It is well documented, and has been the topic of much research, that Computer Science courses tend to have higher than average drop out rates at third level, particularly so for students advancing from first year to second year. This is a problem that needs to be addressed with urgency but also caution. The required number of Computer Science graduates is growing every year but the number of graduates is not meeting this demand and one way that this problem can be alleviated is to encourage students, at an early age, towards studying Computer Science courses.This paper presents a systematic literature review that examines the role of visual and textual programming languages when learning to program, particularly as a first programming language. The approach is systematic, in that a structured search of electronic resources has been conducted, and the results are presented and quantitatively analysed. This study will provide insight into whether or not the current approaches to teaching young learners programming are viable, and examines what we can do to increase the interest and retention of these students as they progress through their education.

This article details the creation of a hybrid computer programming environment combining the power of the text-based Java language with the visual features of the Snap! language. It has been well documented that there exists a gap in the education of computing students in their mid-to-late teenage years, where perhaps visual programming languages are no longer suitable and textual programming languages may involve too steep of a learning curve. There is an increasing need for programming environments that combine the benefits of both languages into one. Snap! is a visual programming language which employs “blocks” to allow users to build programs, similar to the functionality offered by Scratch. One added benefit of Snap! is that it offers the ability to create one’s own blocks and extend the functionality of those blocks to create more complex and powerful programs. This will be utilised to create the Hybrid Java environment. The development of this tool will be detailed in the article, along with the motivation and use cases for it. Initial testing conducted will be discussed including one phase that gathered feedback from a pool of 174 first year Computer Science students. These participants were given instructions to work with the hybrid programming language and evaluate their experience of using it. The analysis of the findings along with future improvements to the language will also be presented.

This paper aims to investigate the effectiveness of automatic grading systems, with a focus on their uses within Computer Science. Automatic grading systems have seen a rise in popularity in recent years with publications concerning automatic grading systems usually linked to a specific system. This paper will discuss the factors that need to be considered when using automatic grading, regardless of which system is being used, and will make recommendations for each factor. This discussion is based on the authors' experience of using an automatic grading system in a CS1 environment. From the research conducted, many elements should be considered when using these systems. These include how the code will be tested, the need for plagiarism checks and how marks are awarded. The findings of this study suggest there is a lack of defined standards when using these systems. This analysis of the considerations provides valuable insight into how these systems should be used and what the standards should be built on.

Programming support services for introductory programmers have seen a rise in popularity in recent years with third level institutions around the world providing “safe spaces” for students to practice their programming skills and get supports without the risk of being judged by anyone. These services appear in many different structures including Support Centres, Software Studios and help desks. The common trend however is that all the users of these services, in general, report that the service has helped them in their studies and garnered them with more confidence in their ability. This paper examines the role which our Computer Science Centre played for students who attended the support service during an intensive higher diploma course. The intensive course is a 3-week course tailored to students who have previously completed a degree in a field not related to CS, and covers CS1 and CS2 material. The structure and design of the support service is outlined in this paper along with the supports offered. A high-level survey was conducted to investigate the effect of the service on students programming self-efficacy. Study design and methodology are described in detail. Early findings suggest that the support services offered to these students improved their belief in their own programming ability which in turn improved their exam grade outcome. The findings provide valuable evidence to justify future research into the functions of support services with the computer science domain.