Understanding how intrinsic motivation (IM) and test anxiety (TA) vary among students is critical for supporting self-regulated learning in constructivist Computer Science (CS) education; however, there is limited empirical evidence on how these factors differ across demographic, academic, and lifestyle contexts in Leaving Certificate Computer Science (LCCS). This study examines patterns of association between IM and TA, and a range of student-related factors, in an Irish upper-second-level CS context. Data were collected across 94 national outreach sessions (2020–2022), yielding 734 valid responses, with selected items drawn from the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ). Descriptive analysis showed high IM (M = 3.93, SD = 0.58) and moderate, variable TA (M = 3.33, SD = 0.89). Statistical analyses identified significant associations between IM and TA scores and factors including gender, prior CS experience, mathematics level and achievement, science subject choice, social media use, and teacher gender, with small-to-moderate effect sizes. Additional interaction analyses demonstrated that IM and TA vary across combinations of factors, particularly mathematics level, school gender, and science pathways, as well as lifestyle patterns involving gaming and social media. These findings suggest that IM and TA are associated with a range of intersecting demographic, academic, and lifestyle characteristics. However, as the analysis is correlational, the results indicate associations rather than cause-and-effect relationships. The results contribute to CS education research by highlighting patterns that may inform the design of targeted supports to sustain motivation and reduce anxiety in constructivist learning environments such as Leaving Certificate Computer Science.

Ireland is experiencing a severe shortage of qualified teachers willing to deliver formal Computer Science (CS) curricula at secondlevel. This study compares the programming self-efficacy of non-formal and formal curricular teachers. Non-formal teachers deliver introductory computer science to upper second-level students, however, this is not part of state-sanctioned national curricula, thus varying in content and duration. Formal curricula teachers are those delivering the state-sanctioned national upper second-level computer science curriculum. In particular, their programming self-efficacy is measured at the point where the non-formal teachers had completed a year delivering informal content using an online training platform called CSLINC and the formal curricular teachers were about to embark on the delivery of formal curricula. The goal is investigating if CSLINC provides enough support so that informal teachers' self-efficacy is comparable, at this point in time, to that of formal teachers. The hypothesis is that if they are comparable, CSLINC has contributed to developing their beliefs about teaching and instructional practices to support them to make the leap to formal curricula. We found a statistically significant difference between the non-formal curricular teachers and the formal curricular teachers (with a significant effect size). The self-efficacy of the non-formal curricular teachers was significantly lower than that of the formal curricular teachers, suggesting that one year of CSLINC alone might not sufficiently support teachers to undertake formal curricular delivery. Additional tailored Continuous Professional Development (CPD), formal or informal, may be necessary to improve teacher self-efficacy further.

There is a significant gap in Computing Education Research (CER) concerning the impact of Large Language Models (LLMs) in advanced stages of degree programmes. This study aims to address this gap by investigating the effectiveness of LLMs in answering exam questions within an applied machine learning final -year undergraduate course. The research examines the performance of LLMs in responding to a range of exam questions, including proctored closed -book and open -book questions spanning various levels of Bloom's Taxonomy. Question formats encompassed open -ended, tabular data -based, and figure -based inquiries. To achieve this aim, the study has the following objectives: Comparative Analysis: To compare LLM-generated exam answers with actual student submissions to assess LLM performance. Detector Evaluation: To evaluate the efficacy of LLM detectors by directly inputting LLM-generated responses into these detectors. Additionally, assess detector performance on tampered LLM outputs designed to conceal their AIgenerated origin. The research methodology used for this paper incorporates a staff -student partnership model involving eight academic staff and six students. Students play integral roles in shaping the project's direction, particularly in areas unfamiliar to academic staff, such as specific tools to avoid LLM detection. This study contributes to the understanding of LLMs' role in advanced education settings, with implications for future curriculum design and assessment methodologies.

This research has three prongs, with each comparing open- and closed-book exam questions across six years (2017-2023) in a final year undergraduate applied machine learning course. First, the authors evaluated the performance of numerous LLMs, compared to student performance, and comparing open and closed book exams. Second, at a micro level, the examination questions and categories for which LLMs were most and least effective were compared. This level of analysis is rarely if ever, discussed in the literature. The research finally investigates LLM detection techniques, specifically their efficacy in identifying replies created wholly by an LLM. It considers both raw LLM outputs and LLM outputs that have been tampered with by students, with an emphasis on academic integrity. This study is a staff-student research collaboration, featuring contributions from eight academic professionals and six students.

