' self-concept and attitudes toward programming.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3341525.3387415
First International Workshop on Software Research and Climate Change	Proceedings of the 24th ACM SIGPLAN Conference Companion on Object Oriented Programming Systems Languages and Applications	Easterbrook, Steve M.	This workshop will explore the contributions that software research can make to the challenge of climate change. Software is a critical enabling technology in nearly all aspects of climate change, from the computational models used by climate scientists to improve our understanding of the impact of human activities on earth systems, through to the information and control systems needed to build an effective carbon-neutral society. The intent of the workshop is to explore how software research can contribute to this challenge, to build a community of researchers interested in responding to the challenge, and to map out a research agenda.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1639950.1640087
Phenomenological Programming: A Novel Approach to Designing Domain Specific Programming Environments for Science Learning	Proceedings of the Interaction Design and Children Conference	Aslan, Umit; LaGrassa, Nicholas; Horn, Michael; Wilensky, Uri	There has been a growing interest in the use of computer-based models of scientific phenomena as part of classroom curricula, especially models that learners create for themselves. However, while studies show that constructing computational models of phenomena can serve as a powerful foundation for learning science, this approach has struggled to gain widespread adoption in classrooms because it not only requires teachers to learn sophisticated technological tools (such as computer programming), but it also requires precious instructional time to introduce these tools to students. Moreover, many core scientific topics such as the kinetic molecular theory, natural selection, and electricity are difficult to model even with novice-friendly environments. To address these limitations, we present a novel design approach called phenomenological programming that builds on students' intuitive understanding of real-world objects, patterns, and events to support the construction of agent-based computational models. We present preliminary case studies and discuss their implications for STEM content learning and the learnability and expressive power of phenomenological programming.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3392063.3394428
An Exploratory Analysis of Interactive Systems for Introducing Programming Based on Cultural Viewpoint Metaphors	Proceedings of the 17th Brazilian Symposium on Human Factors in Computing Systems	de Oliveira, Gabriela Amaral A.; Ferreira, Rafael Sales Medina; Prates, Raquel Oliveira	Having basic knowledge in computing is getting more importance nowadays. With this in mind, many applications have been developed in order to teach programming concepts to children, such as AgentSheets and Scratch, systems that use a visual programming language to create games and interactive animations. However, there is little research into communication strategies that are used by interactive systems to teach programming to kids. In this paper, we evaluate how both of these applications address cultural aspects that allow a progressive learning of programming concepts. We have found out that both systems address cultural aspects in a similar way. Their focus is to teach how to write programming codes using their visual language, but without gradually introducing programming concepts to the user.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3274192.3274199
Altering CS Perceptions: Using Personal Robots to Change Attitudes, Increase Confidence, and Expand Knowledge	Proceedings of the 51st ACM Southeast Conference	Kroutil, Ryan M.; Saad, Ashraf; Strauser, Edward; McKlin, Tom; Roberts, Sean	We report the most recent findings of our CS education initiative to teach core programming principles to middle and high school students through the use of personal robots. The program was focused on the use of web-based educational tutorials, in conjunction with personal robots, to deliver program content. This web-centered approach allowed ten local teachers to work with 147 students via robotics clubs in five local middle and high schools. The term culminated with a robotics programming showcase and competition, of which twenty-six of the participating students were able to attend. At the showcase, the students were assessed on attitude, perception, and content knowledge. The results of the attitude and perception assessment showed significant increases in motivation to succeed, confidence in learning programming with the robots, and intention to persist in a STEM-based program. The results of the content knowledge assessment indicated that the high school students scored significantly higher than their middle school counterparts and provided valuable insights to guide future educational materials development to produce higher degrees of learning and retention.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2498328.2500091
Programming Practice Using Scratch for Each Grade of Elementary School	Proceedings of the 2019 International Conference on Big Data and Education	Yamamori, Kazunori	A method of teaching programming at elementary school is required. Scratch can easily practice the programming. This paper presents teaching materials by grade level using Scratch. For first graders, it is a teaching material for exercises of mouse operation. For second graders, it is a teaching material for exercises of keyboard operation. Third graders perform typing operations in Roman or English. Fourth graders create a program that tackles sequential processing. Fifth graders create a program that involves iterative processing. Sixth graders create a program that involves conditional branches and iterations. Each is combined with many subjects of art, music, national language and arithmetic. These materials were used in classroom practice with many teaching assistants. It is designed to be performed in 45 minutes. This paper also presents the results of classroom practice using these materials.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3322134.3322151
Analyzing Rich Qualitative Data to Study Pencil-Puzzle-Based Assignments in CS1 and CS2	Proceedings of the 23rd Annual ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Butler, Zack; Bezáková, Ivona; Fluet, Kimberly	Pencil puzzles (puzzles such as sudoku and many others that are designed to be solved by humans, promoting computational thinking) provide a natural context for CS1/2 assignments. In a prior work we analyzed Likert-scaled student responses and assignment/course grades to show that not only are such assignments effective but are also largely independent of gender and prior computing experience. This paper focuses on open-ended student comments, both to see if they provide additional insights about the assignments and student perceptions not apparent from the Likert-scaled responses, and to see if these comments are consistent with the results from the prior work. We surveyed over 1000 students who had used pencil-puzzle-based assignments and invited them to make open-ended comments in their survey responses. We used grounded theory to develop codes for the large volume of student survey comments, as well as for semi-structured interviews with the instructors and focus groups with student TAs. Statistical analysis of the coded comments identified several interesting relationships, such as students being appreciative of their learning even when they perceived the assignments as difficult, which were not available from the Likert-scaled data. The analysis also confirmed that these assignments are largely gender- and experience-neutral. We conclude by discussing how these results and the coding process lead to improvements in assignment development and inform future research directions.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3197091.3197109
Understanding Learning Curves and Trajectories in CSS Layout	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Kim, Meen Chul; Park, Thomas H.; Liu, Ruixue; Forte, Andrea	Web development is a learning context with the potential to support rich computational thinking. Large-scale analysis of compilation and runtime errors have been used in introductory programming courses and similar approaches can be used to understand learning in web development environments. We investigated activity logs of a novel web coding game to uncover learning trajectories and what people struggle with when learning flexible box (flexbox), a collection of new CSS layout features. We designed a game called Flexbox Froggy, in which learners solve challenges by writing a few lines of CSS code, moving from simple levels that require knowledge of one flexbox property, to complex levels combining multiple properties. We investigate learning curves based on the changes in syntactic and semantic errors learners make as they complete the game. Our findings show that people performed better encountering a single new property than combined with properties they had already practiced. Clusters of learners at different levels did not demonstrate expected error rates based on learning curve theory. Also unexpectedly, advanced groups that mastered syntax had higher semantic error rates than the beginner group, especially when attempting new properties or complex use cases. We conclude with implications for designing and developing introductory web programming games and other instructional materials.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287387
From Smart Homes to Smart Kids: Design Research for CataKit	Proceedings of the 2017 Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Sheriff, Aviv; Sadan, Rona; Keats, Yasmin; Zuckerman, Oren	This paper presents the design research process of CataKit, a construction kit for children inspired by catapults, Rube-Goldberg chain reaction machines, and mechanical automata. We set out to promote children's initiative, positive risk-taking, and procedural thinking, all in the context of their bedrooms. Our motivation is to contrast the rising smart home movement in industry, which we fear may decrease children's initiative if children's bedrooms become too automated. We describe our design research process with six children followed by a low fidelity prototype design and evaluation. We present the qualitative analysis of children's reactions to the prototype and show support for our initial goals: encourage systematic exploration of mechanical concepts and initiative over automation. We hope that construction kits like Catakit will empower children to develop curiosity about the mechanical world around them, to think about risk taking as a potentially positive experience, and to think more critically about initiative in the smart home era.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3078072.3079729
Deepening Learning in High School Computer Science through Practices in the NGSS (Abstract Only)	Proceedings of the 47th ACM Technical Symposium on Computing Science Education	Bienkowski, Marie	High school computer science teaching can be informed by how science and engineering practices are defined in K-12 curriculum standards. In the United States, the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) are seen as broadly stated and widely accepted statements of what children should know about science and engineering to be literate citizens and to prepare for careers in STEM. While the NGSS do not identify practices for computer science, our experience is that the broadly defined engineering practices can serve as an appropriate framework for thinking about computational work. Our interpretation differs from efforts that use computation to teach science or mathematics, instead we apply NGSS approaches to teach computer science. We anticipate that K-12 teachers who are working with these standards as well as with the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) will find, as we have, a crossover from the emphasis in these standards on inquiry, argumentation, and overall deeper learning to the pedagogical orientation of curricula such as the high school introductory course Exploring Computer Science (ECS). This poster will show how a portion of the NGSS, carried over from the precursor Science and Engineering Framework and called the "Condensed Practices" can be used with activities in ECS to deepen student learning and help teacher adoption. Handouts are available showing (1) knowledge, skills, and abilities for computational thinking, (2) curriculum guidance for teachers wishing to use the NGSS to inform ECS teaching and (3) suggestions for professional development in NGSS for computational thinking for all K-12 teachers.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2839509.2850557
Social Genesis in Computing Education	ACM Trans. Comput. Educ.	Tenenberg, Josh; Chinn, Donald	It is common to think of learning as the acquisition of knowledge by an individual learner. Starting a century ago, Lev Vygotsky developed a different perspective on learning, initiating a tradition of educational research whose momentum and influence continue to grow. One of Vygotsky's key principles is the general genetic law of cultural development that states that whatever skilled cognition that individuals carry out within their own minds is preceded by homologous activity carried out by a social group of which this individual was a part. In linking the individual and society through this law, learning is not simply a matter of the acquisition of domain knowledge. Rather, it is a cyclic process by which a social group, in its functioning through joint activity, leads to individuals taking into themselves (i.e., internalizing) the social forms of activity. In this article, our goal is to explicate Vygotsky's genetic law and demonstrate its utility for yielding novel insight into computing education. We provide an extended illustration of the use of Vygotsky's law in examining a teacher and students in a university setting write code together during a class session. What our analysis reveals is that the teacher and students together enact a sequential, rule-based, and dialogical process of problem decomposition and code writing far different from the plan and schema-based models for programming that have emerged from prior research focused on the individual student and their cognitive strategies and structures. We provide commentary on implications of the genetic law for both research and practice in computing education.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3322211
COMPUTING IN SCHOOLS\textlessbr\textgreater\textlessbr\textgreaterTraining Teachers for K-6 Computing Education	ACM Inroads	Armoni, Michal		https://doi.org/10.1145/3230691
The PANaMa Project – RoboCamp 2019 a Case Study: Lessons Learned from an Educational Robotics Based Science Camp	Eighth International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality	Pedersen, Bjarke Kristian Maigaard Kjær; Larsen, Jørgen Christian; Nielsen, Jacob	In this article we present the details and findings from a case study of a twice held, five day long, science camp on robot technology, with the objective of motivating the participants (N=19), to pursue a future career within the field of STEM. The participants were 7th to 9th grade pupils from Germany. In the article, we describe the results of combining traditional teaching, with constructionism and problem-based learning, as an approach to project work. The projects were set in a real-world context and designed to accommodate for a low floor, high ceiling. In addition, a series of materials were developed with the purpose of limiting the scope of information the participants had to search through, to find the relevant information needed, when working autonomously. Data from the camp was collected through a mixed methods approach, including pre- and post-questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, conversations with the participants and observations. The approach and project design were overall positively received, and it was concluded that the camp had fulfilled its objective. Based on the results from the camp, a series of recommendations for similar future initiatives, was also established.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3434780.3436678
A Pathway to Strengthening Support for Beauty and Joy of Computing Teachers	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Subramaniam, Meghana; Cateté, Veronica	Computer science education in high school is fundamental for increasing the diversity in computing majors at a university level. However, computer science is not often taught in America before university, and usually, the professionals who teach it are not trained experts in computer science concepts and terminology. In this paper, we introduce a new style of coding rubric, which allows teachers to better understand the fundamentals of the course being taught. In the scope of this research, we focus solely on the Beauty and Joy of Computing, an AP Computer Science Principles course. Coding assignments were collected from two groups of students, and assignments were graded and compiled by raters. After being rated, the rubrics were modified to be better adapted to teachers' expectations.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3017680.3022458
Student Code Trajectories in an Introductory Programming MOOC	Proceedings of the Sixth (2019) ACM Conference on Learning @ Scale	Bajwa, Ayesha; Hemberg, Erik; Bell, Ana; O'Reilly, Una-May	In classrooms, instructors teaching students how to code have the ability to monitor progress and provide feedback through regular interaction. There is generally no analogous tracing of learning progression in programming MOOCs, hindering the ability of MOOC platforms to provide automated feedback at scale. We explore features for every certified student's history of code submissions to specific problems in a programming MOOC and measure similarity to sample solutions. We seek to understand whether students who succeed in the course reach solutions similar to these instructor-intended sample solutions, in terms of the concepts and mechanisms they contain. Furthermore, do students learn to conform to instructor expectations as the course progresses, and does prior experience have correlations with student behavior? We also explore what feature representations are sufficient for code submission history, since they are directly applicable to the development of automated tutors for progress tracking.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3330430.3333646
Using AppVis to Build Data-Rich Apps with MIT App Inventor (Abstract Only)	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Martin, Fred; Michalka, Samantha; Zhu, Harry; Boudelle, Jere	MIT App Inventor is widely used to introduce students to programming and building mobile apps. In this workshop, we will introduce AppVis, an extension to App Inventor that allows users to create apps that publish data to iSENSE (isenseproject.org), a web-based system for collaborating with data and visualizations. Using AppVis, apps can also retrieve data from iSENSE and display visualizations in the app. This workshop will provide a hands-on introduction to App Inventor, AppVis, and iSENSE. You will build our demo apps, including jump counter, survey, and map-marking. We will have conversations about how to introduce AppVis to your non-majors courses, intro-CS courses, and interdisciplinary teaching. Prior experience with App Inventor is helpful, but not necessary.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3017680.3017827
A Case Study of Computer-Based Problem Solving Skill Development by Using Spreadsheet Software	Proceedings of the International Conference on Digital Technology in Education	Chatvichienchai, Somchai	Recently many enterprises are promoting their workers to gain advanced skills of using Excel in conjunction with Visual Basic Application (VBA, for short), which is a program development framework of Excel for creating VBA programs (called macros) that performs routine tasks automatically. In Japan there are many vocational schools providing Excel VBA training courses. However, these courses don't develop sufficient problem-solving skill which is essential for learners who want to develop Excel VBA based applications. The objective of this paper is to introduce an on-going education project that develops Excel VBA based problem-solving skill for students who are not major in computer science. The course design and education support of the project are discussed. Furthermore, experience learned from the project is also introduced.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3134847.3134857
Thinking out of the Box: Comparing Metaphors for Variables in Programming Education	Proceedings of the 13th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Hermans, Felienne; Swidan, Alaaeddin; Aivaloglou, Efthimia; Smit, Marileen	When teaching novices programming, misconceptions can occur. Misconception are incorrect beliefs about certain programming concept. For example, some novices think that a variable can hold multiple values, in the case of two consecutive assignment statements, such as x = 5; x = 7. While explaining variables introductory materials often use the metaphor of a box for a variable, which might contribute to the 'multiple values' hypothesis. To investigate this, we design and run a controlled experiment with 496 novice programmers, both children and adults. Half of our participants receive an introductory programming lesson in which we explain a variable as a box, while the other half of participants receive the explanation of a variable as being a label. They are subsequently questioned about their understanding of variables. Our results show that, for the simple questions involving one assignment, the box group performs better. However, for questions involving the misconception — with two consecutive assignment statements — the label group outperforms the box group. This however primarily occurs when considering variables of type string, for integers subjects interpret the statements as numeric values to be added.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3265757.3265765
CodeRhythm: Designing Inclusive Tangible Programming Blocks	Companion Publication of the 2020 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference	Rong, Zhiyi; Chan, Ngo Fung; Chen, Taizhou; Zhu, Kening	Tangible programming toolkits are widely used to nurture computational literacy in the young generation. However, novice learners with visual impairment have been neglected as these toolkits are primarily designed for sighted students, and mostly rely on visual cues in the whole manipulation process. To fill this gap, we present CodeRhythm, a tangible programming toolkit for engaging blind and visually impaired (BVI) students to learn basic programming concepts by creating simple melodies (Figure 1). In the rest of the paper, we will first discuss the background of tangible educational toolkits and accessible programming tools, describe the design features of CodeRhythm, and discuss the feedback and future improvement by the preliminary user study.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3393914.3395895
Do It Again: Learning Complex Coding Through Repetition	Proceedings of the 18th Annual Conference on Information Technology Education	Jonas, Michael	Coding is an important skill set to develop in any computing discipline and can be especially challenging for Information Technology majors, many of whom shy away from the topic. Learning to program is an iterative process that takes time, requiring trial and error, but as students learn new concepts and tackle more sophisticated problems, it becomes difficult to let go of bad ideas. Instead, students try to improve a bad design when starting over may be a better approach. In an advanced programming course, we design a challenging homework assignment and add in a restart. Students first solve the problem in their own way, after which the instructor develops the solution live in a lab session while students watch without taking notes. Afterwards, students get a second attempt to solve the assignment but must not use any of their original code. The idea is to teach students to throw away code and start over as that is sometimes the best way to learn. This paper details the approach and how it impacts student learning.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3125659.3125690
Are You Game?	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Hosseini, Hadi; Perweiler, Laurel	The use of gameful activities in education has been widely celebrated in recent years as an effective pedagogical method in engaging students, exciting cognitive abilities, and promoting mastery. Despite the popularity of game-based learning, to date, little has been done to analyze the impacts of introducing such interventions on students and instructors alike. We focus on hybrid teaching strategies that blend educational games with instructional scaffolding in introductory computer science teaching. We assess the effectiveness of incorporating these teaching strategies by leveraging various empirical evaluation techniques and study their impacts from three different dimensions: students' point of view, instructors' perspective, and students' performance. In addition, we establish correlations between students' approaches to learning and game-based learning, and further discuss how learning concentration and curiosity relate to students' perception of game-based activities.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287411
