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An international investigation into student concerns regarding transition into higher education. (2018)
Conference Proceeding
ZARB, M., ABANDOH-SAM, J.A., ALSHAIGY, B., BOUVIER, D., GLASSEY, R., HUGHES, J. and RIEDESEL, C. 2018. An international investigation into student concerns regarding transition into higher education. In Proceedings of the 23rd Annual Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) conference on innovation and technology in computer science education (ITiCSE 2018), 2-4 July 2018, Larnaca, Cyprus. New York: ACM [online], pages 344-345. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1145/3197091.3205842

The experience of transitioning into and starting higher education is a very individual one, with some applicants viewing the prospect of higher education as an unknown entity; for those who are first in their family or community to consider higher e... Read More about An international investigation into student concerns regarding transition into higher education..

Student concerns regarding transition into higher education CS. (2016)
Conference Proceeding
SIEGEL, A.A. and ZARB, M. 2016. Student concerns regarding transition into higher education CS. In Proceedings of the 21st Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Innovation and technology in computer science education 2016 conference (ITiCSE 2016), 11-13 July 2016, Arequipa, Peru. New York: ACM [online], pages 23-28. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1145/2899415.2909581

This paper discusses a study where 249 students from 18 secondary schools around Scotland who were on the verge of applying to study Computing Science at a higher education institution were surveyed on their concerns about the upcoming transition. Pr... Read More about Student concerns regarding transition into higher education CS..

Motivation, optimal experience and flow in first year computing science. (2016)
Conference Proceeding
MCDERMOTT, R., ZARB, M., DANIELS, M., CAJANDER, Å. and CLEAR, T. 2016. Motivation, optimal experience and flow in first year computing science. In Proceedings of the 2016 Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) conference on innovation and technology in computer science education (ITiCSE '16), 9-13 July 2016, Arequipa, Peru. New York: ACM [online], pages 206-211. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1145/2899415.2899474

We examine the concept of motivation from the perspective of Self Determination Theory and give a brief overview of relevant results. We also consider the optimal state known as Flow and give an account of its conceptualisation in the theory due to C... Read More about Motivation, optimal experience and flow in first year computing science..

Novice programmers and the problem description effect. (2016)
Conference Proceeding
BOUVIER, D., LOVELLETTE, E., MATTA, J., ALSHAIGY, B., BECKER, B.A., CRAIG, M., JACKOVA, J., MCCARTNEY, R., SANDERS, K. and ZARB, M. 2016. Novice programmers and the problem description effect. In Proceedings of the Innovation and technology in computer science education on working group reports 2016 (ITiCSE-WGR '16), 9-13 July 2016, Arequipa, Peru. New York: ACM [online], pages 103-118. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1145/3024906.3024912

It is often debated whether a problem presented in a straightforward minimalist fashion is better, or worse, for learning than the same problem presented with a real-life or concrete context. The presentation, contextualization, or problem descriptio... Read More about Novice programmers and the problem description effect..

Further evaluations of industry-inspired pair programming communication guidelines with undergraduate students. (2015)
Conference Proceeding
ZARB, M., HUGHES, J. and RICHARDS, J. 2015. Further evaluations of industry-inspired pair programming communication guidelines with undergraduate students. In Proceedings of the 46th Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) technical symposium on computer science education (SIGCSE 2015): keep connected, keep committed, keep computing, 4-7 March 2015, Kansas City, USA. New York: ACM [online], pages 314-319. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1145/2676723.2677241

Pair programming has several benefits when it is successfully used by students and experts alike. However, research shows that novice pairs find the necessary pair communication to be one of the main challenges in adopting this process. A set of indu... Read More about Further evaluations of industry-inspired pair programming communication guidelines with undergraduate students..

An analysis of user engagement in relation to computing workshop activities. (2015)
Conference Proceeding
MENZIES, R., CRABB, M., HERRON, D., PETRIE, K., STEWART, C. and ZARB, M. 2015. An analysis of user engagement in relation to computing workshop activities. In Proceedings of the 46th Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Technical symposium on computer science education (SIGCSE'15), 4-7 March 2015, Kansas City, USA. New York: ACM [online], pages 469-474. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1145/2676723.2677272

Computing is now one of the fastest growing fields of employment, with a large bias placed on developing Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education in schools. However, due to the fast pace of technology development, it is inc... Read More about An analysis of user engagement in relation to computing workshop activities..

Evaluating industry-inspired pair programming communication guidelines with undergraduate students. (2014)
Conference Proceeding
ZARB, M., HUGHES, J. and RICHARDS, J. 2014. Evaluating industry-inspired pair programming communication guidelines with undergraduate students. In Proceedings of the 45th Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) technical symposium on computer science education (SIGCSE 2014), 5-8 March 2014, Atlanta, USA. New York: ACM [online], pages 361-366. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1145/2538862.2538980

A set of industry-inspired pair programming guidelines have been derived from qualitative examinations of expert pairs in order to aid novice programmers with their intra-pair communication. This research describes the evaluation of these guidelines... Read More about Evaluating industry-inspired pair programming communication guidelines with undergraduate students..