At King's College London we are pleased to host a visiting researcher, Filiz Kalelioğlu, from Turkey, who is researching pedagogy and the BBC microbit. Physical computing is fun and engaging, but does it really help students learn, what are the best teaching methods to use with small devices in the classroom, and how can we… Continue reading How do you teach with the BBC micro:bit?
Threshold Concepts in Computer Programming
Phase 1: Threshold Concepts in Functions and Procedural Abstraction The first phase of our research was successfully completed. The purpose of this phase was to explore computing teachers’ perspectives on the Threshold Concept framework and to suggest potential threshold concepts in the area of Functions and, more generally, in Procedural Abstraction. A study was conducted,… Continue reading Threshold Concepts in Computer Programming
Exploring pedagogies for teaching programming in school
Many teachers are able to recognise that students can find programming difficult and can identify the stages that novice school-aged programmers go through (cf Laura Sach's blog article). However it is not as easy to specify a particular teaching strategy that will support learners in gaining confidence and a deep understanding of programming concepts (moving… Continue reading Exploring pedagogies for teaching programming in school
Conferences relating to computer science education in school
WIPSCE (Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education) is a great conference for those interested in computer science education in school to attend as it combines a really friendly and welcoming international community of researchers with a desire to encourage rigorous theoretical and empirical research in computer science education. The first international WIPSCE conference was… Continue reading Conferences relating to computer science education in school
My PhD: abstraction in primary Computing
Jane Waite: CAS London Project Manager, based at King's College London, has had a poster accepted at WiPSCE 2016. Jane writes: I recently started a part time PhD in the field of Computer Science and Education at Queen Mary University of London; my supervisors are Paul Cuzon and William Marsh at QMUL and Sue Sentance… Continue reading My PhD: abstraction in primary Computing
A holistic approach to teacher professional development in Computing
Recently (12th July 2016), the new standard for teacher professional development was released by the DfE, in conjunction with the Teacher Professional Development Trust. The standard has five underpinning aims: Professional development should have a focus on improving and evaluating pupil outcomes. Professional development should be underpinned by robust evidence and expertise. Professional development should… Continue reading A holistic approach to teacher professional development in Computing
Computer science education research in schools and pedagogy
There is a growing amount of research in computer science education and also a need to be able to describe the key findings to teachers so that it becomes directly relevant in the classroom. In my recent CAS TV appearance I talk about a range of areas of research and how they may be of… Continue reading Computer science education research in schools and pedagogy
BBC micro:bit – research project
The BBC micro:bit is a pocket-sized codeable computer with motion detection, a built-in compass and Bluetooth technology, and is to be given free to every child in year 7 or equivalent across the UK from March 2016. The first devices were sent to teachers (3 per school) before students in order that teachers could prepare… Continue reading BBC micro:bit – research project
Teacher inquiry in computing education
The CAS Teaching Inquiry in Computing Education (TICE) project is a pilot study investigating how to support teachers in setting up action research projects in Computing. The underlying motivation for this is a belief that teachers can carry out valid investigations in school but need support from academics in the design and analysis of their… Continue reading Teacher inquiry in computing education
Teaching Computing: strategies reported by teachers
As part of the Computing At School (CAS) Survey 2014 we asked all the teacher respondents to tell us what their best strategies were for teaching Computing, including programming, and what the challenges were. Over 300 teachers gave us their comments and the paper reports on the findings. Overall, the nuts and bolts of it… Continue reading Teaching Computing: strategies reported by teachers
Sue Sentance 