Girls in robotics programming: STEAM integration in computer science course

The computer science education research community has thought deeply about how students learn computational thinking (CT) as it relates to other domains of computer science (CS; e.g. programming) and core content areas (STEM, humanities), but less work has examined the role of CT in pathways to computer science for K-5 teachers. This panel examines the experiences of practitioners - educators, administrators, and curriculum designers--who have both experienced and supported others in incorporating CT in elementary school settings as a pathway to or component of computer science education. All panelists have worked with teachers not previously trained to teach CS and have encountered the many opportunities and difficulties of bringing CS to in-service teachers. They will reflect on the multiple ways educators grapple with CT: as an entry point to computer science, as a way to enrich core disciplines, and as a way to support equitable practice - for example, several of the panelists have experiences leveraging CT and other domains of CS to support the expression and development of emergent bilingual students. The panel will explore ways in which CT and its associated language and strategies for problem solving may provide a particularly helpful onramp to CS generally, including integration with other disciplines and with language about academic skills more generally.

This study aims to provide an overview of the computational mathematical thinking abilities of male and female students in solving mathematical problems and the aspects (abstraction, decomposition, algorithmic thinking, and generalization) that influence these differences. This study uses a qualitative method with a case study approach in a junior high school in Jakarta for the academic year 2023/2024. The participants in this study are 36 students. Data were collected through written examinations and interviews and analyzed using the triangulation technique. The results of the study showed different patterns of computational thinking skills between male and female students. Male students excel in decomposition and algorithmic thinking but are weak in abstraction and generalization. Female students excel in abstraction and decomposition but are weak in algorithmic thinking and generalization. Both male and female students master the context of decomposition for computational thinking skills but lack mastery in the context of generalization. In conclusion, gender differences influence specific aspects of computational thinking skills, indicating the need for tailored educational strategies to address these differences.

There has been a trend in recent years about discovering the effectiveness of implementing different designs of blended learning, in different learning tasks, different learning outcomes, and for different students. This research aimed at discovering the effectiveness of integrated design and sequential design of blended learning of Informatics Subject Matter in developing female secondary school students’ informatics cognitive achievement and achievement motivation—as in the research limitations. Developmental research method was implemented using quasi-experimental two experimental groups design of (22) female students in each group with pre and post tests. Cognitive knowledge aspects were derived through content analysis of the two Units “Advanced Web Concepts” from the Informatics Subject Matter, Instructional design standards list was developed for the two designs, The two blended learning designs were developed through implementing the Elgazzar (2014) ISD model for that Unit in accordance to those standards, two research tools were developed and approved for validity and reliability: Cognitive Achievement test and Achievement Motivation Scale. Research sample of (44) female students was selected and divided to two equal groups and randomly assigned to the research groups according to the specified experimental design. Research experiment was carried out by the first author with the pre and post implementations of the two research tools. Suitable statistical procedures were implemented to test the research hypotheses. Results reveal that there are significant differences at (α ≤ 0.05) among means of pre-post Cognitive Achievement test and Achievement Motivation scores of the two groups. Results also reveal that there aren’t significant comparative differences between means of posttests of Cognitive Achievement test and Achievement Motivation scores of the two designs of blended learning. So, the answer of the question: Is there any comparative Effectiveness between the two designs in Developing Cognitive Achievement and Achievement Motivation among Kuwaiti Female Secondary School Students? Is there isn’t any comparative effectiveness. Research report contains Tables, Figures, and References as well as lists of Recommendations and further researches.

Enrolling the cultural capital of underrepresented communities in PK-12 technology and curriculum design has been a primary strategy for broadening the participation of students of color in U.S. computer science (CS) fields. This article examines two ways that African-American cultural capital and computing can be bridged in CS education. The first is community representation, using cultural capital to highlight students’ social identities and networks through computational thinking. The second, computational integration, locates computation in cultural capital itself. I survey two risks – the appearance of shallow computing and the reproduction of assimilationist logics – that may arise when constructing one bridge without the other. To avoid these risks, I introduce the concept of computational communities by exploring areas in CS education that employ both strategies. This concept is then grounded in qualitative data from an after school program that connected CS to African-American cosmetology.

