Describing computer science education research: an academic process view (original) (raw)

Describing Computer Science Education Research: An Academic

Changing conditions in universities include using new teaching models, and new technologies. The integration of new technology into computer science (CS) and Information Technology (IT) education programmes is often accompanied by studies which aim to understand and improve the teaching and learning process. How we evaluate the potential of emerging technologies and integrate them into teacher education has clearly become increasingly important.

Research methods in computer science education

ACM Sigcse Bulletin, 1993

This paper examines the nature and scope of computer science education (CSE) research. We first distinguish CSE research from other forms of educational research, outlining its aims and identity as a research discipline. In examining the state of the art of CSE research, we attempt to categorise past research studies into general themes, reflecting the diverse contributions to CSE made over the years. Further, we critique each category, highlighting possible benefits and limitations. We argue that there has been a lack of reference to pedagogical theory, underlying most past research studies. This has resulted in a failure to provide teachers with "pedagogical content knowledge", critical to gaining useful insights into cognitive and educational issues surrounding learning. We conclude by providing guidelines for CSE research, stressing the need for a stronger connection to the theoretical frameworks of education-related disciplines such as pedagogy, epistemology, curriculum studies and psychology.

Models and Areas for CS Education Research

Computer Science Education, 2001

A suite of ®ve short papers which aim to provide an overview of several aspects of CS education research, especially: previous work of interest, current projects and results; suggestions and resources for getting started in CS education research, and for forming and entering research communities.

A Methodological Review of Computer Science Education Research

2008

Methodological reviews have been used successfully to identify research trends and improve research practice in a variety of academic fields. Although there have been three methodological reviews of the emerging field of computer science education research, they lacked reliability or generalizability. Therefore, because of the capacity for a methodological review to improve practice in computer science education and because the previous methodological reviews were lacking, a large scale, reliable, and generalizable methodological review of the recent research on computer science education is reported here. Our overall research question, which has nine subquestions, involved the methodological properties of research reported in articles in major computer science education research forums from the years 2000-2005. T he purpose of this methodological review is to provide a methodologically rigorous basis on which to make recommendations for the improvement of computer science education research and to promote informed dialogue about its practice.

Research Agenda for Computer Science Education

This paper examines the nature and scope of computer science education (CSE) research. We first distinguish CSE research from other forms of educational research, outlining its aims and identity as a research discipline. In examining the state of the art of CSE research, we attempt to categorise past research studies into general themes, reflecting the diverse contributions to CSE made over the years. Further, we critique each category, highlighting possible benefits and limitations. We argue that there has been a lack of reference to pedagogical theory, underlying most past research studies. This has resulted in a failure to provide teachers with "pedagogical content knowledge", critical to gaining useful insights into cognitive and educational issues surrounding learning. We conclude by providing guidelines for CSE research, stressing the need for a stronger connection to the theoretical frameworks of education-related disciplines such as pedagogy, epistemology, curriculum studies and psychology.

Categorising computer science education research

Education and Information Technologies, 2009

The interdisciplinary nature of Computer Science Education as a field of study is a complicating factor when authors are choosing appropriate journals and conferences for publishing research results. This paper reports a survey of 42 such publications in order to identify the types of paper frequently accepted for publication in each. We review existing taxonomies developed for the general fields of Computer Science and Education, and from this starting point, we develop a novel faceted taxonomy, specifically aimed to help new researchers in the field understand what types of papers are published and where they appear. Our results confirm previous studies indicating the predominance of practice-based, technology-driven reports. We also observe

A Case for Learning Research in Computer Science Education

As computer science education (CS Ed) research matures, CS Ed researchers need to take a step back and consider more foundational questions of what it means to know how to program. Along this journey we will need to use research frameworks and methodologies from learning research that help us better understand who our students are as learners and how that affect how they learn, their motivation for learning, and how best to support their learning. In particular, we need to gain a better understanding of the mental modes students build around important programming constructs and concepts and the meta-cognitive skill necessary for learning to program and consistent application of programming and computational thinking skills. Lastly, we need to develop an understanding of the differences between novice and experts to begin defining a computer science specific pedagogy that distinguishes between content knowledge we want students to know and the pedagogical content knowledge needed to support students’ learning that content. While a few researchers in the field have already begun to branch into these research directions, this research has not matured enough that everyone recognizes these works as foundational to all the other computer science education research we conduct. This paper was accepted for the NSF funded Future of Computer Science Education Summit hosted in Orlando, FL in January 2014.

Models and Methods for Computing Education Research

2012

We have been engaged in computing education research for close to two decades. One characteristic of the field has been a preponderance of exploratory research, Marco Polo papers as Valentine termed them. Even considering the entire research corpus it is hard to discern a clear trend in terms of models and methods for conducting research.

BRACE Yourself: CS Education research is coming

2004

Computer science education is a fledgling research discipline. Only recently have CS educators begun to explore important issues and methodologies in computer science teaching. However, without a mature research community or a common theoretical model, it can be difficult to develop a coherent research program. Efforts are duplicated between institutions, projects become mired in methodological problems and experimental rigour is sacrificed.

Structuring CSed research studies

ACM SIGCSE Bulletin, 2003

Changing conditions for teaching increase our motivation to understand the teaching and learning process. First time investigators of educational settings often feel uncertain about what aspects are involved and how to design a meaningful investigation. This paper develops and describes an applied research model with the objective of providing computer science (CS) academics of with a structured overview of the inter-disciplinary research components of CS education research.