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Sense of belonging in undergraduate computing students: A scoping review Open

Shamima Nasrin Runa, Andrew McCartan, Yuhan Du, Brett A. Becker, Catherine Mooney · 2025

Exploring Student Reactions to LLM-Generated Feedback on Explain in Plain English Problems Open

Chris Kerslake, Paul Denny, David H. Smith, Juho Leinonen, Stephen MacNeil , et al. · 2025

Computing Education in African Countries: A Literature Review and Contextualised Learning Materials Open

Sally Hamouda, Linda Marshall, Kate Sanders, Ethel Tshukudu, Oluwatoyin Adelakun-Adeyemo , et al. · 2025

This report begins with a literature review of computing education in Africa. We found a substantial body of work, scattered over more than 80 venues, which we have brought together here for the first time. Several important themes emerge …

Debugging Without Error Messages: How LLM Prompting Strategy Affects Programming Error Explanation Effectiveness Open

Audrey Salmon, K.E. Hammer, Eddie Antonio Santos, Brett A. Becker · 2025

Making errors is part of the programming process -- even for the most seasoned professionals. Novices in particular are bound to make many errors while learning. It is well known that traditional (compiler/interpreter) programming error me…

Pathways to Belonging: Understanding How University Entry Routes Shape the Sense of Belonging of Undergraduate Computing Students Open

Shamima Nasrin Runa, Andrew McCartan, Brett A. Becker, Catherine Mooney · 2024

Sense of belonging, or belongingness in academia, is an individual's personal conviction as to their acceptance as a valued member of an academic community. The importance of belongingness lies in correlations with motivation, persistence,…

Not the Silver Bullet: LLM-enhanced Programming Error Messages are Ineffective in Practice Open

Eddie Antonio Santos, Brett A. Becker · 2024

The sudden emergence of large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT has had\na disruptive impact throughout the computing education community. LLMs have\nbeen shown to excel at producing correct code to CS1 and CS2 problems, and can\neven…

The Widening Gap: The Benefits and Harms of Generative AI for Novice Programmers Open

James Prather, Brent N. Reeves, Juho Leinonen, Stephen MacNeil, Arisoa S. Randrianasolo , et al. · 2024

Prompts First, Finally Open

Brent N. Reeves, James Prather, Paul Denny, Juho Leinonen, Stephen MacNeil , et al. · 2024

Generative AI (GenAI) and large language models in particular, are disrupting Computer Science Education. They are proving increasingly capable at more and more challenges. Some educators argue that they pose a serious threat to computing …

Explaining Code with a Purpose: An Integrated Approach for Developing Code Comprehension and Prompting Skills Open

Paul Denny, David H. Smith, Max Fowler, James Prather, Brett A. Becker , et al. · 2024

Guidelines for the Evolving Role of Generative AI in Introductory Programming Based on Emerging Practice Open

Joyce Mahon, Brian Mac Namee, Brett A. Becker · 2024

Machine vs Machine: Large Language Models (LLMs) in Applied Machine Learning High-Stakes Open-Book Exams Open

Keith Quille, Csanad Alattyanyi, Brett A. Becker, Róisín Faherty, Damien Gordon , et al. · 2024

There is a significant gap in Computing Education Research (CER) concerning the impact of Large Language Models (LLMs) in advanced stages of degree programmes. This study aims to address this gap by investigating the effectiveness of LLMs …

The Widening Gap: The Benefits and Harms of Generative AI for Novice Programmers Open

James Prather, Brent N. Reeves, Juho Leinonen, Stephen MacNeil, Arisoa S. Randrianasolo , et al. · 2024

Novice programmers often struggle through programming problem solving due to a lack of metacognitive awareness and strategies. Previous research has shown that novices can encounter multiple metacognitive difficulties while programming. No…

Explaining Code with a Purpose: An Integrated Approach for Developing Code Comprehension and Prompting Skills Open

Paul Denny, David H. Smith, Max Fowler, James Prather, Brett A. Becker , et al. · 2024

Reading, understanding and explaining code have traditionally been important skills for novices learning programming. As large language models (LLMs) become prevalent, these foundational skills are more important than ever given the increa…

Prompt Problems: A New Programming Exercise for the Generative AI Era Open

Paul Denny, Juho Leinonen, James Prather, Andrew Luxton-Reilly, Thezyrie Amarouche , et al. · 2024

Large language models (LLMs) are revolutionizing the field of computing education with their powerful code-generating capabilities. Traditional pedagogical practices have focused on code writing tasks, but there is now a shift in importanc…

A Global Survey of Introductory Programming Courses Open

Raina Mason, Norma P. Simon, Brett A. Becker, Tom Crick, James H. Davenport · 2024

We present results of an in-depth survey of nearly 100 introductory programming (CS1) instructors in 18 countries spanning six continents. Although CS1 is well studied, relatively few broadly-scoped studies have been conducted, and none pr…

Solving Proof Block Problems Using Large Language Models Open

Seth Poulsen, Sami Sarsa, James Prather, Juho Leinonen, Brett A. Becker , et al. · 2024

Interactions with Prompt Problems: A New Way to Teach Programming with Large Language Models Open

James Prather, Paul Denny, Juho Leinonen, David H. Smith, Brent N. Reeves , et al. · 2024

Large Language Models (LLMs) have upended decades of pedagogy in computing education. Students previously learned to code through \textit{writing} many small problems with less emphasis on code reading and comprehension. Recent research ha…

Computing Education in the Era of Generative AI Open

Paul Denny, James Prather, Brett A. Becker, James Finnie-Ansley, Arto Hellas , et al. · 2024

Challenges and opportunities faced by computing educators and students adapting to LLMs capable of generating accurate source code from natural-language problem descriptions.