Fundamentals of Programming for Science and Engineering	Proceedings of the International Workshop on Software Engineering for Science	Maxville, Valerie	It is common for science and engineering courses to include one computing unit, usually in first year. In a newly-developed first-year unit, we have combined Python coding, Science and Engineering applications and research-oriented skills to help students understand how coding may be applied in their studies and research. Student responses have been positive, and the unit continues to evolve in response to student and faculty feedback. With increasing uptake in the unit, it is hoped that a wave of computational literacy will foster an increase in the application of computational techniques by undergraduate and postgraduate students.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3194747.3194752
Summer Coding Camp as a Gateway to STEM	Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	LePendu, Paea; Cheung, Cecilia; Salloum, Mariam; Sheffler, Pamela; Downey, Kelly	Just about everyone in the U.S., from the National Science Foundation down to local districts, has been pushing to introduce computer science concepts into K-12. Nevertheless, many students complete high school never having the chance to learn CS. We have created a summer coding camp for high-school students (including 8th graders entering 9th grade) and designed a multi-year study to assess its effectiveness as an informal learning environment, based on theories of human motivation such as Self-Determination Theory. The camp is a 1-week immersion experience, 9am to 5pm with food and activities, that introduces basic programming via MIT APP Inventor. Lecture material and in-class exercises draw upon meaningful applications, ones appealing to "social good." One unique aspect is the inclusion of professional and career development activities that engage students and broaden perspectives on CS and its applications. For example, the camp includes a college information session, alumni Skype and in-person talks, off-site visits to nearby companies, and research talks and demos by faculty. Using a pre-and-post survey design, the current study examines the effects of the camp on student self-efficacy and interest in computing, as well as general school engagement and motivation. Results confirm that participation in the summer camp increased students' self-efficacy and interest in computing, enhanced engagement in school on topics in general, and strengthened intrinsic motivation for completing schoolwork. The effects were similar for boys and girls.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3328778.3372637
Blinded by Simplicity: Locating the Social Dimension in Software Development Process Literature	Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on ICT for Sustainability	Gustavsson, Johanna Liz; Penzenstadler, Birgit	The software development process is a complex human, intellectual and labor-intensive activity and human related factors have shown to be the most significant contributors to software system failures. Lacking the ability to identify or quantify these factors, software practitioners will not learn from the failures caused by them. Although, social factors give rise to high failure rates in software development projects they tend to be ignored. Business continues as usual. The inability for software engineers to attain a holistic and inclusive approach will leave the social dimension out and undermine the realization of a fully sustainable software development process.This paper builds on the master's thesis with the same title completed in December 2019 at Stockholm University. The thesis demonstrates how research literature on software development processes addresses (or not) the social dimension of sustainability from a holistic point of view. The results indicate that the practice of dealing holistically with complexity including the social dimension is still underdeveloped. Further research is suggested regarding the development of adequate supporting tools, social skills, and managerial attitudes and behaviors.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3401335.3401643
The Effectiveness of Robotics Intervention Strategy (RIS) among Robotics Elite Members	Proceedings of the 2020 11th International Conference on E-Education, E-Business, E-Management, and E-Learning	Pillar, Genevieve A.; Prudente, Maricar S.; Aguja, Socorro E.	To probe how Robotics Intervention Strategy (RIS) facilitated the development of students' robotics basic programming skills, this study was conducted. Grades 4 to 12 student-participants (N=26) were taught using RIS module designed by the teachers-researchers using the Response To Intervention (RTI) framework. The RIS module was consisted of Required Robotics Technical Skills (RRTS) Pre-test, Scaffolding, Performance Feedbacking, Periodic Drills, Progress Monitoring, and Required Robotics Technical Skills (RRTS) Post-Test. The RIS module involved the use of mobile learning devices, EV3 Lego Mindstorms Ev3 Core Set 45544, and playing field. An action research design was employed to determine the effectiveness of Robotics Intervention Strategy (RIS) among Robotics Elite Members of the De La Salle Santiago Zobel (DLSZ) School. The effectiveness was determined by students' performance in the RRTS developed by the researchers and teachers. The pretest score (M=2.50; SD=0.76158) implied that before the intervention, the elite team members' robotics technical skills was at the approaching proficiency level. After the intervention, the posttest score (M=4.31; SD=0.73589) suggested that the elite members' robotics technical skills were approaching the expert level. Moreover, Cohen's d value of 2.4046 indicated large effect of the Robotics Intervention Strategy (RIS). Paired t-test (t=-16.255; p=.000) analysis revealed that there was a significant difference in the elite members' pretest (M=2.50) and posttest scores (Mean=4.31) in the practical assessment, with the posttest score (M=4.31: SD=0.73589) significantly higher than the pretest score (M=2.50: SD=0.76158). This indicated that the RIS significantly improved the elite members' performance level. Results of the study supported the importance of intensive interventions because it gave an opportunity for the school's to figure out ways to serve the students better. The RIS facilitated the most specific needs for the students as the approach made modification, made adaptations, and reflected on RRTS performance-based approach so that the kind of intensive intervention the coaches provide was really specific to that student.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3377571.3377609
A Revaluation of How We Think about Making: Examining Assembly Practices and Artifact Imagination in Biomaking	Proceedings of FabLearn 2019	Lui, Debora; Kafai, Yasmin; Walker, Justice T.; Hanna, Sheri; Hogan, Karen; Telhan, Orkan	While much research focused on making emphasizes digital and tangible media, few studies have explored making with biology, or biomaking, where people use cells as fabrication units to grow or "make" desired materials for designing real world applications. This lack is especially glaring considering how biomaking and related industries are often aligned with a growing push toward sustainable production as a way of addressing the pressing environmental issues of the day. In order address how maker frameworks could be used as a productive way of bringing biomaking into K-12 contexts, we report on the design and implementation of a biomaking workshop where teams of high school students both assembled a physical biosensor and imagined applications for this technology to address real world issues. Using classroom observations, analysis of classroom projects, and focus group interviews, we examined student experiences and perceptions of these activities in order to ask: What the affordances and challenges of biomaking in supporting maker learning, especially with regard to the less common practices of assembly and imagining? In the discussion, we review what we learned about facilitating biomaking in K-12 setting, as well how our analysis led us to a revaluation of the often crucial but neglected role assembly plays in more 'typical' maker activities, and the possibilities for enriching maker activities by including design prototyping and imagination.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3311890.3311895
Programming in Secondary Schools in Norway: A Wasted Opportunity for Inclusion	Proceedings of the 4th Conference on Gender & IT	Corneliussen, Hilde G.; Tveranger, Fay	This paper discusses a pilot introducing programming as an elective in Norwegian secondary schools. Computing is a male dominated field, in Norway as in other European and Western countries. Despite the male dominance in the field, there were no gender inclusion or diversity measures included in the pilot. The result is an elective heavily dominated by boys and a wasted chance of attracting girls to computing.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3196839.3196867
An AR/TUI-Supported Debugging Teaching Environment	Proceedings of the 31st Australian Conference on Human-Computer-Interaction	Resnyansky, Dmitry; Billinghurst, Mark; Dey, Arindam	This paper presents research on the potential application of Tangible and Augmented Reality (AR) technology to computer science education and the teaching of programming in tertiary settings. An approach to an AR-supported debugging-teaching prototype is outlined, focusing on the design of an AR workspace that uses physical markers to interact with content (code). We describe a prototype which has been designed to actively scaffold the student's development of the two primary abilities necessary for effective debugging: (1) the ability to read not just the code syntax, but to understand the overall program structure behind the code; and (2) the ability to independently recall and apply the new knowledge to produce new, working code structures.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3369457.3369538
Leveraging Prior Computing and Music Experience for Situational Interest Formation	Proceedings of the 52nd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	McKlin, Tom; McCall, Lauren; Lee, Taneisha; Magerko, Brian; Horn, Michael; Freeman, Jason	Computer science educators often use multiple creative computing platforms to motivate and support students learning computer science. Arguably, we understand little about the complementary ways in which the various platforms build on students' prior experiences. This study compares two CS+music platforms used by middle school students in a summer camp to understand the unique affordances of each platform at activating and building upon prior music and computing experiences. We assess interest formation through pre and post student surveys and via interviews on the final day of the camp. The findings suggest that using different approaches to CS+music platform design may help engage students with different levels of prior music and coding experience.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3408877.3432431
CS 0: Culture and Coding	Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Lionelle, Albert; Grinslad, Josette; Beveridge, J. Ross	In 2018, Colorado State University redesigned their CS-0 course to become a general education requirement for the university within Arts and Humanities, and a guaranteed transfer course across the state for a similar category in other universities. The first CS course in the State to be accepted as a GT-Pathway course. This redesign had to be carefully done due to a need to introduce liberal arts style topics such as CS History, Philosophy and Ethics and Inclusive Design issues, while maintaining current coding and student success standards that were already expected for the CS-0 at the university. We termed this combination as Culture and Coding. In order to add more without reducing retention, the course was redesigned around the Psychology of Learning and spacing of topics in a "Spiral" Manner. Each topic was briefly introduced, and throughout the semester, students would dive deeper into the topics. This allowed for a 50% reduction of time focused on teaching coding topics, with students performing equivalent on exams compared to previous models of the course that focused 100% of the time on coding topics. Furthermore, students taught by the spiral teaching method outperformed students taught using traditional methods in the follow-on course. Our evaluation suggests that the spiral model of teaching computer science may allow for greater retention of topics, allowing classes to either cover additional concepts or go more in depth on current topics.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3328778.3366795
JavaStrike: A Java Programming Engine Embedded in Virtual Worlds	Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games	Kao, Dominic	In this paper, we describe JavaStrike1. JavaStrike is a Java development and execution environment that was developed from scratch inside Unity. The engine currently supports classes, functions, inheritance, polymorphism, interfaces, key-value stores, and much more. JavaStrike allows code to be displayed, executed, and debugged in the virtual world. We then create a third-person shooter game called CodeBreakers, which leverages the JavaStrike engine. CodeBreakers covers basic programming concepts such as variable types, intermediate programming concepts such as stacks, queues, and hashmaps, and advanced programming concepts such as inheritance, interfaces, and method overriding. JavaStrike is a first step towards general purpose programming engines embedded in virtual worlds.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3337722.3341828
Rediscovering the Passion, Beauty, Joy, and Awe: Making Computing Fun Again, Part 8	Proceedings of the 47th ACM Technical Symposium on Computing Science Education	Garcia, Daniel D.; Caldwell, Josh; Fox, Pamela; Keeshin, Jeremy	In his keynote at SIGCSE 2007, Grady Booch exhorted us to share the "passion, beauty, joy and awe" (PBJA) of computing. This led to a series of room-packed sessions at the following seven SIGCSE symposia to explore that idea from different angles. They have provided a forum for sharing: What we've done / seen: Highlighting successful PBJA initiatives they have done or have seen and wish to trumpet.What we should do (curriculum): Pointing out, as Grady Booch did, where our curriculum is lacking in PBJA, and how to fix it.How we should do it (pedagogy): Sharing how a change in attitude / focus / behavior / etc. can make strides to improving PBJA.While the initial PBJA sessions evolved from a need to understand and combat the enrollment crisis of nine years ago, we are now seeing an explosion of interest in our field. There are colleges where the numbers have vast exceeded historic highs, with computer science enrollments up 22% in 2014. This PBJA "movement" was born out of this enrollment crisis, but is not tied to it. There is always value in sharing novel best practices and advocating techniques to make computing fun for beginners.This year we have gathered three educators who represent online, self-paced curriculum, platforms and community that together have reached millions of people. How does the online experience support or prevent PBJA in ways traditional classrooms don't? What innovative ideas did they employ to support collaboration, and how do they manage the "bad elements" of their user base? What is the right balance between easy-to-autograde, follow-me curriculum and wide-open, "be creative" experiences for the first-time user? Which works best, blocks-based or text-based programming? How can the "big data" from the mistakes of others be leveraged to give each user a personalized experience? The hope with this panel is to explore best practices of self-paced online offerings in these crucial early years, for participants of any age, in terms of extolling the PBJA of computing.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2839509.2844659
Assessing Students' Understanding of Object Structures	Proceedings of the 19th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research	Mühling, Andreas; Schulte, Carsten; Bennedsen, Jens; Budde, Lea; Große-Bölting, Gregor	We present a theoretically derived and empirically tested competence model related to the concepts of "object state" and "references" that both form an important part of object-oriented programming. Our model characterizes different levels of programming capability with a focus on possible learning stages of beginning learners. It is based on the notion of understanding objects and their interaction with each other during the runtime of a program. Based on a hierarchical description of our theory, we derive a two-dimensional structure that separates the hierarchy into two facets "structure" (how are objects structured/stored) and "behaviour" (how do objects interact and access each other). Based on this, we have developed a set of items and collected data in a CS1 course (N = 195) to validate the item-set. We analyzed the data using a Rasch model to check item difficulty and the presence of different difficulty levels, and factor analysis to check the dimensions of the model. Furthermore, we argue for the validity of the items with the help of additional data collected from the students. The results indicate that our theoretical assumptions are correct and that the items will be usable with some minor modifications.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3364510.3364511
Virtually There: Emerging Designs for STEM Teaching and Learning in Immersive Online 3D Microworlds	Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on International Conference for the Learning Sciences - Volume 3	Harrell, Sneha Veeragoudar; Abrahamson, Dor; Morgado, Leonel; Esteves, Micaela; Valcke, Martin; Vansteenbrugge, Hendrik; Rosenbaum, Eric; Barab, Sasha	Four research projects used Second Life™, a 3D virtual-world platform, to investigate aspects of technology-enhanced STEM education. These European and USA studies, which differ in their pedagogical-philosophy commitments, theoretical frameworks, methodologies, and target content, critically examine a range of cognitive, affective, technical, and social factors pertaining to the prospects of students' and teachers' successful engagement with immersive microworlds. Specifically, each project describes students' successes and challenges in creating complex virtual artifacts and collaborating in real time with peers and the broader community. The design-based research studies of mathematical and computational literacy present sample student artifacts and discuss the learning they evidence. Collectively, we posit that overcoming the following obstacles could make virtual worlds both effective and exciting learning environments: professional development (technical skill, affective disposition), collaboration with school systems (logistics of access, allocation of resources), alignment with targeted content (harnessing students' creative divergence), and initial learning curves (issues of teacher-to-student ratio).
Multi-Agent Simulation, Netlogo, and the Recruitment of Computer Science Majors	J. Comput. Sci. Coll.	Dickerson, Matthew	Multi-agent simulation (MAS), in which algorithmic agents interact with each other and their environment, is a growing research area with a variety of applications to social and natural sciences. This paper reports on a novel approach to introductory computer science using the MAS paradigm and the NetLogo programming language. Goals include recruitment and retention of computer science majors, especially females, as well as training and motivating other STEM majors in computational thinking. We present an overview and preliminary assessment of this course.
The Role Cultural Competency Plays in Teaching Data Science	Proceedings of the Practice and Experience on Advanced Research Computing	Gaither, Kelly; Gomez, Rosalia; Turner, Helen; DeStefano, Lizanne; Rivera, Lorna; Bland, Marques	Supporting Pacific Indigenous Computing Excellence (SPICE) is based on unique expertise and proven models established through a partnership between the Texas Advanced Computing Center at the University of Texas at Austin, Chaminade University of Honolulu and Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech). The SPICE program leverages shared partnership experiences to address two goals: 1) Perform original research and program development to bridge computation and culture — developing culturally-consistent conceptual and practical frameworks for thinking about big data problems and communicating student outcomes and attainment to family, community and kupuna (Hawaiian wisdom figures); and 2) Implement an in situ Data Science, Analytics and Visualization (DSAV) Summer Immersion Experience (SIE) as a summer program in Hawai'i to provide a month-long summer immersion program in data science, visualization, and virtual reality to Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) and disadvantaged students. In this paper, we present the framework for this effort, with relevant educational, and cultural research to justify decisions made to date.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3219104.3219160
Tangibles for Graph Algorithmic Thinking: Experience with Children (Abstract Only)	Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Bonani, Andrea; Del Fatto, Vincenzo; Dodero, Gabriella; Gennari, Rosella	Smart interactive tangible objects (briefly, tangibles) can help teachers in the scaffolding of algorithmic thinking of 10-13 years old children. In this work, tangibles deal with graph algorithmic thinking. By following an action-research design approach, tangibles were rapidly developed and used in studies with children and teachers (Bonani et al., 2017, 2018). This poster shows their evolution and the most recent experience: a field study with 8 middle school children, and 5 primary school children, using tangibles for graph algorithmic thinking. Data collected by researchers were mixed (qualitative and quantitative), concerning engagement and learning (e.g., Gennari et al., 2017). Results suggest that tangibles engage pupils and help them understand simple and connected graphs. Future work will seek their adaptation to classes (e.g., Di Mascio et al., 2012).	https://doi.org/10.1145/3159450.3162267
Embedding Algorithm Pseudocode in Lyrics to Facilitate Recall and Promote Learning	J. Comput. Sci. Coll.	Schreiber, Benjamin; Dougherty, John P.	We introduce a sequence of three videos for binary search. This sequence takes the student through the problem, solution, algorithm and analysis, and mnemonic song with rhyming pseudocode lyrics. Having these materials in video form provides an alternate way to introduce binary search that can be used outside the classroom. We also suggest that this approach supports computational thinking, along with universal design in learning as visual and audio materials are both available.
Discriminating Programming Strategies in Scratch: Making the Difference between Novice and Experienced Programmers	Proceedings of the 14th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Kesselbacher, Max; Bollin, Andreas	Nowadays, block-based programming environments are often used to offer a gentle introduction to learning a programming language. However, an assessment of students' programming skills based on the results of a programming task is not sufficient to determine all areas students are struggling with. We therefore introduce a learning analytics approach of measuring and evaluating the programming sequences of students that program with Scratch 3. With our measurement framework, it is possible to record, store and analyze programming sequences done on a publicly-available, instrumented Scratch 3 environment. Changes in the programming sequence are categorized regarding the used block types and types of program change. We conducted an exploratory programming trial with lower and upper secondary school students to investigate small-scale programming strategies in the recorded programming sequences. Our goals are to identify students in need of support and to identify recurring patterns used by students successful in the trial. Clustering with k-means makes it possible to identify struggling students based on both interacted block types and types of program changes. Recurring patterns in the programming sequences of successful students show that small-scale programming strategies are very diverse.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3361721.3361727
Building Bridges for Data Science Education	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Cetinkaya-Rundel, Mine; Danyluk, Andrea; Forbes, Jeff; Posner, Michael	Data science encompasses elements of statistics, computer science, and mathematics as well as domain-specific knowledge, suggesting that with interdisciplinary conversations and collaborations we can make data science curricula more comprehensive and successful. Development of such programs provide an exciting collaboration opportunity for faculty in statistical and computer and mathematical sciences as well as a wide array of other disciplines. This BOF provides an opportunity for faculty involved/interested in the development of undergraduate data science curricula to come together and discuss forming collaborations across disciplines and what the disciplines can learn from each other. The discussion will be led by faculty from computer science and statistics departments who have been involved with both disciplinary and interdisciplinary data science education initiatives. One of the goals of this BOF is to jumpstart conversations across disciplines, which we hope the audience will continue at their home and/or nearby institutions.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3293745
The Essence of Object Orientation for CS0: Concepts without Code	J. Comput. Sci. Coll.	Sooriamurthi, Raja	Why is object-orientation so popular? Is it a fad or is there real value to developing software systems the object-oriented way? Given the emerging prevalence of computational thinking across the disciplines these are questions that a wide range of students are curious about. This paper describes our approach to providing a conceptual overview in a CS0 context of the essential ideas of and the value provided by object-orientation without resorting to code.