There has been an increasing interest in the integration of technology into language education. Meanwhile, computational thinking (CT) skills are fostered which influence communicative language teaching and learning. Despite CT's established importance in science education, its significance in language teaching remains scarce. This study contributes to knowledge synthesis and methodological development by reviewing 16 journal articles, analyzing CT applications in language learning across educational contexts, intervention tools, CT skills, language acquisition, and assessment methods. The results indicate that (a) more CT-involved activities are needed for primary, secondary, and tertiary education, (b) educational robots and Scratch stand out as the most trending intervention tools, (c) CT skills such as decomposition, abstraction, generalization and so on have a positive effect on students’ foreign language acquisition, especially in grammar and writing, (d) assessment of CT development can be surveyed through a validated and reliable instrument such as computer programming self-efficacy scale or an online platform: Dr. Scratch; Conversely, there is a diversity of evaluation tools in foreign language learning. This study is the first to review experimental research on integrating computational thinking into foreign language learning and offers significant implications for future research.

Self-efficacy theory was applied to the domain of computer programming to develop a thirty-two-item self-efficacy scale for computer programming, primed to the C++ programming language. To assess its construct validity, the scale was administered to 421 students enrolled in an introductory course in C++ programming at the beginning and the end of the course. The reliability of the scores was high. An exploratory factor analysis, with oblimin rotation, yielded a four-factor solution. There was a growth in self-efficacy between two administrations of the scale twelve weeks apart, particularly for students who initially had low self-efficacy. The computer programming self-efficacy of males and females did not differ substantially in practical terms.

The purpose of this study was to explore the nine components of computational thinking (CT) practices and their operational definitions from the view of science education and to develop a CT practice framework that is going to be used as a planning and assessing tool for CT practice, as it is required for students to equip with in order to become creative problem solvers in 21st century. We employed this framework into the earlier developed STEAM programs to see how it was valid and reliable. We first reviewed theoretical articles about CT from computer science and technology education field. We then proposed 9 components of CT as defined in technology education but modified operational definitions in each component from the perspective of science education. This preliminary CTPF (computational thinking practice framework) from the viewpoint of science education consisting of 9 components including data collection, data analysis, data representation, decomposing, abstraction, algorithm and procedures, automation, simulation, and parallelization. We discussed each component with operational definition to check if those components were useful in and applicable for science programs. We employed this CTPF into two different topics of STEAM programs to see if those components were observable with operational definitions. The profile of CT components within the selected STEAM programs for this study showed one sequential spectrum covering from data collection to simulation as the grade level went higher. The first three data related CT components were dominating at elementary level, all components of CT except parallelization were found at middle school level, and finally more frequencies in every component of CT except parallelization were also found at high school level than middle school level. On the basis of the result of CT usage in STEAM programs, we included ‘generalization’ in CTPF of science education instead of ‘parallelization’ which was not found. The implication about teacher education was made based on the CTPF in terms of science education.

This Research Full Paper presents the effects of our weeklong Professional Development class on the programming skills of nineteen high school teachers, their confidence in programming, and their confidence for teaching programming. A primary objective of the CS10K and CS For All initiatives is the education of K-12 teachers in aspects of computer science and computational thinking so they can teach CS courses in their schools. Many of these educators have degrees in disciplines other than computer science, such as math, science, and business, so preparing them to teach CS is a challenge, particularly since most K-12 teachers have limited time to devote to learning new curriculum. This study describes how we managed a short course in computational thinking and programming to a group of high school teachers. We illustrate through survey data assessment and evaluation that significant gains in skill level and self-efficacy can be realized within a short but intensive week of face-to-face training. Five months later we follow-up with the same cohort to see if earlier achievements remain evident over time. Discussion throughout the paper identifies strengths and weaknesses of the training week, which is useful to others planning to undertake similar PD offerings.