Index Open

Alexios Alexander, P, Mohamad M. Ayad, Charles Babbage, Ron Babin , et al. · 2024

Issues related to teaching and learning information systems concepts have received keen interest from IS academics since the discipline's inception over 60 years ago. Bringing together cutting-edge research from over 30 international exper…

Computer Science Curricula 2023 Open

Amruth N. Kumar, Rajendra K. Raj, Sherif G. Aly, Monica Anderson, Brett A. Becker , et al. · 2024

The Robots Are Here: Navigating the Generative AI Revolution in Computing Education Open

James Prather, Paul Denny, Juho Leinonen, Brett A. Becker, Ibrahim Albluwi , et al. · 2023

Recent advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and specifically generative AI (GenAI) are threatening to fundamentally reshape computing and society. Largely driven by large language models (LLMs), many tools are now able to interpret…

Computing Crossroads Open

Brett A. Becker, Megan Maley, Daniel G. Gallagher · 2023

column Share on Computing Crossroads Authors: Brett A. Becker University College Dublin, Ireland University College Dublin, IrelandSearch about this author , Megan Maley Scripps College, USA Scripps College, USASearch about this author , D…

The Impacts of a Constructionist Scratch Programming Pedagogy on Student Achievement with a Focus on Gender Open

Oladele O. Campbell, Oluwatoyin Adelakun-Adeyemo, Fatimah Yetunde Akinrinola, Patience Meninkele Chewachong Akih, Ethel Tshukudu , et al. · 2023

Learning to program is a challenge for many novice computing students. This may be partially due to the inadequacy of many conventional pedagogical approaches resulting in dropouts and failure, especially among females and minoritized stud…

Always Provide Context: The Effects of Code Context on Programming Error Message Enhancement Open

Eddie Antonio Santos, Prajish Prasad, Brett A. Becker · 2023

Programming error messages (PEMs) are notoriously difficult for novice programmers to utilise. Many efforts have been made to enhance PEMs such that they are reworded to explain problems in terms that novices can understand. However, the e…

Programmers' Views on IDE Compilation Mechanisms Open

Ioannis Karvelas, Joe Dillane, Brett A. Becker · 2023

In this work we investigate the views of novice programmers on three important IDE mechanisms: compilation, error indication, and error message presentation. We utilize two versions of the BlueJ pedagogical programming environment which en…

Prompt Problems: A New Programming Exercise for the Generative AI Era Open

Paul Denny, Juho Leinonen, James Prather, Andrew Luxton-Reilly, Thezyrie Amarouche , et al. · 2023

Large Language Models (LLMs) are revolutionizing the field of computing education with their powerful code-generating capabilities. Traditional pedagogical practices have focused on code writing tasks, but there is now a shift in importanc…

The Robots are Here: Navigating the Generative AI Revolution in Computing Education Open

James Prather, Paul Denny, Juho Leinonen, Brett A. Becker, Ibrahim Albluwi , et al. · 2023

Recent advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) are fundamentally reshaping computing, with large language models (LLMs) now effectively being able to generate and interpret source code and natural language instructions. These emergent…

CS Outreach to Inform Secondary School Students' Perceptions of CS: Initial Findings Open

Karen Nolan, Róisín Faherty, Keith Quille, Keith Nolan, Amanda O’Farrell , et al. · 2023

This study covers a three-year, longitudinal K–12 outreach initiative that promoted computer science in Ireland from 2017–2020. During the first year, 2017–2018, 2900 students participated in a pilot phase. 7320 students participated in th…

No More Pencils No More Books: Capabilities of Generative AI on Irish and UK Computer Science School Leaving Examinations Open

Joyce Mahon, Brian Mac Namee, Brett A. Becker · 2023

Supplemental data for: Joyce Mahon, Brian Mac Namee, and Brett A. Becker. 2023. No More Pencils No More Books: Capabilities of Generative AI on Irish and UK Computer Science School Leaving Examinations. In The United Kingdom and Ir…

View article: A Combined Knowledge and Competency (CKC) Model for Computer Science Curricula

A Combined Knowledge and Competency (CKC) Model for Computer Science Curricula Open

Amruth N. Kumar, Brett A. Becker, Marcelo Pias, Michael J. Oudshoorn, Pankaj Jalote , et al. · 2023

research-article Free Access Share on A Combined Knowledge and Competency (CKC) Model for Computer Science Curricula Authors: Amruth N. Kumar Ramapo College of New Jersey Ramapo College of New JerseyView Profile , Brett A. Becker Universit…