In 2024, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) in Ireland released a draft curriculum which intends to introduce Digital Technology (DT) into the Primary School Curriculum. While this is a positive step in terms of Computer Science education pipeline, the teachers who will be charged with delivering this are, for the most part, completely out-of-field and anecdotally are lacking in confidence in delivering DT in the classroom. We are proposing a project to enhance teachers competencies around DT concepts (skills, processes and dispositions). The project plans to develop targeted activities for teachers to deliver DT. These activities will incorporate real-world applications of DT, computational thinking, problem-solving, and creative skills all delivered through play-based pedagogies. To ensure that no teacher or school will be negatively impacted due to technological requirements, AWS In Communities are going to send every Primary School in Ireland a Digital Technology kit comprising of a plugged device and an unplugged computational thinking game.

This paper brings together the history of Computer Science Education in Ireland. It aims to plot Ireland's road-map leading to the implementation of formal Computer Science Education in schools. This road map starts with the first notions of introducing secondary school children to computing in the 1970s up to the roll out of a nationwide Computer Science curriculum in secondary school at the Senior Cycle level in 2018. This story is only available in disparate publications and reports, and piecing together the entire story is often difficult especially if you are from another jurisdiction and unfamiliar with the Irish education system. This paper collates the available literature as well as the authors local knowledge of the process, into one usable form that may be of interest locally and of value to other jurisdictions that are beginning their planning of national or regional curricula. This paper describes the development and the current situation of the formal curricula and standards in Computer Science at second level. The current landscape of Computing Education at primary level, which is currently in the planning stages in Ireland, will also be described. Additionally, an investigation into the current landscape of Computing Education in schools in the international jurisdictions that directly influenced the Irish roll out takes place, to evaluate their progress and summarize any lessons learned that might provide insights for Ireland going forward

This study covers a three-year, longitudinal K–12 outreach initiative that promoted computer science in Ireland from 2017–2020. During the first year, 2017–2018, 2900 students participated in a pilot phase. 7320 students participated in the implementation phase throughout the course of the academic years 2018–2019 and 2019–2020 in 2018. The program consisted of a free, two-hour camp that was delivered on-site at the school and exposed children to a variety of computing topics, including addressing misconceptions about computing, learning how to code, and investigating computational thinking. Schools self-selected, and the initiative reached several schools in every county in Ireland, as well as schools with a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds and gender diversity. The primary school students’ ages ranged from third class (7–8 years old) to sixth year (17–18 years old) at second level. This paper focuses specifically on the research data collected during the implementation phase (N=1202) from the secondary school students (12 - 18 years old) not enrolled in the formal Leaving Certificate Computer Science subject. Looking at student perceptions of Computer Science and if the outreach positively impacted those perceptions and if it built student interest in pursuing further study in Computer Science.

CSLINC is a free scaffolded MOOC, tailored to second-level students in Ireland which consists of: 1) an online platform built for accessibility; 2) a suite of 10 modules developed upon international best practices with varying co-creators; 3) and automated assessment and certificates of completion. Currently, there is a void for Transition Year (10th Grade) Computer Science modules, as identified by the Department of Education’s Leaving Certificate CS Framework 2020 guidance documentation. Using CSLINC, teachers can deliver modules synchronously, asynchronously, virtually, blended or face-to-face. CSLINC aims to promote and increase the capacity and sustainability for access to the Leaving Certificate Computer Science subject at second level, where currently there is a void, as well as a need for curricula and supports for Junior Cycle. In addition, CSLINC aims to support vulnerable students in the Irish education system through Youthreach, who have limited access to formal Computer Science education. As part of this poster we will discuss the rationale for the project, provide a glimpse of its progress to date and discuss the future direction of the project.

