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<jats:p>As technology and curricula continue to evolve and develop, the prevalence and effectiveness of continuing professional development (CPD) opportunities for computer science teachers is becoming increasingly more important. However, key questions remain about what the characteristics are for effective CPD in this context. Through the presentation of existing literature and the qualitative analysis of interviews with 32 employees from 13 English colleges (n = 14 computer science lecturers, 10 course leaders, and 8 members of senior leadership) this article answers the following question: ‘What are the characteristics of effective continuing professional development for computer science teachers in the 16-18 sector?’ Existing literature indicates how CPD benefits from: (1) knowledge development and application to classroom teaching, (2) self-efficacy development and measurement, (3) observation, feedback and reflection, (4) collaboration and communities of practice, (5) sufficient time, and (6) institution support. Meanwhile, the thematic analysis of interview data led to the creation of five overarching themes: (1) computer science CPD should address various knowledge domains, (2) CPD requires institutional support, (3) CPD should be engaging, (4) computer science CPD should involve a combination of activities, and (5) CPD should be measurable. This qualitative article also presents interview excerpts and contributes to computing education research and practice by presenting a set of thirty guidelines which outlines the characteristics of effective CPD in the context of computer science teachers in the 16-18 sector. These guidelines could be beneficial for both CPD providers and educators in ensuring CPD opportunities are designed more effectively, and with an understanding of both parties’ needs.</jats:p>

<jats:p>Norms and values in computing education are constantly changing as dominant narratives about the role of computing in society evolve over time. Within the current evolving landscape of computing education, researchers and practitioners have advocated for ensuring people from all backgrounds, and particularly women, non-binary, and Black, Indigenous, and Latinx people, are able to participate equitably within the field of computing. Yet, the values of computing educational experiences are narrowly framed within career outcomes, such as securing a career in computing, leaving many important experiences and ways of participating in the field out of the picture. To address this, we conducted reflective interviews with women who participated in broadening participation in computing (BPC) programs to understand their perceptions of computing and how it aligns (or not) with what they value about their experiences in computing learning environments. We investigate the following research questions: 1) How do women who participated in BPC programs describe their perceptions of computing? 2) How do those perceptions align or misalign with the program outcomes they valued? The findings from our study call attention to tensions arising from centering “computing careers” in BPC work and highlight the outcomes of participation valued by the women in our study, such as developing communities and relationships, gaining communication skills, and expanding perspectives on skills computer scientists should possess.</jats:p>

<jats:p> <jats:bold>Context</jats:bold>    Introducing Computer Science (CS) into formal education can be challenging, notably when considering the numerous stakeholders involved which include the students, teachers, schools, and policy makers. We believe these perspectives should be considered conjointly, which is possible within Research Practice Partnerships (RPPs). RPPs look to bridge research-practice gaps and have seen an increase in the field of education and CS-education. Unfortunately, RPPs are considered to be under-researched, in addition to presenting their own challenges. </jats:p> <jats:p> <jats:bold>Objectives</jats:bold>    To the purpose of assessing how RPPs may support the successful introduction of CS into formal education, we investigate three perspectives (students, teachers, and RPP stakeholders) and their interplay within the context of a multi-institution RPP conducting a pilot program to introduce CS to secondary school students. </jats:p> <jats:p> <jats:bold>Methods</jats:bold>    A mixed methods analysis was employed to triangulate data in a concurrent triangulation design. The data included i) 3 surveys distributed over the semester to 106 grade 9 students (ages 12-14), ii) four teacher-journals, iii) 2 interviews and 4 focus groups with the teachers and representatives of the partner institutions. </jats:p> <jats:p> <jats:bold>Findings</jats:bold>    From the <jats:italic>students’ perspective</jats:italic> , while their self-efficacy increased, their motivation decreased throughout the semester due to a miss-match between their expectations and the course. The findings also indicate that gender biases and heterogeneity are already present in grade 9. From the <jats:italic>teachers’ perspective</jats:italic> , co-constructing the study plan, having access to regular support and collaborating within a community of practice when starting to teach CS all facilitated the teachers’ experience. Finally, from the <jats:italic>RPP’s perspective</jats:italic> the collaboration between stakeholders and having researchers evaluate the program were considered to be key elements in the pilot program. However, there appears to be a research-practice gap, in big part due to limited interactions between researchers and curriculum designers, and researchers and the teachers in the field. </jats:p> <jats:p> <jats:bold>Conclusions</jats:bold>    From the <jats:italic>students’ perspective</jats:italic> it appears relevant to introduce CS i) prior to secondary school to address motivation and bias-related issues early on, and ii) to all students to avoid participation being motivation-, stereotype-, or belief-driven, and risk broadening the gap between students, iii) all the while being attentive to course format and content to ensure that the course meets students’ expectations and fosters autonomous motivation. From <jats:italic>the teachers’ perspective</jats:italic> , while the provided support met the teachers’ needs, it is essential to find means of scaling such approaches when looking to deploy CS-curricular reforms to entire administrative regions. Finally, from the <jats:italic>RPP’s perspective</jats:italic> i) teachers’ should be given a voice in the RPP to better align with the field, and ii) researchers’ roles should be reconsidered to move beyond being only evaluators, and towards having a more co-constructive role in setting up the curricular reform. Recommendations are provided for researchers and practitioners involved in CS curricular reforms. </jats:p>