Educational Robotics (ER) is a tool that can favor teamwork, stimulate creativity, and the ability to solve students' problems through the process of assembling and programming robots. In this sense, ER has been used to improve educational practices. There are several initiatives that seek to stimulate Computational Thinking (CT) to stand out. Although ER being used to develop CT, there are still no guidelines based on scientific studies that support this use. The objective of this Research Full Paper is to identify: a) the main pedagogical approaches are applied in classes with ER focused on developing students' CT; b) the central difficulties are encountered in classes with ER focused on developing students' CT; c) the CT skills are presents in classes with ER focused on developing students' CT; d) the instruments are used to assess students' CT during classes with ER; e) the students' profile who participated in classes with ER focused o on developing students' CT; f) the educational robotics technologies are adopted in classes focused on developing students' CT. To achieve these goals, we planned and carried out systematic mapping of the literature. The results show that, through ER, CT is approached through the teaching of programming languages in a collaborative way in Early Childhood and High School. The most CT skills observed are related to programming, such as sequencing, algorithm, loop, generalization, decomposition, and debugging. The main instruments for assessing students are tests, and the most significant difficulty is the limitation of class hours. Finally, LEGO® is the most used technology in class.

In this study, the authors constructed structural equation models in order to determine the relationship between students’ learning attitudes and their computational thinking perspectives and programming empowerment. The purpose is to understand students’ perceived competence to use computational thinking effectively, along with their computer programming learning attitude regarding the C++ programming language for one semester (2 hours per week, 36 total learning hours). A total of 495 students specializing in the medical field participated in the study. Structural equation models were constructed according to three adapted scales: the computer programming learning attitude scale, the computational thinking perspectives scale, and the programming empowerment scale. The computer programming learning attitude scale is based on three factors: willingness, negativity, and necessity. The computational thinking perspectives scale also considers three factors: the ability to express, the ability to connect, and the ability to question. The programming empowerment scale is composed of four factors: meaningfulness, impact, creative self-efficacy, and programming self-efficacy. The results showed that a positive learning attitude will positively affect computational thinking perspectives and programming empowerment. However, when students have a negativity attitude, feeling that they are being forced to learn the C++ programming language, their computational thinking perspectives and programming empowerment will be negatively affected. In order to promote students’ learning attitude, various teaching strategies, teaching curriculum design, and pedagogy design could be further explored.

Background: Physical abuse is defined as the intentional use of physical force against a child that can lead to harm for the child’s health, survival and development. Hitting, beating, kicking, shaking, biting, burning, poisoning and suffocating are forms of physical abuse. Physical abuse was predicted to negatively affect children’s academic and behavioral adjustment. Physically abused school age children continued to function more poorly than their nonmaltreated peers on a variety of academic and socio-emotional measures. They having lower grades, showed less academic engagement, more social skills deficits, and lower ego resiliency than non-maltreated comparison children. Aim of the study: The aim of the study is to investigate the effect of physical abuse on academic achievement among secondary school female students in Jeddah. Research question: Is there relationship between physical abuse and academic achievement among secondary school female students? Methods: The study was conducted at two female secondary school students in Jeddah – Saudi Arabia. Two hundred female students in secondary school in Jeddah were recruited for the study using non probability “convenience” sampling technique. A descriptive design was used. A structured self-reported questionnaire was developed by the researcher, after reviewing of the literature. The questionnaire was tested for validity and necessary modifications were done. Reliability was 0.813 by using Cronbach’s Alpha test. Results: It was found that 29% of participates reported that they were physically abused. About two third of participates who reported any forms of physical abuse have GPA less than 85% compared with about one third participates who reported that they never been abused have GPA less than 85% and the difference was statistically significant (P=0.001). Furthermore, the mean GPA of physically abused participants was 83.07±8.02 compared with 88.19 ± 9.13 for non-physically abused participants and the difference was statistically significant (P=0.001). Conclusion and recommendation: In summary, physical abuse is a worldwide problem that needs action from all community sectors. The findings of the current study support that there is a negative impact of physical abuse on children’s academic achievement. Identify and support abused children with poor academic achievement are needed. Pediatric nurse and school nurse should be trained about identification of physically abused children. Children’s rights in Islam and convention on the rights of children should be included in the school curriculum.

