This thesis presents innovative pedagogical approaches to teach fundamental Computer Science (CS) concepts, such as abstraction, representation, algorithms, and computation utilizing manipulatives, which are physical objects that students interact with to teach or reinforce a concept. Teaching and learning with manipulatives has a long history in science and mathematics education,...
This full research paper explores two factors of increasing importance for first-year university engineering curricula: sustainability and diversity. Over the past fifteen years, many universities in the United States have adjusted their engineering programs in response to these two values expressed by industry, professional organizations, and the Accreditation Board for...
This research paper describes the impacts of a new programming class on first-year, non-CS engineering students. In the spring of 2021, the College of Engineering at Oregon State University piloted a new programming course that will be required of all engineering majors in the following academic years. We used the...
There is a significant amount of research analyzing the effect of race, gender, and other common demographical data on student interest and performance in computer science. However, there is relatively little research concerning less common demographic populations, such as introverts, artistic students, and visual learners. This study investigates if these...