<jats:p>In a nationwide initiative to increase computer science Education in K-12, many teachers were recruited to CS teaching positions but without adequate preparation, which can lead to lack of confidence and feelings of isolation [36, 55]. In response to these issues, the purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a newly developed summer professional development program with follow-up support with the goal of improving teacher confidence and informing teacher beliefs about computer science. This training featured peer instruction and an emphasis on computer science principles. It took place over three years, and was used to prepare teachers from over fifty schools across a midwestern state. Using Hierarchical Linear Modeling, data analysis from 57 teachers and 871 students showed that teacher confidence and content knowledge increased significantly, and to a greater extent for those who began with the lowest levels of confidence. Students also made significant knowledge gains from before to after taking the class. Student gains were higher for those whose teachers were more confident in their ability to teach computer science.</jats:p>

<jats:p>This paper reports the analysis of data from five different studies to identify predictors of preservice, early childhood teachers’ views of (a) the nature of coding, (b) integration of coding into preschool classrooms, and (c) relation of coding to fields other than computer science (CS). Significant changes in views of coding were predicted by time, prior robot programming experience, and perceptions of the value of coding. Notably, prior programming knowledge and positive perceptions of mathematics predicted decreases in views of coding from pre- to post-survey.</jats:p>

<jats:p>Debugging is a core skill required by programmers, yet we know little about how to effectively teach the process of debugging. The challenges of learning debugging are compounded for novices who lack experience and are still learning the tools they need to program effectively. In this work, we report a case study in which we used a think-aloud protocol to gain insight into the behaviour of three students engaged in debugging tasks. Our qualitative analysis reveals a variety of helpful practices and barriers that limit the effectiveness of debugging. We observe that comprehension, evidence-based activities, and workflow practices all contribute to novice debugging success. Lack of sustained effort, precision, and methodical processes negatively impact debugging effectiveness. We anticipate that understanding how students engage in debugging tasks will aid future work to address ineffective behaviours and promote effective debugging activities.</jats:p>

<jats:p>In this editorial, we introduce the second set of papers for the special issue “Conceptualizing and Using Theory in CER”. These papers focus on meta level discussion on theories in CER, addressing the definition of theories, what theoretical contributions have been developed for CER, how theories have been used, and what other type of contributions there are in the field. The issue also includes guest editors’ own reflections on theory.</jats:p>

<jats:p>The overall aim of this article is to stimulate discussion about the activities within CER, and to develop a more thoughtful and explicit perspective on the different types of research activity within CER, and their relationships with each other. While theories may be the most valuable outputs of research to those wishing to apply them, for researchers themselves there are other kinds of contributions important to progress in the field. This is what relates it to the immediate subject of this special journal issue on theory in CER. We adopt as our criterion for value “contribution to knowledge”.</jats:p> <jats:p> This article’s main contributions are <jats:list list-type="simple"> <jats:list-item> <jats:label>–</jats:label> <jats:p>A set of 12 categories of contributions which together indicate the extent of this terrain of contributions to research.</jats:p> </jats:list-item> <jats:list-item> <jats:label>–</jats:label> <jats:p>Leading into that is a collection of ideas and misconceptions which are drawn on in defining and motivating “ground rules”, which are hints and guidance on the need for various often neglected categories. These are also helpful in justifying some additional categories which make the set as a whole more useful in combination.</jats:p> </jats:list-item> </jats:list> </jats:p> <jats:p>These are followed by some suggested uses for the categories, and a discussion assessing how the success of the article might be judged.</jats:p>

<jats:p>Programming education is strongly emerging in elementary and high school. Diversity and inclusion are important topics, however, insights on suited programming materials for younger learners with visual impairments are lacking. A wide range of programming materials for children exists, diverse in both what is being programmed (output) and how this is done (input), yet often relying on visual features. An understanding of the usability and accessibility aspects of these different materials is important to inform educational practice and to increase understanding of what makes programming materials suited for low vision and blind children. The aim of this study is to explore the usability and accessibility of programming materials currently used in education to low vision and blind children in the Netherlands. A focus group was conducted with six teachers or IT experts, all working with the target group in special education. The thematic analysis of the discussion of 25 materials (including unplugged lessons, robots and robotic kits, block-based and text-based languages) showed the potential of several materials, especially unplugged lessons, and the continuing search for suited materials and workforms specifically for the blind children. Furthermore, prioritizing “fun” and close connections to children’s daily life as well as careful explorations of usability at the cognitive level came forward as important factors for future research and development in programming materials for low vision and blind children. These insights can contribute to obtaining an inclusive approach to programming for young learners.</jats:p>

<jats:p>Prior studies in the Computer Science education literature have illustrated that novices make many mistakes in composing SQL queries. Query formulation proves to be difficult for students. Only recently, some headway was made towards understanding why SQL leads to so many mistakes, by uncovering student misconceptions. In this article, we shed new light on SQL misconceptions by analyzing the hypotheses of SQL experts on the causes of student errors. By examining the experts’ perceptions, we draw on their understanding of students’ misconceptions and on their experiences with studying and teaching SQL. For our analysis, we chose the Policy Delphi, a questionnaire instrument specifically designed for gathering opinions and evidence. Through a two-round process, our nineteen participants proposed and voted on underlying causes for SQL errors which resulted in a set of hypotheses per error. Our main contribution to this article is this new set of possible misconceptions. With them, we can design more complete educational approaches to address misconceptions underlying SQL errors made by students, leading to more effective SQL education.</jats:p>