A BERO CLF Themed Nifty Middle School Module: Teach Functional Programming Using Music and Generate Interest in Coding and Robotics	Proceedings of the 19th Annual SIG Conference on Information Technology Education	Chattopadhyay, Ankur; Quigley, Elizabeth; Hart, Rachel; Petty, Sallie	Information Technology (IT) computing based curriculum is still a relatively new addition to the standard K-12 educational framework, especially at the middle school level. Many middle schools have not yet implemented tech curriculum to prepare students for their almost inevitable interactions with computers in the workplace, and give them a chance to explore technology careers at an early age. The work presented in this paper is a research case study conducted in the form of building a unique cell-bot learning framework (CLF) themed educational module and its usage in an effort to contribute towards the middle school IT computing curriculum. Existing literature on robotics based tech curriculum for young children indicate that there have been multiple instances of curriculum design and development work at the K-12 level, involving robotic kits like LEGO Mind-storm, Bee-bots, Sphero robots. However, to our knowledge, the BERO robotic device has never been used for producing robotic technology curriculum at the middle school level. In this paper, we propose a nifty workshop module, which utilizes the unique CLF themed BERO. Our lesson plan is specifically designed for introducing mobile robotics and functional programming to middle school youth using music, thereby providing a fun and interactive experience in tech computing education. We expose our young workshop participants to the tech skills of programming a BERO and making it dance to music using a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. The experiential learning process is aided by the use of an innovative visual aid program tool, which has been designed and developed by us. This paper describes our creative BERO middle school workshop module, which has been successfully implemented to conduct several hands-on workshop sessions for middle school students, as part of our Google IgniteCS outreach program. Our paper also presents the survey data collected from our workshop participants in an effort to evaluate our nifty CLF theme based experiential learning model. Our survey results are promising, and indicate the potential of our nifty module to teach introductory functional coding and to generate interest in robotic programming, thereby acting as a prospective educational interface for recruiting future tech students, leading to IT careers.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3241815.3241861
The Craft of Code: Exposing Elementary Students to Computing Through Tangible Crafts (Abstract Only)	Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Bryant, Caelin; Gilmour, Jonathan; Herce-Hagiwara, Beatriz; Pham, Anh Thu; Remash, Halle; Remash, Marli; Zimmerman, Jonah; Dahlby Albright, Sarah; Rebelsky, Samuel A.	Quick. Think of an outreach activity in computer science and a target audience. If you're like most people, you think of the target audience as middle-school students or high-school students and you think of activities like robotics, app development, or games. As a computer science educator, you might also note that these outreach activities should not just be designed to bring more people to CS, they should be designed to bring more people underrepresented in computing to CS-female students, domestic students of color, and lower-socio-economic-status students. But at the College level, what topics have shown the most efficacy in diversifying the discipline? It's not necessarily robotics, app development, or games. For example, the Media Computing project, led by Mark Guzdial, has shown the power of computing for the arts as a motivating factor for college-age female students. Can such an approach work for younger students? In this project, we developed and presented a week-long "craft of code" camp for elementary school students in which they used block-based languages to explore three kinds of creative computing, two of which had tangible output: programmable embroidery using TurtleStitch, programmable 3D models using BeetleBlocks, and programmable storytelling using Scratch. In this poster, we describe the curriculum for the camp, explore design issues, present results, and suggest approaches for others interested in developing similar camps. Our curriculum and materials are available at https://codecamp.sites.grinnell.edu/craftofcode/.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3159450.3162321
CS Education: Catching the Wave	Proceedings of the 47th ACM Technical Symposium on Computing Science Education	Cuny, Jan	Computer Science (CS) education has caught a wave – of media attention, public support, public/private commitments, broad-based participation by educators, and a surge in student enrollments at the undergraduate level. It is a startling change over just the last 5 years. Over that 5 years, much has been accomplished at the high school level. The Exploring Computer Science and Advanced Placement® CS Principles courses were created to engage and inspire a diverse mix of students. Hundreds of teachers and university faculty have collaborated to develop course materials, assessments, MOOCS, and models of teacher professional development. Over 2,000 high schools now offer new CS courses, but that leaves out more than 34,000.Even then, students will need more than a single course, they will need a K-16 CS pathway. At the K-8 level, CS does not have the decades of research on the teaching and learning that is available to many other, more established disciplines. A stronger evidence base is needed as the basis for pedagogy, curricula, standards, and teacher preparation. The CS community must put greater emphasis on research in CS education and broadening participation, and it must build stronger collaborations with researchers in related disciplines.Over the last 5 years, college-level CS departments have been inundated with students. This growth is fueled by a strong job market for CS majors and an increasing awareness that computation is fundamental to many other industry sectors and academic disciplines. How will departments cope with increasing numbers without sacrificing access or quality? How will they respond to increasing diversity of ethnicity and gender, but also of interests, and career goals of their students? For those interested in CS education, it's an exciting time, but it comes with some urgency. This talk will discuss how to catch the current wave, using it to full advantage.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2839509.2844551
The Understanding and Evolution of the Construction Elements of Educational Computing Experiment	2021 2nd International Conference on Computers, Information Processing and Advanced Education	Meng, Ji	A unified understanding of the nature of computation-based education experiment is formed based on education experiment and computational experiment. Through a perspective analysis of the research paradigm of computation-based education experiment, the components of computation-based education experiment are identified, which are computer, network architecture, operating system, high-level programming language, intermediate data processing, external interface, and computational thinking. Their respective features are also described. The forces driving the change of these components are analyzed from two aspects: the change of educational research needs and the development of informatization. Finally, the specific changes of each component are introduced and the nature of change is summarized.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3456887.3456925
A Digital Platform for Teaching Mathematics	Proceedings of the 5th EAI International Conference on Smart Objects and Technologies for Social Good	Gaggi, Ombretta; Petenazzi, Giulia	In this paper, we present a complete platform for an innovative way to teach mathematics. The platform is composed of a serious game to help children to understand fractions, and a web portal that allows teachers to configure exercises involving fractions, but also to design completely new exercises using a very simple block-based programming language. In this way our tool can be used by primary school teachers as an help to teach mathematics, but also secondary or high schools teachers to teach students computational thinking and basic skills of programming languages.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3342428.3342666
Facilitating Course Assessment with a Competitive Programming Platform	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Coore, Daniel; Fokum, Daniel	We present an initiative that introduced the use of a competitive programming platform as a mechanism for auto-grading assignments for an introductory course on algorithm design and analysis. The specific objective of the intervention was to increase the number of assessed programming exercises to an average of 1 per week. A traditionally large enrolment with only a few graduate assistants available meant that prior to the intervention, few assignments were given, and the duration that students waited for feedback was long. Fresh problems were developed for deployment on the platform, each one targeting the specific learning objectives of the week in which they were given. The assignments were given in the format of a contest, and students were permitted to submit multiple attempts without penalty. There was a public leaderboard that showed real-time standings, but a student's grades depended only on the number of test cases his submissions passed and not on its ranking on the leaderboard. Anecdotally, we observed an increased degree of engagement with the course content. However a statistical analysis shows that the impact of the intervention on student performance, relative to previous instances of the course, was mixed. We discuss these and other findings.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287511
Enhancing the Technological, Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK) of in-Service Primary Teachers in the Use of Tablet Technologies	Proceedings of the 16th World Conference on Mobile and Contextual Learning	Tsouccas, Loucas; Meletiou-Mavrotheris, Maria	The paper reports the main insights from a study aimed at equipping a group of in-service teachers with the knowledge, skills, and practical experience required to effectively integrate mobile devices within the mathematics curriculum. A professional development program based on the Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework was designed and implemented in Cyprus. Six (6) primary school teachers participated in the program. Participants experimented with different ways in which coding apps, and other types of constructivist mobile applications, could help students internalize key mathematical concepts across the primary curriculum. They also worked in small groups to develop and/or deliver instructional interventions integrating the use of mobile devices. Findings indicate a positive impact on in-service teachers' perceptions regarding mobile-enhanced mathematics, and on their competence in productively utilizing mobile apps as an instructional tool.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3136907.3136951
CS Professional Development MOOCs	Proceedings of the 45th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Mindell, Erin; Brennan, Karen; Britton, Gwendolyn; Kay, Jennifer S.; Rosato, Jennifer	CS4HS (Computer Science for High School) is an initiative sponsored by Google to promote Computer Science and Computational Thinking in high school and middle school curricula. In the past, workshops were offered in a face-to-face format; however, this left many K-12 computer science teachers unable to attend a workshop in their geographical region. During the 2013 round of funding, Google funded the creation of 4 workshops to be delivered in an online format, open to teachers across the United States and beyond. The panelists will share their experiences with development and deployment of large scale workshops that aim to fill the gap in professional development for K-12 computer science teachers.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2538862.2538872
Doors, Walls and Windows? The Gender Gap in Ontario High School Computer Science	Proceedings of the 2019 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research	Floyd, Steven	In 2002, Jane Margolis and Allan Fisher's research presented computer science (CS) education as a clubhouse for males that resulted in females being left out of the CS loop [1]. The researchers identified several influences contributing to a gender gap in computing education and they called these influences the doors, walls and windows of the computing clubhouse. In order to determine whether or not a gender gap exists in Ontario high school CS, this research analyzes enrollment figures provided by the province and concludes that during the 2017-2018 school year, females made up only 26.6% of students enrolled in the grade 10 course, 20.4% of students enrolled in the grade 11 courses, and 15.7% of the students enrolled in the grade 12 courses. Enrollment numbers from 2009 to 2017 revealed a similar pattern. The research also explores the impact that a gender gap may have on economic and educational opportunities for underrepresented groups in Ontario and identifies scalable solutions and frameworks [2] that may help dismantle the doors, walls, and windows of high school CS education in Ontario. This research is timely considering that the Ontario Ministry of Education recently announced a strategy to revise high school CS curriculum [3] while Canada's federal government announced an additional $60 million of funding to support the CanCode K-12 coding initiative [4]. Research seeking to provide insight into existing gender gaps in CS education and potential frameworks that may help improve diversity and inclusivity in CS curriculum and policy initiatives is critical considering the potential impact and missed opportunities that result from a CS student population and workforce lacking in diversity.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3291279.3341202
Computational Interaction with Bayesian Methods	Extended Abstracts of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems	Kristensson, Per Ola; Banovic, Nikola; Oulasvirta, Antti; Williamson, John	This course introduces computational methods in human–computer interaction. Computational interaction methods use computational thinking—abstraction, automation, and analysis—to explain and enhance interaction. This course introduces the theory of practice of computational interaction by teaching Bayesian methods for interaction across four wide areas of interest when designing computationally-driven user interfaces: decoding, adaptation, learning and optimization. The lectures center on hands-on Python programming interleaved with theory and practical examples grounded in problems of wide interest in human-computer interaction.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3290607.3298820
IoT End User Programming Models	Proceedings of the 1st International Workshop on Software Engineering Research & Practices for the Internet of Things	Reiss, Steven P.	The advent of smart devices and sensors (the Internet of Things or IoT) will create increasing demands for the automation of devices based on sensor, time, and other inputs. This is essentially a programming task with all the problems and difficulties that programming entails, for example, modularity, feature interaction, debugging, and understanding. Moreover, much of the programming for smart devices is going to be done not by professional programmers but by end users, often end users without any programming experience or computational literacy. Our research is aimed at exploring the programming space and the associated issues using a case study of a smart sign that can be controlled using a variety of sensors. We have developed a general system for programming smart devices and, in this paper, explore a variety of different user interfaces for programming this system for our smart sign.	https://doi.org/10.1109/SERP4IoT.2019.00008
A Multimodal LEGO®-Based Learning Activity Mixing Musical Notation and Computer Programming	Proceedings of the 1st ACM SIGCHI International Workshop on Multimodal Interaction for Education	Ludovico, Luca Andrea; Malchiodi, Dario; Zecca, Luisa	This paper discusses a multimodal learning activity based on LEGO® bricks where elements from the domains of music and informatics are mixed. Such an experience addresses children in preschool age and students of the primary schools in order to convey some basic aspects of computational thinking. The learning methodology is organized in two phases where construction blocks are employed as a physical tool and as a metaphor for music notation, respectively. The goal is to foster in young students abilities such as analysis and re-synthesis, problem solving, abstraction and adaptive reasoning. A web application to support this approach and to provide a prompt feedback to user action is under development, and its design principles and key characteristics will be presented.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3139513.3139519
A Dual-Major Course Emphasizing Computer Science and Graphic Design	J. Comput. Sci. Coll.	Martin, Fred; Sherman, Mark	This paper presents the design of a mixed-majors undergraduate course for introducing students to computational thinking through making mobile apps. Faculty in computer science and art created the course to include instruction in computer science, graphic design, and the design process. Student enrollment included a cohort advanced in computer science, and one advanced in graphic design, as well as other students. The course was designed to create opportunities for CS majors and graphic design majors to learn from each others' expertises. MIT App Inventor was chosen as the programming platform because of its accessibility to novices, and practical power in being used to make real software products. The paper identifies and presents challenges and opportunities arising from cultural differences between the two disciplines.
How to Plan and Run Computing Summer Camps: Logistics (Abstract Only)	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Roy, Krishnendu; Nagel, Kristine; Dunton, Sarah T.		https://doi.org/10.1145/3017680.3017823
A Conceptual Assessment Framework for K-12 Computer Science Rubric Design	Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Akram, Bita; Min, Wookhee; Wiebe, Eric; Navied, Anam; Mott, Bradford; Boyer, Kristy Elizabeth; Lester, James	The lack of effective guidelines for assessing students' computer science (CS) competencies is creating significant demand by K-12 teachers for CS assessments to evaluate students' learning. We propose a conceptual assessment framework that guides teachers through designing appropriate assessments for computer science (CS) activities in their classrooms. The framework addresses the critical problem of incorporating CS into K-12 curricula without corresponding assessments. We illustrate its use with the design of a rubric for a bubble sort algorithm situated in a game-based learning environment for middle-grade students. We also apply a preliminary and a revised version of this assessment on two datasets collected from students' interactions with the learning environment. We found consistency among results identified through applying the preliminary and the revised rubric. The results reveal distinctive patterns in students' approaches to CS problem solving and coherency with respect to different aspects of the rubric.*	https://doi.org/10.1145/3328778.3372643
CPATH: Distributed Expertise - Collaborating with Other Disciplines	Proceedings of the 14th Annual ACM SIGCSE Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Cassel, Lillian N.; Way, Thomas; Potluri, Sridhara	This project tries to provide a clarified and comprehensive understanding of the computing disciplines that allows shared experiences and expertise within and across the community. This collective sharing enables computing faculty to collaborate with other disciplines that use computing to enhance groups, and to create new cross-disciplinary areas of study and research. This involves the integration of computing with other disciplines like engineering, sciences, business, and arts and explores the challenge by bringing together instructors and researchers across the disciplinary boundaries. Distributed Expertise enhances teaching and learning experiences for students of computing and other disciplines in which computational thinking and computing models contribute to a variety of applications. This project is a collaboration by Villanova University, Virginia Technology University, and The College of New Jersey (TCNJ).	https://doi.org/10.1145/1562877.1563024
CPATH: Distributed Expertise - Collaborating with Other Disciplines	SIGCSE Bull.	Cassel, Lillian N.; Way, Thomas; Potluri, Sridhara	This project tries to provide a clarified and comprehensive understanding of the computing disciplines that allows shared experiences and expertise within and across the community. This collective sharing enables computing faculty to collaborate with other disciplines that use computing to enhance groups, and to create new cross-disciplinary areas of study and research. This involves the integration of computing with other disciplines like engineering, sciences, business, and arts and explores the challenge by bringing together instructors and researchers across the disciplinary boundaries. Distributed Expertise enhances teaching and learning experiences for students of computing and other disciplines in which computational thinking and computing models contribute to a variety of applications. This project is a collaboration by Villanova University, Virginia Technology University, and The College of New Jersey (TCNJ).	https://doi.org/10.1145/1595496.1563024
Teaching the Sequential Programming Concept Using a Robotic Arm in an Interactive Museum	Proceedings of the XX International Conference on Human Computer Interaction	Botella, Federico; Peñalver, Antonio; Quesada-Martínez, Manuel; Bermejo, Fulgencio; Borrás, Fernando	Technology and Computer Science are increasingly present in today's education and teaching programming is not only restricted to students interested in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) disciplines, as computational thinking is useful in many day-to-day problems. In this paper we study how students of high school can put in practice transversal concepts by learning the sequential programming concept. We analyze their learning process by asking them to code a simple program that solves a concrete problem: perform simple and immersive tasks using a physical robot in an interactive museum. The experiment offers us some results that should be confirmed with more participants, but it seems that the ages from 13 to 15 years old are crucial to gain knowledge and skills to apply concepts of their studies on using sequential programming to interact with a robotic arm.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3335595.3336289
Interdisciplinary Computing: Applied Computing for Behavioral and Social Sciences	Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Carr, Valerie; Jones, Morris; Wei, Belle	As the digital economy grows, so does the demand for technology-capable workers who have both computing skills and domain expertise. Growing such a workforce is critical to ensuring the nation's competitiveness, according to a recent National Science Board publication. To address this need, faculty from the Colleges of Engineering and Social Sciences at San Jóse State University worked together to create the Applied Computing for Behavioral and Social Sciences minor degree. The minor targets students in majors such as Psychology and Economics, which have a more diverse student population than that of Computer Science or Engineering. The minor, designed with industry input, includes a four-course sequence that focuses on Python and R and includes topics such as data structures, algorithms, data cleaning and management, and data analysis. Our cohort-based program was built specifically for social science students using social science content, helping to foster a sense of community and belongingness among students. The first full cohort of 26 students graduated in Spring 2019, 48% of whom were female and 23% of whom were underrepresented minorities. Our approach of embedding computing education into the social sciences demonstrates a promising model of broadening participation in computing and meeting the nation's increasing demand for interdisciplinary computing workers in the digital age.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3328778.3366799
