Skip to main content
Department of Information Technology

Computer Science Education

Welcome to the course in Computer Science Education.

This web-site is under development. Check in the left margin for the status of different items. The teaching plan, the most important document, is ready for the first study period.

What is Computer Science Education Research?

The aim of research within computing education is to study the learning, development, and improvement of undergraduate education in computing through the use of rigorous research methods.

The goals are pragmatic: The students' learning of computing should become enhanced, their interest in the area encouraged, their study habits improved, as well as the universities becoming better at teaching and composing educational programs.

What is the course about?

This course gives an overview and an introduction to the field. It puts a particular emphasis on how research into the field is performed, since the issue of researchability delimits what we, as students or teachers, can know about the learning of computer science. Many of the research perspectives used in Computing Education Research differ from the "objectivist" perspective that is well-known from the natural sciences. In the course we will investigate the nature of the insights that can be gained from these different research perspectives, and what a computer scientiest could learn from these ways of thinking.

We will also reason about teaching and learning of computer science, and will meet, use and develop ICT based tools intended for learning computer science. Some relevant and hot research topics are also discussed, first during lectures, and later at student led seminars.

Finally, the participants will do a project within the field, individually or in small groups. The topic for these projects are decided separately for each team of student, and are intended to mirror the interests of the particular team. Particularly good projects will be encouraged to further develop their reports and submit to international research conferences.

The course is organised by the Uppsala Computing Education Research Group. The guests are internationally recognized researchers within the field.

Good reasons to take the course

  • The course offers a different perspective on research in computer science, since it focuses on how others (such as students) understand Computing and CS.
  • It offers ways of thinking that could be useful for those who will teach, talk about, or discuss computer science with non-computer scientists.
  • It discusses the latest learning technologies, useful inside, but also outside, the field of computer science.
  • It presents cutting edge research in computer science education.
  • It can be "customized", in that the projects can be tailored to meet individual interests or requests.
  • It will be a fun and different learning experience.

Please contact me: Mail me, Anders Berglund, with questions concerning the course.

Anders

Updated  2007-09-08 10:55:32 by Anders Berglund.