In 2018 Ireland launched a new, nationwide Computer Science curriculum for upper second-level students. The biggest challenge preventing uptake of the subject is a low supply of teachers qualified to teach the subject resulting in most schools not offering the subject, preventing most students from having the choice in the first place. Currently, approximately 150 secondary schools (of 723 nationally) offer the subject. Most school teachers who aspire to teach CS do not have a degree in computing and typically have very low self-efficacy in programming, as previously reported in the literature. There is a need to help these teachers to confidently de-liver the national CS curriculum at second-level in Ireland. CSLINC is a platform and MOOC offering teachers a scaffolded approach towards building their confidence for formal CS content delivery. CSLINC provides courses that teachers can deliver to junior second-level students before the official, national CS curriculum is offered at senior-level. This poster provides overview of the benefits of this system for second-level teachers in Ireland, which will also be of value to the computing education community internationally.

In 2021 CSINC (a TU Dublin research group) launched their online Computer Science MOOC called CSLINC(Computer Science Inclusive Learning Environment). CSLINC provides a suite of eight week courses in computer science (CS) which are scaffolded for teachers to support their delivery in the classroom Quille22. The uptake for CSLINC was significant with 230 teachers delivering material to 12,000 students. The goals of CSLINC are to attempt to change CS perceptions and increase the number of students choosing Leaving Certificate Computer Science (LCCS) and also to increase teacher programming self-efficacy in the delivery of CS materials, thus leading to more teachers considering to deliver the formal curricula. Previous research conducted in the area of teacher programming self-efficacy found that programming self-efficacy is lower for formal-curricula second-level CS teachers compared to CS1 Students Faherty21. In the study teachers were attending CPD aimed at those teaching or planning to teach the LCCS subject at upper second level. The purpose of this pilot study is to do an initial comparison between the programming self-efficacy of teachers who have used CSLINC (who do not deliver formal CS curricula) in the classroom compared to the teachers who are or were planning to deliver LCCS (formal curricula).

Teacher self-esteem has been found to impact student learning in a number of non-computing fields. As computing slowly becomes a part of the upper secondary school (high school) curriculum in many countries, instruments designed to measure teachers' programming self-esteem can help inform classroom practice and processes such as teacher professional development needs. This study examines if there are differences in programming self-esteem (using the Bergin Programming Self-Esteem Instrument) between upper secondary school teachers and CS1 students in Ireland. In addition this study provides evidence of validity when using this instrument(originally developed for CS1 students) to measure upper secondary school teacher programming self-esteem. To test for evidence of validity, we compared the results of the programming self-esteem construct given to upper secondary school teachers (n=130) to a recent study of programming self-esteem among CS1 students (n=693). We found evidence of both reliability and validity with teachers that aligns with the evidence found for the CS1 students, demonstrating utility for use with teacher cohorts. Comparing these findings, teachers reported statistically significantly lower programming self-esteem compared to CS1 students. Interestingly CS1 students identifying as male had a statistically significant higher programming self-esteem than those identifying as female. However, we found no statistically significant difference for teacher gender, unlike previous work. Our results indicate that teacher programming self-esteem should be given consideration in the design and implementation of professional development.

This poster describes the use of online technology to deliver K12 teacher professional development (PD) during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ireland. Traditionally these sessions are delivered in person, with a focus on hand-on activities, but the sudden changes faced by the closures in Ireland required an alternative approach for delivering these sessions. The PD session presented in this poster was a more technically challenging micro:bit workshop, which was delivered online using the micro:bit classroom. This is typically used as an in-class, one to many instructor tool, and trialing this as a PD collaborative tool, was a novel approach. This poster presents the delivery and methodology of the session, the collaborative online format, and feedback from the participants.

This poster describes the use of online technology to deliver K-12 teacher professional development (PD) during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ireland. Traditionally these sessions are delivered in person, with a focus on hand-on activities, but the sudden changes faced by the closures in Ireland required an alternative approach for delivering these sessions. The PD session presented in this poster was a more technically challenging micro:bit workshop, which was delivered online using the micro:bit classroom. This is typically used as an in-class, one to many instructor tool, and trialing this as a PD collaborative tool, was a novel approach. This poster presents the delivery and methodology of the session, the collaborative online format, and feedback from the participants.