Robotics and Intelligent Systems for Social and Behavioral Science Undergraduates	Proceedings of the Fifteenth Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Armstrong, Tom	In this article, we share our experiences offering an original course entitled Intelligent Systems targeted at undergraduate social and behavioral science students. Intelligent Systems provides a rigorous introduction to robotics and surveys selected topics in artificial intelligence. This course is tailored to students with little mathematical background and no programming experience. We offer best practices and information from successful course components and ideas for tailoring course content to social and behavioral science students.The motivation for this course comes from the wide interdisciplinary appeal of robotics and artificial intelligence. They have been leveraged to improve recruitment to the major and to expose students in other disciplines to computational thinking. However, no offerings of CS0 that exclusively cater to the large social and behavioral science population are available that focus on intelligent systems. Robots and AI systems are affordable and accessible to this group of students. We propose our solution to this problem and argue for offering multiple, interdisciplinary CS0 offerings.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1822090.1822146
Towards a Constructionist Serious Game Engine	Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Computer Systems and Technologies 2016	Vahldick, Adilson; Mendes, António José; Marcelino, Maria José	Game developers have been using commercial game engines to create serious games. The development of serious game is a process that requires game and instructional design. Constructionist environments and games are becoming more popular in the last years because of the importance of Computational Thinking to develop problem solving skills. Despite this popularity, there is a lack of available game engines and frameworks to develop this kind of games. This paper proposes a game engine architecture to support the affordable development of constructionist games. The game engine specification describes components of game, instructional and constructionist elements as a low-level definition that facilitates direct implementation. A serious game built upon this specification and used by 96 students is also presented in this paper. This validation provided some future work ideas, as an editor tool, SDK and API.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2983468.2983526
Problem Solving and Creativity: Complementing Programming Education with Robotics	Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Komm, Dennis; Regez, Adrian; Hauser, Urs; Gassner, Marco; Lütscher, Pascal; Puchegger, Rico; Kohn, Tobias	With its direct feedback and the tangible machine, robotics is a strong motivator for engaging students in STEM fields, as evidenced by the popularity of competitions and events such as FIRST and Robo Games. However, in the context of K-12 computer science education, the potential of robotics seems as yet hardly tapped into. In an attempt to bridge the gap, we designed a Python library for robotics with Lego's EV3 robots to complement programming classes. We employed our library to teach secondary school students as part of an outreach activity. Our approach is built around open-ended tasks instead of narrow exercise statements. Although our activity was based on the EV3 Space Challenge Set, we encouraged the students at any time to pursue their own ideas and even their own challenges. While students had little problems in using Python to program their robots, we still found a series of misconceptions and observed that female students were more interested in following their own creative projects than in solving given challenges.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3341525.3387420
The Role of CS Departments in The US President's "CS for All" Initiative	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Guzdial, Mark; Ericson, Barbara; Adrion, W. Richards; Garvin, Megean	In January 2016, US President Barack Obama started an initiative to provide CS for All – with the goal that all school students should have access to computing education. Computing departments in higher education have a particularly important role to play in this initiative. It's in our best interest to get involved, since the effort can potentially improve the quality of our incoming students. CS Departments have unique insights as subject-matter experts to inform the development of standards. We can provide leadership to inform and influence education policy. In this session, we will present a variety of ways in which departments and faculty can support CS for All and will answer audience questions about the initiative. Our goal is to provide concrete positive actions for faculty.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3017680.3017684
Investigating Challenges Faced by Learners with Visual Impairments Using Block-Based Programming/Hybrid Environments	The 22nd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility	Mountapmbeme, Aboubakar; Ludi, Stephanie	With an increase in the use of block-based programming environments in k-12 curriculum, the need for accessibility exists in order to serve all students. Accessible block-based systems are in their infancy. Such systems would provide students with visual impairments the opportunity to learn programming and take part in computational thinking activities using the same systems that are found appealing to most sighted learners. However, with the presence of these systems little is known about their long-term use in the educational milieu. As a result, we conducted a survey with twelve teachers of students with visual impairments to learn about the use of these systems in teaching their students and to understand the barriers that students face in the learning process. Our study reveals that only one block-based programming environment is common among teachers and that several challenges exist. These challenges range from limited learners’ preparedness through difficulties editing and navigating code, to ineffective system feedback.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3373625.3417998
Slow Computing Gifts (Abstract Only)	Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction	Burlson, Winslow; Jensen, Camilla	Slow Computing: is a transdisciplinary paradigm that celebrates the rich history and evolution of HCI and computational thinking experiences with diverse forms of interactive computing to foster democratic innovation. It appreciates Stonehenge and pyramids' tangible and embodied interactions as culturally integrated, social, communal, sustainable ubiquitous computing. Advancing Froebel's and Resnick's gifts for intrinsically motivated constructionist learning, slow computing gifts: Sundials; Towers of Hanoi puzzles; marble rollercoasters; water-play and Rube-Goldberg machines, enable simple and transparent DIY experiences that foster computational thinking (recursion, sequencing, parallel processing, modularity, timing, abstraction, systems thinking, sustainable computing, natural computing, etc.), discovery, exploration, and creativity. Requiring only existing local materials (water, sticks, balls, pebbles, etc.), these slow computing gifts provides powerful computational experiences that are globally accessible at "zero" cost. The studio will engage participants' transdisciplinary expertise to invent, create, deploy, and advance slow computing and slow computing gifts.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1709886.1709985
Exploring Quantum Reversibility with Young Learners	Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research	Franklin, Diana; Palmer, Jen; Jang, Woorin; Lehman, Elizabeth M.; Marckwordt, Jasmine; Landsberg, Randall H.; Muller, Alexandria; Harlow, Danielle	Quantum computing is poised to revolutionize some critical intractable computing problems; but to fully take advantage of this computation, computer scientists will need to learn to program in a new way, with new constraints. The challenge in developing a quantum computing curriculum for younger learners is that two dominant approaches, teaching via the underlying quantum physical phenomenon or the mathematical operations that emerge from those phenomenon, require extensive technical knowledge. Our goal is to extract some of the essential insights in the principles of quantum computing and present them in contexts that a broad audience can understand.In this study, we explore how to teach the concept of quantum reversibility. Our interdisciplinary science, science education, computer science education, and computer science team is co-creating quantum computing (QC) learning trajectories (LT), educational materials, and activities for young learners. We present a draft LT for reversibility, the materials that both influenced it and were influenced by it, as well as an analysis of student work and a revised LT. We find that for clear cases, many 8-9 year old students understand reversibility in ways that align with quantum computation. However, when there are less clear-cut cases, students show a level of sophistication in their argumentation that aligns with the rules of reversibility for quantum computing even when their decisions do not match. In particular, students did not utilize the idea of a closed system, analyzing the effects to every item in the system. This blurred the distinction between between reversing (undoing) an action, recycling to reproduce identical items with some of the same materials, or replacing used items with new ones. In addition, some students allowed for not restoring all aspects of the original items, just the ones critical to their core functionality. We then present a revised learning trajectory that incorporates these concepts.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3372782.3406255
Interactive, Language-Neutral Flowcharts and Pseudocode for Teaching Core CS0/1 Programming Concepts: (Abstract Only)	Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Edgcomb, Alex; Vahid, Frank	Introductory programming courses often use a full-featured programming language, such as Python, Java, or C++, wherein students concurrently learn programming concepts along with language syntax. However, many instructors believe that learning programming concepts first, then learning a specific language's syntax, may be more effective than learning both concurrently. Thus, some courses first teach programming via flowcharts and pseudocode. Some tools and materials support teaching programming via flowcharts, but we felt much improvement was needed. Therefore, we developed a new flowchart language, named Coral-Charts, specifically intended to teach fundamental programming constructs like assignments, branches, loops, functions, and arrays. We developed a web-based graphical simulator for Coral-Charts; no local tool installation is necessary (unlike the most common existing flowchart tool). The simulator always displays the values of variables, which helps students comprehend the impact of statements. The simulator enforces a layout that intentionally mirrors textual code's top-to-bottom execution and sub-statement indentation, easing the transition to a textual language. Furthermore, we defined a new pseudocode-like language, named Coral (corallanguage.org), that is executable and that matches Coral-Charts. Syntax is ultra-simple and only essential constructs are included. Certain features automatically detect or eliminate many new-learner errors. Students can type Coral code, from which a Coral-Charts flowchart is auto-generated, and students can execute both the code and flowcharts. Coral was carefully designed to naturally lead into languages Python, Java, or C++. Coral and Coral-Charts are used in the textbook Fundamental Programming Concepts (zybooks.com/catalog/fundamental-programming-concepts). We welcome feedback on the approach and potential collaborators in implementing experiments.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3159450.3162229
Fifteen Years of Introductory Programming in Schools: A Global Overview of K-12 Initiatives	Proceedings of the 19th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research	Szabo, Claudia; Sheard, Judy; Luxton-Reilly, Andrew; Simon; Becker, Brett A.; Ott, Linda	Computing education and outreach in the K–12 school sector have shown significant growth over recent decades, resulting in a large body of literature focused on the teaching and learning of computing. Despite this extensive literature, we are not aware of global overviews on teaching and learning programming as opposed to computing or computational thinking in K–12. We conducted a systematic review of the literature on introductory programming from 2003 to 2017. In this paper we review the papers that were set in the K–12 context with the aim of exploring developments that have been made in teaching introductory K–12 programming during this period. These include new programming languages, tools, teaching methods, and outreach programs. The impetus for these innovations was often a desire to provide interesting and engaging learning experiences and to ensure an appropriate level of instruction for a particular age group. Many initiatives were driven by changes to national curricula to mandate the teaching of programming. We find that there is a need for long-term studies to identify the most effective pedagogical approaches. We also identify a major need faced by many countries for training and resources to support teachers through the curriculum changes.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3364510.3364513
A Cultural Computing Curriculum	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Davis, James; Lachney, Michael; Zatz, Zoe; Babbitt, William; Eglash, Ron	Broadening the participation of underrepresented students in computer science fields requires careful design and implementation of culturally responsive curricula and technologies. Culturally Situated Design Tools (CSDTs) address this by engaging students in historic, cultural, and meaningful design projects based on community practices. To date, CSDT research has only been conducted in short interventions outside of CS classrooms. This paper reports on the first semester-long introductory CS course based on CSDTs, which was piloted with 51 high school students during the 2017-2018 school year. The goal of this study was to examine if a culturally responsive computing curriculum could teach computer science principles and improve student engagement. Pre-post tests, field notes, weekly teacher meetings, formative assessments, and teacher and student interviews were analyzed to assess successes and failures during implementation. The results indicate students learned the conceptual material in 6 months rather than in the 9 months previously required by the teacher. Students were also able to apply these concepts afterward when programming in Python, implying knowledge transfer. However, student opinions about culture and computing didn't improve, and student engagement was below initial expectations. Thus we explore some of the many challenges: keeping a fully integrated cultural curriculum while satisfying CS standards, maintaining student engagement, and building student agency and self-regulation. We end with a brief description for how we intend to address some of these challenges in the second iteration of this program, scheduled for fall 2018. After which a study is planned to compare this curriculum to others.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287439
Reform and Practice of Introduction to Algorithmic Design & Analysis in Local Undergraduate Colleges	Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on E-Education, E-Business and E-Technology	Xin, Liu	Algorithm courses are the core of the curriculum system of computer science and technology and play an important part in cultivating students' creative ability. In this paper, the teaching status of the course of Introduction to Algorithmic Design & Analysis in our school was analyzed from the views of students and teachers. Then, aiming at developing students' ability of analyzing and solving problems, specific ideas for curriculum teaching reform were put forward, namely, task module division, teaching content design, visualization teaching based on mind map and problem driven teaching. In addition, specific examples of problem-driven teaching and visualization teaching were also provided. It is worth noting that the introduction of problem-driven cases has promoted students' deep thinking and improved their computational thinking ability. At the same time, the introduction of visual teaching method helps students get better understanding and memory effect.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3241748.3241753
Computer Science Education Graduate Students: Defining a Community and Its Needs	Proceedings of the 52nd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Peterfreund, Alan; Esaison, Jordan; Smith, Julie M.; Johnston, Brianna	As undergraduate enrollment in computer science (CS) courses continues to expand, concerns surrounding the supply of instructors and the quality of instruction become even more salient. Similarly, computing education and computational thinking programs are expanding in K12 schools but are hampered by concerns over teacher training and curriculum efficacy. This project sought to answer a question: is there a need for a more robust system of networking and resources for computer science education (CSEd) graduate students' The large response to initial community-building efforts indicates that this is likely the case. In just over one year, a global community of 190 graduate students and 90 CS faculty researchers and advisors have registered for a CSEd graduate focused community. Participant funding, while originally intended for in-person conference attendance and face-to-face meetings, has enabled this project to create study groups attended by 73 students and a virtual conference with 101 participants. These activities were established as a result of a needs assessment survey conducted in early 2020. This poster documents the rapid growth of this community and the need students feel for systematic support.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3408877.3439595
Digital Humanities: Reaching out to the Other Culture (Abstract Only)	Proceedings of the 43rd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Beck, Robert E.	This discussion will connect instructors who are reaching out to their colleagues in the humanities to discover areas of collaboration. It focuses on what these disciplines have to contribute to our knowledge of computing and how computational thinking informs these disciplines. One goal is to lay the foundation for a more general program of study in digital humanities that would reach students who would like to see how computing could enhance their work in history, literature, anthropology, or philosophy, for example.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2157136.2157435
Developing an Inclusive K-12 Outreach Model	Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Nolan, Karen; Faherty, Roisin; Quille, Keith; Becker, Brett A.; Bergin, Susan	This paper outlines the longitudinal development of a K-12 outreach model, to promote Computer Science in Ireland. Over a three-year period, it has been piloted to just under 9700 K-12 students from almost every county in Ireland. The model consists of a two-hour camp that introduces students to a range of Computer Science topics: addressing computing perceptions, introduction to coding and exploration of computational thinking. The model incorporates on-site school delivery and is available at no cost to any interested school across Ireland. The pilot study so far collected over 3400 surveys (pre- and post- outreach delivery). Schools from all over Ireland self-selected to participate, including male only, female only and mixed schools. The no-cost nature of the model meant schools deemed "disadvantaged", to private fee-paying schools participated. Initial findings are very positive, including the balance of male and female participants, where in the 2017-18 academic year it was 56:44 and in 2019-20 (to date), it is 35:65 respectively. Once the model is validated and tweaked (based on survey data), the model will be published (open access) for other institutions to implement the model locally. In addition, the authors intend to link schools (that the team have worked with over the three years) with local institutions, thus developing a sustainable ecosystem for the program to continue. This paper describes the model structure and outlines early findings.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3341525.3387421
You Can't Sit With Us: Exclusionary Pedagogy in AI Ethics Education	Proceedings of the 2021 ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency	Raji, Inioluwa Deborah; Scheuerman, Morgan Klaus; Amironesei, Razvan	Given a growing concern about the lack of ethical consideration in the Artificial Intelligence (AI) field, many have begun to question how dominant approaches to the disciplinary education of computer science (CS)—and its implications for AI—has led to the current "ethics crisis". However, we claim that the current AI ethics education space relies on a form of "exclusionary pedagogy," where ethics is distilled for computational approaches, but there is no deeper epistemological engagement with other ways of knowing that would benefit ethical thinking or an acknowledgement of the limitations of uni-vocal computational thinking. This results in indifference, devaluation, and a lack of mutual support between CS and humanistic social science (HSS), elevating the myth of technologists as "ethical unicorns" that can do it all, though their disciplinary tools are ultimately limited. Through an analysis of computer science education literature and a review of college-level course syllabi in AI ethics, we discuss the limitations of the epistemological assumptions and hierarchies of knowledge which dictate current attempts at including ethics education in CS training and explore evidence for the practical mechanisms through which this exclusion occurs. We then propose a shift towards a substantively collaborative, holistic, and ethically generative pedagogy in AI education.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3442188.3445914
Combating Perceptions of Computer Scientists: A Short-Term Intervention (Abstract Only)	Proceedings of the 47th ACM Technical Symposium on Computing Science Education	Daily, Shaundra B.; Leonard, Alison E.; Jörg, Sophie; Babu, Sabarish; DSouza, Nikeetha; Parmar, Dhaval; Gundersen, Kara; Isaac, Joseph; Acker, Serita	Fifty-four middle school girls were a part of weeklong program geared towards encouraging young women in STEM careers. During a two-day computer science intervention, we introduced students to our VEnvI software where students program virtual characters to perform choreography. During this time, students were introduced programming concepts: sequencing, loops, and variables. They also spent time performing to learn some of the movements in VEnvI and discussed different aspects of the VEnvI software design including motion capture & Unity 3D Development. The latter conversations were couched in relation to being a computer scientist. Data were collected from the students on the first day of the camp as well as at the end of the second day. Each student was given a piece of paper that only contained a code corresponding to her. The instructions were to write, "What do computer scientists do?" on one side of the page, and to draw a picture of a computer scientist on the other side. Our findings suggest that, at least in the short term, this type of intervention can impact students' perceptions of computer science as well as broaden their perspectives of computer scientists. More students drew female computer scientists in the post-test and showed computer scientists working in teams rather than alone. Further, students' ideas of what computer scientists "do" shifted from fixing computers and making websites to creating, designing, and inventing with computers.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2839509.2850533
A Small Footprint Curriculum for Computing: (And Why on Earth Anyone Would Want Such a Thing)	J. Comput. Sci. Coll.	Stein, Lynn Andrea	Computing – not just programming, but the fundamental ideas behind computational thinking and computational systems – is increasingly important to a broad set of disciplines ranging from computational biology to organizational behavior and from statistics to philosophy. At the same time, computer science curricula reflect the growth of the discipline and its maturing efforts to capture a broad range computational phenomena, leading to larger and more inwardly focused computational programs. This talk describes an alternative, the small footprint curriculum developed at Olin College, and the lessons learned in creating this curriculum about what is core to computing. While Olin's program was constrained by the need to incorporate hands-on problem solving, teamwork, and design within an engineering curriculum, the talk will also survey the many other educational trends that make such a small-footprint curriculum desirable.Lynn Andrea Stein is Professor of Computer and Cognitive Science and the Director of the Computers and Cognition Laboratory at the newly established Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering in Needham, Massachusetts. Prior to becoming one of Olin's first faculty members, Stein spent a decade on the faculty of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she was a member of the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and the Laboratory for Computer Science. Stein's research focuses on the role that interaction plays in both computational and cognitive processes; her projects include the construction of an artificial humanoid and an intelligent room, philosophical and pragmatic work from knowledge representation to the semantics of cognition, and most recently co-authorship of foundational documents for the semantic web.
