Computer Science Education

Computer Science Education Research (CSER) focuses on teaching and learning in academic fields related to information technology. Particular area of interest is the use of educational technology. CSER combines education research with computer science. Some of the key research topics are

  • Teaching methods
  • Learning patterns
  • Schemas
  • Educational technology: systems, methods and application
  • Program and algorithm visualization
  • Automatic assessment
  • Immediate (automatic) feedback

Our research group is interested in methods for teaching computer science and the use of information technology as an educational tool in general. In the first case the goal is to establish if a teaching intervention has an observable effect. Usually for a new element to succeed, the support from other aspects of teaching are also needed. For example the introduction of a new educational technology could demand changes in the course structure, teaching methods or assessment. The mechanics of learning is also an important perspective; if we don’t know how people learn we can’t design successful teaching interventions. In the second case, research of educational technology, the goal is to develop new information technology based learning technologies and assess their usefulness. Technology is here the means for intervention but the subject to be taught can be from a wide variety of fields.

The research group has developed an eLearning platform called ViLLE. ViLLE started as a program visualization tool for an introductory programming course, but it has grown to become a general learning platform.

Recent Publications

🔍 All publications