This study examines the impact of programming instruction using collaborative learning techniques on secondary school students’ programming self-efficacy and self-regulation skills. The participants were 43 sixth-grade students from a public school in Türkiye during the 2024-2025 academic year. A quasi-experimental design with pre-test and post-test control groups was used. For eight weeks, the experimental group received two hours per week of programming and problem-solving instruction through collaborative learning, while the control group followed standard curriculum methods. Data were collected using the Perceived Self-Regulation Scale and the Programming Self-Efficacy Scale, and analyzed with the Dependent Samples t-test, the Independent Samples t-test, the Mann-Whitney U test, and the Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test in SPSS. Results showed that the experimental group had significantly higher programming self-efficacy and self-regulation skills than the control group. These findings indicate that collaborative learning approaches can effectively improve both cognitive and metacognitive skills in secondary school programming education.

Abstract: Aim: The study aimed to measure the prevalence and risk factors of Anxiety among Female Governmental Secondary schools students, in Al-Madinah, Saudi Arabia. Methods: Cross sectional study was conducted in Al-Madinah city in 2014. Only Female secondary school students were included for study. Multistage sampling technique was used for student’s inclusion. The researcher used a self-administered questionnaire containing socio-demographic data and anxiety questionnaire developed by AL-Taif Mental Health sector. 10 students were given this questionnaire as a pilot study. All data has been entered and analyzed using SPSS version 21. Results: The present study indicates the prevalence and risk factors of anxiety among female governmental secondary school students of Al-Madinah city. Overall 64.6% of students showed symptoms of anxiety. High morbid anxiety was reported among 25.5% of secondary school girls whereas high not morbid anxiety was reported among 39.1% of them. Association between students believing that school`s examinations increase anxiety symptoms and anxiety was observed. Students who did not believe that anxiety symptoms increase by school`s examinations reported higher rate of high morbid anxiety compared to those who believe that anxiety symptoms increase by school`s examinations (56% versus 23.4%). The present study did not reveal significant association between anxiety and socio-demographic characteristics of the school girls. Conclusion: The present study indicates anxiety is prevalent among secondary school girls as almost one-fourth of them reported high morbid anxiety and more than one third reported high but not morbid anxiety. Socio-demographic characteristics of the school girls were not significantly associated with anxiety. Key words: Anxiety, Adolescents, Psychosocial disability, Secondary school students, School examinations, Stress disorder.

The Idaho Elementary Computer Science (CS) Collaborative (IECC) is a researcher-practitioner partnership dedicated to understanding how to better support the predominately rural districts in Idaho to implement elementary CS education. As part of the IECC's work, we conducted a survey of elementary teachers across the state. This poster will present our initial findings. Two of the research questions we addressed via the survey are: (1) What factors would motivate Idaho elementary teachers to pursue professional development (PD) related to CS? (2) What are elementary teachers' perceptions of the value of connecting CS education to rural community economies and industries? Descriptive analyses of 309 survey responses suggest that about three-quarters of elementary teachers reported that the following factors would be at least somewhat influential in their decisions to pursue CS PD: a K-5 computational thinking requirement, a district-wide CS planning staff, a pathway for elementary teachers to earn a certification in CS teaching, and a way to request CS PD funding. Few (9%) Idaho elementary teachers found that the perception of a disconnect between CS education and rural community interests was a significant barrier to elementary CS education. Even so, over 70% of them were moderately to strongly interested in mechanisms for connecting their CS education efforts to rural community industries through guest speakers and industry partnerships. The poster will discuss the implications of these and other emerging findings from the teacher survey, as well as IECC's related surveys of Idaho district superintendents and elementary school principals.

Over the last decade, there has been an explosion of national interest in computer science (CS) education. In response to this, several organizations and initiatives have emerged in recent years to expand the CS pipeline. However, within these broad and laudable efforts, one important area has been largely overlooked—the instruction of CS to multilingual students, including the large and growing number of students designated as English learners in K-12 schools. These are one of the most underserved and understudied groups in CS education. In this article, we draw on existing research, as well as our own and others’ theoretical and empirical work to date, to put forth both a framework and curriculum for teaching CS to multilingual students.