Exploring the Role of Computer Science in the Liberal Arts (Abstract Only)	Proceedings of the 47th ACM Technical Symposium on Computing Science Education	Skuse, Gary R.; Walzer, Daniel A.	There is a growing body of evidence that indicates that many students would benefit from coursework in computer science regardless of their academic majors. While there are obvious advantages to learning computer science for students in the quantitative and analytical fields that comprise the STEM disciplines, the advantages to other students are less obvious. In order to investigate the impact of computer science principles and methods on students in the liberal arts we convened a workshop of faculty comprised of an equal number of participants from each discipline, i.e. computer science and the various liberal arts. We identified a clear need to better understand the computational needs of liberal arts students and faculty and we identified opportunities for computer scientists and liberal arts students and faculty to work together to better prepare students in both disciplines and better support faculty research in the liberal arts.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2839509.2850531
"Making" Science Relevant for the 21st Century: Early Lessons from a Research-Practice Partnership	Proceedings of FabLearn 2019	Fancsali, Cheri; Mirakhur, Zitsi; Klevan, Sarah; Rivera-Cash, Edgar	The Maker Partnership Program (MPP) is an NSF-supported project that addresses the critical need for models of professional development (PD) and support that help elementary-level science teachers integrate computer science and computational thinking (CS and CT1) into their classroom practices. The MPP aims to foster integration of these disciplines through maker pedagogy and curriculum. The MPP was designed as a research-practice partnership that allows researchers and practitioners to collaborate and iteratively design, implement and test the PD and curriculum. This paper describes the key elements of the MPP and early findings from surveys of teachers and students participating in the program.Our research focuses on learning how to develop teachers' capacity to integrate CS and CT into elementary-level science instruction; understanding whether and how this integrated instruction promotes deeper student learning of science, CS and CT, as well as interest and engagement in these subjects; and exploring how the model may need to be adapted to fit local contexts.Participating teachers reported gaining knowledge and confidence for implementing the maker curriculum through the PDs. They anticipated that the greatest implementation challenges would be lack of preparation time, inaccessible computer hardware, lack of administrative support, and a lack of CS knowledge. Student survey results show that most participants were interested in CS and science at the beginning of the program. Student responses to questions about their disposition toward collaboration and persistence suggest some room for growth. Student responses to questions about who does CS are consistent with prevalent gender stereotypes (e.g., boys are naturally better than girls at computer programming), particularly among boys.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3311890.3311910
A Middle-School Code Camp Emphasizing Digital Humanities	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Chen, Yesheng; Chen, Zhen; Gumidyala, Shyamala; Koures, Annabella; Lee, Seoyeon; Msekela, James; Remash, Halle; Schoenle, Nolan; Dahlby Albright, Sarah; Rebelsky, Samuel A.	Over the past decade, politicians, leaders, and pundits have called for computing and computer science education opportunities to be made available earlier and earlier. Such calls have led to the creation of a wide variety of offerings for students at middle-school and even elementary levels, including summer "code camps" targeted at middle-school students. Such camps often emphasize fun aspects of computing, such as games and robots. In contrast, research at the collegiate level suggests that meaningful applications of computing, such as computing for social good, are more successful at building and sustaining interest, particularly among students from groups traditionally underrepresented in computing. In this project, we developed and offered a summer camp that draws upon ideas and approaches from the digital humanities (DH), which explore the use of algorithms and computation in support of broader humanistic inquiry. Because DH reveals different ways to apply algorithmic and computational thinking, DH has the potential to attract students who might not otherwise consider computing. In this paper, we introduce central issues in the digital humanities, explain the rationale for the camp design, describe the camp curriculum, and reflect on successful and less successful aspects of the camp. Among other things, we consider how to introduce digital humanities topics to students who have not yet heard the term "humanities" and explore the utility of such topics for this age group. We also present preliminary data on the short-term effects of the camp on students' self-efficacy and interest in computing.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287509
Youth Civic Engagement through Computing: Cases and Implications	ACM Inroads	Yu, Junnan; Ruppert, Janet; Roque, Ricarose; Kirshner, Ben		https://doi.org/10.1145/3432727
Creative Design Computing for Happy Healthy Living	Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Human-Agent Interaction	Do, Ellen Yi-Luen	The age of ubiquitous/pervasive/ambient computing is upon us. We see more and more connected objects and devices embedded in everyday life. Design and Human-Computer Interaction are crucial components of information technologies that color our experience. As designers and technologists, we have the unique opportunity to imagine, design and create interesting, intelligent and interactive technologies for a smart living environment. A smart living environment is responsive, reconfigurable and transformable, embedded with sensors and actuators, to support everyday happy, healthy living with things that think, spaces that sense and places that play. Specifically, we see opportunity for investigating creative design computing to consider the built environment as an interface. We aim to engage people in playful, creative ways in which computing technologies embedded in the built environment (e.g., objects, furniture, building, and space) can support everyday happy healthy living. We build wellness technologies in different scales (e.g., in human-centered view: hand, body and environment), for various applications (e.g., to support emotional, physical, and intellectual wellness) to unlock human potential and augmenting human capabilities through digital design innovations. Opportunities exist for integrating multidisciplinary perspectives together to create innovation with impacts. For example, the Mobile Music Touch, a light-weight fingerless instrumented glove provides passive haptic learning of piano playing but also works as an effective rehabilitation tool. The ClockMe system, not only converts traditional pencil-and-paper Clock Drawing Test on a digital tablet for automatic scoring and analysis for detection of Alzheimer's disease and related disorders but also provides more information of the drawing behavior such as drawing sequence and pressure. The Digital Box and Block Test employs image processing to automatically detect and record a clinically validated post-stroke rehabilitation assessment for in-home use and a tangible gaming system to increase patient motivation. The Dodo game provides pictures of cute animals for color matching, and serves as a clinical screening test to detect color deficiency in young children. The Taste + bottle and spoon provide stimulation to alter the sense of taste without any chemical flavoring using electric pluses and color LED lights. It could encourage water drinking or enhance taste for people with restrictive diets or diminished taste sensations. The Sensorendipity is a real-time smartphone-based web-enabled sensor platform for designers to create sensor-based applications such as monitoring activities, in exergaming or safe driving. Now is an exciting time to engage in creative design computing, to implement physically and computationally enhanced environment, to explore experience media, to build prototypes, towards a smart living environment. Advancing technology offers new ways to solve problems, discover opportunities, and create new objects and experience that delight our senses and improve the way we live and work. Let's begin with the spark of creativity and enthusiasm and follow up with design and computational thinking towards the goal of creating unique technology for everyone.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2658861.2658947
Hugging and Bridging: What It Is And Why You Should Be Doing It! (Abstract Only)	Proceedings of the 46th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Grover, Shuchi	Computational Thinking (CT), now widely recognized as a necessary skill for today's generation of learners, is typically being introduced to students in middle and high school (and even at the college level) in the context of programming in visual, block-based, drag-drop environments such as Scratch, Alice, Blockly, Tynker, Agentsheets and Kodu. How well are these first experiences preparing students to apply their learning successfully to future computational experiences, which are likely to be in the context of higher-order, text-based programming languages? How can we teach so as to facilitate successful 'transfer of learning' to future contexts? The art of teaching for transfer, or mediating transfer, has been actively studied for decades in education research. Pedagogies such as 'bridging', 'hugging', and 'preparation for future learning' (PFL) have shown promise in the context of education research in STEM domains at the secondary level. This fun lightning talk will shed light on these very pertinent ideas that CS education will benefit from, and share concrete strategies that can be employed in K-12 and college-level introductory programming classrooms to prepare students for better success with future computational experiences. The broader goal is to get CS educators and researchers thinking about an important aspect of teaching introductory programming and get a conversation started.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2676723.2691881
Designing Blended Learning Models to Support Computational Learning: Minecraft Edition (Abstract Only)	Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Amato, Dominic A.; Acholonu, Ugochi	This workshop introduces participants to the Digital Youth Network's Minecraft City Server; a project that seeks to lower the barrier of who can lead computing-related learning opportunities for diverse youth. We present teaching techniques and advice for adapting the Minecraft platform as an educational portal based upon the research we have done with youth across Chicago. Participants will receive handouts describing mentorship techniques and curriculum models that facilitate learning interactions in a blended space. Of critical focus will be exploring the question of how to coordinate mentorship when working in two learning spaces (online and physical) simultaneously. Handouts will be supplemented with a discussion of the adult support roles that we identified as being critical to running engaging Minecraft learning experiences for youth. The workshop will also allow participants to experience the affordances of Minecraft to create an engaging blended learning environment that teaches computational concepts. Participants will receive a hands-on introduction to the basic game mechanics, designing with Redstone, the in-game equivalent to electrical circuitry, and exploring computer programming in-game with Python.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3017680.3017841
Introducing Computational Linguistics with NLTK (Natural Language Toolkit)	J. Comput. Sci. Coll.	Cushing, Judy; Hastings, Rachel	As computers have become more powerful, leading to software that processes very large bodies of text, some linguists have come to rely on computers in their work. Similarly, as the web has become a central source of information, computer scientists have begun to rely on linguistic theory and practice in processing massive data sets. These interdisciplinary efforts have themselves led to interesting and novel problems that face both disciplines, and as a result there are opportunities for computer science graduates to work on computational linguistics problems and for computer scientists to collaborate with linguists on research and education.Further, it appears that 1) students with little or no background in mathematics or programming often have difficulty with the abstract (or computational) thinking that is prerequisite for learning to program, and 2) even students who have already chosen computer science as their major field often have difficulty maintaining motivation and would benefit from working with "real-world" problems and large programs relatively early in their college career. Further, 3) many faculty would like to use and contribute to repositories of curricular materials, and 4) students (and faculty) usually like (and often need) to use open-source, free, and reliable software resources for their studies.Working on computational linguistics problems in computer science classes using the \textlessu\textgreaterNatural Language Toolkit (NLTK)\textless/u\textgreater provides one way to address the above four issues: 1) Computational linguistics provides a way for students with little mathematical preparation to segue, first into analytical thinking about something most of them know well (the English language) and then into thinking about higher level abstractions. 2) The NLTK provides computer science students with several examples of real-world problems and an experience of working with a large application program, both of which can provide motivation to students who worry that their chosen field of study is not relevant to real-world problems. 3) The NLTK web site contains a large number of course materials, albeit most at the upper division undergraduate or graduate level. 4) The NLTK and the NLTK textbook are available as open source software and creative commons licenses (respectively); there is no charge for their use.The \textlessu\textgreaterNatural Language Toolkit\textless/u\textgreater is composed of open source Python modules that run on multiple platforms, linguistic data ( 60 corpora, toy grammars, trained models, etc.), and documentation for research and development in natural language processing and computational linguistics, including a textbook Natural Language Processing with Python — Analyzing Text with the Natural Language Toolkit by Steven Bird, Ewan Klein, and Edward Loper. In spite of the availability of these materials, and the fact that this educator found them reasonably reliable, getting started with new software, and designing activities for students that fit an undergraduate curriculum can be a challenge. This workshop is intended to introduce computer science faculty to NLTK, and will be conducted by a computer scientist and linguist who collaborated on a CS0 computational linguistics class Fall 2008. Workshop facilitators will briefly explain their experience using NLTK, and then participants will work with a partner in the lab to complete an Introduction to NLTK. This introduction should be sufficient for the participant to work through additional exercises from the facilitators' labs or start developing their own labs.
A Simple Line Game With Real-Time Visualization of the Internal Data Structure (Abstract Only)	Proceedings of the 47th ACM Technical Symposium on Computing Science Education	Huff, Joh D.	Designing tools for K-12 computer science education poses a unique and difficult challenge. The focus should be on teaching broad computer science concepts in an engaging way. Other approaches have involved visualizing data structures and algorithms. However, those approaches aren't very engaging. By applying the principles of universal design for learning we created an interactive visualization tool for a simple line game. This visualization tool has several ways to represent the same data structure, and is much more engaging than other approaches to teaching computer science concepts. We are still conducting research on the effectiveness of this tool, but our preliminary results look promising.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2839509.2851063
Beyond Video Games for Social Change	Interactions	Horn, Michael S.	The boundaries between 'the digital' and our everyday physical world are dissolving as we develop more physical ways of interacting with computing. This forum presents some of the topics discussed in the colorful multidisciplinary field of tangible and embodied interaction. —Eva Hornecker, Editor	https://doi.org/10.1145/2568372
Increasing Capacity for Computer Science Education in Rural Areas through a Large-Scale Collective Impact Model	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Warner, Jayce R.; Fletcher, Carol L.; Torbey, Ryan; Garbrecht, Lisa S.	Students living in rural areas are less likely to attend schools that offer computer science (CS) courses largely because educational institutions in these remote areas lack the resources to staff teaching positions for these courses. This study investigated the impact of WeTeach_CS, a program designed to train teachers to become certified to teach high school CS in Texas. The WeTeach_CS collective impact model may be well suited to influence rural areas at scale because it utilizes an existing network of organizations across the state to bring high-quality professional development opportunities to teachers in remote areas. Results from a comparative interrupted time series analysis showed a significant, positive change in the rate in which the number of certified CS teachers in rural areas increased during the period of time after WeTeach_CS began compared to the period before the program was implemented, whereas the number of teachers certified in technology applications showed no such change. Furthermore, the growth rate in the number of certified CS teachers was much higher for rural schools than urban, suggesting that collective impact models like WeTeach_CS may be especially beneficial for rural communities.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287418
Interaction Design, Books, and Cultural Forms	Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Horn, Michael S.	What reasons do we have for continuing to incorporate traditional print media into interaction designs for children? In this position statement, I address this question from the perspective of cultural forms. My argument is that in the creation of novel forms of interaction it is advantageous to present strong and recognizable cultural forms to help parents and children structure their activity around familiar artifacts. This, in turn, helps activate valuable cognitive, physical, and emotional resources that parents and children can bring to bear on the new task.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2485760.2485892
Peter the Fashionista? Computer Programming Games and Gender Oriented Cultural Forms	Proceedings of the 2015 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play	AlSulaiman, Sarah; Horn, Michael S.	We present a study of two games designed to help elementary and middle school students learn computer programming concepts. The first game was intended to be "gender neutral", aligning with might be described as a consensus opinion on best practices for computational learning environments. The second game, based on the cultural form of dress up dolls was deliberately designed to appeal to girls. We recruited 70 participants in an international two-phase study to investigate the relationship between games, gender, attitudes towards computer programming, and learning. Our findings suggest that while the two games were equally effective in terms of learning outcomes, there were differences in motivation between players of the two games. Specifically, participants who reported a preference for girl-oriented games were more motivated to learn about computer programming when they played a game that they perceived as designed for girls. In addition, we describe how the two games seemed to encourage different types of social activity between players in a classroom setting. Based on these results we reflect on the strategy of exclusively designing games and activities as "gender neutral", and suggest that deliberately employing cultural forms, including gendered ones, may help create a more productive experience for learners	https://doi.org/10.1145/2793107.2793127
Out-of-the-Box: Cogito Ergo Hack	SIGCSE Bull.	Astrachan, Owen		https://doi.org/10.1145/1595453.1595476
Exploring Computer Science Topics with Programmable Smartwatches	Proceedings of the 46th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Niu, Shuo; Esakia, Andrey; McCrickard, Scott	This demo features smartwatch applications created by junior/senior CS students in a mobile development course. The course featured the Pebble smartwatch, with an e-ink display, vibrating motor, and accelerometer. Smartwatches enhance mobile device use by acting as a secondary display and providing immediate notifications, but designing for them has challenges in memory management, sensor programming, networking issues, and display size. Incorporating Pebble smartwatch development in a mobile app development class allowed students to exercise core computer science concepts to overcome Pebble hardware and software limitations and to develop applications that leverage Pebble affordances. Two sections of the class featured Pebble-focused assignments, including an open-ended homework, a focused homework, and a term design project coordinating smartphone-smartwatch use. The two-semester experience yielded apps in all Pebble-defined categories, including tools and utilities, notifications, remotes, health and fitness, and games. Examples of the students' work from each of the categories will be presented in this demo on topics such as music synthesizing, remote camera operation, course management alerts, and server management. The presented apps reflect student understanding of the sensor functionalities, hardware capabilities and limitations, and interactions of the phone-watch pair. This demo will serve as a valuable resource for those who plan to incorporate smartwatch development into their teaching practice. Based on the educational experience gleaned, future opportunities can explore the role of the smartwatch in mobile development and programming education for college and K-12 students.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2676723.2691874
Understanding Students' Computational Perspectives and Figured Worlds of Computing	Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research	Perez, Melissa	Efforts expanding computing for all continue in earnest across the U.S.. Many are short-term in nature; while it is generally known that short-term engagement in computing before college does not necessarily result in students going into computing majors or careers, there may be other outcomes from these programs that may be equally important or meaningful but currently missed. To examine this, I draw from the theoretical framework of figured worlds to see what former participants perspectives on computing are and how short-term computing education programs affect their participation in computing.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3372782.3407103
Come Code with Codester: An Educational APP That Teaches Computer Science to K-6 Students	J. Comput. Sci. Coll.	Rusak, Gili; Lim, Darren	In this paper, we describe Codester, an original application developed during the summer of 2013, that teaches young students the principles of programming. The application was developed for the Android operating system, which allows for the use of tablets and smartphones as our teaching medium, instead of traditional laptops and desktops. Codester is a central part of a novel outreach program, known as the Computer Science Caravan (CSC). The CSC consists of members of the Siena College community, who travel to local K-6 schools equipped with tablets and other materials to reach out to students who do not usually have the opportunity to learn about programming or computer science.
Intelligent Tutoring Systems Approach to Introductory Programming Courses	Eighth International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality	Figueiredo, José; García-Peñalvo, Francisco José	Programming is difficult and requires a lot of work and dedication from the students and teachers. Programming is part of the curriculum of many courses, but especially in computer science, and most teaching and learning is problematic. Despite all the efforts of the researchers, it seems to be difficult to find an effective method of teaching that is suitable for all students. This paper describes a set of possible instructional strategies for teaching and learning and its application to an introductory programming course. The goal of utilizing a smart learning system was to increase student scores, pass rate, and increase efficiency for both students and teachers. The set of instructional strategies based on technology was implemented in an introductory programming course over several academic years. Data were collected and the results are analyzed. The results show that there are significant improvements in the grade distributions, the pass/fail rate, in the interest and participation of the students in the different activities developed throughout the course, greater motivation and passion in solving problems, and the more efficient use of teacher time and effort.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3434780.3436614
Unequal Impacts of Augmented Reality on Learning and Collaboration During Robot Programming with Peers	Proc. ACM Hum.-Comput. Interact.	Radu, Iulian; Hv, Vivek; Schneider, Bertrand	Augmented reality (AR) applications are growing in popularity in educational settings. While the effects of AR experiences on learning have been widely studied, there is relatively less research on understanding the impact of AR on the dynamics of co-located collaborative learning, specifically in the context of novices programming robots. Educational robotics are a powerful learning context because they engage students with problem solving, critical thinking, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) concepts, and collaboration skills. However, such collaborations can suffer due to students having unequal access to resources or dominant peers. In this research we investigate how augmented reality impacts learning and collaboration while peers engage in robot programming activities. We use a mixed methods approach to measure how participants are learning, manipulating resources, and engaging in problem solving activities with peers. We investigate how these behaviors are impacted by the presence of augmented reality visualizations, and by participants? proximity to resources. We find that augmented reality improved overall group learning and collaboration. Detailed analysis shows that AR strongly helps one participant more than the other, by improving their ability to learn and contribute while remaining engaged with the robot. Furthermore, augmented reality helps both participants maintain a common ground and balance contributions during problem solving activities. We discuss the implications of these results for designing AR and non-AR collaborative interfaces.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3432944
Every Child a Coder? Research Challenges for a 5–18 Programming Curriculum	Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Howland, Kate; Good, Judith; Robertson, Judy; Manches, Andrew	The current drive in many countries to teach computing, particularly programming, to all from an early age, has potential to empower and support children in creative and problem-solving tasks. However, there are a number of challenges in ensuring that computing curricula, tools and environments embody appropriate progression and engender motivation for the topic across the school years. This workshop will consider the key research challenges in learning coding throughout childhood, with contributions from developmental psychologists, educators, researchers of children's programming, and designers of developmentally appropriate technologies for children.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2771839.2771954
An Experience with the App Inventor in CS0 for the Development of the STEM Didactics	Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality	Martínez-Valdés, José Alfredo; Martínez-Ijají, Nathalia Andrea	App Inventor is an online tool for creating applications for mobile devices for the Android operating system. With this tool, it is possible to program applications without the need to learn a programming language, an excellent approximation to be introduced in the development of applications. Consequently, App Inventor has also been effectively used for professional development workshops for K12 teachers, as well as introductory computing courses at the college level. Their experiences report on students' high motivation and sometimes also on higher performance. We adopted App Inventor as the introductory programming language for a CS0 in an introductory course to programming in high school. The results we obtained for both the App Inventor language and the CodeMaster tool were less satisfactory than expected and, in some regards, disappointing. We describe our experience, analyze students' acceptance and discuss some consequences and lessons learnt to App Inventor in pre-university courses.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3284179.3284189
Inferring Creativity in Visual Programming Environments	Proceedings of the Seventh ACM Conference on Learning @ Scale	Kovalkov, Anastasia; Segal, Avi; Gal, Kobi	This paper explores the use of data analytics for identifying creativity in visual programming. Visual programming environments are increasingly included in the schools curriculum. Their potential for promoting creative thinking in students is an important factor in their adoption. However, there does not exist a standard approach for detecting creativity in students' programming behavior, and analyzing programs manually requires human expertise and is time consuming. This work provides a computational tool for measuring creativity in visual programming that combines theory from the literature with data mining approaches. It adapts classical dimensions of creative processes to our setting, and considers new aspects such as visual elements of the visual programming projects. We apply our approach to the Scratch programming environment, measuring the creativity score of hundreds of projects. We show a preliminary comparison between our metrics and teacher ratings.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3386527.3406725
Computer Science in General Education: Beyond Quantitative Reasoning	J. Comput. Sci. Coll.	Tartaro, Andrea; Healy, Christopher; Treu, Kevin	This paper argues that Computer Science courses can and should fulfill general education requirements not limited to quantitative reasoning.
