Information and Learning Sciences: Volume 120 Issue 5/6

Guest editorial

Eric M. Meyers

Generating gameworlds with computers: the case for procedural creativity

Matthew Jason Wells, Jason Boyd

Despite the popularity of the Computational Thinking (CT) paradigm and the call for broad social diffusion of CS fundamentals, the authors argue that the concept is inherently…

Unfold studio: supporting critical literacies of text and code

Chris Proctor, Paulo Blikstein

This research aims to explore how textual literacy and computational literacy can support each other and combine to create literacies with new critical possibilities. It describes…

Teachers’ goals predict computational thinking gains in robotics

Eben B. Witherspoon, Christian D. Schunn

Computational thinking (CT) is widely considered to be an important component of teaching generalizable computer science skills to all students in a range of learning…

Youth perspectives on their development in a coding community

Ricarose Roque, Natalie Rusk

Many initiatives are seeking to engage children in learning to code. However, few studies have examined how children’s engagement in learning and using coding develops over time…

“I like computers. I hate coding”: a portrait of two teens’ experiences

Paulina Haduong

Some empirical evidence suggests that historically marginalized young people may enter introductory programming experiences with skepticism or reluctance, because of negative…

Supporting women’s persistence in computing and technology: A case for compulsory critical coding?

Joanna Weidler-Lewis, Wendy DuBow, Alexis Kaminsky, Tim Weston

This paper aims to investigate what factors influence women’s meaningful and equitable persistence in computing and technology fields. It draws on theories of learning and equity…

Developing a Scratch-based coding achievement test

Ömer Demir, Süleyman Sadi Seferoğlu

The lack of a reliable and valid measurement tool for coding achievement emerges as a major problem in Turkey. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to develop a Scratch-based…