Defence of dissertation in the field of Computer Science and Engineering, Simon, M.Sc.(Math.)

Emergence of computing education as a research discipline

Simon, M.Sc.(Math.), will defend the dissertation “Emergence of computing education as a research discipline” on 18 November 2015 at 12 noon in Aalto University, School of Science, lecture hall U5, Otakaari 1, Espoo. In the research presented in his thesis, Simon has devised a classification system that can be used to determine whether computing education publications present rigorous research or just descriptions of educational approaches. Analysing nearly 2000 publications over more than 10 years, he finds that research publications form a strong and growing proportion of computing education publications, and concludes that computing education can legitimately be recognised as a research discipline.

Not everyone finds it easy to learn computing: for some students it is a real struggle. For this reason, computing educators often devise innovative ways to teach their material, hoping to make it easier for the students. Then they write papers telling other educators what they have done. These papers are not research: they are publications in educational practice.

Other computing educators have realised that research is needed to find out which innovations are effective, and to generate new theories and further innovations. They conduct rigorous educational research in the classroom and write papers to present and explain their findings. But sometimes they still struggle to persuade their colleagues that this is research.

In the research presented in his thesis, Simon has devised a classification system that can be applied to computing education publications to determine, among other things, whether they are research. Applying this to nearly 2000 publications over more than 10 years, he has found that research publications form a strong and growing proportion of computing education publications.

Subsequent work with colleagues has investigated the types of research being conducted in computing education, the methods and approaches being applied.

Finally, Simon’s work examines other aspects of computing education research, such as the academic recognition it is earning, and concludes that computing education can now legitimately be recognised as a research discipline.

University academics are required to undertake research as part of their employment. Simon’s work will help to confirm that papers written by computing academics can indeed be research, fulfilling the requirements of their institutions.

Dissertation release (pdf)

Opponent: Associate Professor Arnold Pears, Uppsala University, Sweden

Custos: Professor Lauri Malmi, Aalto University School of Science, Department of Computer Science

Electronic dissertation: https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/handle/123456789/18195

School of Science, electronic dissertations: https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/handle/123456789/52