Exploring Middle School Students' Reflections on the Infusion of CS into Science Classrooms	Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Celepkolu, Mehmet; Fussell, David Austin; Galdo, Aisha Chung; Boyer, Kristy Elizabeth; Wiebe, Eric; Mott, Bradford W.; Lester, James C.	In recent years, there has been a dramatic increase in teaching CS in the context of other disciplines such as science. However, learning CS in an interdisciplinary context may be particularly challenging for students. An important goal for CS education researchers is to develop a deep understanding of the student experience when integrating CS into science classrooms in K-12. This paper presents the results of a mixed-methods study in which 75 middle school students engaged in a series of computationally rich science activities by creating simulations and models in a block-based programming language. After two semesters, students reported their experiences on in-class computer science activities through reflection essays. The quantitative results show that both experienced and novice students increased their CS knowledge significantly after several weeks, and a majority of students (72%) had positive sentiment toward the integration of CS into their science class. Deeper qualitative analysis of students' reflections revealed positive themes centered around the visualization and gamification of science concepts, the hands-on nature of the coding activities, and showing science from a different angle. On the other hand, students expressed negative sentiments on weaknesses in the activity design, lack of CS/science background/interest, and failing to make connections between CS and science concepts. These findings inform efforts to infuse CS education into different disciplines and reveal patterns that may foster success of K-12 classroom implementations.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3328778.3366871
User Interface Computation as a Contextualized Approach for Introductory Computing Instruction	Proceedings of the Ninth Annual International ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research	La Marche, Jeffrey Steven	Contextual methods of instruction have many benefits for creating interest, providing relevance, and increasing engagement in computer science courses. These benefits can lower failure rates, improve retention, increase student self-efficacy regarding programming, and increase positive views about computer science. My doctoral research involves developing the curricula for and assessing the learning outcomes of a novel contextual teaching and learning method called User Interface Computation, which may offer benefits similar to media computation and provide another effective context for computing instruction.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2493394.2493423
MyCS: A CS Curriculum for Middle-Years Students	J. Comput. Sci. Coll.	Schofield, Elizabeth; Erlinger, Michael; Dodds, Zachary	In this paper, we provide an overview of the Middle-years Computer Science (MyCS) curriculum and the motivations for its design. MyCS organizes several existing computer science education resources along with several novel resources and adaptations of exercises. The result is a coherent, semester-long course for students in late elementary, middle, or early high school. The curriculum alternates between conceptual looks at computing and programming activities in Scratch, all with a strong emphasis on presenting computer science as an exciting, creative, and accessible field for students.
State Machines Are Child's Play: Observing Children Ages 9 to 11 Playing Escape Machine	Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children	Weller, Michael Philetus; Do, Ellen Yi-Luen; Gross, Mark D.	We developed Escape Machine, a puzzle game in which children control the behavior of characters in a maze by manipulating a tangible state machine built with Posey, our computationally-enhanced hub-and-strut construction kit. We observed children ages nine to eleven playing the game in several sessions. The qualitative results of this observation validate the promise of Posey and Escape Machine to engage children in manipulating algorithmic specifications for behavior.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1551788.1551819
Everybody Must Cut Code! Educational Imperative, Fad or Fantasy? D5 Charter	ACM Inroads	Clear, Tony		https://doi.org/10.1145/2822902
Alan Turing, Animal Spots, and Algorithms	J. Comput. Sci. Coll.	Yerion, Kathie	This paper describes a teaching module based on a chemical process originally proposed by Alan Turing for the formation of animal stripes and spots. A model of this process requires the solution of systems of algebraic equations by the common algorithm known as Gaussian elimination. However, these systems are highly susceptible to large round-off error without partial pivoting. The purpose of this one-week module is to give students in an algorithms course an interdisciplinary project for which the chosen computational algorithm must handle round off error and the resulting program must take significant time to reach an approximate solution. Experimental runs of the final computational algorithm yield coat patterns found in zebras, raccoons, and snakes.
Enhancement of Computer Science Introductory Courses with Mentored Pair Programming	J. Comput. Sci. Coll.	Han, Jianchao; Beheshti, Mohsen	In this paper, a new instructional strategy to enhance computer science introductory courses, called Mentored Pair Programming, or MPP in short, is proposed. The pair programming and peer-led team learning approaches have demonstrated their effectiveness in many campuses. However, in some other campuses with a majority of underrepresented and full-time working students such as our campus, both pair programming approach and peer-led team learning approach may not work well each individually because students either lack motivation in the labs or don't have extra time after class. MPP attempts to incorporate both pair programming and peer-led team learning approaches into closed laboratories. The background of MPP is discussed, the goal and objectives of MPP are presented, the MPP structure is proposed, and the process in implementing MPP is developed.
Combining Agile Practices with Incremental Visual Tasks	Proceedings of the Nineteenth Australasian Computing Education Conference	Thevathayan, Charles; Spichkova, Maria; Hamilton, Margaret	Many employers are demanding graduates acquire project experience especially in an agile environment. Final year projects alone cannot equip students adequately unless they have already gained a solid foundation in the underlying principles, technologies and processes. Students should ideally be exposed to Software Engineering (SE) principles from their first programming course. However, the core principles such as agility, extensibility, reusability and maintainability are often too abstract for novice programmers.This paper presents an active learning approach using our visual framework Iteron. Iteron extends our prior work using a visual constructivist approach by allowing SE principles and agile practices to be interspersed with programming constructs such as arrays and methods. Students' feedback on learning outcomes was very positive as they found this approach both engaging and challenging. Performance in the follow-on assignment and the final exam showed a substantial improvement after introducing Iteron. Moreover, a much stronger correlation was noted between individual student performance in the initial assignment and the final exam.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3013499.3013510
History of Technology and Discovery: A Study Away Experience in Computer Science	J. Comput. Sci. Coll.	Treu, Kevin	This paper describes a study away course in Computer Science on the history of technology and discovery, implemented in various locations in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The author intends for the course to be a possible template for replication as a short-term travel course, or as a component of a comprehensive semester-long program.
Learning User Interface Design and the Development of Mobile Applications in Middle School	Interactions	Ferreira, Miriam Nathalie F.; von Wangenheim, Christiane Gresse; Filho, Raul Missfeldt; Pinheiro, Fernando da Cruz; Hauck, Jean C. R.	HCI education reflects the continual evolution of HCI, embracing the changing landscapes of technology, infrastructure, and technology use. This forum aims to provide a platform for HCI educators, practitioners, researchers, and students to share their perspectives, reflections, and experiences related to HCI education. — Sukeshini Grandhi, Editor	https://doi.org/10.1145/3338289
Computer Science in High School: Identifying and Addressing Common Barriers	J. Comput. Sci. Coll.	Reimer, Yolanda J.	Improving participation and diversity in computer science is an issue that continues to demand the attention of the educational research community, and providing better opportunities to high school students is critical in helping to resolve it. One bottleneck to improving CS offerings at the high school level is the lack of qualified teachers, but there are numerous additional barriers that must also be acknowledged and dealt with. This paper documents the results of a focus group activity whereby we engaged a cohort of high school teachers to better understand what those common barriers are and how we might begin to address them. We learned that teachers face serious limitations in student numbers, student interest, scheduling, support from administrators, and access to resources. We studied the ways in which high school students are drawn into computer science and discuss the recommendations teachers have for expanding on those efforts as well. The broader impact of this work is that it will help teachers and schools across the nation recognize similar issues in their own communities and develop new strategies for alleviating them.
Imagineering Gamification Using Interactive Augmented Reality to Develop Digital Literacy Skills	Proceedings of the 2019 The 3rd International Conference on Digital Technology in Education	Choolarb, Tunyaboon; Premsmith, Jakkrit; Wannapiroon, Panita	The purpose of this research is to develop Imagineering Gamification using Interactive Augmented Reality, to be used for evaluating Digital Literacy skill of learners from their Interactive Augmented Reality learning through Imagineering Gamification model; to compare learners' learning achievements before and after learning through Imagineering Gamification using Interactive Augmented Reality with those who learn through normal classroom; and to survey learners' satisfaction of using Interactive Augmented Reality to develop Digital Literacy skills. The research composed of 80 students from Vocational Certificate of Education year 1 of Siam Business Administration Nonthaburi Technological College and were divided into two groups with a group of 40 each through simple random sampling method: experimental group and control group. The tools of the research were Imagineering Gamification model and the system of Interactive Augmented Reality for developing Digital Literacy skills, which were qualified by the field experts. The research result showed that learning through Imagineering Gamification using Interactive Augmented Reality was suitable with a very good level of overall outcome. The mean of Imagineering Gamification model was 4.96 (S.D. = 0.06) and the mean of the system of Interactive Augmented Reality for developing Digital Literacy skills was 4.98 (S.D. = 0.03). The mean of Digital Literacy skills evaluation, before and after learning, was 4.65 (S.D. = 1.57) and 17.78 (S.D. = 1.60) respectively, and the t-test result was 36.82 with a level of statistical significance of .01. The mean of evaluation of the experimental group's learning achievements after learning was 18.43 (S.D. = 1.61); the mean of evaluation of the control group's learning achievements after learning was 14.40 (S.D. = 1.74), and the t-test result was 10.40 with a level of statistical significance of .01. The survey of students' satisfaction from using the material has a very good level of overall outcome with the mean of 4.89 (S.D. = 0.32).	https://doi.org/10.1145/3369199.3369222
Sharing as a Means for Reflection: Seeing Differences, Understanding Affordances of Peers' Programming Solutions	Proceedings of the 11th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Villeroy, Marleen	The following paper proposes a design for engaging learners in the practices of comparing and contrasting solutions and understanding the affordances of competing approaches. The first part of this paper presents research that originated in mathematics education and has since been replicated in computer science education with comparable findings and conclusions for the ways in which working with alternate solutions can be particularly felicitous to student learning. The latter half of the paper demonstrates how this research can be integrated into the design of a game by enabling players to share, compare, and reflect on their own solutions and those of their peers as they advance through the game. In the game CodeStitch, players see differences in alternate solutions and, through an implicit moment of reflection, identify the merits of varying approaches (e.g. measured by re-usability / modularity, maintainability, and complexity).	https://doi.org/10.1145/2978249.2978263
CS for All Academic Identities	J. Comput. Sci. Coll.	Zug, Madeline; Hoffman, Hanna; Kobayashi, Forest; President, Miles; Dodds, Zachary	"CS for All" has set computing on an unusual journey. Those words ask CS to change: to grow from a compelling discipline and useful mindset into a full-fledged human literacy. Just as cogent writing, critical reading, and compelling speaking are today's hallmarks of literacy, so too will leveraging computing for insight become part of the goals and expectations we all share. This paper considers how Computer Science, both as a discipline and as an academic department, can support this journey. To map the landscape, we first survey the extent of computing's current curricular reach - beyond CS departments - at a sample of fifty U.S. institutions. We then present findings from three experiments, local to our institutions, which explored interdisciplinary course structures. Both the local and the global overviews suggest that CS departments have, now, a unique opportunity to help smooth computing's transformation into a modern literacy. It's in the best interests of all disciplines, together, to bring computing, its resources, and its roles into their distinctive identities.
Reaching out to the Media: Become a Computer Science Ambassador	Commun. ACM	Rosamond, Frances; Bardohl, Roswitha; Diehl, Stephan; Geisler, Uwe; Bolduan, Gordon; Lessmöllmann, Annette; Schwill, Andreas; Stege, Ulrike	Why computer scientists should come out from "behind the scenes" more often and work with the media to draw public attention to their fundamental innovations.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1897852.1897880
Computing in the Physical World Engages Students: Impact on Their Attitudes and Self-Efficacy towards Computer Science through Robotic Activities	Proceedings of the 13th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education	Theodoropoulos, Anastasios; Leon, Prokopis; Antoniou, Angeliki; Lepouras, George	There is a growing interest in physical computing to be used in school contexts to teach Computer Science. This study aimed to assess whether students' attitudes towards Computer Science and their self-efficacy with programming changed after engaging with robotic activities. Findings show that after completing a 10-week period with the Arduino robotics environment, students' positive attitudes towards Computer Science increased along with feelings of coding self-efficacy. In other words, students report liking Computer Science more and report feeling that they are more able to learn programming. These findings imply that using physical computing activities within the right context could change student attitudes towards and self-efficacy in Computer Science.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3265757.3265770
The Space Journey Game: An Intergenerational Pervasive Experience	Extended Abstracts of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems	Cerezo, Eva; Blasco, Ana Cristina	There is a need to re-design the entertainment systems for the older adults, incorporating the population of this age group into the digital culture. With this aim in mind this work presents an intergenerational experience carried out in an Interactive Space where tangible and gestures interaction are used to participate in pervasive gaming experiences. The experience makes use of a game initially designed just for children but in a very flexible way so that it can be tailored to different players' characteristics. Family groups made up of one or two grandparents and one or two grandchildren have played together The Fantastic Journey fulfilling all the missions either on tangible tabletops, just moving around the space or interacting by gestures. The experience was positively valued by both age groups; they were indeed happy with the opportunity of playing together in a challenging game. Nevertheless, the difficulty of designing engaging experiences for both age groups points to a challenging research area.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3290607.3313055
CSO++ Broadening Computer Science at the Entry Level: Linguistics, Computer Science, and the Semantic Web	J. Comput. Sci. Coll.	Cushing, Judith Bayard; Hastings, Rachel; Walter, Brian L.	Given declining enrollments in computing, increasing workforce needs for graduates, and changes in the computing education needed in the future, the National Science Foundation launched the Integrated Computing Education and Research (ICER) effort in 2005–6, which resulted in suggestions on how to increase enrollments and improve undergraduate computer science education. These included: multiple entry points to the major, better presentation of computing careers, interdisciplinary courses and projects, and innovative approaches to minors. This paper describes a quarter-long full-time interdisciplinary program for entry-level linguistics and computer science students and entry-level or advanced language students designed to broaden the current curriculum in response to NSF ICER suggestions. The program met several strategic NSFICER directions. Aimed primarily at freshmen and sophomores, the program integrated entry level studies of computer science and linguistics and offered students synthesis opportunities: 1) weekly case studies lab and term project and 2) a lecture and seminar series. This paper describes that program, and suggests how the curricular design and materials could be exported to other institutions as linked courses or an interdisciplinary case study.
