Research in Computer Science Education - Guide to Teaching Computer Science: An Activity-Based Approach - page 57

Simon ( 2013 ) used a peer instruction method that actively engages students in
constructing their own learning, and found a main effect on the final exam grade.
• Pedagogical usages of different computerized tools , e.g. , Alice , BlueJ , Jeliot ,
Karel , Scratch . For example, Kölling et al. ( 2003 ) elaborate on BlueJ and its
pedagogy; Ben-Bassat et al. ( 2003 ) describe the usage of Jeliot animation en-
vironments to help novices understand basic concepts of algorithms and pro-
gramming; Rodger et al. ( 2010 ) present pedagogical materials that expose
students to computing by using Alice to develop projects, stories, games, and
quizzes; Resnick et al. ( 2009 ) discuss the Scratch environment that enables
simple creation of animations, games, and interactive art. Cross et al. ( 2014 )
describe the experiences of implementing dynamic program visualizations us-
ing the new viewer canvas in jGRASP by faculty and students in Java-based
CS1 and CS2 courses.
• Social issues in computer science teaching , e.g. , diversity, ethics, and soft skills.
For example, Voyles et al. ( 2007 ) explore teachers' responses to gender differ-
ences and teachers' affect on achieving gender balance in their computer science
classes; Dark and Winstead ( 2005 ) address potential changes in learners' con-
ception when teaching ethics in computing-related fields; Baloian et al. ( 2002 )
describe common aspects and differences in the process of modeling the real
world for applications involving tests and evaluations of cognitive tasks; Hazzan
and Har-Shai ( 2013 , 2014 ) presented a course aimed at advancing computer sci-
ence students' soft skills by actively practicing those skills and gradually enable-
ing students to construct their mental perception of these computer science soft
skills.
• Computer science teachers . For example, Blum and Cortina ( 2007 ) describe a
summer workshop for high school computer science teachers in which com-
pelling material, which teachers can use in their classes to emphasize com-
putational thinking, is provided; Ni ( 2009 ) explores the factors that influence
computer science teachers' adoption of a new computer science curriculum;
Mittermeir et al. ( 2010 ) report on a project that introduces both pupils and
teachers to some principles of informatics, and, specifically, shows teachers
that the concepts of informatics are not too difficult to teach; Brandes et al.
( 2010 ) describe a course for leading computer science teachers, and the results
of the course and of the regional pedagogical workshops that these teachers
facilitated for their peers; Lapidot and Ragonis ( 2013 ) describe a project to
support high school computer science teachers in writing academic papers;
Tashakkori et al. ( 2014 ) describe a unique 3-year project established to build
teachers' research experience.

4.2.2 Computer Science Education Research on Learning

and Teaching Processes

In this section, we focus on computer science education research on learning and
teaching processes, which is especially relevant for high school computer science
teaching.