This paper outlines the longitudinal development of a K-12 outreach model, to promote Computer Science in Ireland. Over a three-year period, it has been piloted to just under 9700 K-12 students from almost every county in Ireland. The model consists of a two-hour camp that introduces students to a range of Computer Science topics: addressing computing perceptions, introduction to coding and exploration of computational thinking. The model incorporates on-site school delivery and is available at no cost to any interested school across Ireland. The pilot study so far collected over 3400 surveys (pre- and post- outreach delivery). Schools from all over Ireland self-selected to participate, including male only, female only and mixed schools. The no-cost nature of the model meant schools deemed "disadvantaged", to private fee-paying schools participated. Initial findings are very positive, including the balance of male and female participants, where in the 2017-18 academic year it was 56:44 and in 2019-20 (to date), it is 35:65 respectively. Once the model is validated and tweaked (based on survey data), the model will be published (open access) for other institutions to implement the model locally. In addition, the authors intend to link schools (that the team have worked with over the three years) with local institutions, thus developing a sustainable ecosystem for the program to continue. This paper describes the model structure and outlines early findings.

This poster describes the early development of a K-12 outreach model, named CSinc, to promote CS in Ireland. It has already been piloted with over 4500 K-12 students in its first year. At the heart of the model is a two-hour camp that incorporates an on-site school delivery. Schools from all over Ireland self-selected to participate, including male only, female only and mixed schools. The no-cost nature of the model meant a range of schools participated from officially designated "disadvantaged" to private fee-paying. During the initial deployment over 2500 pre- and post- surveys have been collected. This data will allow for further model improvement and validation. A positive initial outcome was the balance of male and female participants, 46:54 respectively. This poster describes the model structure in detail and outlines early findings.

This paper initially describes the introduction of a new computer science subject for the Irish leaving certificate course. This is comparable to US high school exit exams (AP computer science principals) or the UK A level computer science. In doing so the authors wish to raise international awareness of the new subject's structure and content. Second, this paper presents the current work of the authors, consisting of early initiatives to try and give the new subject the highest chances of success. The initiatives consist of two facets: The first is the delivery of two-hour computing camps at second level schools (to address stereotypes and provide insight on what computer science really is), which was delivered to 2,943 students, in 95 schools between September 2017 and June 2018. Second, the authors followed this with teacher continual professional development (CPD) sessions, totalling 22, to just over 500 teachers. Early findings are presented, showing potentially concerning trends for gender diversity and CPD development. A call is then raised, to the international computer science education community for wisdom and suggestions that the community may have developed from prior experience. This is to obtain feedback and recommendations for the new subject and the authors' current initiatives, to address early concerns and help develop the initiatives further.

This paper examines Mobile Computing Technology with a particular focus on the effect Mobile Computing is having on teleworking. Mobile computing as it is defined for this paper is described. The enablers of this technology as well as the inhibitors to this technology are discussed. Future possible trends in the area of mobile computing are also explored. Teleworking is reviewed in terms of the advantages and disadvantages it offers to the organization. Also outlined is the use Information Technology (IT) in teleworking. This examination of teleworking leads the paper into the next step up from teleworking i.e. The virtual organization. The issues around this type of structure are outlined including, Strategic Change Issues, Virtual teams, Integration of Virtual teams, Trust Issues and Cultural Issues. The paper then examines the implications involved in managing a virtual organization. Having explored the issues and possible complications surrounding a virtual organization it is important to highlight any strategic advantage that a move to this type of organizational set up would give and organization.

Journal of the American Society for Information Science and TechnologyVolume 53, Issue 13 p. 1187-1188 Book Reviews Strategies for electronic commerce and the Internet Roisin Faherty, Roisin Faherty [email protected] Department of Computing, IT Tallaght, Dublin, IrelandSearch for more papers by this author Roisin Faherty, Roisin Faherty [email protected] Department of Computing, IT Tallaght, Dublin, IrelandSearch for more papers by this author First published: 22 August 2002 https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.10148Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Volume53, Issue13November 2002Pages 1187-1188 RelatedInformation

This paper examines the development issues and strategic considerations involved in Internet Applications Development. The prevalent development environments are discussed highlighting their advantages and disadvantages. Issues regarding the development of Internet applications are viewed under the headings of human resource, organizational, technological, investment and Legal Issues. Lastly the paper gives an overview of the strategic implications for an organization considering the development of Internet Applications. These include security, quality and the look & feel of the application. This paper is not intended as a definitive resource on the area of Internet Applications Development, its aim is to highlight the areas of interest and concern for organizations considering a move into the area of Internet Applications Development.