Data Science Summer Academy for Chicago Public School Students	SIGKDD Explor. Newsl.	Mobasher, Bamshad; Dettori, Lucia; Raicu, Daniela; Settimi, Raffaella; Sonboli, Nasim; Stettler, Monica	In this article, we describe DePaul University's summer data science academy for Chicago Public School students which was, in part, funded through the SIGKDD Impact Award program in 2018. The goal of the academy was to increase awareness about data science among high school students. The program specifically aimed to broaden participation of underrepresented groups in computing by targeting economically disadvantaged, African American, Hispanic, and female students. A cohort of 15 high school students from the Chicago Public School system participated in this week-long lab-based data science program learning about a variety of data science methods and their applications, including data visualization, distance-based methods, classification, clustering and others. The group comprised of 75% African American and Hispanic students, 58.3% of whom were female.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3331651.3331661
Motivational Factors in the Insertion of Digital Skills in Teaching	Eighth International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality	Infante-Moro, Alfonso; Infante-Moro, Juan C.; Gallardo-Pérez, Julia	Digital competences play an important role in today's society and in the labor market, which must be reflected in the teaching of future workers and in their training programs. For this, a bibliographic study is carried out that allows obtaining a list of motivational factors that can affect teachers when accepting and deciding to insert digital skills in teaching and in their training programs, and a causal study of university professors experts in digital skills that a llows confirming the relationship of these factors in this decision and classifying them by their relevance. The list obtained consists of the following motivational factors: quality management, available information, external conditioning, trust, perceived compatibility, perceived usefulness, attitude and intention, and the most decisive factors in this entire process are those that affect the character complementary to these digital competences in the subjects where they are to be implemented (perceived compatibility, perceived usefulness and available information).	https://doi.org/10.1145/3434780.3436631
Computational Social Choice: The First Four Centuries	XRDS	Procaccia, Ariel D.	Making the right decision.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2043236.2043249
Identifying Students' Mental Model for Java Programming Subject	Proceedings of the 2019 3rd International Conference on Education and Multimedia Technology	Rokhmawati, Retno Indah; Az-zahra, Hanifah Muslimah	Since the beginning of learning programming, the first-year student felt intimidated when learning to programme. Coding ability is a basic competency as a programmer, especially for Computer Science students. The limitation of class study time requires a self-learning. This study will identify students' Mental Model to help define the design of tailored e-learning in programming subject. This study was exploratory research involving 100 students that were purposively sampling from five departments. They answered an online questionnaire containing 16 questions about motivation to learn, competency levels, reasons/constraints in learning, efforts to learn, and expectations about the proposed systems. In the second session data collection, 20 students were selected who had detailed answers, and they represented each department. These twenty students were involved in the Focus Group Discussion to produce a mutually agreed mental model. The results are students believe that the programming logic is difficult to understand; the syntax is hard to remember, the logic is difficult to implement into coding, the students feel overwhelmed and the unsupported environment. The solution was found through a mental model in the form of the grouping of features that consider cognitive, behavioral, and student competency levels in programming subject, especially in Java Programming. The future work of this research is the simplification of learning material to provide the right portion for students by applying the three levels of mental models, so that proposed e-learning can accommodate learning needs of various user needs.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3345120.3345146
Adaptation of the System Usability Scale for User Testing with Children	Extended Abstracts of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems	Putnam, Cynthia; Puthenmadom, Melisa; Cuerdo, Marjorie Ann; Wang, Wanshu; Paul, Nathaniel	In this paper, we describe a pilot study in which we adapted and tested the System Usability Scales (SUS) for children between ages of 7-11. We began the study with interviews with four elementary school teachers in which we asked their help with modifying the SUS usability statements for children. We then tested those questionnaire statements with 30 children after they completed puzzles in mobile apps; we assessed the statements' understandability, dimensionality, construct validity and reliability. Our adapted SUS statements were mostly understandable. A Principal Component Analysis resulted in a four-Component model; two of those components were established as reliable. However, we were only able to support construct validity for four questionnaire statements (and none of the four Components). This pilot study contributes to the knowledgebase of user testing with children.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3334480.3382840
The Tablet Game: An Embedded Assessment for Measuring Students' Programming Skill in App Inventor	J. Comput. Sci. Coll.	Abuah, Chike; Schilder, Diane; Sherman, Mark; Martin, Fred	Assessing students' learning of concepts in programming is an essential part of teaching computer science. We developed an assessment activity that measures students' skill in identifying programming structures used to create various behaviors in MIT App Inventor (AI). Called the Tablet Game, the assessment was implemented as interactive app on an Android device. Students interacted with elements on the screen, and then in a multiple-choice format, were asked to select which code-blocks would create those behaviors. We tested the Tablet Game in two week-long app development summer camps held with middle school students. Students completed the same assessment at the beginning and end of the week. Students also completed pre/post surveys which measured interest levels in computer science, gathered ethnographic data, and asked students to report on their prior programming experience. Each student's work on the Tablet Game was matched to that student's pre/post survey responses. Using data from 44 students, our results indicate that (1) students with high self-reported prior experience in App Inventor outperformed students with low prior experience on the Tablet Game pre-test, indicating that the assessment measures programming skill and (2) students with low prior experience matched the results of the high prior experience cohort in the post-test, indicating that the camp was successful in imparting AI programming skill. Both of these results are statistically significant. Further, (3) there were no statistically significant differences in the gender composition of the two experience cohorts, indicating that the camp was equally accessible to girls and boys.
Embodiment, Collaboration, and Challenge in Educational Programming Games: Exploring Use of Tangibles and Mouse	Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games	Melcer, Edward; Isbister, Katherine	While there are common design decisions in existing games for teaching Computer Science (single player puzzle based games for the touchpad/keyboard and mouse), recent work has suggested that alternative approaches such as collaborative play and physically embodied designs may also provide important benefits to learners. In order to explore how making interactions with an educational programming game more physically embodied could impact collaborative play, we created an educational programming game called Bots & (Main)Frames. We then conducted a preliminary study to examine if the level designs achieved desired challenge and explore how two versions of the game with different forms of physical embodiment/input (e.g., mouse vs. tangible programming blocks) impacted player interactions underlying collaboration. We found that game levels seem to provide desired increasing challenge, and that players often used the mouse and tangible programming blocks to aid communication/collaboration in distinctly different ways.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3102071.3116222
SPOC Blended Teaching of Computer Fundamental Course	Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Frontiers of Educational Technologies	Yang, Yi; Yu, Dekuang	With the rapid progress of technology, the contents and requirements of computer fundamental course teaching are increasing year by year, while at the same time there are problems caused by the contradiction of the limited class hours and the varied levels of the starting points of the students. In order to improve the teaching level and effectiveness of computer fundamental course, we took advantages of SPOC (Small Private Online Courses) blended advanced teaching idea, combined the teaching concepts with teaching practice closely, and explored on reasonable application and implementation of SPOC model. The main measures included reconstruction of the structure and organization of teaching contents according to professional requirements as well as the needs of students, offering an individualized quality education for every student, online and offline learning and practice in which the students acting as the main body, fully development of student-student and teacher-student interaction. We also tried to solve puzzles from students in time, to explore the potential of students, and to promote their creative ideas and works. Practice showed that by using SPOC blended mode in the computer fundamental course teaching, the students' initiative was stimulated, the performance of course examination was improved obviously, and the learners performed better in extracurricular activities compared with control groups. The experience of the SPOC blended teaching mode reform has been proved to be a good help to promote the quality of engineering teaching and improve the students' ability of information technology.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3338188.3338196
Piloting Alice in the Upper School	Proceedings of Alice Symposium on Alice Symposium	Distler, Chari	This paper describes a few challenges and many rewards of piloting the teaching of the programming language, Alice, in our Upper School consisting of middle school (grades 6-8) and high school (grades 9-12). We teach Alice as a stand-alone course at both levels. We originally planned on introducing the same curriculum into the middle school as we did the high school, but we knew we would need to approach the material with the younger students at a slower pace. Surprisingly, middle school students excelled in Alice and were able to keep up with their high school counterparts. Currently, we are considering providing our academic teachers with Alice training, so it can be used more at the middle school level. A goal in our department is to utilize Alice as a cross-curricular application. Alice is an ideal way for students to explore the world of computer programing, and we are eager to lay the foundation for a lifelong interest in computer programming for many of our students. Now that we have entered into the second half of this first year of Alice, we are finding that students are very excited about learning this valuable and enjoyable application that they view as "fun" and "cool."	https://doi.org/10.1145/2532333.2532334
A Conceptual Model for Personalized Learning Based on Educational Robots	Eighth International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality	Ferjaoui, Dhekra; Cheniti Belcadhi, Lilia	Over a previous couple of years, Distance learning has successfully overcome the shortcomings of traditional methods of teaching and learning, likewise increases student interaction and diversities of opinion, online instructors could also be from any location across the world. So students have the chance to settle on a learning strategy most suited to their abilities, while education is streamlined to satisfy the requirements of the individual in question. Due to the on-going technological change, we are witnessing, Robots are getting an integral component of our society and have great potential in being utilized as an academic technology by providing students with a highly interactive and hands-on learning experience. Indeed, Robotics promises to inspire a replacement generation of learning. With the aim of understanding how students can use robots to review, we created and implemented a learning scenario through an ontological conceptual Model for Personalized Learning supported Educational Robots. This model enables us to supply inferences over learning data and supply personalized learning resources, adapted to the progress of the scholar within the learning process.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3434780.3436609
From Visual Scripting to Lua	Proceedings of the South African Institute for Computer Scientists and Information Technologists Conference	Msiska, Mwawi F.; van Zijl, Lynette	We report on the ASD-Assist project at Stellenbosch University, and more specifically on our experience in developing a visual programming environment and language, which can easily be compiled to underlying Lua scripts for use on any compatible gaming engine. We show that such an environment and compiler can be successfully implemented, which results in a simple and efficient mechanism to generate front-ends for specialized 3D therapy tools.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2389836.2389848
Ubiquity Symposium: Evolutionary Computation and the Processes of Life: Perspectives and Reality of Evolutionary Computation: Closing Statement	Ubiquity	Burgin, Mark; Eberbach, Eugene		https://doi.org/10.1145/2555235.2555240
Training, Education, and Outreach: Raising the Bar	Proceedings of the Conference on Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment: Gateway to Discovery	Akli, Linda; Moore, Samuel L.; Rivera, Lorna I.; Teller, Patricia J.	This paper describes our efforts to help expand computational and data-enabled science and engineering by educating faculty, students, and staff at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) to advance scientific discovery through the use of cyberinfrastructure. The best practices used to plan, execute, and evaluate the workshop are discussed, and the results of a professional assessment of the workshop are presented.The two-day regional workshop held at UTEP on February 19 and 20, 2013 attracted 100 registrants. It was the largest, most diverse, and most comprehensive workshop that XSEDE has conducted to date. Since the workshop was located at UTEP, it addressed the inclusion of communities that are traditionally under-represented and under-served in STEM, including women and minorities. Note that UTEP is a Hispanic-serving institution with a student population that mirrors the region, i.e., it serves 22,700 students, 77% of whom are Hispanic. In addition, because of its focus, this effort also is meaningful in terms of sustaining a large and diverse scientific, academic, and industrial workforce.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2484762.2484807
Knowledge Assessment: Game for Assessment of Symptoms of Child Physical Abuse	Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games	Zhao, Richard; Shelton, Christopher R.; Hetzel-Riggin, Melanie D.; LaRiccia, Jordan; Louchart, Gregory; Meanor, Adam; Risser, Heather J.	Using serious games as a form of training and education has been a growing trend. While there has been research into the adaptation of games for training, assessment of user knowledge as a whole for the purpose of creating tailored training content has not been closely examined. In this paper, we propose a general framework for creating an assessment game and show how Knowledge Assessment can be used to guide the focus of subsequent training modules. Using our framework, we address the frustration and anxiety expressed by medical and nursing professionals about their lack of training regarding indicators of child physical abuse (CPA) in the United States. We develop the Computer Simulated Interactive Child Abuse Screening Tool (CSI-CAST), which contains scenarios in a serious game and uses assistive AI technologies to assess a group of users and discover features that are important in indicating the users' collective knowledge identifying CPA. A user study is conducted to show that CSI-CAST is easy to use and it functions to discover specific training needs.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3337722.3337747
What is the Question? Impact of Question Length and Illustration Support on the Success and Skip Rates of Preuniversity Mock Online Tests	Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality	Redondo, Ernest; Regot, Joaquim; Fonseca, David; Valls, Francesc; Giménez, Lluís	Online quizzes are a powerful educational tool that allow learners to self-evaluate their knowledge. This paper analyzes the results of over 20,000 pre-university mock online quizzes in the technical drawing subject of the Spanish University Admission Test to assess the impact of (a) the presence of accompanying graphic illustrations and (b) the length of the questions on the questions success and skip rates. The performance difference of the students in two tests 6 years apart and participating in two different intakes is also discussed. The results show that questions with image support receive more successful answers and are skipped less often, while increasing question length have the opposite effect. These findings should help improving the design of online quizzes, including more visual content and/or rephrasing the questions to be more concise.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3012430.3012502
STEM Hip-Hop Pedagogy: A Meta-Synthesis on Hip-Hop Pedagogy STEM Interventions Tools for Underrepresented Minorities in K-12 Education	Proceedings of the 2019 ACM Southeast Conference	Cummings, Robert; Chambers, Brittany; Reid, Amber; Gosha, Kinnis	Hip-hop pedagogy is the use of hip-hop artifacts and culture as resources to a curriculum or instruction. Applying hip-hop pedagogy to academic interventions has been suggested to effectively increase the value and connection to course content as well as the ability to re-envision content into ones that reflect underrepresented students of color's lived experiences. As there is a gap in African American and non-White Latino American performance in STEM compared to their White and Asian American counterparts, and a high demand in prospective STEM occupations (namely computer and information technology), hip-hop pedagogy can be leveraged to improve STEM identity to successively improve STEM performance. This paper represents the first stage of a case study to analyze and validate hip-hop pedagogical tools for computing and STEM instruction and outreach. This paper describes a qualitative meta-synthesis of hip-hop pedagogy and associated STEM outreach programs. Findings on hip-hop pedagogy in computing and STEM outreach interventions are discussed to aid in supporting and creating future hip-hop pedagogical interventions.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3299815.3314431
Near-Peer Led Workshops on Game Development for Broadening Participation and Diversity in Computing	Proceedings of the 2019 ACM Southeast Conference	Jin, Wei; Xu, Xin	The goal of a technology-focused service-learning course at an open access, baccalaureate degree granting institution is to increase the confidence and persistence of students, especially underrepresented students, in computing. An earlier study has shown the positive impact for the students enrolled in the service-learning course. In this paper, we evaluate the service part of the course, outreach activities that aim to let young people get excited about technology. Specifically, we evaluate the effectiveness of the near-peer outreach activities in the form of light-weight workshops for game development.One major activity conducted by the service-learning students is to develop games and then conduct workshops for lower class students (mostly freshmen) in Introduction to Computing, a general education course. In the workshops, the audience will develop miniature versions of the games that the service-learning students have developed. This makes the workshops fun and light-weight, taking only one-class period and allows our students to reach many classes and a large audience.In addition to reaching a large audience, data shows that this game-based, light-weight and near-peer led workshops are very effective in attracting diverse early college students into programming. Based on this observation, we make suggestions for future activities in outreach, which we believe are also applicable outside our service-learning course context.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3299815.3314430
Teaching Data Structures through Group Based Collaborative Peer Interactions	Proceedings of the 8th Computer Science Education Research Conference	Nazir, Sajid; Naicken, Stephen; Paterson, James H.	Data structures and algorithms is an important subject in Computer Science curriculum and builds upon the programming concepts learned by the students in their earlier courses. However, the abstract nature of the concepts can often be difficult for students to grasp. This problem becomes aggravated in an international setting with students from diverse academic backgrounds, resulting in some students losing interest and failing to follow along.This paper describes our novel approach to teach data structures for Computing undergraduates from 30 African countries at African Leadership College (ALC) in Mauritius in partnership with Glasgow Caledonian University, UK. The blended learning program uses a student led "flipped classroom" approach, requiring students to view lecture and supporting material online prior to engaging in on-campus seminar session with the tutor.Peer instruction is a key component of the flipped approach. In seminars, students worked on group based problem-solving activities in data structures supported by the tutor. The students devised their solutions on white boards taking ownership of the problem, became motivated to discuss their ideas freely, and to select a group solution. The group solutions were then shared with the other groups and peer reviewed, led by the tutor. This collaborative learning environment was observed to facilitate discussions, and students' contributions and performance in later assessments offered evidence of understanding of core subject concepts.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3375258.3375270
Text-Based Programming in Elementary School: A Comparative Study of Programming Abilities in Children with and without Block-Based Experience	Proceedings of the 2019 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Gomez, Marcos J.; Moresi, Marco; Benotti, Luciana	This paper describes an elementary school intervention to teach a text-based programming language to 10-11 year old students. We compare students with no previous programming experience with students with 3 semesters of experience with a block-based programming language. We analyze students' performance and learning based on detailed logs in an online programming platform and on multiple choice tests. Although both groups have a similar percentage of syntactical errors, the experienced group showed a better performance on exam scores and a lower number of test case errors. These findings suggest that, 10-11 year old students benefit from block-based experience when learning a new text-based programming language.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3304221.3319734
Framing Ethical Considerations on Artificial Intelligence Bias Applied to Voice Interfaces	Eighth International Conference on Technological Ecosystems for Enhancing Multiculturality	Pedrero Esteban, Luis Miguel; Pérez Escoda, Ana; Pedrero Esteban, Alberto	Digital ecosystem has transformed our lives in a connected living through multiple networks and technologies, five billion individuals in the world have access to the internet. The interaction with these technologies not only provides the immediate supply of any virtual content but increases the possibilities of personalization through artificial intelligence (AI). AI in all of its developments, is advancing faster than the capacity of institutions and organizations to provide legal and deontological responses. Finding solutions to its implications in new ecosystems where technology learns from human routines and interacts with users is a challenge that must be addressed from the academic, political and business fields. Technology advances show that algorithms and automatization have become omnipresent in contemporary times, increasingly determining the nature of the contents that reach the users. This work offers an interpretative descriptive framework based on two main objectives: firstly, describing the evolution of voice assistants as tools for the automated personalization of information contents —about which each individual becomes aware of his environment and makes decisions; and secondly, highlighting the ethical demands on AI when personalizing contents in voice interfaces. In result the study presented offers an open debate to the increasing concern that algorithms can actually influence people, replicating or amplifying existing biases, bringing a wide and current field for academics to explore.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3434780.3436617
Software Engineering Java Curriculum with Alice and Cloud Computing	Proceedings of Alice Symposium on Alice Symposium	Shanahan, Joseph; Marghitu, Daniela	Project Expression is a course designed to attract students into the field of computing. Participants are trained in Java programming and the art of multimedia production. By implementing a wide range of apps they learn cloud communication techniques in a software environment. The course focuses on a digital film project and participants are challenged with creating a movie that expresses an idea, opinion, or belief relative to society. The film project is a landscape for learning cloud-computer-programming and reaches across the computer spectrum with engaging activities that stimulate creative design. This study examines the curriculum's approach and measures its effectiveness to teach the cloud-computing mentality. It emphasizes the importance of empathy in a technology-based society. Furthermore, it investigates whether or not such a course is an effective method for attracting students into the field of computing.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2532333.2532337
Drag and Drop Programming Experiences and Equity: Analysis of a Large Scale Middle School Student Motivation Survey	Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Bush, Jeffrey B.; Gilmore, Monica R.; Miller, Susan B.	Drag and drop programming languages have been promoted for broadening participation and increasing motivation for middle grade students in computer science (CS), yet their impact on motivation and the implications for equity are not well documented. This raises questions about potential issues of equity. Despite considerations to increase participation and diversity, these tools have not been evaluated as to how they provide more equitable outcomes regarding student motivation in CS. This study analyzes data from a survey (n=9,573) to investigate middle school student motivation in CS when considering previous experiences with drag and drop programming. Student responses to motivational items are categorized into four factors based on exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Multiple regression interaction analysis shows that previous experience is associated with increases (p<0.01) in three motivational factors: general academic and computer use confidence, programming confidence, and interest in future CS courses. These associations hold regardless of race and gender although they are lower for demographics underrepresented in CS, female and/or non-White and non-Asian students. Previous experience was also associated with an increase in interest in the current course for White and Asian male students and a decrease for female underrepresented minority students. While it appears that drag and drop programming efforts could help increase future interest and confidence for all students, it does so to differing degrees for different demographics. This suggests that these initiatives are not addressing issues of equity since groups overrepresented in CS still report higher gains than underrepresented demographics after early programming experiences.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3328778.3366875
Engaging CS2 Students via a Semester-Long in-Class Game Project	J. Comput. Sci. Coll.	Wallinga, Mike	Object-oriented design principles and software engineering best practices are two key learning objectives of our Computer Science 2 (CS2) course. Many popular textbooks use short, generic examples that fail to capture student interest in the former and lack the scope and scale needed to successfully demonstrate the latter. This paper discusses how a semester-long game project was utilized to accomplish these objectives and improve student engagement, performance and retention.
