Computing Education Research studentship

Applications are invited for a PhD studentship in the Department of Computer Science. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to work on Computing Education Research.

This project is in the area of computing education research where it will investigate ways of improving student learning of core computer science topics such as fundamentals of programming; algorithms and data structures.

This will be achieved through investigation of how students understand, misunderstand (and form misconceptions) and the difficulties they face in developing coherent mental models that support computational thinking.

It is a discipline-based education research project and it draws philosophy, traditions and methods from education research, educational psychology and learning sciences.

Recent computing education research has enabled us to develop well-grounded hypotheses or study designs for improving student learning of computing topics. However, the research area needs further theorization and empirical evaluation in the classroom.

The research will focus on student misconceptions, understandings and misunderstandings of core CS concepts from CS1 through to CS3.

This will be investigated through the ways in which students use computational thinking in their learning activities such as labs and exercises.

This will include reference to: the role of visualisation learning in CS; the relationships between students’ wider characteristics (e.g. ability, motivation); and methods of improving learning and teaching activities to address misconceptions and misunderstandings.

The output from the research will be of interest to teachers and researchers, particularly those concerned with the undergraduate curriculum.

The candidate should have the following educational profile:

• An upper second-class honours BSc (or equivalent, or higher) degree in Computer Science and some research experience in computing education, science education, general education, educational psychology, or learning science. This may through undergraduate research, a MSc or through work-based research. The position may be particularly attractive to candidates with some experience in teaching computer science at undergraduate or secondary school level.

They should demonstrate an aptitude for conducting both qualitative and quantitative research.

The candidate should have sound knowledge of first and second year undergraduate Computer Science curricula, particularly in the area of programming and algorithms and data structures. The candidate will be encouraged to actively be involved with ACM, SIGCSE (Special Interest Group in Computer Science Education), The European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction (Earli), and Psychology of Programming Interest Group(PPIG).

A doctoral candidate is expected to meet the following pre-requisites for their PhD:

• Demonstrate a sound knowledge of their research area
• Achieve and demonstrate significant depth in at least a few chosen sub-areas relevant to their primary research area
• Demonstrate the ability to conduct independent research, including a critical assessment of their own and others’ research

Previous publications in high-quality papers in reputable peer-reviewed conferences and journals are desirable.