Innovations in Precollegiate Computer Science Education

A special issue of Education Sciences (ISSN 2227-7102). This special issue belongs to the section "STEM Education".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 December 2024) | Viewed by 1431

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics, and Computing (CEISMC), Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
Interests: K-12 STEM education; STEM integration; curriculum design and implementation; precollegiate engineering and computer science education; teacher self-efficacy and retention; pedagogical content knowledge

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Guest Editor
Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics, and Computing (CEISMC), Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
Interests: K-12 STEM education; program evaluation; survey design; assessment design

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The emergence of computer science as a priority at the precollegiate level brings both exciting opportunities and new challenges for research and practice. Computer science affords rich opportunities for students to understand, engage in, and contribute to modern life. At the same time, in spite of ever-increasing demand for computer scientists, relatively few students elect to study CS, with young women and students of color acutely underrepresented in CS classrooms. Recruiting, preparing, and supporting CS teachers at the precollegiate level poses another major challenge for the field. For this Special Issue,entitled “Innovations in Precollegiate Computer Science Education”, we seek to highlight innovations and emerging approaches to pre-college computer science education. We welcome qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods submissions as well as systematic reviews of the literature.

We encourage submissions including but not limited to the following topics:

  • Studies that demonstrate innovative approaches to computer science education including research exploring the development and implementation of computer science curricula, innovative tools or techniques for CS teaching, and case studies highlighting examples of innovative CS pedagogy.
  • Studies foregrounding equity and efforts to expand access to quality CS education for historically marginalized students and communities.
  • Studies exploring student outcomes in CS, including CS learning and academic performance, self-efficacy, motivation, 21st-century skills (e.g., problem solving, collaboration, communication, critical thinking).
  • Studies focused on the CS teacher education and experiences of in-service precollegiate CS teachers including research on CS teacher professional development models and studies exploring teacher-level variables such as self-efficacy, professional identity, and pedagogical content knowledge.
  • Studies exploring the role of computer science in integrated STEM/STEAM learning.

Dr. Jessica Gale
Dr. Sunni Newton
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • computer science education
  • STEM education
  • curriculum development and implementation

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

36 pages, 2041 KiB  
Article
A Novice-Friendly and Accessible Networked Educational Robotics Simulation Platform
by Gordon Stein, Devin Jean, Saman Kittani, Menton Deweese and Ákos Lédeczi
Educ. Sci. 2025, 15(2), 198; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15020198 - 7 Feb 2025
Viewed by 783
Abstract
Despite its potential for STEM education, educational robotics remains out of reach for many classrooms due to upfront purchase costs, maintenance requirements, storage space, and numerous other barriers to entry. As demonstrated previously, these physical robot limitations can be reduced or eliminated through [...] Read more.
Despite its potential for STEM education, educational robotics remains out of reach for many classrooms due to upfront purchase costs, maintenance requirements, storage space, and numerous other barriers to entry. As demonstrated previously, these physical robot limitations can be reduced or eliminated through simulation. This work presents a new version of RoboScape Online, a browser-based networked educational robotics simulation platform that aims to make robotics education more accessible while expanding both the breadth and depth of topics taught. Through cloud-hosted simulations, this platform enables distant students to collaborate and compete in real-time. Integration with NetsBlox, a block-based programming environment, allows students at any level to participate in computer science activities. By incorporating a virtual machine for running NetsBlox code into the server, RoboScape Online enables scenarios to be built using the same syntax and abstractions used to program the robots. This approach enables more creative curriculum activities while proving that block-based programming is a valuable development tool, not just a “toy language”. Classroom case studies demonstrate RoboScape Online’s potential to improve students’ computational thinking skills and foster positive attitudes toward STEM subjects, with especially significant improvements in attitudes toward self-expression and creativity within the realm of computer science. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovations in Precollegiate Computer Science Education)
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