A TUI-Based Programming Tool for Children	Proceedings of the 2015 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Wang, Danli; Zhang, Lan; Qi, Yunfeng; Sun, Fang	TanPro-Kit 2.0 is a programming tool for children aged 6 to 8, which is based on tangible user interface (TUI). It consists of programming blocks and a LED pad. The pad presents visual and audible feedback according to the arrangement of programming blocks with which children construct programs to play a maze game. Based on TanPro-Kit, we expanded three important programming concepts: parameters, Boolean logic and branch, and improved the system to support two-dimensional connection, which aims to make the program structure clearer. To realize these new features, we added three kinds of programming blocks accordingly, improved the process of block sequence in Arduino, and modified the infrared and wireless communications of the Single-Chip Microcomputer (SCM). A lab-based user study with 15 children was conducted, and the results show that the children can use the system to complete tasks easily and have a basic understanding of the related programming concepts.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2729094.2742630
An Analysis of User Engagement in Relation to Computing Workshop Activities	Proceedings of the 46th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Menzies, Rachel; Crabb, Michael; Herron, Daniel; Petrie, Karen; Stewart, Craig; Zarb, Mark	Computing is now one of the fastest growing fields of employment, with a large bias placed on developing Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education in schools. However, due to the fast pace of technology development, it is increasingly difficult for schools to keep up with the latest computing methodologies. A possible solution is the use of university outreach programmes, whereby local universities can provide training workshops on areas that can be challenging for schools to implement. This can be problematic, as there is a perceived lack of interest in the methods used to interact with secondary school pupils on a university level.This paper introduces a week long 'Easter Computing School', comprising of five workshop sessions on different topics. These sessions were analysed in terms of user engagement, to better understand aspects that are important to secondary school pupils. It was found that a combination of theory and interactive workshop sessions can provide the highest levels of engagement and their use is encouraged in future workshop design.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2676723.2677272
A Summer Program to Attract Potential Computer Science Majors	Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Vandenberg, Scott; Small, Sharon G.; Fryling, Meg; Flatland, Robin; Egan, MaryAnne	Computer Science (CS) is not taught in enough high schools thus many students arrive at college or university knowing little about it and often do not consider taking a CS course during their first year. At the same time, we encounter many college or university juniors and seniors who, while taking their first CS course, discover an aptitude and interest, at which point it is too late. We describe an innovative one-week residential summer program designed to educate non-computer science majors, before their second year of college or university, about the field's many areas and long-term prospects. The program has succeeded at encouraging undecided students to major or minor in CS and thus somewhat ameliorates the lack of CS in K-12 education and furthers the conference goal of "CS For All".	https://doi.org/10.1145/3159450.3159562
A Community Model of CSforALL: Analysis of Community Commitments for CS Education	Proceedings of the 23rd Annual ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	DeLyser, Leigh Ann	Computer science education is expanding rapidly across the globe. With increased community awareness and engagement in computer science education efforts, universities and researchers no longer make up a clear majority of the landscape of efforts to reach students and teachers. In this paper I use the commitments made to the CSforALL Consortium in the fall of 2017 to infer a participatory landscape of computer science education efforts, and to highlight the benefits of the commitment making model as a case study for international CS education efforts. This paper analyzes both the types of commitments and the potential impact of the commitments on the CS education landscape in the United States using a document analysis approach. Overall, the analysis indicates a growing landscape with a focus on serving students or teachers, and a focus on formal education for implementation.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3197091.3197142
Building Worlds: Bridging Imperative-First and Object-Oriented Programming in CS1-CS2	Proceedings of the 46th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Wood, Zoë; Keen, Aaron	When teaching introductory computing courses, we are often guilty of writing rudimentary programming assignments - those meant to illustrate one simple language feature, comprised mostly of code that will never be used beyond the assignment. Admittedly, first-year computing students must navigate a myriad of challenges, sometimes learning both imperative and object-oriented programming, in addition to mastering syntax, logic,debugging, and testing. To tackle the difficulties of developing CS 1 and CS 2 courses that engage students in learning while addressing the numerous course objectives, we chose to challenge students to create virtual worlds in one large comprehensive two-quarter long programming project. Students were granted creative freedom within a framework that gradually introduced many programming skills and that required the mastery of object-oriented programming and some engaging algorithms. We present the curriculum, performance comparisons, and observations. Overall, we consider the experimental courses a success that will have an impact on our department's future curricular offerings.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2676723.2677249
Performing Robots: Innovative Interdisciplinary Projects	Proceedings of the 14th Annual ACM SIGITE Conference on Information Technology Education	Smarkusky, Debra L.; Toman, Sharon A.; Sutor, Peter; Hunt, Christopher	By challenging and engaging students in interdisciplinary projects, we provide a learning platform to enhance creativity, critical thinking and problem-solving skills, while promoting an innovation-oriented culture in academia. In this paper, we summarize interdisciplinary and undergraduate research projects in music and animation that integrate technologies from both disciplines to create unique and innovative projects. Iterative development coupled with various forms of visual and audio feedback enhanced the student learning experience with positive feedback from students. These efforts have resulted in the awarding of internal grant funding, interest in additional undergraduate research projects, and enhanced awareness of the application of technology to other disciplines.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2512276.2512285
How Do We Design for Concreteness Fading? Survey, General Framework, and Design Dimensions	Proceedings of the Interaction Design and Children Conference	Suh, Sangho; Lee, Martinet; Law, Edith	Over the years, concreteness fading has been used to design learning materials and educational tools for children. Unfortunately, it remains an underspecified technique without a clear guideline on how to design it, resulting in varying forms of concreteness fading and conflicting results due to the design inconsistencies. To our knowledge, no research has analyzed the existing designs of concreteness fading implemented across different settings, formulated a generic framework, or explained the design dimensions of the technique. This poses several problems for future research, such as lack of a shared vocabulary for reference and comparison, as well as barriers to researchers interested in learning and using this technique. Thus, to inform and support future research, we conducted a systematic literature review and contribute: (1) an overview of the technique, (2) a discussion of various design dimensions and challenges, and (3) a synthesis of key findings about each dimension. We open source our dataset to invite other researchers to contribute to the corpus, supporting future research and discussion on concreteness fading.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3392063.3394413
How Important is Immersion for Learning in Computer Science Replugged Games?	Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Dengel, Andreas	By following the idea of not using computers at all, Computer Science Unplugged has set the course for many interactive, social, and hands-on activities dealing with concepts and problems of Computer Science Education. Through recent developments in immersive media, technologies like Virtual and Augmented Reality could enhance such activities or even enable new ones. When providing immersive educational media that induce a sense of presence in the virtual environment, the illusion of unmediated learning experience can be delivered. Hence, the concept of "Computer Science Replugged” can benefit from the affordances that Computer Science Unplugged thrives on while facilitating or enabling activities that might be impossible, dangerous, or expensive to carry out in reality. This paper presents three concepts from Computer Science Education that have been modeled as 3-D immersive educational virtual environments: components of a computer, asymmetric encryption/decryption, and finite state machines. To get a first impression of the effectiveness of these approaches and in order to determine the importance of the level of immersion for the learning process, a study with 78 participants was conducted in which the software was tested on different devices. All activities were found to be significantly effective with regards to the pre- and post-tests. When analyzing these results on the basis of comparing the least immersive setting (laptop) with the most immersive setting (head-mounted-display), the findings indicate different effects with effect sizes betweenβ = -.17 andβ = .41. This raises two questions: "Which topics from Computer Science Education can benefit from immersive technology?” and "What are the opportunities and challenges of the didactical design of Computer Science Replugged activities?” that have to be adressed in further research.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3328778.3366837
A Survey-Based Exploration of Computer Science Student Perspectives on Mathematics	Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Sigurdson, Nikki; Petersen, Andrew	Experts and practitioners have long published reflections on how mathematics connects with computer science and how best to integrate mathematics within computing education. However, little literature exists that investigates this area empirically. One recent study used in-depth interviews to generate a theory of the relationship between student perceptions of mathematics and their attitude toward computer science. However, this theory is based on interactions with a limited number of students. Our study tests this theory in a larger population. We present a survey-based exploration of the attitudes 218 undergraduate computer science students hold on mathematics. We present quantitative evidence that supports the theory that student career inclinations are correlated with beliefs about mathematics. We also present additional qualitative data, obtained from free-response sections of the survey, that support the idea that student inclinations affect both their perception of the value of mathematics and academic decisions such as course selection.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287416
An Open Co-Op Model for Global Enterprise Technology Education: Integrating the Internship and Course Work	Proceedings of the 43rd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Saltz, Jeffrey; Oh, Jae	We present an open co-op program called Global Enterprise Technology Immersion Experience (GET IE) developed by JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Syracuse University. The new program creates a global enterprise focus in technology-oriented academic majors, integrated with hands-on experiential work-based learning to provide a context in which students are stimulated to utilize their classroom experience. The program includes a two-semester paid internship component that can be seamlessly incorporated with the existing computer science curriculum at Syracuse and else where. The internship's unique pedagogical innovation is to simultaneously provide the students academic course work that is integrated within a students extended internship and provides relevant problems in global enterprise technology. The curricula is "open" in the sense that other institutions and companies can join the consortium to enrich choices for the students and foster cross-fertilization of curricula activities. The program, in effect, creates a domain specific next generation co-op program that complements typical computer science curricula with a skill-set that is required for creating very large, global enterprise applications for technically and socially diverse organizations.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2157136.2157174
Extending Patterns for Fearless Change	Proceedings of the 18th Conference on Pattern Languages of Programs	Cukier, Daniel; Kon, Fabio	The software industry is very dynamic and new ideas arise all the time from virtually any part of the world. It is not guaranteed that these ideas will be adopted, mainly because, among other obstacles, the solution may imply on having people change their way of thinking. Different from people, computers receive well defined commands and execute them precisely. We should take into account that human beings are independent and unpredictable. Despite this unpredictability, we can find some behavioral patterns to help us deal with several situations, allowing us to achieve our objectives.In this paper, after a small introduction to the Patterns for Introducing New Ideas proposed by Mary Lynn Manns and Linda Rising, we propose four new patterns that can be added to the original catalog. In one of these new patterns, we show the great importance of combining artistic activities with day-to-day activities of people who work with software development and how Arts can help us to introduce new ideas. The study of some practices such as theater, painting, poetry, music, and meditation allowed us to find some connective elements between the purely mathematical side of the human mind and its creative, artistic one. Software development should be approached as a "human activity", rather than a solely technical or logical one.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2578903.2579156
A Course on Probability Theory for Computer Scientists	Proceedings of the 42nd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Sahami, Mehran	During the past 20 years, probability theory has become a critical element in the development of many areas in computer science. Commensurately, in this paper, we argue for expanding the coverage of probability in the computing curriculum. Specifically, we present details of a new course we have developed on Probability Theory for Computer Scientists. An analysis of course evaluation data shows that students find the contextualized content of this class more relevant and valuable than general presentations of probability theory. We also discuss different models for expanding the role of probability in different curricular programs that may not have the capacity to teach a full course on the subject.	https://doi.org/10.1145/1953163.1953245
Mapping Materials to Curriculum Standards for Design, Alignment, Audit, and Search	Proceedings of the 52nd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Goncharow, Alec; Mcquaigue, Matthew; Saule, Erik; Subramanian, Kalpathi; Payton, Jamie; Goolkasian, Paula	Computing proficiency is an increasingly vital component of the modern workforce, and computer science programs are faced with the challenges of engaging and retaining students to meet the growing need in that sector. However, administrators and instructors often find themselves either reinventing the wheel or relying too heavily on intuition, despite the availability of national curriculum standards. To address these issues, we present CS Materials, an open-source resource targeted at computing educators for designing and analyzing courses for coverage of recommended guidelines, and alignment between the various components within a course, between sections of the same course, or course sequences within a program. The system works by facilitating mapping educational materials to national curriculum standards. A side effect of the system is that it centralizes the design of the courses and the materials used therein. The curriculum guidelines act as a lingua franca that allows examination of and comparison between materials and courses. More relevant to instructors, the system enables a more precise search for materials that match particular topics and learning outcomes, and dissemination of high quality materials and course designs. This paper discusses the system, and analyzes the costs and benefits of its features and usage. While adding courses and materials requires some overhead, having a centralized repository of courses and materials with a shared structure and vocabulary serves students, instructors, and administrators, by promoting a data-driven approach to rigor and alignment with national standards.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3408877.3432388
Lessons in User Interface Design in the Procedural City Generation for Games Tool ÜRban PAD	Proceedings of the 2nd International Workshop on Procedural Content Generation in Games	Barret, Lionel; Vance, Claudia; Youngblood, G. Michael	Procedural content generation design often involves configuring an array of abstract choices at each stage of the creation process. For new tools users, or for a non-specialist user, these choices are often complex and uncertain. A good interface that guides the user in their choices helps overcome this uncertainty and subsequent frustration with the process of generating procedural content. Since good user interface (UI) experiences facilitate adoption, procedural software tool developers constantly refine UI design in order to accommodate the engineering demands of procedural content generation architecture and translate them into a coherent user experience.This paper discusses Gamr7's experience in creating, testing, and refining procedural user interfaces based on our experience with redesigning the user interface for our procedural content generation software, Ürban PAD. This case study will address user expectations, architecture, and execution flow considerations as well as solutions to some of Ürban PAD's specific user interface challenges.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2000919.2000923
Social Genesis in Computing Education	ACM Transactions on Computing Education	Tenenberg, Josh; Chinn, Donald	It is common to think of learning as the acquisition of knowledge by an individual learner. Starting a century ago, Lev Vygotsky developed a different perspective on learning, initiating a tradition of educational research whose momentum and influence continue to grow. One of Vygotsky's key principles is the general genetic law of cultural development that states that whatever skilled cognition that individuals carry out within their own minds is preceded by homologous activity carried out by a social group of which this individual was a part. In linking the individual and society through this law, learning is not simply a matter of the acquisition of domain knowledge. Rather, it is a cyclic process by which a social group, in its functioning through joint activity, leads to individuals taking into themselves (i.e., internalizing ) the social forms of activity. In this article, our goal is to explicate Vygotsky's genetic law and demonstrate its utility for yielding novel insight into computing education. We provide an extended illustration of the use of Vygotsky's law in examining a teacher and students in a university setting write code together during a class session. What our analysis reveals is that the teacher and students together enact a sequential, rule-based, and dialogical process of problem decomposition and code writing far different from the plan and schema-based models for programming that have emerged from prior research focused on the individual student and their cognitive strategies and structures. We provide commentary on implications of the genetic law for both research and practice in computing education.	https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3322211
From Algorithmic to Computational Thinking: On the Way for Computing for all Students	Proceedings of the 2015 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education	Sysło, Maciej M.		https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2729094.2742582
Информатика В Начальной Школе: Взгляд На Российский Опыт С Позиций Международного Конкурса Bebras	Информатика В Школе	Босова, Л. Л.; Павлов, Д. И.	В статье обозначены ключевые этапы развития пропедевтического курса информатики в России и за рубежом. Раскрывается сущность понятия «вычислительное мышление», его значение для жизни и деятельности человека в современном мире; приводится перечень навыков, определяющих вычислительное мышление. Рассмотрены основные содержательные линии и примеры задач международного конкурса по информатике Bebras. Проведено их сравнение с содержанием авторских программ и учебно-методических комплектов по информатике, используемых в начальных школах Российской Федерации; выявлены общие позиции и различия в подходах к изучению информатики младшими школьниками в России и за рубежом.	https://elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=37074409
Promoting Inclusive Informatics Education Through the Bebras Challenge to All K-12 Students	Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Computer Systems and Technologies 2016	Dagienė, Valentina; Stupurienė, Gabrielė; Vinikienė, Lina		https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2983468.2983517
Increasing Student Self-Efficacy in Computational Thinking via STEM Outreach Programs	Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education	Feldhausen, Russell; Weese, Joshua Levi; Bean, Nathan H.		https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3159450.3159593
Self-Efficacy, Cognitive Load, and Emotional Reactions in Collaborative Algorithms Labs - A Case Study	Proceedings of the 2018 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research	Toma, Laura; Vahrenhold, Jan	While previous research has investigated psychological factors in introductory programming courses, only little is known about their impact in algorithms courses. Similarly, despite the importance of collaborative problem solving in both academic and non-academic settings, only a small number of studies reports on group work in domains other than programming. In our case study, we focused on the labs of an introductory algorithms course. We measured the cognitive load of the lab assignments as well as the students' emotional reaction to them. We connect these observations to self-efficacy, performance, psychological traits, and help-seeking behavior as well as to the insights gained from a comprehensive set of follow-up interviews. Even though our study is a small-scale study, the results from applying both quantitative and qualitative methods frame directions for both pedagogic interventions and further (revalidation) studies related to the connection of non-cognitive factors, learning experiences, and performance in collaborative algorithms labs.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3230977.3230980
From computational thinking to computational action	Communications of the ACM	Tissenbaum, Mike; Sheldon, Josh; Abelson, Hal	Envisioning computing education that both teaches and empowers.	https://doi.org/10.1145/3265747
From computational thinking to computational values	Proceedings of the 43rd ACM technical symposium on Computer Science Education	Abelson, Hal	SIGCSE members love the beauty of computational thinking. They know the joy of bringing those ideas to young people. That love for computational thinking entails respect for the computational values that empower people in the digital world. For academics, those values have been central to the flowering of computing as an intellectual endeavor. Today, those values are increasingly threatened by stresses from both within and outside academia: squabbles over who owns academic work, increasingly stringent and overreaching intellectual property laws, and the replacement of open computing platforms by closed applications and walled-garden application markets. In this talk I'll describe some things we've done at MIT to support computational values, like open publication of all our course materials, our faculty policy on open publication of academic research, and our recently announced initiative for open online instruction based on non-proprietary software platforms. I'll discuss Creative Commons licensing and Free Software, and the importance of tinkerability for empowering citizens in an information society. And I'll describe App Inventor for Android, a new programming tool motivated by the vision that all of us us can experience mobile computing as creators using tools that we can control and reshape, rather than only as consumers of packaged applications.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2157136.2157206
Teaching CS principles with app inventor	Proceedings of the 50th Annual Southeast Regional Conference	Gray, Jeff; Abelson, Hal; Wolber, David; Friend, Michelle	Mobile phone programming can provide an authentic and engaging hook into computer science. With App Inventor, developed by Google and recently moved to MIT, programming Android apps is as easy as clicking blocks together. App Inventor has been used successfully in after school programs, roadshows, summer camps, teacher workshops, and computer science classrooms from middle school through college. In this tutorial, participants will get an overview of App Inventor including project ideas and sample curriculum. In addition, the new CS Principles project will be introduced to participants, including a discussion of the Big Ideas and Learning Objectives that have been defined by the College Board and NSF. Specifically, the use of App Inventor as a platform for teaching CS Principles will be discussed with examples from an official Principles pilot effort within Alabama. A virtual panel with App Inventor experts will allow participants to interact and ask questions about the exciting opportunities available with App Inventor.	https://doi.org/10.1145/2184512.2184628